McLeod 1

Journals and Essays

Brandon McLeod
Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice
Dr. Burnett
15 April 2015
Brandon McLeod
Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice
Dr. Burnett
25 February 2015
Journal 1: Brown Chapter 6, Page 175, Topic 1
Consider each of the following six affective factors: self-esteem, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety,
empathy, and extroversion. Intuitively assess your own level (from high to low on the first five;
either extroversion or introversion on the last) on each factor. Then, in your journal, write your
conclusions in a chart, and follow up with comments about how each factor manifests itself in
you in your foreign language class (past or present).

McLeod 2

Affective Factors
5
4
3

Low(0) - High(5)/ Introversion(0) - Extroversion(5)

2
1
0
self esteem inhibition risk-taking

anxiety

empaty extroversion

I feel that by taking a step back and examining oneself and the affective factors can put
into better perspective what one experiences as a second language learner. As for me, I analyzed
my relatively recent experience living abroad in Japan. The numbers I put in my chart are how I
felt toward the end of my second year.
In regards to self-esteem, I think that in a culture like Japan it is easy for beginner
language learners to have greater self-esteem. Practically any use of Japanese is met with
numerous compliments and encouragement. However, after two years of living in Japan and still
receiving compliments on simple things like Hello and Thank you, what used to provide a
boost in confidence or self-esteem has become mildly insulting and can make one feel as if their
progress is being belittled. Furthermore, I feel like it is in the nature of the typical second
language learner to not have high self-esteem. I certainly did not feel accomplished when I read a
book intended for small children, and I cannot expect my students to feel accomplished either.
For many it is embarrassing and I should be included in that group. Awareness of language

McLeod 3
learning, development, and the amount of time it takes to become proficient in another language
are little comfort to ones self-esteem. However, I am not self-deprecating in my language
learning, so I felt that self-esteem should be ranked 3 or neutral.
As for inhibition, I ranked it as 1 or low. When I first moved to Japan, the person I was
replacing at work gave me some rather sound advice, Its much better to be the annoying
talkative foreigner than the creepy quiet foreigner. Previously in language learning I had been
rather inhibited. I was fearful of trying new things or experimenting with the language. But, since
I was trying to make the most of my time abroad, I really took my friends advice to heart and
started talking to everyone around. I was scared of making mistakes, but because of the constant
encouragement of my new neighbors and coworkers (see paragraph on self-esteem), my
inhibitions gradually lowered and now I am not fearful of trying something out, sounding
funny, or making mistakes.
This growth led me to take more risks (ranked 4), and, because I was taking more risks,
I was learning quickly and enjoying it. Much like L1 learning, I found that if I wanted to be
successful in my L2, I needed to take risks. Sometimes it was quite scary (signing up for
insurance, going to the doctor, dealing with phone companies, etc.), but what I became aware of
was that the more risks I took, the more risks I was willing to take, the lower my anxiety was
(ranked 2), and the more I learned. As I became more comfortable in my surroundings and in
my TL, the lower my anxiety was and I was able to experiment more with the language, which
led to the development of my interpersonal relationships from the TL community.
Empathy (ranked 5) is something that I feel very passionate about, and, I think, was
crucial for me as a language learner. I worked very hard to live my life in a Japanese way while

McLeod 4
living in Japan. While many of my coworkers spent most of their free time conversing only with
other foreigners, I made a concerted effort to befriend my Japanese neighbors. I joined a
Japanese pottery class, attended a Japanese salsa dancing class, and, since I was living in a semirural area, found a plot of ground where I could plant a garden. These things helped me feel like I
was part of the community I was living in, and I think it helped my neighbors feel more
comfortable with me.
Typically I would consider myself to be much more introversive. However, in regards to
my L2 learning and development, I really felt reliant on the praise and encouragement from those
around me for a long time. I ranked it a 4 because, while I do have inner drive to learn my L2
(I am ambitious), I often feel the need for some outside reinforcement. When it comes to my
students, I try to always be a source of encouragement and not of high anxiety or pressure,
because that is what I need as a language learner. That is not to say I do not push my students, I
think that part of encouraging them is pushing them to go beyond their current leveland that I
something I look for in those around me for my own L2.
Brandon McLeod
Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice
Dr. Burnett
25 March 2015
Journal 2: Brown Chapter 10, Page 311, Topic 8
Given everything you now know about learning a second language, what are the characteristics
of a successful teacher? How did your own foreign language teacher measure up?

