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CHAPTER 4 Human Learning
By:
RODHIAH AMZAHZANARIAH ABDULLAH
ZAM ZARINA MD ZAIN
NUR WAHIDA ZAINAL KAMARUDDIN
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APTITUDEBy RODHIAH AMZAH
2007143767
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APTITUDE
The identification of a number of
characteristics of successful languagelearners
CHARACTERISTICS
OF SUCCESSFUL
LANGUAGE
LEARNERS.
- risk-taking behavior
- memory efficiency
- intelligent guessing
- ambiguity tolerance (Brown 1991 and Robin & Thompson 1982)
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Modern
LanguageAptitude Test
(MLAT) (Caroll &
Sapon 1958)
Required
prospectivelanguage learners
(before learn L2
to perform suchtasks:
- learning numbers
- listening
- detecting spelling
clues and grammatical
patterns
- memorizing all ( either
L1 or L2)
- utilizing words &
morphemes from a
constructed hypothetical
language.
Independent of
a specific foreign
language(predictive ofsuccess in the
learning of anylanguage)
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Peace Corps volunteer training programshelp predict successful lang. learners
PimsleurLanguage
AptitudeBattery (PLAB)
(Pimsleur1996)
- quite well received by foreign lang.teacher
- their popularity steadily waned
- few attempts to experiment withalternative lang. aptitude (Skehan 1998,Parry & Child 1990)
Results forMLAT & PLABtests:
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F
actors account for the decline:
1. Became apparent that they simply reflected the
general intelligence/academic ability of Ss. (Skehan1998)
- pros: measured ability to perform focused, analytical, context -reducedactivities (occupy Ss in traditional lang. classroom).
- cons: began to tap into the kinds of learning strategies andstyles that crucial in the acquisition of communicativecompetence in context-embededsituations. (Cohen 1998, Reid1995, Ehrman 1990, Oxford 1990b, 1996)
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2. How is one to interpret a lang.aptitude test?
Test clearly biases both Ss and T.
Led to believe that they will be succesful orunsucessful (depend on the aptitude test score)
Self-fullfilling prophecy is likely to occur
What T should do?
- optimistic to Ss
- monitor styles and strategies carefully
- leading Ss toward effective strategies
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INTELLIGENCEBy ZANARIAH ABDULLAH
2007143775
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Intelligence
Traditional definition smart person capable of learning 2nd
language more successfully because of greater intelligence
Howard Gardner (1983)
Comprehensive picture of intelligence:
1. Linguistic
2. Logical-mathematical
3. Spatial (adapt to environment)
4. Musical (pitch and rhythmic patterns)
5. Bodily-kinesthetic (movement)
6. Interpersonal (understand others)
7. Intrapersonal intelligence (see oneself, develop self-identity)
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Robert Sternberg (1985, 1988)
triarchic view of intelligence
Componential ability for analytical thinking
(examine things very carefully)
Experiential ability to engage in creative
thinking, different experiences in insightful
ways (deep & clear)
Contextual ability: street smartness- enables
people to play the game of manipulatingtheir environment (others, situation)
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Daniel Goleman (1995)
Emotional Intelligence Highest level of hierarchy of human ability
Management of core emotions anger, fear,
enjoyment, love drives & controls efficientmental & cognitive processing
The emotional mind is far quicker than the
rational mind, springing into action without
even pausing to consider what it is doing.
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Intelligence is language-based
Oller
Language may not be merely a vital link in
the social side of intellectual development, itmay be the very foundation of intelligence
itself
A deep relationship, perhaps even an identity,
between intelligence and language ability
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TRANSFERBy ZAM ZARINA MD ZAIN
2007143773
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Information related to one topic cansometimes either help or hinder the
acquisition Definition: Carryover of previous
performance/knowledge to subsequent
learning. Language learners apply L1 to L2
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TYPES OFTRANSFER
POSITIVETRANSFER
NEGATIVETRANSFER
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Occurs when prior knowledge benefits the learningtasks.
