NATIVISM &

ENVIRONMENTALI
SM
NATURE VERSUS
NURTURE
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HISTORY OF NATURE VERSUS NURTURE
▪ The nature versus nurture debate concerns the
relative importance of an individual's innate
qualities versus personal experiences in
determining or causing individual differences in
physical and behavioral traits.
▪ The phrase "Nature versus nurture" in its
modern sense was coined by the English
Victorian polymath, Francis Galton, in discussion
of the influence of heredity and environment on
social advancement.
▪ Galton was influenced by the book, On the Origin
of Species, written by his cousin, Charles Darwin.
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HISTORY OF NATURE VERSUS NURTURE

Sir Francis Galton Charles Darwin

3 (16 February 1822 – (12 February 1809 –
17 January 1911) 19 April 1882)
HISTORY OF NATURE VERSUS NURTURE
▪ The view that humans acquire all or almost
all their behavioral traits from "nurture" was
termed tabula rasa ("blank slate") by
philosopher John Locke, and proposes that
humans develop from only environmental
influences.
▪ However, the variability of trait can be
meaningfully spoken of as being due in
certain proportions to genetic differences
("nature"), or environments ("nurture").

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 WHAT IS NATURE?
Biological/genetic predispositions’
impact on human traits

The physical
and personality
traits
determined by
your genes stay
the same
irrespective of
Example: where you were
Nature is your genes. born and raised.
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 WHAT IS NURTURE?
The influence of learning and other
influences from one’s environment

Example:
Nurture refers to
your childhood, or
how you were
brought up.

Someone could be born with genes to give them a

normal height, but be malnourished in childhood,
6 resulting in stunted growth and a failure to
develop as expected.
 NATURE VERSUS NURTURE
an individual's personal experiences
innate qualities WHAT IS IT? (i.e. empiricism or
(nativism) behaviorism)

your genes; where your childhood;

the physical and EXAMPLE
personality traits
determined by your
genes stay the same
someone could be born
with genes to give
them a normal height,
but be malnourished in
childhood

Biological and family Social and

factors FACTORS environmental factors

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 ROLE OF FIRST
LANGUAGE IN
SECOND
LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
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 ROLES OF FIRST LANGUAGE IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

1. The role of native language (L1) in second

language acquisition has come to be known as
“language transfer” － in a L2 learning
situation where learners rely extensively on
their native language.
2. According to Lado (1957), Individuals tend to
transfer forms and meanings of their native
language and culture to the foreign language
and culture.
i. This transfer is productive when the
learner attempts to speak the language.
ii. This transfer is receptive when the learner
attempts to grasp and understand the
9 language and culture as practiced by native
speakers.
 ROLES OF FIRST LANGUAGE IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

3. A contrastive analysis of the native language

and the target language was conducted in
order to determine similarities and differences
in the languages. (L1 transfer theory)
 There are two different kinds of transfer:
• Where the two languages were
identical, learning could take place
through positive transfer to the native-
language pattern.
• Where the two languages were
different, learning difficulty arose and
errors occurred resulting from negative
transfer.
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 Presented by,
Jezriel Supang Ucho
Famelia Payong Menjaya
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