McLeod 5
The best description of a successful teacher is someone who has successful students.
What that person does and how that success is achieved can look widely different depending on
the context (i.e. student demographics, program constraints, and methodologies). However, there
are several characteristics that I believe are necessary for one to be a successful language teacher.
In no particular order, they are: attentiveness to student situations and needs, empathy, intricate
knowledge of the TL and teaching methodologies, creativity, the ability to lower students
affective filters, and professionalism.
When I think back on my initial instruction in French, I am truly disappointed. My first
French class was taught by a Spanish teacher (since there was a shortage of teachers in our
school at that time) who frequently had migraines. In a year of French we were only taught
numbers, the alphabet, how to introduce ourselves, and how to say our ages. Most of the classes
consisted of silent study from our textbooks (with the lights turned off because of her migraines)
or watching French dubbed Disney films.
My second and third years of high school French were taught by a native speaker, from
Marseille, who utilized a grammar translation methodology, though she had no formal training as
a language instructor. Class consisted of cloze and conjugation exercises, some listen and repeat,
and a lot of sentence translation and creation. I cannot recall a single instance of a
communicative activity in class. There was one group assignment, from which I learned a great
deal more than I had through the rote exercises we had been doing. Overall, there was very little
in those classes that I could not have managed to replicate studying at home alone.
In college, my professor, a native speaker from Orleans, did her best to provide us with
opportunities to use the language in class and also provide authentic materials such as movies,

McLeod 6
music, newspaper articles, literature, and poetry. Though we still did many grammar drills, rote
memorization of verb conjugations, and many cloze exercises (using isolated contrived
sentences), I was able to learn a great deal and ended up pursuing a minor in French.
Now that I have begun studying language learning and acquisition, effective methods for
teaching, and the importance of communicative activities that utilize context-driven authentic
materials, I am able to look back on the education I received and view some of the weak points
as well as the strong points. I have always had a passion for language and because of that I
pushed through my frustrations of not learning and not understanding, even though I was
spending so much time in class and so much time studying, why I was not learning. I am not
angry with my teachers from high school. One was being made to teach a class that she did not
want to teach or even know the material for. The other was trying her best to give what she
thought was a proper education. I am disappointed, though, when I think of how many of my
classmates did not push through that struggle and that frustration to continue with their language
studies. I know that many of them decided that they just were not able to learn another language
blaming themselves and giving up on something they were once passionate about. I am
thankful to my teachers for their efforts, and for showing me some of the things I should avoid as
a dedicated language instructor.
Brandon McLeod
Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice
Dr. Burnett
10 April 2015
Journal 3: Brown Chapter 10, Page 310, Topic 1

McLeod 7
At the beginning of the chapter, four different lists of SLA factors were offered, representing
several different points of view. Choose two or three factors that interest you the most and write
about your own language learning experience in relation to the topic.

If I am limited to only three factors, I would choose affect, input, and time. The reason I
chose these is because two of them are quite broad (affect and input) and one of them (time) is so
completely pervasive that it would be absurd to think one could learn a language without it.
Affect is of considerable importance when it comes to learning a language. I often think
about my community college ESL students. Many of them are DREAMers and do not have the
paperwork required to stay legally in the country. They are taking a substantial risk by signing up
with a public institution, giving their names, addresses, and VISA statuses. Most of them would
like to become US citizens. Given this amount of pressure, it must be much more difficult for
them to learn than, for example, my IEP students who are all here on student VISAs and most are
quite wealthy. Considering the situation in my community college class, I work very hard to
develop camaraderie with and among the students. I want them to feel like class is not just a safe
place to give their information, but it is also a safe place for them to make mistakes while trying
to learn.
Input, of course, comes with some modifiers. Input should be meaningful,
comprehensible, contextual, and authentic. If it is not meeting these three criteria, it is not
meeting the needs of my students. I realize that it would be incredibly difficult to provide
authentic texts that follow the same context and meet the target grammar and vocabulary goals.
Thus, I do not feel that it is not acceptable to modify authentic texts to meet the targets that we

