APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE IN THE CLASSROOM CONTEXT

Students:

Silvina Paula Mascitti,

Lizza Belle Mendieta Bendaña,

Juan Rafael Miranda Echavarría. 

Logins:  

ARFPMTFL1328828 - HNFPMTFL1037564 - COFPMTFL1409677   

Group: fp_tefl_2013-06

Date: October 5th, 2014.

Dr. Majid MaSafadaran Mosazadeh-Kohan

FPMTFL - Master in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

ALCC- Assignment

INDEX

Introduction......................................................................................................... page 3

Data Analysis - Task 1...……………………….………………………………….… page 4

Data Analysis - Task 2...….……………………………………..…...……………... page 8

Data Analysis - Task 3……………………………………………...……………… page 10

Conclusion .…………………………………………………………………….……. page 11

Bibliography......................................................................................................  page 12

Appendix 1 ..…………..……………………………………………………………   page 13

Appendix 2 ..…………..……………………………………………………………   page 14

Appendix 3 ..…………..……………………………………………………………   page 16

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ALCC- Assignment

Introduction

Acquir ing a second language is not an easy task.   I t entai ls a process by

which the learner bui lds up a conscious and/or unconscious correlat ive

analysis via tr ial and error, a process tr iggered by constant exposure to

the target language, and meaningful interact ion in i t .  The learner,

through the mentioned procedure, wi l l develop a series of thesis about

the new language which in turn wil l help give i t shape.  Thus, as a result

of this procedure, s/he wil l begin to create a unique interpretat ion of the

new language.  The name of this pract ice is Interlanguage (Selinker,

1972).  

Interlanguage   is al legorical ly a step between the f irst language (L1) and

the Target Language, where L1 works as the bui lding blocks that

combined with TL end up in a new form.  Unfortunately IL as expected

has i ts own vocabulary, phonetics and grammar rules, placing dif f icult ies

on the learner as well as the teacher, to reach the desired level of

prof iciency in the target language.

The role of the teacher is of paramount importance during the second

language acquisit ion process since his/her output wi l l serve as input and

subsequent intake within the classroom and i t is his/her responsibi l i ty to

lead learners to achieve competence in L2 and, at the same t ime, to

help them prevent fossi l isat ion and L1 interference (Funiber, n.d.p. 22)

By making use of some techniques, such as input enhancement, noticing

the gap, reformulat ion and reconstruct ion (Thornbury, 1997: 327), the

educator may be able to accompany the learners’ language acquisit ion

development in a more effect ive and helpful way.

The way we approach the language and the process of language

acquisit ion attempts to get information from the utterances of the L2

learners and how they form, structure, restructure and reorganize their

interlanguage as they test i t by confronting i t with real i ty and real use of

the language they are trying to learn.

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ALCC- Assignment

Theorists l ike Noam Chomsky and Lenneberg have proposed the

existence of a Language Acquisit ion Device and a Latent Language

Structure which al legedly exist before the process of learning a foreign

language, and this process act ivates them using the basis of a Universal

Grammar to take the shape of the part icular grammar of the L2.

(Funiber, n.d. p. 8)

In order to understand the causes for the errors students make, i t is

important to develop some Discourse analysis, by taking into account al l

the part icipants in the interact ion when possible, while also combining

the observation of how the language is incorporated to attempt to

produce more complex units of discourse.  (Funiber, n.d. p. 61).    Said

discourse analysis goes further than simply analysing the utterances.

Fragmented sentences may not provide enough evidence to make an

accurate analysis, but some conclusions can be made.      

Subsequently an analysis of data col lected from learners‘ assignments

(provided in the appendices) can be encountered in the fol lowing pages

to pinpoint features of interlanguage in them.

Data Analysis

Task 1

1. Work out an IL general izat ion that might account for the forms in

boldface. Give your reasons for postulat ing this general izat ion.

Even though i t is dif f icult to f igure out the reasons why these students

made some mistakes since they do not share a common mother tongue,

i t may be stated that “al l learners of the same L2, irrespective of their

mother tongue, would produce the same kind of errors, thus

overgeneral izat ion has a universal character.” (Richards, 1974 in

Funiber, n.d., p. 17). General ly, language learners tend to employ two

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ALCC- Assignment

features of general isat ion that can be clearly depicted in the examples

above. One of them relates to the overuse of regular forms

(regularisat ion) and the other refers to simpli fying structures and

elements (simpli f icat ion).  For instance, sentences 1 and 3 portray

overgeneral izat ion of gerund; sentences 2, 5 and 6 convey

regularisat ion whereas sentences 4, 7, 8 and 9 i l lustrate misuse of

lexical chunks through simpli f icat ion.

