Whether to teach and how to teach complex linguistic structures in a second language?
Whether to teach and how to teach complex linguistic structures in a second language?
This chapter discusses the idea that universal semantic and pragmatic meaning need not be taught in language classrooms because they would come for free once the learner has acquired the lexical items capturing these meanings. At the same time, more complex structures involving a combination of several grammatical meanings should be practiced in the classroom. We will take the example of two existing studies investigating the acquisition of a relatively complex but universal meaning, that of scalar implicatures (e.g., Some elephants have trunks). The studies examine knowledge of this construction in simple as well as in more complex sentences. We will argue that since the meaning is universal, it does not need to be taught in language classrooms for the basic knowledge of this construction to become part of interlanguage grammar. However, we will show that the correct interpretation of this construction depends on processing resources, for native speakers and second language speakers alike. It is for this reason that we suggest that the construction has to be practiced in classrooms, and in the second part of the chapter, we suggest some ideas that can be used as the basis for tasks that could ensure second language learners are aware and can process this linguistic construction.
language education, learning & instruction
978-94-007-6361-6
187-205
Slabakova, Roumyana
1bda11ce-ce3d-4146-8ae3-4a486b6f5bde
Garcia Mayo, Maria del Pilar
9cec31ce-fb07-4157-9594-f75851584e55
June 2013
Slabakova, Roumyana
1bda11ce-ce3d-4146-8ae3-4a486b6f5bde
Garcia Mayo, Maria del Pilar
9cec31ce-fb07-4157-9594-f75851584e55
Slabakova, Roumyana and Garcia Mayo, Maria del Pilar
(2013)
Whether to teach and how to teach complex linguistic structures in a second language?
In,
Whong, Melinda, Marsden, Heather and Gil, Koo-hee
(eds.)
In Universal Grammar and the Second Language Classroom.
(Educational Linguistics, 16)
Berlin, DE.
Springer, .
(doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6362-3_10).
Record type:
Book Section
Abstract
This chapter discusses the idea that universal semantic and pragmatic meaning need not be taught in language classrooms because they would come for free once the learner has acquired the lexical items capturing these meanings. At the same time, more complex structures involving a combination of several grammatical meanings should be practiced in the classroom. We will take the example of two existing studies investigating the acquisition of a relatively complex but universal meaning, that of scalar implicatures (e.g., Some elephants have trunks). The studies examine knowledge of this construction in simple as well as in more complex sentences. We will argue that since the meaning is universal, it does not need to be taught in language classrooms for the basic knowledge of this construction to become part of interlanguage grammar. However, we will show that the correct interpretation of this construction depends on processing resources, for native speakers and second language speakers alike. It is for this reason that we suggest that the construction has to be practiced in classrooms, and in the second part of the chapter, we suggest some ideas that can be used as the basis for tasks that could ensure second language learners are aware and can process this linguistic construction.
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Published date: June 2013
Additional Information:
In the past decade, linguistic research on second language acquisition has been inspired by a search to identify principled, not ad hoc or post-factum, explanations of this many-faceted cognitive process. In the 1990s, the debate on the initial state of second language (L2) acquisition took centre stage, but after 2000, emphasis shifted to identifying sources of errors and diverging L2 representations. In this search for principled explanations, the relative difficulty or ease of acquisition of various properties has received heightened attention. If we can explain why L2 learners have a persistent difficulty with some linguistic properties for which there is abundant evidence in the input to learners, but have no trouble with some other properties that are really subtle and are supported by very little to no evidence in the input, we would be on our way to explaining the language acquisition process as well as making suggestions to instructional practice. We believe generative linguistic theory can offer valuable insights contributing to this goal.
Keywords:
language education, learning & instruction
Organisations:
Modern Languages
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 355759
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/355759
ISBN: 978-94-007-6361-6
PURE UUID: 6e6524ea-f652-4348-9070-f69efbd0cb72
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Date deposited: 05 Sep 2013 09:04
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:48
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Contributors
Author:
Maria del Pilar Garcia Mayo
Editor:
Melinda Whong
Editor:
Heather Marsden
Editor:
Koo-hee Gil
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