It is commonly believed that children are better at learning foreign languages than older learners. Do we lose our language learning ability with age or do we change our approach to language learning? In this talk I look at some successful strategies child learners use which teenage learners can draw on and their teachers can tap into.
2. Ability to acquire language is linked to age
Gradual decline in language learning ability
after puberty
“Biological clock” of the brain
CRITICAL PERIOD HYPOTHESIS
10. Child learners
see language as a tool
for communication
often do not make a
conscious decision to
study a foreign language
do not worry about
making mistakes
Older learners
are aware of language
as a phenomenon in its
own right
world knowledge &
metalinguistic knowledge
different goals, needs,
motivation…
DIFFERENCES
11. “The differences between a child learner and an
older learner need not be solely – and perhaps
not even primarily – to do with what the brain
can handle so much as the profound differences
in how children and adults engage with the
world.”
Wray 2007, p. 256
THE AGE FACTOR OR… AGE FACTORS ?
12. Example of a very successful learner
Sociable personality;
effective social and
learning strategies
Memorised and used recurring word sequences
like dese, right here, in the high school
CASE STUDY: 5 YEAR-OLD NORA
Fillmore 1979
14. Idioms
fly off the handle
Fixed phrases
if all else fails
Collocations
submit a proposal
FORMULAIC
LANGUAGE
15. Idioms
fly off the handle
Fixed phrases
if all else fails
Collocations
submit a proposal
FORMULAIC
LANGUAGE
Short expressions
apart from, rather than…
Lexico-grammatical chunks
it’s been a long time since…
16. den Zug verpassen
auf der einen Seite . . . auf der anderen Seite
Übung macht den Meister
vorsätzliches Missverhalten
From Peters(2012)
NOT ONLY IN ENGLISH
17. den Zug verpassen
(to miss the train)
auf der einen Seite . . . auf der anderen Seite
(on the one hand . . . on the other hand)
Übung macht den Meister
(practice makes perfect)
vorsätzliches Missverhalten
(willful misconduct)
From Peters (2012)
NOT ONLY IN ENGLISH
18. Ubiquitous in language
(55 - 80% of discourse is formulaic)
Help realise various functions
Serve as a basis for fluency
A vehicle of language acquisition (?)
FORMULAIC LANGUAGE
19. מחר עובד אתה?זה מחר אבלשמח חג!
I like to go to the cinema city
Je m’appele
EVIDENCE FROM MISAPPLIED CHUNKS
20. THE SOUTHAMPTON STUDY
Learners rely on memorised chunks to produce new
utterances
Comment t’appelles-tu?
What's your name? / What are you called?
Classroom learners of French
Myles, Mitchell & Hooper 1998
21. THE SOUTHAMPTON STUDY
Learners rely on memorised chunks to produce new
utterances
Comment t’appelles-tu?
What's your name? / What are you called?
*Comment t’appelles-tu, le garcon?
*What are you called, the boy?
*Comment t’appelles-tu, la fille?
*What are you called, the girl?
Classroom learners of French
Myles, Mitchell & Hooper 1998
22. Learners’ early correctly produced
grammatical structures are chunks
New utterances are beyond their current level
of grammatical competence
Grammar eventually catches up with
formulaic language
THE SOUTHAMPTON STUDY: CONCLUSIONS
Myles, Mitchell & Hooper 1998
23. Two approaches
Children don’t need to learn grammar
because its principles are innate
Grammar is an abstraction of regularities
from a large repertoire of formulas
GRAMMAR ACQUISITION IN L1
Ellis 2012
24. Two approaches
Children don’t need to learn grammar
because its principles are innate
Grammar is an abstraction of regularities
from a large repertoire of formulas
GRAMMAR ACQUISITION IN L1
Ellis 2012
25. Children don’t need to learn grammar because
its principles are innate
Grammar is an abstraction of regularities
from a large repertoire of formulas
GRAMMAR ACQUISITION IN L1
Ellis 2012
Same process in L2 ?
