二语习得的监控模式

1.TheMonitorModel

Inthe1970s,animportanttheoryofL2learningwasputforwardonthebasisofearlymorphemeorderstudiesdescribedabove.ItwasknownastheMonitorModelandconsistedoffiveparts,describedbrieflybelow.ItwasdevelopedinreactiontoearlierbehavioristtheoriesofSLA.Eventhoughmostofitspartshavebeendiscreditedforlackofempiricalevidence,itdidrepresentanimportantchangeinthinkingand,assuch,representsanimportantmilestoneinthehistoryofSLA.

TheAcquisition-LearningHypothesisKrashen(1982)assumedthatL2learnershavetwoindependentmeansofdevelopingknowledgeofanL2:onewayisthroughwhathecalledacquisition,andtheotheristhroughlearning:

acquisition[is]aprocesssimilar,ifnotidenticaltothewaychildrendevelopabilityintheirfirstlanguage.Languageacquisitionisasubconsciousprocess;languageacquirersarenotusuallyawareofthefactthattheyareacquiringlanguage,butareonlyawareofthefactthattheyareusingthelanguageforcommunication.Theresultoflanguageacquisition,acquiredcompetence,isalsosubconscious.Wearegenerallynotconsciouslyawareoftherulesofthelanguageswehaveacquired.Instead,wehavea"feel"forcorrectness.Grammaticalsentences"sound"right,or"feel"right,anderrorsfeelwrong,evenifwedonotconsciouslyknowwhatrulewasviolated....Innontechnicalterms,acquisitionis"pickingup"alanguage.

Thesecondwaytodevelopcompetenceinasecondlanguageisbylanguagelearning.Wewillusetheterm"learning"henceforthtorefertoconsciousknowledgeofasecondlanguage,knowingtherules,beingawareofthem,andbeingabletotalkaboutthem.Innontechnicalterms,learningis"knowingabout"alanguage,knowntomostpeopleas"grammar",or"rules".Somesynonymsincludeformalknowledgeofalanguageorexplicitlearning.

(Krashen,1982,p.10)

InKrashen‘sview,notonlydoeslanguagedevelopmenttakeplaceintwodifferentways,butlearnersalsousethelanguagedevelopedthroughthesetwosystemsfordifferentpurposes.Thus,theknowledgeacquired(inthenontechnicaluseoftheterm)throughthesemeansremainsinternalizeddifferently.Whatismore,knowledgelearnedthroughonemeans(learning)cannotbeinternalizedasknowledgeoftheotherkind(namely,acquisition).

Howarethesetwoknowledgetypesuseddifferently?Theacquiredsystemisusedtoproducelanguage.Theacquisitionsystemgeneratesutterancesbecause,inproducinglanguage,learnersfocusonmeaning,notonform.Thelearnedsystemservesasan"inspector"oftheacquiredsystem.Itcheckstoensurethecorrectnessoftheutteranceagainsttheknowledgeinthelearnedsystem.

TheNaturalOrderHypothesis

AccordingtothispartoftheMonitorModel,elementsoflanguage(orlanguagerules)areacquiredinapredictableorder.Theorderisthesame,regardlessofwhetherornotinstructionisinvolved.The"naturalorder"wasdeterminedbyasynthesisoftheresultsofthemorphemeorderstudiesandisaresultoftheacquiredsystem,withoutinterferencefromthelearnedsystem.

TheMonitorHypothesis

TheMonitorisaconstructcentraltoKrashen‘sMonitorModel.TheMonitorisrelatedtothedistinctiondiscussedabovebetweenacquisitionandlearning.Recallthatonlytheacquiredsystemisresponsibleforinitiatingspeech.Thelearnedsystemhasaspecialfunction—toserveasamonitorand,hence,toaltertheoutputoftheacquiredsystem.Krashenpresentedadiagramofthisevent,asshowninFigure5.8.

Output

Learnedcompetenee(theMonitor)

Acquiredcompetence

Figure5.8AcquisitionandLearninginSecondLanguageProduction(Source:FromPrinciplesandPracticeinSecondLanguageAcquisitionbyS.Krashen,1982,Pergamon.Reprintedbypermissionoftheauthor.)

InKrashen‘sview,therearethreeconditionsthatmustbemetforMonitorusage,althoughheclaimedthat,whereasthesearenecessaryconditions,theyarenotnecessarilysufficient,becausetheMonitormaynotbeactivated,evenwhenallthreeconditionshavebeensatisfied.ThethreeconditionsforMonitoruseareasfollows:

Time:Learnersneedtimetoconsciouslythinkaboutandusetherulesavailabletothemintheirlearnedsystem.

Focusonform:Althoughtimemaybebasic,onemustalsobefocusedonform.Learnersmustbepayingattentiontohowtheyaresayingsomething,notjusttowhattheyaresaying.

Knowtherule:Inordertoapplyarule,onehastoknowit.Inotherwords,onehastohaveanappropriatelearnedsysteminordertoapplyit.