McLeod 8
are all expected to meet in our programs. Additionally, if the input is not meaningful or
comprehensible to the student, then it will not allow for the smooth acquisition of target
vocabulary and forms. Everyone thinks it is absurd to teach tax-related vocabulary to a class of
young learners. However, most think very little of teaching zoo animals to adults. Input must be
appropriate for the learner. Tax-related vocabulary is approximately as useful to a child as zoo
animal names are to an adult who is trying to apply for jobs, go to the bank, call the cable
company, etc.
Time is something which is so vital, but many (especially adult) second language learners
neglect. As Brown paraphrased Lightbown, On cannot achieve nativelike (or near-nativelike)
command of a second language in one hour a day (Brown, 2014, p. 284). This is something that
I try to stress with my students. They study English for one or two years and they expect so
much. I tell them to think about a child. It is about two years before children begin to use any
language at all and several years more before they are considered to be truly fluent (using the
most complex grammatical and syntactic structures). If children are language-learning geniuses,
as many are led to believe, then how can an adult expect to learn more in less time? Additionally,
I continue, if they are not practicing as much as a child doeswhich is practically all day, every
daythen they cannot expect to make the same kinds of gain in the same amount of time (and
especially not less time).
In the end, there are many factors that affect second language acquisition. These are only
three, but they are a substantial three that, when analyzed, show just how complex each facet of
language learning is.
Brandon McLeod

McLeod 9
Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice
Dr. Burnett
27 January 2015
Essay 1: Gass Chapter 4 Question 9
It is certainly possible that there are consistently incorrect forms that a
learner recognizes as errors, but remain as such because they do not know
how to correct them. It seems to be the case that something is an error
whether it is recognized or not. Additionally, I think that the definition of an
error can and should include those difficulties described in the textas
when the student made an unrecognized error regarding the preposition, but
believed she may have made an error regarding the verb tense (Gass, 2013,
4-10). If the definition of an error does include this possibility, then learners
are making significantly more errors than we realize. And the only way to
discover these covert errors is through interview, questions by the student,
or careful observation of similar forms.
One of the main reasons I would consider this an error is because of
consistency and uncertainty. If something is to be regarded as a correct
utterance, the speaker must understand the correctness of what they are
saying. For instance, it is quite possible for someone to make a correct
sounding utterance in a language they do not understand. Thus, it is the
understanding that separates an erred, but correct-sounding, utterance from
an actually correct one.

McLeod 10
In regards to errors that the student recognizes, this, it seems, is a
great situation. If the student is cognizant of their language and able to selfinitiate correction, then it is the perfect time for them to fix the errors. A
student with little knowledge in a target language will often assume most
utterances are faulty and cannot sort out the correct usage from the erred
usage. As the students progress, however, they begin to recognize which
things are well formed and which are ill formed. Once this level of
competence is reached, the students are able to initiate correction on their
own and, sometimes, self-correct (by looking up the correct answeras often
happens outside of class).
As for the possibility of fossilization, I think it is unlikely to occur if the
student meets three criteria. First, they must be able to recognize the error.
This can be accomplished independently (self-initiated) or by a third party
(other-initiated). Second, the student must desire to use the correct form.
Many teachers have stories of students who consistently repeat errors, but,
when instructed or quizzed, are capable of producing the correct form. This
does not seem to be exactly the same as fossilization, but it is similar and
can occur for a variety of reasons (cultural identityespecially regarding
accentlaziness, or simply forget fullness). Third, the student must learn the
correct form. This last step is incredibly important. If the student is presented
with the correct form, but does not learn, then fossilization can easily occur.
Learning is an active process that requires (initially) frequent review and

McLeod 11
(later) intermittent review. If a student is taught the correct way and does not
review, then it is likely they will revert to the incorrect form. Furthermore, it is
entirely possible that a student, after being taught the correct form and not
learning, will remember having been instructed the correct way and could
(wrongly) assume that their utterance is correct.
In my own language studies, and I think this applies to all language
learners, I have had times where I was unsure of the correct form or I was
certain that what I said was not correct, but I did not know the correct way of
saying it. When I first started learning French, this happened with the simple
past tense and choosing the correct verb (to be or to have). When I started
learning Japanese, it happened often with the post-position particles that
were entirely new to me. However, because I met all three of the
aforementioned criteria and because I had caring instructors, I was able to
overcome these errors and avoid fossilization. For this reason, I think it is
imperative that we create an environment where our students feel free to
make errors, learn to recognize those errors, and ask for help.
Brandon McLeod
Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice
Dr. Burnett
7 February 2015
Essay 2: Gass Chapter 5 Question 4

