二语习得答案.docx

1、二语习得答案1.1. Think of three or four telegraphic sentences that a young child might produce. These may be in English or another language you know well. How are these little sentences similar to those in the adult language? How are they different? “telegraphic” sentences：（1）I can see a cow repeated as S

2、ee cow（2）I having this. Im having nana. （3）Baby fall downSimilarities: They both contain the necessary key words, especially nouns, verbs and adjectivesDifferences: “Telegraphic” sentences lack function words like prepositions and conjunctions. They are shorter, and grammatical elements are often om

3、itted or inserted incorrectly, and they are single clauses.2.Researchers have used both longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches to investigate the order of acquisition of grammatical morphemes in English by young children. Describe these approaches in your own words. What are the challenges and

4、the potential benefits of each?Cross-sectional approaches: A research method studies subjects at different ages and stages of development.Longitudinal studies: It is a type of observational study. By longitudinal studies, we mean that we can study learners language with a period of time, one month,

5、one year, or more. This contrasts with Cross-sectional studies.The challenges of longitudinal study approaches: They are time-consuming and money-consuming. Also, they are not convenient. Potential benefits of longitudinal study approaches: Longitudinal studies track the same people, and therefore t

6、he differences observed in those people are less likely to be the result of cultural differences across generations. The challenges of Cross-sectional approaches: Routine data are not designed to answer the specific question. Potential benefits of Cross-sectional approaches: . The use of routinely c

7、ollected data allows large cross-sectional studies to be made at little or no expense.3.What is the wug test? What do the findings from the wug test tell us aboutChildrens developing language? What advantages does the wug test have over studies that observe childrens language in natural settings? Ca

8、n you think of some disadvantages?(1) “Wug test” is a procedure to explore childrens knowledge of language developed by Jean Berko Gleason. It was designed as a way to investigate the acquisition of the plural and other inflectional morphemes in English-speaking children. (2) By the age of three-and

9、-a-half or four years, most children can ask questions, give commands, report real events, and create stories about imaginary ones-complete with correct grammatical morphemes.(3) Advantages of wug test By completing these sentences, children demonstrate that they actually know the rules in English,

10、not just a list of memorized word pairs, and can apply these rules to words which they have never heard before.(4)Some disadvantages: The acquisition of the more complex grammatical structures of the language requires a different sort of explanation4. What is metalinguistic awareness? Why is it a pr

11、erequisite for being able to understand most jokes and riddles? Think of a joke or riddle you know. How is metalinguistic awareness related to your understanding of what makes this joke funny? (1) Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to treat language as an object, separate from the meaning it co

12、nveys. (2)Because Metalinguistic awareness includes the discovery of such things as ambiguity-words and sentences that have multiple meaning.(3)Jokes: Why is the bride feeling unhappy in her wedding? Because she cannot marry the best man.5. What have researchers observed about the frequency with whi

13、ch young children engage in imitation and repetitive practice? In what way are young childrens linguistic imitation and practice patterns different from those of some foreign language classes?(1) Observation: First year, most babies can understand quite a few frequently repeated words. Speech consis

14、ts of imitation, but different children have different rate of imitation Childrens imitations are not random; they do not imitate everything they hear Children sometimes repeat themselves or produce a series of related practice sentences(2) Differences: Linguistic imitation and practice patterns are

15、 the natural process in which children subconsciously possess and develop the linguistic knowledge of the setting they live in. Young children learn language through exposure to the language and meaningful communication. Foreign language classes take place where the target language is not the langua

16、ge spoken in the language community. Children have the need of systematic studies of any kind.6. Give examples of both grammatical and lexical overgeneralization errors found in early child language. What is the general learning principle that underlies such errors?Examples of grammatical overgenera

17、lization errors： Randall (2, 9), who is in stage 3 of question formation, concluded that the trick of asking questions is to put a certain word (in this case: are) at the beginning of the sentence. for example: Are dogs wiggle their tails？Correct form: Do dogs wiggle their tails? Examples of lexical

18、 overgeneralization errors: Michel (2, 0) says: Mummy, Im hiccing up and I cant stop. (Michel has heard many two-word verbs with up, such as standing up and picking up. So he makes such a generalization.)The general learning principle that underlies such errors:(1)Children appear to pick out pattern

19、s and then generalize them to new contexts. They create new forms or new uses of words until they finally figure out how the forms are used by adults. Their new sentences are usually comprehensible and often correct.(2)Behaviorism in first language learning.7. How do the stories of Victor and Genie

20、(pages 1921) support the critical period hypothesis? Do you find this evidence convincing? Why do most researchers consider that the evidence from users of American Sign Language that was collected by Newport and her colleagues (page 21) is stronger support for the CPH? (1) Victor and Genie are chil

21、dren who have been deprived of contact with language in their early years. Their language acquisition device was stimulated too late. As a result, even though they were taught to speak when they were 12 or 13 years old they CANNOT learn language like normal people and their language development was

22、abnormal. So the stories of Victor and Genie support the critical period hypothesis. (2) It is difficult to argue that the hypothesis is confirmed on the basis of evidence from such unusual children and the unknown circumstances of their early lives. We cannot know what other factors besides biologi

23、cal maturity might have contributed to their inability to learn language. Therefore, this evidence is not convincing (3) These users of American Sign Language are usual children who acquire their first language at different ages. They come from loving homes, yet do not receive exposure to language a

24、t the usual time. Besides, the circumstances of their early lives are known to the researchers. They begin learning ASL often when they start attending a residential school where sign language is used for day-to-day communication. Moreover, in the study, there were three distinct groups of ASL users

25、: Native signers who were exposed to sign language from birth, Early learners whose first exposure to ASL began at ages four to six at school, and Late learners who first came into contact with ASL after the age of 12. Results of the research showed that the Native group outperformed the Early learn

26、er group who outperformed the late learner group on tests focusing on grammatical markers. The study supports the hypothesis that there is a critical period for first language learning. 8. How are Piagets and Vygotskys views of first language acquisition similar? How do they differ?Similarities: (1)

27、 Both of them thought that interaction played a very important role in language development;(2) Children are active learners;(3) Development declines with ageDifferences: (1) Piaget hypothesized Childrens cognitive development would partly determine how they use language!(2) Vygotsky believed that L

28、anguage develops entirely from social interaction.9. What was unusual about Jims exposure to language? How does this case support an interactionist perspective on language acquisition?Unusual:(1) Jim, the hearing children of deaf parents, had little contract with hearing/speaking adults up to the ag

29、e of three years and nine months. (2) His only contract with oral language was through TV.(3) His parents did not use sign language with JimSupport: (1) Interactionism focus on the role of the linguistic environment in interaction with the childs innate capacities in determining language development

30、. And Vygotsky thought was essentially internalized speech, and speech emerged in social interaction.(2) Jims only contract with oral language was through TV, which cannot give immediate adjustment for the needs of Jim. But when Jim began conversations with sessions with an adult, his expressive abi

31、lities began to improve. By the age of four years and two months, most of the unusual speech patterns had disappeared, replaced by structures more typical of Jims age. 10. State the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) and explain why it is often linked to the behaviourist theory. What are its limi

32、tations? (1) The CAH was put forward by Dr. Robert Lado and it predicts that where there are similarities between the first and second language, the learner will acquire second language structures with ease; where there are differences, the learner will have difficulty (2) The CAH is based on the behaviouristic psychology. It holds that language development is viewed as the formation of habits; it is assumed that a person learning a second language starts off with the habits formed in the