English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Beyond the Domain of Language Beyond the Domain of Language

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

What are Individual Differences?

What are Individual Differences? • • • • •

Age Aptitude Cognitive and learning styles Language learning strategies Motivation

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Age

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Aptitude • There is a specific talent for learning foreign languages. • This talent is considerably different from one learner to another.

• Age on arrival in a new L2 community • Length of residence in the L2 community 5

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Cognitive and Learning Style

Language Learning Strategies

• Cognitive style is … • a predisposition to process information in a characteristic manner.

• Learning style is …

• Behaviors, actions, or thoughts which learners use to make language learning more successful

• a typical preference for approaching learning in general. 7

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Motivation

Aptitude • American psychologist J. B. Carroll started the study of language learning aptitude. • He proposed four components of language learning aptitude:

• Motivation concerns the direction and magnitude of human behavior, specifically p y… • Why you decide on a particular action • How long you are willing to sustain the activity • How hard you pursue your goal

• • • •

Phonetic coding ability Grammatical sensitivity Rote learning ability Inductive language learning ability

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Individual Differences and L2 Learning Success • Aptitude and motivation combined correlate at above 0.5 with second language learning success. • Correlations of cognitive/learning style or learning strategies with second language learning success are much lower.

Beyond the Domain of Language

APTITUDE

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Aptitude

Sample Questions from the MLAT

• These four components are measured in the MLAT (Modern Language Aptitude p Test))

• • • • •

• Carroll, J. B., & Sapon, S. (1959). The modern language aptitude test. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

Part Part Part Part Part

I. Number Learning II II. Phonetic Script III. Spelling Cues IV. Words In Sentences V. Paired Associates

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

• Part I. Number Learning

Part I.

• You will hear some instructions read aloud. The speaker will then teach you some numbers

A. B. C. D.

Answers

31 33 2 23

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

• Part II of the MLAT is a test of your ability to learn a system for writing English sounds phonetically. First you will learn phonetic symbols for some common English sounds sounds. For each question, you will see a set of four separate syllables. Each syllable is spelled phonetically. A speaker will model the sounds for you by pronouncing each of the four syllables in a set. Then the speaker will model the sounds in the next set. 17

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After the speaker models the sounds in five sets, you will be asked to look back at the first set. The speaker will go through the groups again, but this time the speaker will say only one of the 4 syllables in a set. Your task is to select the syllable that has a phonetic spelling that matches the syllable you heard. For example, you would look at the first five sets. They would look something like this …

1. bot but bok buk 2. bok buk bov bof 3. geet gut beet but 4. beek beev but buv 5. geeb geet buf but 18

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Sample Questions from the MLAT

Sample Questions from the MLAT • PART III SPELLING CUES

Part II. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

• Each question below has a group of words. The word at the top of the group is not spelled in the usual way. y Instead,, it is spelled p approximately pp y as it is pronounced. Your task is to recognize the disguised word from the spelling. In order to show that you recognize the disguised word, look for one of the five words beneath it that corresponds most closely in meaning to the disguised word. When you find this word or phrase, write down the letter that corresponds to your choice.

Answers

buk bok gut beev geeb 19

Sample Questions from the MLAT

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

1. kloz • A. attire • B. B nearby • C. stick • D. giant • E. relatives

2. restrnt • A. food • B. B self self--control • C. sleep • D. space explorer • E. drug 21

Sample Questions from the MLAT

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

3. prezns • A. kings • B. B explanations • C. dates • D. gifts • E. forecasts

4. grbj • A. car port • B. B seize • C. boat • D. boast • E. waste 23

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Sample Questions from the MLAT

Sample Questions from the MLAT • PART IV. WORDS IN SENTENCES

Part III. 1. 2. 3. 4.

kloz restrnt prezns grbj

In each of the following questions, we will call the first sentence the key sentence. One word in the key sentence will be underlined and PRINTED IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Your task is to select the letter of the word in the second sentence that plays the same role in that sentence as the underlined word in the key sentence.

Answers A. attire A. food D. gifts E. waste

Look at the following sample question: JOHN took a long walk in the woods. park.. Children in blue jeans were singing and dancing in the park A B C D E 25

Sample Questions from the MLAT

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Sample Questions from the MLAT 2. We wanted to go out, BUT we were too tired.