McLeod 12
The three statements each have different morphemes that are
misused. All of the statements could have been made by a L1 or L2 English
speaker. It seems to be the case, however, that the latter two statements
(examples B, Gigi run fast! and C, Two cookie.) are related in that they
contain morphological structures that have not yet been acquired.
In sentence B (Gigi run fast!), the error is in that the child has not yet
acquired the grammatical morpheme for the third person singular. If the
speaker is quite young, it is possible for the child to have been a native
English speaker that is still progressing through their morphological
development. According to Gass, in chapter 5.2.5, the third person regular s
morpheme is the second to last morpheme acquired. Other possible
explanations for this error are that the child has not yet acquired the
irregular past tense form of the verb run or that they have yet to master the
present progressive is running. As such, three possible interpretations of
this statement are, Gigi runs fast!; Gigi ran fast!; or Gigi is running fast!
Regardless of which morpheme has not been acquiredand indeed it may be
that more than one has not been acquiredit is clear that the child is still
progressing through their morphological development.
Sentence C (Two cookie.) also has multiple interpretations. Ones
immediate impulse would be to state that the child has not yet grasped the
regular plural s morpheme (acquired fourth out of eleven, according to
Brown, 1973). This conclusion gives the statement Two cookies, which is

McLeod 13
grammatically sound. The child may be answering the question of how many
cookies they want or how many cookies they see. However, it is also
plausible that the child is still in the two-word stage of language
development and Two cookie could also be seen as a request. In that case,
they would be at Stage 1 of question syntax development (Gass, chapter
5.2.4), in addition to having not acquired the plural morphemeand possibly
others not evident from this utterance).
Sentence A, Grandma, I seed a lion at the zoo, is different from the
other two because it is not a morpheme that has not been acquired at all,
but, rather, the opposite. This statement follows the Creative Construction
Hypothesis (Dulay and Burt, 1974). In this example, the child has
formulate[d] certain types of hypotheses about the language system being
acquired, (Dulay and Burt, 1974a, p. 37 from Gass, 2013, Kindle Location
3863). In doing so, the child has overgeneralized the regular past tense
morpheme ed resulting in the ill formed *seed instead of the irregular past
tense of saw. This is a common mistake by both native and non-native child
English speakers. In addition to what the child has not mastered, we can also
examine what the child has acquired. In this utterance, it can be observed
that the child has mastered the first person pronoun I. The articles (eighth in
Browns list of English grammatical morphemes) a and the have been
acquired. The use of the prepositional phrase at the zoo signals that the
use of prepositions has also be attained.

McLeod 14
It can be observed that even in such a limited sampling a significant
amount of information about a particular learner can be discerned. Through a
careful examination, various stages of morphological development can be
observed. Taking into account Browns order of acquisition for grammatical
morphemes, the information gleaned from these statements can be used to
predict which morphological element the child will soon be ready for.

Brandon McLeod
Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice
Dr. Burnett
8 March 2015
Essay 3: Gass Chapter 11 Question 10
10. The following is a proposed taxonomy of communication
strategies (modified from Tarone, 1977):
Avoidance (message abandonment)
Paraphrase
Approximation
Circumlocution
Conscious transfer
Literal translation
Language switch.

