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OVERVIEW

Introduction

Methods for investigating input and interaction The characteristics of input to language learners
1. 2.

Input text Input discourse

Caretaker talk Foreigner talk a. Ungrammatical input b. Grammatical input c. Interactional modification

Discourse management Discourse repair

d.
e.

Discourse structure The function of foreigner talk

Interlanguage talk

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Theory of the role of input in SLA:\

The beahaviourist The mentalist The interactionist

(Ellis 1985a:127ff)
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Behaviourist: emphasize the possibility of shaping L2 acquisition by manipulating the input to provide appropriate stimuli and by ensuring that adequate feedback is always available. Mentalist: emphasize the importance of the learners black box. Interactionist cognitive & social interactionist cognitive: acquisition is seen as a product of the complex interaction of the linguistic environment and the learners internal mechanism social: verbal interaction is of crucial importance for language learning as it helps to make the facts of the L2 salient to the learner.

METHOD FOR INVESTIGATING INPUT AND

INTERACTION

Discourse and conversational analysis it provides researchers with the tools they need to investigate the nature of the learning opportunities made available to learners through interaction. Experimental and pseudo-experimental studies it was conducted to investigate the effect of specific variables on input and interaction. Introspective techniques Diary studies to investigate the kinds of requests for input expressed by L2 learners.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF INPUT TO

LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Input text what native speakers actually say or write. Input discourse special register that is used when speakers address language learners.

Input text: native speaker usage detailed empirical studies of actual usage are particularly important before any claims can be made about universals of language acquisition. Input discourse: the description of modified input caretaker children (baby-talk, motherese, caretaker talk and childdirected language) Native L2 learners (foreigner talk, interlanguage talk)

CARETAKER-TALK
Degenarate Caretakers adjust their speech formally so that the input that children receive is both clear and linguistically simpler than the speech they address to other adults. Adjustment:

Half speed Higher pitch Tune the pitch, intonation and rhythm of the speech to the perceptive sensitivity of children Here-and-now principle

CARETAKER-TALK
It is categorized by interactional modifications. use attention-getters (look!, hey!). Adult caretaker makes special effort to ensure that what they say is understood by their children by frequently checking comprehension and repeating all or parts of their utterances.

Pick up the red one. Find the red one. Not the green one. I want the red one. Can you find the red one?

Unsuccessful communication fails to understand what child has said or children cannot understand the caretaker.
Request for clarification (such as Mm?) Request for confirmation

Repetition Paraphrase

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Purposes of caretaker talk

1.
2.

3.

aid communication teach language socialize the child modify speech to exchange meaning

Mothers do correct children to ensure that what they say is true.

# explicit and implicit correction #

Mothers pay attention to children pronunciation and politeness formulae. Mothers pay little attention to grammatical correctness.

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Speech that caretakers address to children is well-adapted to their linguistic abilities. Three main features of caretaker talk

It is more grammatical than speech address to adults It is simpler It is more redundant

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FOREIGNER TALK
Used by native speakers when communicating with non-native speakers. Caretaker talk directing the childs behaviour Foreigner talk exchange of information

Issue in FT:
1.

2.
3.

4.

Grammatical and ungrammatical modification Interactional modification Discourse structure Function of FT

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1.

Ungrammatical input modification

Omission of grammatical factors (copula, articles, conjunctions, subject pronouns, inflectional morphology). Expansion. Replacement/rearrangement.

Native speaker may introduce ungrammatical forms of the kind they observe in learner language into their speech as part of the process of accommodating their addressee.
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Factors to induce ungrammatical FT

Learners level of proficiency in L2 Status of native speakers Prior experience of using FT but only of the limited kind used Conversation is spontaneous

Can occur both with interlocutors who are familiar and with strangers Ungrammatical FT is generally felt to imply of a lack of respect.

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2.

Grammatical input modification

Simplification Regularization Elaboration

Simplification is by adjusting temporal variables such as speech rate, articulation rate, silent pause phenomena. Regularization entails the selection of forms that are in some way basic or explicit. It helps learners to make the meaning of utterances more transparent.

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Elaboration involves lengthening sentences in an attempt to make meaning clear. It is designed to make the message more cognitively simple but also makes the point that they can result in too much redundant and confusing information.
Example The 747 is a large-seized jet manufactured by Boeing, an American Company, with a seating capacity over 500, arrange on two docks. Well, er the 747s a big jet. And er..er.. Its a Boeing, an American plane. Er theres over 500 seats with er some on top and er.. Some down below. The 747, it is a big jet. It is made by Boeing which is an American company. The seats, they are on two levels. There is a top level and a bottom level. The Boeing 747 or jumbo, as it is called, is a very large jet, manufactured or made by an American company, a firm in Seattle USA. It has the capacity or space to seat a large number of passengers, over 500 people. The seats are on two decks or levels, some up on top and some down below.

Type of Speech Baseline Simplification

Regularized

Elaborated

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3.

Interactional modification
Discourse management are motivated by the attempt to simplify the discourse so as to avoid communication problems. Discourse repair when some communication breakdown has taken place or in response to learner utterance that contains an error of some kind.

Discourse management to ensure that the topic of the conversation is understood. The strategies to control the topics are: (1) the amount and type information that is communicated; (2) use of question; (3) here-and-now orientation; (4) comprehension check.

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Discourse repair arises in certain types of problematic communication.

Problematic communication

Non-engagement

miscommunication

Non-communication

Communication break off misunderstanding Incomplete understanding

Non-understanding

Partial understanding

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Repair occurs when there is an incomplete understanding. It takes the form of negotiation of meaning. Native typically use request for clarification and request for confirmation (use intonation or tag question).

Self-and other-repetition can be exact semantic and complete or partial.

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4.

Discourse structure

Non-Understanding Routine consists of Trigger indicator response reaction to response.

PUSHDOWN
*it has the effect of pushing the conversation down rather than allowing it to proceed in a forward manner. ex. X: my father now is retire. Y: retire? X: yes. Y: oh yeah.

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Hierarchy Constituent Structure consists of the speaker, orientation, identification, description.

The model was used to distinguish speakers who adopted Skeletonizing strategy (i.e. provided only the basic information needed to perform task) from those who adopted an Embroidering strategy (i.e. providing information that expands and embellishes beyond what is required to perform the task).

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5.

The Function of FT

to promote communication. to signal, implicitly or explicitly, speakers attitude towards their interlocutors. to teach the target language implicitly.

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INTER-LANGUAGE TALK (ILT)

the language that learners receive as an input when addressed by other learners. Issues:

The extent to which ILT provides learners with adequate access to the grammatical properties of the target language it found less grammatical compared to FT or teacher talk. Whether ILT provides learners with the same opportunities for negotiating meaning as occur in FT meaning negotiation is very extensive in ILT, more so than in comparable FT discourse.
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SUMMARY

Three registers of language addressed to learners; Caretaker talk the input that children receive when learning their L1 is well-formed and welladjusted linguistically to their level of development. Foreigner talk both ungrammatical and grammatical FT occur, although it is not yet possible to identify the precise social conditions that favour one over the other. The modifications are continuous, influenced by the learners stage of development and age. Interlanguage talk tends to be less grammatical but it is characterized by more interactional modifications associated with the negotiation of meaning.

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