Vol 02 No 2 TESL Reporter

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REPORTER
pu i lished P4 bihidb by bf

teaching english as a se cond language
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english language instiwite tu 0 ni h U Ch r the church jcollege of Hawaii

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no

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laie

hawaii

winter 1969

new trends in language acquisition theory
BY WILLIAM D
CONWAY K

language acquisition for the past three decades or more the theories of behavioral psychologists such as BF skinner have been prominent in the development of the language acquisition background upon which linguists have based many important aspects of the audio lingual approach to language instruction in recent years however many linguists have begun to feel that the audio lingual method is not in step with advancements in language acquisition theory psychologists have become increasingly interested in the cognitive aspects of language learning something receiving little emphasis in behavior

every method of language teaching has at its heart some theory of

future

al sttimlulusrerepponse theories s imuu s s s ons e it seems important that the classroom teacher have some knowledge of the underlying theories of language acquisition to be most efficient in using any method at the same time it also seems important to be aware of possible changes and trends that may influence methodology in the william D conway is assistant professor of english and TESL at the church college of hawaii where he is director of the english language instiuudergraanduatotn t e d c e ordinator for the
TESL

major

CONTENTS
new

trends in language acquisition theory page 1 by william D conway I A jabberwockian approach to discourse analysis page 3 by nancy A arapoff prrom pattern practice to conversar ob f ro m tional english page 5 by robert G bander how muh 1 nu c a the use of how mucchy and
in TESL textbooks by alice C pack
many

guage where possible some of the basic tenets of behavioral theories as they relate to teaching english as a second language and to examine similarly some of the prominent trends in cognitive acquisition theory the basic differences between the two theories of language acquisition can be illustrated roughly by comparing first the behavioral and then cognitive viewpoints of language ac-

it is the purpose of this paper to examine briefly in nontechnical lan-

quisition in children

page 9

child associates the sounds of the human voice with need sa tisfying circumstances when he hears his own random babbling these sounds are recognized to

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reporter
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similar to those uttered by the adults so that the pleasure or anticipation of pleasure associated with mothers voice is now transferred to his own vocalizabe

tions thus hearing his own sounds becomes a pleasurable experience in itself the more so as mother tends to reinforce these sounds particularly if they by chance resemble a word such as dada as this induces a quantitive increooe in the infants vocal output s n he will learn that approximating adult speech patterns le imii tating is generally reinforced and this ought to put him on his way toward adult forms of lanI guage 1 1

SR theory
ust rated in the quotation is interested in what the child to stimulated and in speak in his response the manner in which the response a was reinforced by the praise and attention of the parents and in the pleasure the child received at gaining attention for his efforts ie tt secondary reinforcement the beha vioral psychologist in an effort to become objective and scientific works much like the structural linguist in that he attempts to work only with what is observable hence he is not concerned with the unseen processes of the mind later when the child begins to produce sentences that arent easily shown to be the results of imitation the behavioral psychologist attributes the new form to a graded process of analogy in which the child is said to be reacting to similarities with previous speech stimuli

the behavioral psychologist as ill-

while stimulus and response i the behavloralists focus on the observable stimulus and response considering generalization as only a part of a larger process analogously the cognitive psychologist says that pattern recognition and de ccodiin g are n e oddin g the proper subject of study behavioral theories are apparent in some basic features of the audio lingual method usually advocates of this method assume that foreign language learning is basically a mech anical process of habit formation ana that habits are strengthened by reinforcement and association students are guided in such a way that they practice only the right respone 0 have ses some experrtts have so emphasized the mechanical nature of language acquisition that they claim students can master the foundation structures of the language without reference pattern practice one to meaning of the central features of the audio lingual method in which substitutions are made on a basic pattern would appear to be a direct result of the behavioral idea of generalone frequently ization of stimuli finds the cue in such a drill referred to as the stimulus and the answer as the response little more need be said the language acquisition heritage is readily apparent on page 6 col 1I I1
A

ing and reacting as a machine to

lish language institute and the BATESL program of the church college
of hawaaiiii aw
TESL

tuersily pRlEcPtiORTtEeR ub i a on of h q a ter
mrs

eng-

editor

william D conway assistant professor of english and

cognitive theory
cognitive psychologist on the other hand emphasizes what goes on in the mind of the child in addition to the external factors here is one of the primary differences between the two approaches to language acquisition which places them on divergent paths the cognitive psychologist believes that the mind has a great deal to do with language acquisition rather than act

staff

the

TESL

tant professor

alice pack assisof english

and

english as a second language in hawaii the south pacific and asia may be submitted to the editor through box 127 the church college
of hawaii pages

articles relevant to teaching
laiie hawaii l
96762

ma-

nuscripts should be double spaced not exceeding three and typed
march 7 1969 and may 1 I summer edition

is

deadline for the spring

for

edition
the