1. MARY is happy.

Because of our extensive training, we were confident A B when we were out sailing, yet we were always C D aware of the potential dangers of being on the lake. E

From the look on your face face,, I can tell A B C that you must have had a bad day. day. D E 27

Sample Questions from the MLAT

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

3. John said THAT Jill liked chocolate.

4. The officer gave me a TICKET! TICKET!

In our class, class that professor claimed that A B C he knew that girl on the television news. D E

When she went awayy to college, college g , the A young man’s daughter wrote him the most B C beautiful letter that he had ever received. D E 29

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Sample Questions from the MLAT Part IV.

Answers

1. 2. 3. 4.

‘I’ ‘yet’ ‘that’ ‘letter’

C D C D

Sample Questions from the MLAT • PART V. PAIRED ASSOCIATES Your task here is to MEMORIZE the MayaMaya-English vocabulary below.

Maya English c?on gun si?? wood si k?ab hand kab juice bat ax pal son

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

1. bat • A. animal • B. B stick • C. jump • D. ax • E. stone

2. kab • A. juice • B. B cart • C. corn • D. tool • E. run 33

Sample Questions from the MLAT

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Sample Questions from the MLAT

3. c?on • A. story • B. B gun • C. eat • D. mix • E. bird

4. k?ab • A. road • B. B tree • C. yell • D. fish • E. hand 35

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Sample Questions from the MLAT

Sample Questions from the MLAT

5. si? • A. look • B. B yes • C. forgive • D. cook • E. wood

6. pal • A. chief • B. B son • C. friend • D. gold • E. boat 37

Other Measures of Aptitude

Sample Questions from the MLAT Part V. 1. D. 2 A. 2. A 3. B. 4. E. 5. E. 6. B.

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• PLAB

Answers ax juice gun hand wood son

• Pimsleur, P. (1966). Pimsleur language aptitude battery. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.

• DLAB • Petersen, C., & Al-Haik, A. (1976). The development of the Defense Language Aptitude Battery. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 36, 369-380.

• CANAL-F • Grigorenko, E. L., Sternberg, R. J., & Ehrman, M. E. (2000). A theory-based approach to the measurement of foreign language learning ability: The CANAL-F theory and test. Modern Language Journal, 84(3), 390-405. 39

Aptitude and Age

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Aptitude and Age • DeKeyser (2000) found …

• Johnson and Newport (1989) found …

• For immigrants who arrived in the USA younger than 17 years old, there is no correlation between aptitude and attained proficiency proficiency. • For immigrants who arrived older than 17, there is a correlation of 0.60 between aptitude and proficiency. • The few subjects who arrived in the US after the age of 17 and who achieved nativenative-like levels of English all have high aptitude scores. scores.

• For immigrants who arrived in the USA yyounger g than 17 years y old,, age g is strongly gy negatively correlated with attained proficiency in English. • For immigrants who arrived older than 18, there is no correlation between age on arrival and proficiency. proficiency. 41

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Aptitude • Aptitude has been poorly regarded among language teachers because it has been perceived as antianti-egalitarian. • The bulk of language teaching materials have assumed that all learners are the same.

Beyond the Domain of Language

MOTIVATION

• But correlations of aptitude with second language achievement range between 0.2 and 0.4. 43

Motivation

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Two Approaches to Motivation

• Motivation concerns the direction and magnitude of human behavior, specifically p y…

• The Canadian socialsocial-psychological approach • Robert Gardner. (1985). Social psychology

and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward

• Why you decide on a particular action • How long you are willing to sustain the activity • How hard you pursue your goal

Arnold.

• The neurobiology of stimulus appraisal 45

• John Schumann. (1998). The neurobiology of affect in language. Malden, MA: 46 Blackwell.

The Canadian Social--Psychological Approach Social

The Canadian Social--Psychological Approach Social

• Robert Gardner and his colleagues found that EnglishEnglish-Canadian attitudes toward FrenchFrench-Canadians influenced th i success in their i learning l i French. F h • They assumed that learners’ attitudes fell into two broad categories:

• Integrative motivation • Reflects a positive disposition toward the L2 group and the desire to interact with and d even to t b become similar i il to t valued l d members of that community.

• Instrumental motivation • Is primarily associated with the potential pragmatic gains of L2 proficiency, such as getting a better job or a higher salary.

• Integrative motivation • Instrumental motivation 47

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

The Canadian Social--Psychological Approach Social

The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (A/MTB) Measures

• Gardner’s method: • The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery ((A/MTB) / ) was published p in • Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and

second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.