TheMonitorisintendedtolinktheacquiredandlearnedsystemsinasituationoflanguageuse.TheMonitorconsistsoflearnedknowledge,andtheonlyfunctionoflearnedknowledgeistoeditutterances.FollowingfromthisistheideathattheMonitorcanonlybeusedinproduction;itisuselessincomprehension.How,then,dolearnersinaclassroomsettingevercomprehendtheL2,as,forallintentsandpurposes,theyhavenoacquiredsystem?Thefollowingisananecdotethatdescribeshowlearnedknowledge(if,bythat,wemeanconsciousknowledgeofrules)canbeusedindecoding:

Theotherdaywhilelisteningtotheradio,Iheardtheannouncerannouncewagunaanokageki,kamigaminokasoware.Knowingthatkageki="opera"andthatkami=either"god"or"hair"or"paper,"andknowingthatthereisa(fairlyunproductive)ruleinJapaneseforpluralizingbyreduplication,Icon-cludedthatkamigamimustbethepluralofkami"god,"andthatthereforewagunaamustbeWagnerandkasowaremustmean"twilight,"andthatIwasindangerofhearingDieGotterdammerung.

(Gregg,1984,pp.82—83)

Greggwentontoreportthathewasusinglearnedknowledge,notacquiredknow-ledge,becausehehadneverusedthereduplicationruleproductively.Asheexplained,heusedthisruleconsciouslyandquicklyenoughtoturnofftheradiointimenottohavetolistentoWagner.

Inadditiontoanecdotalevidence,whichisclearlyavailabletoanyonewhohasusedanL2,thereare,onceagain,difficultiesintermsoftestability.AstherearenoabsolutecriteriafordeterminingwhentheMonitorisinuseandwhenitisnot,anycounterexample(suchasnon-Monitorusewhenthereisafocusonform)canbecounteredwiththeargumentthat"therewasn‘tsufficientfocusonform,"orthatmerefocusonformisnotaguaranteeofMonitoruse.Inessence,withnowaytodeterminewhetheritisinoperationornot,thereisnowaytodeterminethevalidityofsuchstrongclaims.Thisisnottosaythatlearners,orNSs,donotmonitortheirspeech,forclearlythiswouldnotbeaccurate.(Self-correctionistheresultofmonitoring.)Theargumentisagainstthetheoreticalnotionofamonitoranditsuniqueassociationwithlearnedknowledge.Wemustthusdistinguishbetweenclaiminganthropo-morphicstatusfortermssuchas"theMonitor''andthepsycholinguisticprocessesofmonitoring.

TheInputHypothesis

InKrashen‘sview,theInputHypothesisanswersthebasicquestionofhowlearningtakesplace.Ifthereisanaturalorder,whatmechanismexiststoallowlearnerstomovefromonepointtoanother?L2sareacquired"byunderstandingmessages,orbyreceiving'comprehensibleinput'''(Krashen,1985,p.2).

Krashendefinedcomprehensibleinputinaparticularway.Essentially,comprehensibleinputisthatbitoflanguagethatisheard/readandthatisslightlyaheadofalearner‘scurrentstateofgrammaticalknowledge.Languagecontainingstructuresalearneralreadyknowsessentiallyservesnopurposeinacquisition.Similarly,languagecontainingstructureswayaheadofalearner‘scurrentknowledgeisnotuseful.Alearnerdoesnothavetheabilityto"do'anythingwiththosestructures.Krashendefinedalearner‘scurrentstateofknowledgeasiandthenextstageasi+1.Thustheinputalearnerisexposedtomustbeatthei+1levelinorderforittobeofuseintermsofacquisition."Wemovefromi,ourcurrentleveltoi+1,thenextlevelalongthenaturalorder,byunderstandinginputcontainingi+1'(1985,p.2).

KrashenassumedaLanguageAcquisitionDevice(LAD),thatis,aninnatementalstructurecapableofhandlingbothfirstandsecondlanguageacquisition.Theinputactivatesthisinnatestructure,butonlyinputofaveryspecifickind(i+1)willbeusefulinalteringalearner‘sgrammar.InKrashen‘sview,theInputHypothesisiscentraltoallofacquisitionandalsohasimplicationsfortheclassroom:

Speakingisaresultofacquisitionandnotitscause.Speechcannotbetaughtdirectly,but"emerges'onitsown,asaresultofbuildingcompetenceviacomprehensibleinput.

Ifinputisunderstood,andthereisenoughofit,thenecessarygrammarisautomaticallyprovided.Thelanguageteacherneednotattemptdeliberatelytoteachthenextstructurealongthenaturalorder—itwillbeprovidedinjusttherightquantitiesandautomaticallyreviewed,ifthestudentreceivesasufficientamountofcomprehensibleinput.

Theteacher‘smainrole,then,istoensurethatstudentsreceivecomprehensibleinput.However,despiteitsattractiveness(andclearlynoonewoulddenytheimportanceandsignificanceofinput),therearenumerousdifficultieswiththeconcept.First,thehypothesisitselfisnotspecificastohowtodefinelevelsofknowledge.Thus,ifwearetovalidatethishypothesis,wemustknowhowtodefineaparticularlevel(saylevel1,340),sothatwecanknowwhethertheinputcontainslinguisticlevel1,341,and,ifso,whetherthelearner,asaresult,movestolevel1,341.Krashenonlystatedthat,"Weacquirebyunderstandinglanguagethatcontainsstructureabitbeyondourcurrentlevelofcompetence(i+1).Thisisdonewiththehelpofcontextorextralinguisticinformation''(1982,p.21).

