L2 Acquistion Theories

1. UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADOR
INSTITUTO PEDAGÓGICO DE CARACAS
DEPARTAMENTO DE IDIOMAS MODERNOS
PROGRAMA DE INGLÉS
CÁTEDRA DE LINGÜÍSTICA
MODELS OF SECOND
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Teacher: Mirna Quintero Student: Francisco de Barnola

2. MODELS OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Krashen’s Model of SLA
"Language acquisition does not require extensive use of
conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill."
Stephen Krashen (cited by Schütz, 2007)
Krashen's theory of second language acquisition consists of
five main hypotheses:
the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis
the Monitor hypothesis
the Natural Order hypothesis
the Input hypothesis
the Affective Filter hypothesis.

3. ACQUISITION-LEARNING HYPOTHESIS
According to Krashen there are two independent systems of
second language performance: 'the acquired system' and 'the
learned system'.
THE ACQUIRE SYSTEM THE LEARNED SYSTEM
It is the product of formal
It is very similar to L1 acquisition. It
instruction and it comprises a
requires meaningful interaction in
conscious process which results
the target language. The speakers
in conscious knowledge 'about'
are concentrated not in the form of
the language, for example
their utterances, but in the
knowledge of grammar rules.
communicative act.

4. MONITOR HYPOTHESIS
Conscious learning operates only as a monitor or editor
that checks or repairs the output of what has been
acquired. (Acquire and Learned systems)

5. NATURAL ORDER HYPOTHESIS
Grammatical structures are acquired in a predictable
order and it does little good to try to learn them in another
order. (some grammatical structures tend to be acquired
early while others late)

6. INPUT HYPOTHESIS
An acquirer can "move" from a stage I to a stage I + 1.

7. AFFECTIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS
The learner's emotional state can act as a filter that
impedes or blocks input necessary to acquisition.
(motivation, self-confidence and low anxiety)

8. CONNECTIONISM
Connectionism is a set of approaches in the fields of artificial
intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive science,
neuroscience and philosophy of mind, that models mental or
behavioral phenomena as the emergent processes of
interconnected networks of simple units.

9. BASIC PRINCIPLES
1. Spreading Activation
2. Neural Networks
3. Biological realism
4. Learning
HISTORY
1. Parallel distributed processing (PDP)

10. BASIC PRINCIPLES
SPREADING ACTIVATION
The idea started from the assumption that memory contains concepts.
These are associated. Those that are more ‘activated’ are easier to recall.
The activation of a given concept depends on two things: the base
activation of that concept and the sum of the activation of associated
concepts multiplied by the strength of association.

11. BASIC PRINCIPLES
NEURAL NETWORK
The simplest architecture for a neural network has a feedforward
structure , in which information flows only in one direction: i.e. from
the input layer to the output layer, and in general via one or more
layers of intermediate, hidden nodes.

12. BASIC PRINCIPLES
Biological Realism
The focus of Biological Realism is the study of subjective
phenomenal experiences rather than abstract relations between
the mind and external objects.

13. BASIC PRINCIPLES
LEARNING
 Learning is a process of connecting
specialized nodes or information
sources.
 A learner can exponentially improve
their own learning by plugging into an
existing network. Learning may reside in
non-human appliances.
 Learning (in the sense that
something is known, but not necessarily
actuated) can rest in a community, a
network, or a database.

14. HISTORY
Connectionism can be traced to ideas more than a century old, which
were little more than speculation until the mid-to-late 20th century. It
wasn't until the 1980s that connectionism became a popular
perspective among scientists.
PARALLEL DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING
The prevailing connectionist approach today was
originally known as parallel distributed processing
(PDP). It was an artificial neural network approach
that stressed the parallel nature of neural
processing, and the distributed nature of neural
representations. It provided a general mathematical
framework for researchers to operate in.

15. INFO PROCESSING
Information processing, uses the
computer as a model for human
learning. Like the computer, the
human mind takes in information,
performs operations on it to change
its form and content, stores and
locates it and generates responses
to it.

16. INFO PROCESSING
SENSORY MEMORY
Sensory memory is the shortest-term
element of memory. It is the ability to
retain impressions of sensory
information after the original stimuli
have ended. It acts as a kind of buffer
for stimuli received through the five
senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste
and touch, which are retained
accurately, but very briefly. For
example, the ability to look at
something and remember what it
looked like with just a second of
observation is an example of sensory
memory.

17. INFO PROCESSING
WORKING MEMORY
Working memory has been
defined as the system which
actively holds information in
the mind to do verbal and
nonverbal tasks such as
reasoning and
comprehension, and to make it
available for further
information processing.

18. LONG TERM MEMORY
Long-term memory refers to the
continuing storage of information.
In Freudian psychology, long term
memory would be call the
preconscious and unconscious.
This information is largely outside
of our awareness, but can be
called into working memory to be
used when needed. Some of this
information is fairly easy to
recall, while other memories are
much more difficult to access.

19. CONNECTIVISM
Connectivism is a learning theory
for the digital age. Learning has
changed over the last several
decades. The theories of
behaviourism, cognitivism, and
constructivism provide an effect
view of learning in many
environments. They fall short,
however, when learning moves into
informal, networked, technology-
enabled arena.

20. PRINCIPLES OF CONNECTIVISM
Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.
Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or
information sources.
Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate
continual learning.

21. PRINCIPLES OF CONNECTIVISM
Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a
core skill.
Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all
connectivist learning activities.
Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn
and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of
a shifting reality.
While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to
alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

22. SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY
The work of sociocultural theory is to
explain how individual mental
functioning is related to cultural,
institutional, and historical context;
hence, the focus of the sociocultural
perspective is on the roles that
participation in social interactions
and culturally organized activities
play in influencing psychological
development.

23. MEDIATION
Mediation refers to the part played
by other significant people in the
learners lives, people who enhance
their learning by selecting and
shaping the learning experiences
presented to them. The secret of
effective learning lies in the nature of
the social interaction between two or
more people with different levels of
skills and knowledge. This involves
helping the learner to move into and
through the next layer of knowledge
or understanding.

24. INTERNALIZATION
Internalization is the process through which members of
communities of practice appropriate the symbolic tools used in
communicative activity and convert them into psychological
tools that mediate their mental activity

25. IMITATION
Vygotsky (1987) cited in Lantolf (2006), proposed that the
internalization of socially constructed forms of mediation
occurs through the mechanism of imitation. It is a method of
absorbing what is present in others and of making it over in
forms peculiar to one’s own temper and valuable to one’s own
genius

27. REFERENCES
About (2012) . Connectivism. [Document Online] Available :
http://www.connectivism.ca/about.html [Consulted : June, 12, 2012]
Lantolf, J (2006) . Introducing sociocultural theory. [Document Online]
Available :
http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/elt/catalogue/0-19-
442160-0-
a.pdfhttp://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/language_stages.php
Siemens, G (2005) . Connectivism:
[Consulted Theory 12, the Digital Age. [Document Online] Available :
A Learning : June, for 2012]
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm [Consulted : June, 12,
2012]

28. REFERENCES
Chatzopoulos, A (2008) . Biological Realism: A Different Point of View.
[Document Online] Available : http://www.qualia.se/archives/225
[Consulted : June, 11, 2012]
Revised Pages (2006) . Working
Memory: Chapter 6 [Document Online] Available : http://www-
psych.stanford.edu/~ashas/Cognition%20Textbook/chapter6.pdf
[Consulted : June, 10, 2012]
Vivian C. (2012) . Krashen s Comprehension Hypothesis Model of
L2 learning [Document Online] Available
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/Krashen.htm [Consulted :
June, 10, 2012]