Give facilitating effects of the first language.
This positive transfer is most likely to occur when thelearner
1. recognizes common features among concepts,
principles, or skills;
2. consciously links the information in memory; and
3. sees the value of using what was learned in one
situation in another (Schunk, 1996b).
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Factors ofpositivetransfer
Similaritiesbetween L1
and L2
vocabulary
Similaritieswithin vowel
system
Similaritiesbetween writing
system
Similarities insyntactic
structures
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Ways to promote positive transfer
Teach targetlanguage inmeaningfulrather than rote
contexts.
Employ informedinstruction. learn
not only todescribe aconcept orstrategy, but alsoto understandwhen and whythe concept orstrategy is useful(Paris et al.,1982).
Provideopportunities fordistributed
practice after theinformation has
been initiallylearned.
Promotepositiveattitudes towardtarget language,so that studentswill feel inclinedto deal withrather than avoidtopics
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Occurs when previous performance disrupts the
performance of a second task.
When the native language is negatively transferred, it
means interference has occurred.
Misconception : Important type of negative transfer.
Learner store information incorrectly in long-term memory
or retrieve the improper information to working memory
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Factors ofNegativeTransfer
Age
Focus
Limited quantityof L2 input
Linguisticdistance
between L2and L1
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Errors in Negative Transfer
Underproduction:avoidance ofdifficult L2structures.
Overproduction:produces L2
structure withmuch greater
frequency than
natives of L2 do.
Misinterpretation:L1 structuresinfluence the
interpretation ofL2 messages.
production errors:
substitution: use of L1forms in L2
Under differentiation:inability to make a
distinction made inanother L
hypercorrection:exaggerated attemptto imitate linguisticforms (b/p)
Calques: word ordererror
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INTERFERENCE
NUR WAHIDA BT ZAINAL
KAMARUDIN2007143759
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Interference is the process in which acommunicative behavior for the first languageinfluences the second language.
Students tend to demonstrate interference whenusing English in formal settings, i.e., in a testingsituation, rather than playing on the playground.
L1 interference when speaking or writing in asecond language is generally a lifelongexperience.
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Practitioners are recommended to consider thepossibility that L2 learners errors in English may
result from language interference or from limitedEnglish experience.
An illustration of interference would be when
children literally translate phrases from theirnative language to English i.e., the Spanish formfor Have a seat is Toma asiento, whentranslated literally, second language learners maysay, Take a seat.
In such situations, the L2 learners language usedifference is due to language interference.
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Interference may be viewed as the
transference of elements of one language toanother at various levels including
phonological, grammatical, lexical and
orthographical (Berthold, Mangubhai &
Batorowicz, 1997).
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Phonological interference as
items including foreign accentsuch as stress, rhyme,
intonation and speech soundsfrom the first languageinfluencing the second.
Grammatical interference is
defined as the first languageinfluencing the second in
terms of word order, use ofpronouns and determinants,
tense and mood.
Interference at a lexical levelprovides for the borrowing of
words from one language andconverting them to soundmore natural in another.
Orthographic interference
includes the spelling of onelanguage altering another.
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According to Hagge, interference between L1 and L2is observed in children as well as in adults.
In adults it is more obvious and increases continuously,as a monolingual person gets older and the structuresof his first language get stronger and imposethemselves more and more on any other language the
adult wishes to learn. In contrast, as regards children, interference features
will not become permanent unless the child does nothave sufficient exposure to L2.
If there is sufficient exposure, then instead of reachinga point where they can no longer be corrected (asoften happens with phonetics features), interferencefeatures can be easily eliminated.
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Questions
1. Differentiate between intelligence and
aptitude
( Oct. 2008)2. Explain Emotional Intelligence by Daniel
Goleman (1995)
3.
Explain production errors and the types
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Reference
http://education.calumet.purdue.edu/
Odlin, T. (1989). Language transfer: cross-
linguistic influence in language learning. Cambridge ,United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press