Secondistheissueofquantity.Krashenstatesthattherehastobesufficientquantityoftheappropriateinput.Butwhatissufficientquantity?Howdoweknowwhetherthequantityissufficientornot?Onetoken,twotokens,777tokens?And,perhapsthequantitynecessaryforchangedependsondevelopmentallevel,orhowreadythelearneristoacquireanewform.

Third,howdoesextralinguisticinformationaidinactualacquisition,orinternalizationofalinguisticrule,ifbyunderstandingKrashenmeantunderstandingatthelevelofmeaning(seebelowandChapter16foradifferentinterpretationofunderstanding)?Wemaybeabletounderstandsomethingthatisbeyondourgrammaticalknowledge,buthowdoesthattranslateintogrammaticalacquisition?AsGregg(1984,p.88)stated:"Ifinditdifficulttoimagineextra-linguisticinformationthatwouldenableoneto'acquire'thethirdpersonsingular-s,oryes/noquestions,orindirectobjectplacement,orpassivization.'

AswewillseeinChapter12,inputalsofiguresprominentlyinemergentistaccountsofSLA,wherefrequencyofinputishighlysignificant.Learnersinthisviewareseentoextractregularitiesfromtheinput,asopposedtoregularitiesbeingimposedbyUniversalGrammar(UG).

TheAffectiveFilterHypothesis

ThephenomenonofaffectanditsrelationshiptoL2learningiswellknownandhasbeenexperiencedbymostlanguagelearners.OneofthemainconceptsthatappearedearlyintheL2literatureiswhatisknownastheAffectiveFilter,whichwasintendedtoaccountinlargepartforwhysomepeoplewereabletolearnL2swhileotherswerenot.Asmentionedabove,onewayofaccountingfornonlearnninginKrashen‘s(1985)viewwastoclaimthatlearnershadnotreceived

comprehensibleinputinsufficientquantities;anotherwouldbetoclaimthataninappropriateaffectwastoblame.Affect,fromKrashen‘sperspective,isintendedtoincludefactorssuchasmotivation,attitude,self-confidence,andanxiety.KrashenproposedanAffectiveFilter.Ifthefilterisup,inputispreventedfrompassingthrough;ifinputispreventedfrompassingthrough,therecanbenoacquisition.If,ontheotherhand,thefilterisdown,orlow,andiftheinputiscomprehensible,theinputwillreachtheacquisitiondevice,andacquisitionwilltakeplace.ThisisschematizedinFigure5.9.

Filter

►Acquiredcompetence

L^ngu^gs

Input

Acqutsilion

Dsvico

Figure5.9OperationoftheAffectiveFilter(Source:FromPrinciplesandPracticeinSecondLanguage

AcquisitionbyS.Krashen,1982,Pergamon.Reprintedbypermissionoftheauthor.)

AccordingtoKrashen,theAffectiveFilterisresponsibleforindividualvariationinSLAanddifferentiateschildlanguageacquisitionfromSLA,becausetheAffectiveFilterisnotsomethingchildrenhave/use.

TheAffectiveFilterhypothesiscapturestherelationshipbetweenaffectivevariables,ontheonehand,andtheprocessofSLA,ontheother,bypositingthatlearnersvarywithrespecttothestrengthorleveloftheirAffectiveFilters.ThosewhoseattitudesarenotoptimalforSLAwillnotonlytendtoseeklessinput,buttheywillalsohaveahighorstrongAffectiveFilter—eveniftheyunderstandthemessage,theinputwillnotreachthatpartofthebrainresponsibleforlanguageacquisition,ortheLanguageAcquisitionDevice.ThosewithattitudesmoreconducivetoSLAwillnotonlyseekandobtainmoreinput,theywillalsohavealowerorweakerfilter.Theywillbemoreopentotheinput,anditwillstrike"deeper"(Krashen,1982,p.31).

Tosummarize,accordingtoKrashen,twoconditionsarenecessaryforacquisition:comprehensibleinput(inKrashen‘stechnicalsense)andaloworweakAffectiveFilter.

TheAffectiveFilter,whichshieldstheLanguageAcquisitionDevicefrominputnecessaryforacquisition,iswhatdifferentiatesoneindividualfromanother;itisintendedtoexplainwhysomelearnerslearnandothersdonot.Itisalsointendedtoexplainchild-adultdifferences.Thefilterisnotpresent(or,atleast,notoperative)inchildren,butispresentinadults.Buthowdoesitwork?Here,weareleftwithoutexplanation.Howistheinputfilteredoutbyanunmotivatedlearner?OnefthefunctionsofthefilternotedbyDulayetal.(1982)isthatitwilldeterminewhatpartsofthelanguagewillbeattendedtoandinwhatorder.However,aquestiontoaskis:Howcanaffectbeselectiveintermsofgrammaticalstructures?

Gregg(1984)gavetheexampleofaChineseNSwith