Introduction to Second Language Acquisition: Learner Language: Vocabulary and Phonology

1. Learner Language:
Vocabulary & Phonology
Amalia Caruso & Karen Murphy

2. Structure
1. Vocabulary
2. The Aspects of a Word
3. Frequency
4. Strategies for Meaning
5. Strategies for Acquisition
6. A brief History of L2 Acquisition Phonology
7. Learner Problems
8. Teaching Pronunciation

3. 1. Vocabulary
 “Of all error types, learners consider vocabulary
errors the most serious“
 “[L]exical errors are the most common among
second language learners“
 “[N]ative speakers find lexical errors to be more
disruptive than grammatical errors“
source: Gass, S.M. & Selinker, L. (2001). Second Language
Acquisition. An Introductory Course. 2nd ed. London: LEA, 372.

4. 1. Vocabulary
 is everywhere
 can disturb communication
 connected to phonology, orthography, morphology,
grammar, etc.

5. 1. Vocabulary
1.1 English in Numbers
 It is estimated that the vocabulary of English ranges
from
100,000 to 1,000,000 words
(dependant on the way one counts the words)
 An educated speaker of English is believed to know
at least
20,000 words
 Most everyday conversation requires about
2,000 words
 80 – 90% of most non-technical texts is made up by
2,000 to 3,000 words
(the most frequent ones)

6. 1. Vocabulary
1.2 L1-Learners vs. L2-Learners
L1 acquisition in
children
(first 1,000 or 2,000 words)
L2 acquisition in older
learners
L1 spoken in environment exposed to far smaller
samples of language
helpful contexts not always very helpful
less difficult words more difficult, meanings
may not be easily guessed

7. 1. Vocabulary
1.3 Vocabulary Tests (Meara)
“The first step in knowing a word may
simply be to recognize that it is a word”
http://www.lextutor.ca/tests/yes_no_eng/test_1/
 items which look like English words but are not
 estimate vocabulary size
 effective even for advanced learners as number of
chosen non-words is also taken into account

8. 2. The Aspects of a Word
“A word is more than its meaning!”
 form: written or spoken
 grammatical properties
 category, (im-)possible structure, idiosyncratic
grammatical information
 lexical properties
 word combinations, appropriateness
 Meaning
 general & specific

9. 3. Frequency
 as long as students receive natural input from
course books and teachers they will be getting the
most common words automatically
 but it is often the edited texts and classroom
conversations which do not have these natural
properties
(e.g. vocabulary is listed according to alphabetical
order with brief translation into L1)
(cf. Cook)

10. 3. Frequency
 with which a word is seen, heard and understood
 up to 16 encounters to establish it in memory
 even more to use it in fluent speech & to
understand it immediately
(cf. Nation)

11. 4. Strategies for Meaning
4.1 One-Syllable & Borrowed Words, Cognates
List 1 List 2 List 3
Friend Hamburger Government
More Coke Responsibility
Town T-shirt Dictionary
Book Walkman Elementary
Hunt Taxi Remarkable
Sing Pizza Description
Box Hotel Expression
Smile Dollar International
Eye Internet Preparation
Night Disco Activity
(source: Lightbown, P.M. & Spada, N. p.98)

12. 4. Strategies for Meaning
4.1 One-Syllable & Borrowed Words, Cognates
List 1: One-Syllable Words
 among most common words
 but not likely to be known without former instruction
or exposure to English
 form and pronunciation give no clue to meaning
 many exposures in order to establish them in
memory

13. 4. Strategies for Meaning
4.1 One-Syllable & Borrowed Words, Cognates
List 2: Borrowed Words
 international vocabulary
 might be known to people who have never learned
English, as well
 borrowed words

14. 4. Strategies for Meaning
4.1 One-Syllable & Borrowed Words, Cognates
List 3: Cognates
 Infrequent
 but known on sight or learned after single exposure
 resemblance to their translation equivalent in other
languages