30. Elementary school
How are you?
Good morning
Where do you live?
Let’s go
Middle school
I went to school
Did you go to school?
I didn’t go to school
L2 TEACHING
34. I don't know
I don't understand
I don't believe it
I don't care
CHUNKS FIRST
35. I don't know
I don't understand
I don't believe it
I don't care
Instead of a more ‘traditional’ approach
I believe it – I don't believe it. - Do I believe it?
CHUNKS FIRST
36. What are you doing?
What are you reading?
What are you saying?
What are you waiting for?
CHUNKS FIRST
37. How long have you been…
How long have you known…
How long have you lived…
How long have you had…
How long have you worked…
PROBABLE LANGUAGE
38. How long have you been…
How long have you known…
How long have you lived…
How long have you had…
How long have you worked…
PROBABLE LANGUAGE
more than 50% of all
occurrences of this pattern in
the British National Corpus (BNC)
40. Elementary students
How are you?
Good morning
Where do you live?
Let’s go
Intermediate students
I’ve never heard of it.
She lives on her own.
What do you want me to do?
EXTENDING EARLY ‘CHUNK PHASE’
41. Back home in Vietnam I was a doctor. But when I wanted
to work here, they told me I had to get a British degree.
I didn’t have enough money to study and I needed to
support my wife and children. To begin with, I worked in
two different places – I did cleaning jobs during the day
and at night I worked in a pizza take-away. I hated it, but
after a few years I saved up enough money to do a
nursing course and now I work in a big local hospital.
HIGHLIGHTING USEFUL CHUNKS
From Innovations Pre-Intermediate
by H. Dellar & A. Walkley
Cengage- Heinle
42. Back home in Vietnam I was a doctor. But when I wanted
to work here, they told me I had to get a British degree.
I didn’t have enough money to study and I needed to
support my wife and children. To begin with, I worked in
two different places – I did cleaning jobs during the day
and at night I worked in a pizza take-away. I hated it, but
after a few years I saved up enough money to do a
nursing course and now I work in a big local hospital.
HIGHLIGHTING USEFUL CHUNKS
From Innovations Pre-Intermediate
by H. Dellar & A. Walkley
Cengage- Heinle
43. TAKING CARE OF “DIFFICULT” GRAMMAR
I’ve never seen Harry Potter
One of the most difficult problems I’ve had to deal
with was…
The issue of … has become increasingly…
… has become a major topic in recent years
Speaking
Writing
47. Expose learners to formulaic language
Introduce learning strategies to record and
practise chunks
Set up situations where learners can practise
and recycle them
Provide MORE authentic input (MUSIC, MOVIES)
CONCLUSIONS
48. Exposure to formulaic language is not enough -
Need explicit focus in class
Find out what chunks are relevant to learners
Don’t be too anxious to move into explanations.
Memorization should precede analysis.
CONCLUSIONS (CONT.)
49. Ellis, N. C. (2012). Formulaic language and second language acquisition: Zipf and the
phrasal teddy bear. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 32 , 17-44
Wong Fillmore, L. (1979). Individual differences in second language acquisition. In C. J.
Fillmore, D. Kempler, & S-Y. W. Wang (eds.), Individual differences in language ability
and language behavior. New York: Academic Press, 203–228
Myles, F., J. Hooper & R. Mitchell (1998). Rote or rule? Exploring the role of formulaic
language in classroom foreign language learning. Language Learning 48(3), 323–363
Peters, E. (2012). Learning German formulaic sequences: The effect of two attention
drawing techniques. Language Learning Journal, 40, 65-79
Singleton, D. (1989). Language Acquisition: The Age Factor. Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters
Warga, M. (2005). “Je serais tres merciable”: Formulaic vs. creatively produced speech ` in
learners’ request-closing. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(1), 67–93
Wray, A. (2008). The puzzle of language learning: From child’s play to ‘ linguaphobia’.
Language Teaching 41(2), 253–271
REFERENCES