McLeod 15
Classify the following utterances (from Bialystok, 1990, pp. 63 69) into
one of the above categories. All are produced by English-speaking children
learning French. What problems, if any, do you encounter in the
classification? Evaluate the strategy used here in terms of the notions of
problematicity, consciousness, and intentionality described in this chapter.
swing:

Cestunesortede,tupeuxdire,chaisequequandtumove.Desfois,

cestsurdesarbres.[Itsakindof,youcouldsay,chairforwhenyoumove.Sometimesit
isinthetrees.]
playpen:
Onpeutmettreunbbdedans.Ilyacommeuntrou.[Youputababyin
it.Itislikeahole.]
woodenspoon:Onlutilisepourprendresionmange[Youuseittomakeif
youeat]
gardenhose: Quelquechosequiestsurlemuretilyaunfaussetavecun
[Somethingthatisonthewallandthereisatapwitha]
spatula:
Quelquechosequetuutilisessouventpourenleverquelquechose.
[Somethingthatyouuseoftenforpickingupsomething.]
gardenchair:
Defoisonlemetdehorsquandlesoleilbrille,ousurlaplage.
[Sometimesyouputitoutsidewhenthesunshines,oronthebeach.]
canopener: Cestunobjectquetutuouvresdestins,desbitesenmtal.[Its
somethingthatyouyouopenthe,tins,themetalboxes.]
canopener: Cestquandtuasunepetitebouteilleetilyaunemachineettuveux
ouvrirla.[Itswhenyouhavealittlebottleandthereisamachineandyoucan[sic]open
it.]
screwdriver: Onutilisepourfaireilyadesgris,desrouges.Lerougecestcomme
onmettesmainsaudessus.Lautrepartapeutfairetumettreles[Youuseittomake

McLeod 16
therearesomegreyandsomered.Theredislikeyouputyourhandsunderit.The
otherpartissoyoucanmakethe]
wagon:
Tupeuxmettredesanimauxoudespersonnesdansettuletire.[Youcan
putanimalsorpeopleinitandyoupullit.]
beater:
Cestpoursionveutmixer[Itsforifyouwanttomix.]
wrench:
Quandtuasquelquechosequieststuck.Quandonaunebouteilledu
jusouquelquechoseetpuisonveutouvrirlapetitechosequeestsurlabouteille.[When
youhavesomethingthatisstuck.Whenyouhaveabottleofjuiceorsomethingandthen
youwanttoopenthelittlethingthatisonthebottle.]
gardenhose: Quandtuasunjardinettuveuxquelejardinadeleau.[Whenyouhavea
gardenandyouwantthegardentohavewater.]
childscarseat:Cestunechaisepourbbquetumetsdanslavoiturepourtusois
safe,sauf.[Itsachairforababythatyouputinacartokeepyousafe.]
rubberstamp:Lepartbrunregardecommecestunette.[Thebrownpartlookslikea
head.]
Classification:
swing:
Approximation
playpen:
Circumlocution
woodenspoon:Avoidance
gardenhose(1):Avoidance
spatula:
Circumlocution
gardenchair: Circumlocution
canopener(1):Languageswitch
canopener(2):Literaltranslation

screwdriver: Avoidance
wagon:
Paraphrase
beater:
Conscioustransfer
wrench:
Languageswitch
gardenhose(2):Paraphrase
childscarseat:Paraphrase
rubberstamp: Circumlocution

ReflectionandEvaluation:
WhenIbeganclassifyingthesecommunicationstrategies,Inoticedthatseveralof
thesecouldhavebeenclassifiedmultipleways.Forexample,gardenhose(1)beganas
circumlocution,butbecameavoidance.Additionally,itwasgenerallydifficultto
differentiatebetweenlanguageswitchandconscioustransfer.Similarly,circumlocution

McLeod 17
andparaphrasearequitesimilarandIdistinguishedbetweenthembecauseofthe
accuracyoftheutterance.Paraphrasesaremoreaccurateandunderstandablethan
circumlocutions.
Regardingproblematicity,thetextdefinesitastheconsciousrecognitionofa
problemthatneedstobeovercome(Gass,2013,KindleLocation8835).Gassgoeson,
however,todescribeapersonwhoistaskedwithdescribingsomethingthattheyhave
neverseen.Shestatesthatitisproblematictoclaimthatthispersonhasrecognizeda
problem,butIaminclinedtoseeitdifferently.Everythinghasaname.Inthatsense,
whenoneisfacedwiththetaskofdescribinganobject(andonedoesnotknowthename
orfunction),thenthatpersonwouldrealizethatthereisaninformationgap.Itseemsto
methatthishasinherentproblematicity.Whenyoudonotknowthenameorfunctionof
anitem,yourealizethatyouhavealackofknowledgewhichisrecognitionofa
problem.
Theutterancesanalyzedalldemonstratedproblematicity(whichimplies
consciousnessandintentionalityinthatrecognitionofaproblemrequiresconsciousness
andtheimplementationofacommunicationstrategyrequiresintentionality).Ineach
statement,thespeakerrecognizesthattheydonothaveadequatevocabularytoexpress
theirthoughtandutilizesvariouscommunicationstrategiestoachievetheirgoal.The
mostcommonstrategywascircumlocutionwhichisunderstandable.Whenonedoes
notknowaspecificword,eveninanativelanguage(e.g.anobjectwhichthenameisnot
knownoristemporarilyforgottenasinthetipofthetonguephenomenon),weoften
utilizecircumlocutiontogetthemessageacross.