STUDENT CASES

Ove

rgen

eral

izat

ion

Sim

pli

fica

tion

Reg

ula

risa

tion

Mis

use

of

lexi

cal c

hu

nk

s

Pas

t T

ense

Ger

un

d

1

1. Soccer is the most common sporting.

2. America refused continual supported our military request.

3. When he was 7 years old, he went schooling.

4. About two hours driving eastern from Bangkok.

5. After finished my college studied, I went to my country.

6. Doctors have the right to removed it from him.

7. There is a night for asleep.

8. Moreover it may lead to conflicting.

9. I am not going to get married when I will graduation the school.

2. What strategy/strategies do you think these learners have come up with

regarding lexical use?

As for sentence 1, the student assumes that since most of the sports end  in “ing” (for

example skiing, swimming,  skating) therefore, the word “sport” must be accompanied

by same ending.  

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ALCC- Assignment

Correction:  Soccer is the most common sport.  

Concerning sentence 2, the student believes “Continual” is the same as “Continued”,

and assumes “support” is a verb in this case, and uses the past form since it was

something that happened before.  

Correction: “America refused continued support to our military request.”  Or   “America

refused to continue supporting our military request”

In sentence 3, the learner visualises  the idea that all verbs with the combination “to go”

are immediately followed by a verb using “ing”.  For example, go hiking, go camping,

go walking and applies rules.

Regarding sentence 4, the learner believes there is no need for a subject in this

sentence (simplification or reduction) Probably, it is not necessary in his/her L1 in this

case and misuses the verb as well, since it is accompanied by an adjective phrase.  

Correction: It’s a two-hour drive east from Bangkok.

In this particular case, sentence 5, the learner tends to use a regular form of the verbs

“finish” and  “study” instead of using the -ing form in “finished” and the noun “studies”,

implying that he/she has not acquired them yet. By doing so, he/she is undergoing the

process of regularisation, i.e. “the tendency to use regular forms where possible.”

(Funiber, n.d., p. 18). Moreover, simplification can be traced in this example, given the

fact that the learner may have omitted the subject “I” when stating “After I finished my

college….”

Correction: After finishing my college studies, I went to my country.or After I finished

my college studies, I went to my country.

In sentence 6, the learner uses the regular form of the verb “remove” instead of its

infinitive form. By doing so, he/she shows his/her lack of mastery  and acquisition in

terms of infinitive forms.

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ALCC- Assignment

Correction: Doctors have the right to remove it from him.

As for sentence 7,  the learner uses the adjective “asleep” instead of the -ing form of

the verb “sleep”, It is not clear what the learner meant to say, but it is evident that the

use of the adjective is not appropriate here. The learner may have meant that

Someone still has the night to sleep, or that the night is when people sleep.  

Correction: There is a night for sleeping or There is a night to sleep.

It is important to point out that sentence 8 begins with an adverb that usually introduces

more information, so the rest of the context is lost.  Finishing the idea with the word

“Conflicting” instead of “Conflict” may be the result of overgeneralization from seeing

the word “conflicting” in other contexts and seeing it as a noun formed through the use

of a gerund.   

Correction: Moreover, it may lead to conflict.

In the case of sentence 9, there is a simplification of the use of time clauses.  It is

probably the result of trying to use something that is at that point above the level of the

learner’s interlanguage, confusing “I will graduation” with the form “when I graduate”.

Correction: I am not going to get married when I graduate from school.

3. What additional information, if any, would you like to have from these learners

to test your hypothesis?

The description “Intermediate” falls short to really describe where they stand in the

development of L2 learning.   It would be very interesting to know the current level of

these learners in the process of acquiring L2, so a larger look could be taken into their

interlanguage.  It would also be important to know about the amount of comprehensible

input they get and the amount of exposure they receive in L2. This could also lead to

the conclusions of whether these errors are fossilized or not, if they are slips or

developmental errors.  If they are slips, then they could simply be prompted for

correction, but if they are developmental errors, they could be addressed and practiced

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ALCC- Assignment

in different contexts to help the students gain familiarity with more complex and correct

forms of the language, i.e. with better and more frequent comprehensible input, there

will be a better intake of the language.

Another aspect that would be relevant to analyze is their ability in Speaking, since it

may show more evidence to understand their processes.  The sources for this

information were their compositions, so having them speak in public and in small

groups would provide invaluable evidence to see if the reasons described really explain

the errors shown.

Task 2  

1. What feature of English grammar is being tested in each of the test items?

All questions emphasize the use and conjugation of verbs.  As for question 1, the use

of the Present Simple, particularly the conjugation for third person, is being tested.

