Performance consists of the use of this grammar in the comprehension and production of language.
Communicative competence includes knowledge the speakerhearer has of what is effective as well as correct language behavior and also of what constitutes effective language behavior in relation to particular communicative goals. It includes both linguistic and pragmatic knowledge.
Communicative performance
Consists of the actual use of these two types of knowledge in understanding and producing discourse
The main goal of SLA research is to characterize learners’ underlying knowledge of the L2, to describe and explain their competence. However, learner’s mental knowledge is not open to direct inspection. It can only be inferred by examining samples of their performance.
Usage demonstrates the learner’s knowledge of linguistic rules; use demonstrates the learner’s ability to use his knowledge of linguistic rules for effective communication.
Lecture one
An Introduction to SLA
What is second language acquisition?
A. second VS third language acquisition Many learners are multilingual in the sense that in addition to their first language, they have acquired some competence in more than one non-primary language. However, the “term” second is generally used to refer to any language other than the first language. Any language additional to the native language is called second language.
Different kinds of performance
Usage VS. use The distinction was first proposed by Widdowson(1978). Usage is that aspect of performance which makes evident the extent to which the language user demonstrates his knowledge of linguistic rules We study usage If we focus attention on the extent to which the learner has mastered the formal properties of phonological, lexical, and grammatical systems
Why we study SLA
1. The study itself is fascinating in its own right. Understanding it requires drawing upon knowledge of psychology, linguistics, sociology anthropology, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and neurolinguistics.
It is wrong to assume that naturalistic is subconscious and instructed is conscious. SLA deals with both of them The distinction is used in its sociolinguistic sense.
The distinction between the settings may be significant. It is possible that there will be radical differences in both what is leant and how it is learnt. Learning outcome and learning process will be different. How different they will be? SLA is used to cover both types of learning.
Use is that aspect of the performance which makes evident the extent to which the language user demonstrates his ability to use his knowledge of linguistic rules for effective communication. E.g. how learners learn to perform speech acts like request and apologizing. Pragmatic aspects
e. Acquisition VS. learning
Some researchers (Krashen 1981) distinguish between acquisition and learning. Acquisition refers to the subconscious process of picking up a language through exposure. Learning refers to the conscious process of studying it. SLA includes both of them.
B. Second vs. foreign language
In second language acquisition, the language plays an institutional and social role in the community; it functions as a recognized means of communication among members who speak some other language as their mother tongue. E.g. English is learnt in US as a second language. In contrast, foreign language learning takes place in settings where the language plays no major role in the community and is primarily learnt only in the classIt can take place in a naturalistic or an instructed way. The goal of SLA is the description and explanation of the learners’ competence. To this end, the researchers must examine aspects of the learner’s usage of the L2 in actual performance, by collecting and analyzing samples of learner language
d. Competence VS. performance
According to Chomsky(1965), competence consists of the mental representations of linguistic rules that constitute the speaker-hearer’s internal grammar. It is implicit and evident in the intuitions which the speaker-hearer has about the grammaticality of the sentence.
SLA research has been primarily concerned with studying usage, although it is now paying more attention to use. It has become apparent that even if the aim is to find out how learners acquire formal features, it is often necessary to examine how they use these features to express meaning.