BEHAVIORISMAN OVERALL LOOK AND ITS INFLUENCES IN THE ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

JOSSETTE TAVERAS, YARELLYS NEVÁREZ AND ELISA ROSAS

EDUC 501

PROFESSOR K.A. BARON

APRIL 5, 2015

Behaviorism

Assumes that a learner is essentially passive,

responding to environmental stimuli

Believes that a learner starts out with a “tabula

rassa”clean slate, and behavior is shaped by positive

and negative reinforcement

Reinforcement, positive or negative, increases the

possibility of an event happening again

Behaviorism

Positive reinforcement is the application of a stimulus

Negative reinforcement is the withdrawal of a

stimulus

Is a precursor to cognitive learning.

Behaviorism

Theory of Classical Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov

After doing this for a certain period of time, Pavlov would ring the bell without presenting food. The dogs would salivate just from the sound of the bell.

The connection the dogs made between the bell ringing and the food, caused the dogs to associate the two, so they responded to the bell even

without the presence of the food.

Did the experiment with the dogs.

Ivan Pavlov did a famous

experiment that demonstrates the

theory of classical conditioning (or

respondent conditioning).

Every time Pavlov would bring put

out the dogs’ food he would ring a

bell.

Behaviorism

Pavlov’s Experiment on

Classical Conditioning

Behaviorism

Theory of Classical Conditioning

Conducted the “Little Albert”

experiment in collaboration with

Rosalie Rayner

Around the age of nine months,

Watson and Rayner exposed Little

Albert to a series of stimuli including a

white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, masks

and burning newspapers and

observed his reactions

The boy initially showed no fear of any of the objects he was shown

The next time Albert was exposed the rat, Watson made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer

The child began to cry after hearing the loud noise

After repeatedly pairing the white rat with the loud noise, Albert began to cry simply after seeing the rat

John B. Watson

Behaviorism

Watson’s Experiment on

Classical Conditioning

Behaviorism

Theory of Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner

Conducted an experiment using a rat in a box that had to push a lever in order to get food

Whenever the rat pressed the lever, food would be released.

After the experience of multiple trials, rats learned the association between the lever and food

Rats spent more of their time in the box procuring food than performing any other action

Operant Conditioning

the use of consequences to modify the occurrence or form of behavior. Differs from classical conditioning in that it deals with voluntary behavior.

These theories are used often in

daily life with everything from

parenting to schooling to work life

Behaviorism

Skinner’s Experiment on

Operant Conditioning

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER ON BEHAVIORISM

BehaviorismStrengths

Based upon observable behaviors, so it is easier to quantify and collect

data and information when conducting research

Effective therapeutic techniques such as intensive behavioral intervention,

behavior analysis, token economies, and discrete trial training are all

rooted in behaviorism

These approaches are often very useful in changing harmful behaviors in

both children and adults

BehaviorismWeaknesses

It is a one-dimensional approach to understanding human behavior

behavioral theories do not account for free will and internal influences

such as moods, thoughts, and feelings

Does not account for other types of learning, especially learning that

occurs without the use of reinforcement and punishment

People and animals are able to adapt their behavior when new

information is introduced, even if a previous behavior pattern has been

established through reinforcement.

Behaviorism & The Acquisition of

English as a Second Language

PROS

People learn a new language according to the very same principles that they

identified to child language acquisition

They imitate words, for example and are rewarded when people understand

what they say(positive reinforcement)

They repeat the process, it becomes a “habit” and it is therefore learned

In contrast, when they use a wrong pattern in the new language, they are

“punished” by others not understanding them

Therefore this pattern is not repeated

Behaviorism & The Acquisition of

English as a Second Language

CONS

Behaviorists recognize that second language(L2) learning must

logically differ from first language(L1) acquisition where one of the

most crucial assumptions is the learners are older and hence no longer

a “tabula rasa”

The language patterns learned from their first language have already

become habits

Where the new language is very similar to the L1, this is not a problem.

Behaviorism & The Acquisition of

English as a Second Language

CONS (continued)

When the new language is quite different from the L1

this leads to the problem of L1 transfer and interference

The learner applies L1 patterns to the new language out of habit, and this leads to using wrong patterns in the new language

If uncorrected, these errors become habits in the new language, and thus, the learner fails to learn the language correctly

A great example of this is when Puerto Rican adults emigrated to the United States. Their

first language being Spanish, they had to learn from the spoken language, therefore

many times they were not corrected and used incorrect terms in English, particularly verb

tense or the absence of verbs: “You new here?

BehaviorismConclusions

Students in behaviorism

“tabula rasa”- they receive information from the teacher

Receives orders-obedient

Requires constant approval

Depends on the teacher

Passive in the teaching-learning process

Tasks performed require that the behavior can be directly observed,

measured and evaluated

BehaviorismConclusions

Teachers in behaviorism

Are the providers of knowledge

The central figure of the educational process

Imparts education

Centralizes authority and decisions

Diagnoses the instructional needs

Designs conditions for instruction

Conducts instruction

Manages evaluation techniques

BehaviorismConclusions

Finally it may be added that behaviorism is the

conditioning of the students and therefore there is no

direct competition between students but within

themselves to inhibit undesired behaviors or attitudes.

Therefore the interaction between students is

unnecessary. With this being said, we may add that the

behaviorist approach is based in the vertical

relationship between the teacher and the students with

the teacher having the superior role.

Behaviorism

Any questions?

Behaviorism

Behaviorism

References:

Behaviourism 101. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU0zEGWp56Y

Cherry, K. (n.d.). Behaviorism: What it is and how it works. Retrieved from

http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.htm

Conductismo. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://uoctic-

grupo6.wikispaces.com/Conductismo#x1.%20Caracter%C3%ADsticas%20dife

renciales%20de%20la%20teor%C3%ADa