Concerning questions 2 taking in consideration its irregular form and 4, the use of

Simple Past is being tested. Finally, the use of the Conditional Perfect is being tested in

question  3.

2. Who appears to be the most advanced learner and why?

   Learner C appears to be the most advanced learner given the fact that he/she

manages to answer complete sentences. However, he/she has not acquired the

Conditional Perfect structure yet. Probably, he is going through a regression since

acquisition follows a U-shape course of development. (Funiber, n.d., p. 13 ) He/she

has acquired the irregular past tense of verbs and now he/she may be learning the past

participle and produces the irregular form of the verb “eat” instead of “eaten”. Once

he/she internalises the participle, he/she will be able to produce it correctly.

3. Who appears to be the least advanced learner and why?

     Learner D appears to be the least advanced learner since he/she seems to have

internalised the infinitive of the verbs and the future tense “will”. It may be caused due

to the process of fossilization in interlanguage (Funiber, n.d.,p. 22), which takes place

because of internal factors (age, lack of desire to acculturate) or external factors

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ALCC- Assignment

(communicative pressure, lack of learning opportunity or nature of feedback on

learner’s use of L2). However, so as to make further conclusions, it would be

appropriate to analyse other pieces of the learner’s output, written and oral.

4. What generalization can be made about the order of acquisition for learning these

constructions? Please note that you will not be able to reproduce the matrix you have

for this question (in your study materials) in the VC. You could use point form here.

    According to  Ellis (1997), there are five stages in the order of acquisition. Firstly, the

learner is not able to produce the past tense form. Then, the learner begins to produce

the correct past tense form. After that, the learner overgeneralizes the regular past

tense form. Afterwards, he/she produces hybrid forms until he/she manages to produce

the correct past tense form. By going through this process, the learner restructures and

reorganises his/her interlanguage until he/she succeeds in acquiring the correct form of

the verbs in the past tense form. What is more, the Chaos Theory (Larsen-Freeman,

1997) gives account of the instability in complex systems in interlanguage development

until the learner manages to acquire the correct structures.  

5. Tests of this type are designed primarily to elicit spontaneous utterances in a controlled

setting. What limitations are there in doing order of acquisition analysis based on data

of this sort?

Employing controlled settings to carry out some research on this field limits the scope

of the analysis and does not provide real information in terms of natural language

acquisition or really spontaneous interchanges since mostly, the teacher is in control of

the situation. Furthermore, sometimes topics are not chosen at random but they follow

syllabus requirements  Moreover, these students share their mother tongue, Spanish,

which may be used in the classroom instead of L2, English, thus reducing interactions

and enhancing fossilisation of mistakes due to lack of negotiation of meaning.

Other constraints that may be faced when dealing with controlled settings refer to

limitations in terms of physical space, variety of resources, class time as well as focus

on product rather than process.  On the contrary, it would be a better idea to compare

and contrast this analysis results with the ones deriving from uncontrolled settings. By

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ALCC- Assignment

doing so, the order of acquisition could be measured in real spontaneous situations

and contexts. However, some authors agree on the advantages of formal settings for

SLA.  For instance, Krashen (1988), Ellis (1985) and Seliger (1983) believe that the

classroom is both a formal and a natural focus, “creating both a focus on the targeted

language forms, and a “social context” where language is used for communication.”

(Funiber, n.d.,p. 57)

Task 3

1. Describe this learner's knowledge of English negation.

     The learner disregards the use of the auxiliary verb ¨do¨ in the sentence structure.

Therefore, it can be  assumed that the student is simplifying the structure. Additionally

s/he is transferring negation from his/her L1, spanish, and the negation is expressed

with “No” which is encountered before the verb. This type of transfer is negative since

the negation rules (which is a basic, unmarked structure) in his/her L1 interfere with the

new structures he/she is trying to acquire in L2, thus producing an error. Another

aspect to take into consideration is the use of object pronouns in the place of the

subject, which is a direct transfer from spanish “A mí no me gusta…” like in sentences

3, 4 and 10.

2. At this same time, this non-native speaker produced many examples of "I don't know".

Does this alter your hypothesis about the pattern described in question 1? If so, how?

In this instance we cannot assume that the learner has rectified the building sentence

process and now is using “do”.  What can be gathered is that perhaps the student has

learned the phrase as a lexical chunk.   Also, he/she seems to be trying different

approaches to form negative sentences.  This means the student is not familiar enough

with the correct form.

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ALCC- Assignment

Conclusion

After delving into Second Language Acquisition theories and analysing the tasks

above, it may be stated that the analysis of Interlanguage will yield evidence that may

be crucial when dealing with the learning process of a learner. It provides a clear

blueprint of current level, fossilized errors and even linguistic and cultural background

in L1.  It also allows teachers to determine in which points he/she needs to reinforce a

process of noticing, and it also accounts for how students are restructuring the

language constantly given the fact that interlanguage is unstable and dynamic  (Long,

1990).