• Desire to learn French • Motivational intensity • Attitudes toward learning French • Attitudes toward French Canadians • Attitudes toward European French people

• Interest in foreign languages • Integrative orientation • Instrumental orientation • Orientation index • My French teacher • My French course • French class anxiety • Parental encouragement

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Desire to Learn French

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Motivational Intensity

During French class, I would like:

I actively think about what I have learned in my French class:

a) to have a combination of French and English spoken. b) to have as much English as possible spoken. c) to have only French spoken.

a) very frequently. b) hardly ever. c) once in a while.

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Attitudes toward French Speakers

Attitudes toward Learning French • French is an important part of the school programme. • When I leave school school, I shall give up the study of French entirely because I am not interested in it.

Strongly Disagree

Moderately Disagree

Slightly Disagree

Neutral

Slightly Agree

Moderately Agree

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Strongly Agree

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• French Canadians are a very sociable, warm--hearted and creative people warm people. • The European French are considerate of the feelings of others.

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Integrative or Instrumental Orientation

Interest in Foreign Languages • If I were visiting a foreign country I would like to be able to speak the language of the people.

• Studying French can be important to me because it will allow me to be more at ease with fellow Canadians who speak French.

• Even though Canada is relatively far from countries speaking other languages, it is important for Canadians to learn foreign languages.

• Studying French can be important for me only because I’ll need it for my future career.

• I wish I could speak another language perfectly.

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Teacher and Course

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Anxiety and Encouragement

MY FRENCH TEACHER

French Class Anxiety

efficient ___:___:___:___:___:___:___ inefficient insensitive ___:___:___:___:___:___:___ sensitive • •

It embarrasses me to volunteer answers in our French class class. •

MY FRENCH COURSE

Parental Encouragement

meaningful ___:___:___:___:___:___:___ meaningless interesting ___:___:___:___:___:___:___ boring

My parents try to help me with my French.

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Integrativeness

The Social Psychological Model of Second Language Learning Proposed by Robert Gardner

Cultural Beliefs

Motivation Formal Attitudes Toward the Learning Situation

Linguistic

Non-linguistic Informal Language Aptitude

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

John Schumann’s Theory of Stimulus Appraisal

Categories of Stimulus Appraisal

• Throughout their lifetimes, individuals accrue idiosyncratic preferences and aversions which lead them to like certain things and dislike others. • Appraisal systems are based in neurobiology and they appraise current stimuli according to the accrued history of an individual’s preferences and aversions. • The appraisal system guides SLA. It appraises the teacher, method, and syllabus, as well as the target language, its speakers, and their culture.

1. Novelty •

Did you expect this situation to occur?

2. Intrinsic pleasantness •

Did yyou find the event p pleasant of unpleasant? p

3. Goal/need significance •

Did the event help or hinder your progress?

4. Coping potential •

Were you able to cope with the event and is consequences?

5. Compatibility with own and social standards •

Did you judge the event proper/improper? How would your friends judge it?

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The Neural Mechanism • The amygdala • The orbitofrontal cortex • The body proper • The amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex generate stimulus appraisals that contribute to cognition (decision making). 63

Stimulus Appraisal in Learner Biographies • Eva Hoffman. (1989). Lost in translation: A life in a new language. New York: Penguin Books. • Alice Kaplan. (1993). French lessons: A memoir. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

The orbitofrontal cortex

• Richard Watson. (1995). The philosopher’s demise: Learning French. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.

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English 333: Beyond the domain of language

Stimulus Appraisal in Learner Biographies

Stimulus Appraisal in Learner Biographies

• Alice Kaplan. (1993).

• Eva Hoffman. (1989). Lost in

French lessons: A memoir. Chicago:

translation: A life in a new language.

University of Chicago Press.

New York: Penguin Books. 67

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Stimulus Appraisal in Learner Biographies

Stimulus Appraisal in Learner Biographies

• Novelty • Did the author expect this situation to occur?

• Intrinsic pleasantness

• Richard Watson. (1995). The

• Did the author find the event p pleasant of unpleasant? p

• Goal/need significance • Did the event help or hinder the author’s progress?

philosopher’s demise: Learning French. Columbia,

• Coping potential • Was the author able to cope with the event and is consequences?

MO: University of Missouri Press.

• Compatibility with own and social standards • Did the author judge the event proper/improper? How did their friends judge it? 69

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