McLeod 18
Avoidanceandparaphrasereceivedequaluseinthegivenexamples.Withthese,
weseetwodifferentlevelsoflanguagecomprehensionatwork.Withavoidance,the
speakerrealizesthattheydonothavethevocabularytoevenusecircumlocutionto
describetheitem.Realizingthis,thespeakergivesup.Paraphrase,ontheotherhand,is
usedwhenthespeakerhasasignificantamountofknowledgeintheTL,buthasnot
acquiredthespecificvocabularythustheycancreateaneasilyunderstooddescription
oftheobject.
Languageswitchandconscioustransferareusedinsimilarways.Language
switchisemployedwhenthespeakerdoesnotknowasingleL2wordthattheyneedin
ordertocompletetheirutterance.Becausetheyarelackinginonlyoneword,they
substitutetheirL1.Inmanycontexts,thiscanbeausefulstrategy(e.g.whenlearningina
foreignlanguageenvironment,asopposedtoasecondlanguageenvironment).Conscious
transferisastrategythatutilizesanL1terminan(perceived)L2way.Thedescriptionof
beaterusesthewordmixerinplaceoftheFrenchverbmlanger.Thiswasdone
becausemanyFrenchverbsendiner(e.g.manger,parler,tuer,etc.).Knowingthis,the
speakermadeahopefulassumptionthatmixwouldbeanEnglishFrenchcognate.Of
course,itisnot,butitdoesshowthattheL2speakerrecognizespatternsintheTLandis
tryingtotakeadvantageofthosepatters.
Approximationandliteraltranslationonlyhadoneoccurrenceeach.For
approximationwhichisquitesimilartoparaphraseitisnecessarythattheL2speaker
knowrelatedvocabularyandcanuseittogetthemeaningacross.Literaltranslationis
similarinthatasignificantamountofvocabularyneedstobeknown.However,with

McLeod 19
literaltranslation,thespeakersareoftenmissingkeytermsthatarenecessaryforsmooth
communication.
AllofthesestrategiesareimportanttoolsfortheL2learner.Evenavoidancecan
beacatalystforprogressinginonesTLforexample,whensomeonecannotexpress
theirthoughtandthenlooksupthecorrectterm(s)inadictionaryorphrasebook.Being
abletoplacethenewterm(s)incontextwillgivetheL2learnerabetterunderstandingof
whenandhowtousetheterm(s)aswellasamemorytheycanassociatetheterm(s)with.
Inshort,thesestrategiesencouragetheL2learnertothinkinadifferentwayabouttheir
TL.Byutilizingthesestrategies,theyareflexingtheirmentalmusclesandencouraging
theirowndevelopment.
References
Bialystok,E.(1990).Communicationstrategies.Oxford,UK:BasilBlackwell.
Brown,H.(2014).PrinciplesofLanguageLearningandTeaching,SixthEdition.White
Plains,NY:PearsonEducation.
Gass,SusanM.(2013).SecondLanguageAcquisition:AnIntroductoryCourse(Kindle
Version).RetrievedfromAmazon.com
Lightbown,P.(1985).GreatExpectations:Secondlanguageacquisitionresearchand
classroomteaching.AppliedLinguistics,6,173189.
Tarone,E.(1977).Consciouscommunicationstrategiesininterlanguage.InBrown,H,
Yorio,C.&Crymes,R.(Eds.),OnTESOL77:TeachingandLearningEnglish
asasecondlanguage:Trendsinresearchandpractice(pp.194203).
Washington,DC:TeachersofEnglishtoSpeakersofOtherLanguages.