Furthermore, by taking IL into account in his/her teaching practices, the teacher leads

students to pay attention to salient features of language that may become intake. Also

he/she will employ a wide range of consciousness-raising, resources to enhance

language acquisition, such as input enhancement, corrective feedback reformulation

and meaning-driven, reconstruction tasks to accompany learners in their language

acquisition. (Thornbury, 1997: 327)

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ALCC- Assignment

Bibliography

Ellis, R. (1985). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Krashen, S. (1988) Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. H. Hempstead: Prentice Hall International.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997) Chaos/complexity Science and Second Language Acquisition Research. London: Longman.  

Lennon, A, De Prada, E. Hockly, N. (n.d.) Approaches to Language in the Classroom Context. Funiber

Long, M. (1990) Maturational Constraints in Language Development. Second Language Acquisition. 12: 251-186.

Richards, J.C. (1974). Error Analysis. Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition. Harlow: Essex, Longman.

Seliger, H. (1983) Learner Interaction in the Classroom and its Effects on Language Acquisition. In H. Seliger and M. Long (eds.) Classroom Oriented Research in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House.  

Selinker, L. (1972) Interlanguage , IRAL; International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 10:3 p..209

Thornbury, S. (1997) About Language.  Cambridge.  Cambridge University Press.

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ALCC- Assignment

APPENDIX  1 Task 1

Native Languages: Mixed.

Target Language: English.

Background Information: Intermediate level, students on an intensive course.

Data Source: student compositions.

DATA:

1. Soccer is the most common sporting.

2. America refused continual supported our military request.

3. When he was 7 years old, he went schooling.

4. About two hours driving eastern from Bangkok.

5. After finished my college studied, I went to my country.

6. Doctors have the right to removed it from him.

7. There is a night for asleep.

8. Moreover it may lead to conflicting.

9. I am not going to get married when I will graduation the school.

QUESTIONS:

1. Work out an IL generalization that might account for the forms in

boldface. Give your reasons for postulating this generalization.

2. What strategy/strategies do you think these learners have come up with

regarding lexical use?

3. What additional information, if any, would you like to have from these

learners to test your hypothesis?

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ALCC- Assignment

APPENDIX  2

Task 2

Native Language: Spanish.

Target Language: English.

Background Information: Pre-adolescents, born in Mexico, living in United

States.

Data Source: Responses to a picture story from a standard proficiency test.

DATA:

Below are the "correct" responses to standardised test items.

1. He wants to eat some food.

2. The dog ate the food.

3. The king would have eaten it.

4. It fell.

Below are the responses to these test items by five ESL learners (A-E).

A.

1. he wants to eat

2. the dog ate it

3. the king would eat it

4. it fell

B.

1. he want the food

2. the dog ate ...

3. the king eat ...

4. they fall

C.

1. he wants to get some food

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ALCC- Assignment

2. the dog ate it

3. the king would have ate it

4. it fell

D.

1. he want...

2. the dog eat...

3. the king will eat...

4. it fall

E.

1. he wanna eat...

2. the dog eat-ate it

3. he would eat it

4. it fall

QUESTIONS:

1. What feature of English grammar is being tested in each of the test items?

2. Who appears to be the most advanced learner and why?

3. Who appears to be the least advanced learner and why?

4. What generalization can be made about the order of acquisition for

learning these constructions? Please note that you will not be able to

reproduce the matrix you have for this question (in your study materials)

in the VC. You could use point form here.

5. Tests of this type are designed primarily to elicit spontaneous utterances

in a controlled setting. What limitations are there in doing order of

acquisition analysis based on data of this sort?

APPENDIX  3

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ALCC- Assignment

Task 3

Native Language: Mexican Spanish.

Target Language: English.

Background Information: Adult male.

Data Source: Tape-recorded spontaneous speech.

DATA:

Following are examples of this subject's use of negatives:

1. No write.

2. No like it.

3. I me no speaka too much Englee, eh?

4. Me no like stay in the house.

5. No es correct.

6. I no like tortilla.

7. You no go Calexico?

8. My brother no go to school.

9. No, ya no work.

10. Me no comin.

11. No in town.

12. No cheese.

13. No now.

14. No American.

15. The operation ya no good.

16. No money.

17. Maybe no good for me.

QUESTIONS:

1. Describe this learner's knowledge of English negation.

2. At this same time, this non-native speaker produced many examples of "I

don't know". Does this alter your hypothesis about the pattern described

in question 1? If so, how?

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ALCC- Assignment

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