second language acquisition 二语习得.docx

second language acquisition 二语习得.docx

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Preface1.

Inthepast30-40years,thefieldofsecondlanguageacquisitionhasdevelopedintoanindependentandautonomousdiscipline,completewithitsownresearchagenda.

Whatisparticularlynoteworthyaboutthefieldofsecondlanguageacquisitionisitsinterdisciplinarycharacter.Secondlanguageresearchisconcernedwiththegeneralquestion:

Howaresecondlanguageslearned?

Scholarsapproachthefieldfromawiderangeofbackgrounds:

sociology,psychology,education,andlinguistics,tonameafew.Thishasbothpositiveandnegativeeffectsonthefield.Theadvantageisthatthroughthemultiplicityofperspectives,weareabletoseearicherpictureofacquisition,apicturethatappearstobemorerepresentativeofthephenomenonofacquisitioninthatlearningasecondlanguageundoubtedlyinvolvesfactorsrelatingtosociology,psychology,education,andlinguistics.Ontheotherhand,multipleperspectivesonwhatpurportstobeasingledisciplinebringconfusion,becauseitisfrequentlythecasethatscholarsapproachingsecondlanguageacquisitionfromdifferent（oftenopposingandseeminglyincompatible）frameworksarenotabletotalktooneanother.Thisissobecauseeachperspectivebringswithititsownwayofapproachingdataanditsownresearchmethodology.

1INTRODUCTION

1.1Thestudyofsecondlanguageacquisition

WhatisthescopeofSLA?

WhatdoesthestudyofSLAconsistof?

Itisthestudyofhowsecondlanguagesarelearned.Inotherwords,itisthestudyoftheacquisitionofanon-primarylanguage;thatis,theacquisitionofalanguagebeyondthenativelanguage.Itisthestudyofhowlearnerscreateanewlanguagesystemwithonlylimitedexposuretoasecondlanguage.Itisthestudyofwhatislearnedofasecondlanguageandwhatisnotlearned;itisthestudyofwhymostsecondlanguagelearnersdonotachievethesamedegreeofknowledgeandproficiencyinasecondlanguageastheydointheirnativelanguage;itisalsothestudyofwhyonlysomelearnersappeartoachievenative-likeproficiencyinmorethanonelanguage.Additionally,secondlanguageacquisitionisconcernedwiththenatureofthehypotheses（whetherconsciousorunconscious）thatlearnerscomeupwithregardingtherulesofthesecondlanguage.

Secondlanguageacquisitionisnotaboutpedagogyunlessthepedagogyaffectsthecourseofacquisition.

Linguistics

Whenwestudyhumanlanguage,weareapproachingwhatsomemightcallthehumanessence,thedistinctivequalitiesofmindthatare,sofarasweknow,uniqueto[humans].

（Chomsky,1968,p.100）

Thestudyofhowsecondlanguagesarelearnedispartofthebroaderstudyoflanguageandlanguagebehavior.Itisnotmorecentralorperipheralthananyotherpartoflinguisticstudy,whichinturnhasasitslargergoalthestudyofthenatureofthehumanmind.

Languagepedagogy

Peoplehavecometorealizethatifoneistodeveloplanguage-teachingmethodologies,therehastobeafirmbasisforthosemethodologiesinlanguagelearning.Itwouldbecounterproductivetobaselanguageteachingmethodologiesonsomethingotherthananunderstandingofhowlanguagelearningdoesanddoesnottakeplace.

Studiesinsecondlanguageacquisitionhavemadelanguageteachersandcurriculumdesignersawarethatlanguagelearningconsistsofmorethanrulememorization.Moreimportant,perhaps,itinvolveslearningtoexpresscommunicativeneeds.Thedetailsofthisnewconceptualizationoflanguagelearninghaveresultedinmethodologiesthatemphasizecommunication.

Asecond,perhapsequallyimportantbutlessassuming,rationalerelatedtolanguagepedagogyhastodowiththeexpectationsthatteachershaveoftheirstudents.

Cross-culturalcommunicationandlanguageuse

Ininteractionswithspeakersofanotherlanguage/culture,wehavecertainexpectationsandweoftenproducestereotypedreactions.Forexample,wemayfindourselvesmakingjudgmentsaboutotherpeoplebasedontheirlanguage.Itturnsoutthatmanystereotypesofpeoplefromothercultures（e.g.,rudeness,unassertiveness）arebasedonpatternsofnonnativespeech.Thesejudgmentsinmanyinstancesarenotjustified,becausemanyofthespeechpatternsthatnonnativespeakersusereflecttheirnonnativenessratherthancharacteristicsoftheirpersonality.

Languagepolicyandlanguageplanning

Itisimportanttoreemphasizethatthestudyofsecondlanguageacquisitionisseparatefromthestudyoflanguagepedagogyalthoughthisdoesnotimplythattherearenotimplicationsthatcanbedrawnfromsecondlanguageacquisitiontotherelateddisciplineoflanguageteaching.

SLAispartofthehumanities,inthesensethatitispartofthebranchof“learning（asphilosophy,arts,orlanguages）thatinvestigate[s]humanconstructsandconcernsasopposedtonaturalprocesses（asinphysicsorchemistry）andsocialrelations（asinanthropologyorecon