2nd Language Acquisition Vocab 1-5

Structural linguistics

behaviorism, observable patterns to decipher rules

Morpheme

smallest unit of language that carries meaning

Behaviorism

learning as acquisition of behaviors through operant conditioning

Operant Conditioning

stimulus, response, feedback/reward

Rule like Knowledge

systematic understanding of language patterns

Generative revolution/linguistics/tradition

chomsky, 1950s, something innate and indescribable about language, infinite meaning with finite words, called minimalism right now

Interlanguage

selinker, L2 learner's mental competence during development, transition between languages

Fossilization

selinker, L2 learner's internal linguistic systems stop evolving, can't get to native level

Inflectional morpheme

morphemes added that don't change fundamental meaning or function, like plurality or gender

Monitored output

conscious application of rules as output is produced

Developmental sequences

stages of a particular feature's development, like English negation or Spanish linking verbs

u-shaped development

learner does something right, messes up, gets better over time

backsliding

regressing to earlier developmental stage

markedness

level of complexity and infrequency of a structure, most basic are unmarked

transfer/influence

L1 influence on L2 acquisition or performance

Poverty of the stimulus

can't observe everything, must be making inferences based on innate sense of grammar

Universal grammar

humans have innate understanding of basic grammar

Universals

languages have both absolute and weak universals, consistent features across languages

Usage-based models

learning is an interaction between external stimuli and internal learning mechanisms, most frequent things are learned fastest

Salience

how much something stands out, due to intonation and position

Blocking

previous learning inhibits learning something new

Variation in L2 development

learners use variety of structures during particular stages of acquisition

language-related episode

interaction between learners, explicit conversation about language

recast

native speaker rephrases learner's words in a native-like way

explicit learning

conscious focus

uptake

repeating what you heard to confirm

negotiation of meaning

confirming what you think is being communicated, pushing nonnative speaker to speak more natively

noticing the gap

check output against input, realize you were wrong and learn, easier w vocab than grammar

communicatively embedded output

communicating for the sake of meaning

output as practice

for sake of producing language

output

L2 learner producing language in any form

intake

usable input for your developmental stage

communicatively embedded input

native speaker modifies input so learner can understand, for sake of communication

comprehensible/modified input

krashen, 1970s, must be comprehensible to learn, can't learn just from radio

input

any form of language the learner is exposed to

initial state

what learners have at beginning of acquisition

no transfer / initial hypothesis of syntax

initial state is only UG for both L1 and L2

full access hypothesis

initial state for L2 is L1 & UG

parameter resetting

rewriting L1 values to L2 for functional and lexical features

minimal trees hypothesis

initial state just is lexical categories transferred from L1

lexical categories

concrete features provided by UG, imaginable stuff

functional categories

abstract features provided by UG, syntax stuff

valueless features hypothesis / weak transfer

initial state is both lexical and functional categories from L1, functional ones might be weaker though

input processing

not about initial state, rather how input is processed to shape framework

processability theory

how learners put words together in real time, hierarchical acquisition

ultimate attainment

how close learners can get to nativelike acq

domain-specific learning mechanisms

learning mechanisms for linguistics, adults lose this

indeterminate intuitions

relative strength of unconscious knowledge (undrink vs strove)

negative evidence

knowledge of what's impossible, usually learned through error correction or recast, less of it in child acq

general learning mechanisms

learning mechanisms for any new skill, what adults use for L2

critical period hypothesis

can't become nativelike unless you're exposed before 5

movement

moving a word or phrase as part of a syntactic operation (turning sentences into questions)

complementizer

who/that/which, introduces subordinate clause

parser

moment-by-moment processor of input that creates interpretation

garden-path effects

parser's interpretation is wrong, huh moment,