15. 4. Strategies for Meaning
4.1 One-Syllable & Borrowed Words, Cognates
Cognates
 misinterpretation possible
 recognition not always easy
 in general, more accessible in written than in
spoken language

16. 4. Strategies for Meaning
4.2 Other Strategies
 guessing from situation or context
 using a dictionary
 making deductions from the word-form

17. 5. Strategies for Acquisition
5.1 Acquisition through Reading?
 some theorists suggest that one can learn
vocabulary with little intentional effort (“Reading for
pleasure”)
 has a positive impact on learning, but doubtful:
 one has to know 95% of the words in a text in order
to get the meaning of a new word (cf. Laufer)

18. 5. Strategies for Acquisition
5.1 Acquisition through Reading?
 one has to encounter a new word many times (cf.
Nation)
 certain types of words are very rare in narratives
(cf. Gardner)
 certain types of books forbid the acquisition of
words important for academic needs

19. 5. Strategies for Acquisition
5.1 Acquisition through Reading?
 more successful with focused attention through
activities and productive tasks (cf. Hulstijn
Laufer)
 more effective with good learning strategies, as well
(cf. Kojic-Sabo & Lightbown)

20. 5. Strategies for Acquisition
5.2 Other Strategies
 repetition and rote learning
 organizing words
 linking to existing knowledge
 reviewing

21. 6. A brief History of L2 Acquisition Phonology
 Not as much research on phonology as on other
components of language
 Audiolingualism: techniques aimed at perception
and production of the distinction of single sounds
 Critical period hypothesis: native-like pronunciation
= unrealistic for L2
 Communicative language teaching: little attention, if
included: emphasis on rhythm, stress and intonation

22. 7. Learner Problems
7.1 The basic Trouble: L1 Influence
 Languages differ in sounds & their structuring into
syllables as well as intonation
 Degree of L1/L2 difference influences L2 phonology
 More difference = longer period to achieve fluency
 Chinese vs. German or Dutch
 Affects other areas of language, too

23. 7. Learner Problems
7.1 The basic Trouble: L1 Influence
Can you think of typical mistakes
foreigners from a specific
country make?

24. 7. Learner Problems
7.1 The basic Trouble: L1 Influence
 Some examples:
 Korean L1: problem hearing & producing /l/
and /r/ sound
 Sounds not distinct in Korean
 Spanish L1: “I e-speak e-Spanish”
 No consonant clusters starting with “s” at the
beginning of words in Spanish
 French L1: stress on last syllable
 Normal in French

25. 7. Learner Problems
7.2 In Detail: Phonemes
 Phoneme: sound that distinguishes meaning in a
particular language
 Languages differ in their choice of phonemes
 Typical pronunciation material: hearing and
repeating sentences with high concentration on
particular phoneme
 Emphasis on practice rather than
communication
 Tries to build up new pronunciation habits

26. 7. Learner Problems
7.2 In Detail: Phonemes
 Problem: Phoneme itself is not responsible
 Distinctive features of phonemes differ (e.g. voice,
aspiration)
 Learner needs to learn both
 Harder to learn distinctive features (esp. of known
phoneme) than a new phoneme
 Learner stages:
 Presystematic stage
 Transfer stage
 Approximative stage

27. 7. Learner Problems
7.3 In Detail: Syllable Structure
 Which of the following do you believe to be
possible and which impossible English words?
 Pfunging
 Plin
 Pzan
 Prush
 Trilly
 Tnuc

28. 7. Learner Problems
7.3 In Detail: Syllable Structure
 Language specific rules how syllables are made up
 English: compulsory vowel preceded or followed by
one or more consonants
 Main L2 trouble: consonant combinations
 Even if consonants of both languages are the
same combinations may differ
 L2 learners try to make syllables fit their L1
 Interlanguage solution

29. 7. Learner Problems
7.3 In Detail: Syllable Structure
 Epenthesis: insertion of extra vowel to make
English fit L1 (e.g. Korean, Arabic)
 Korean: “kelass” for class
 Japanese “sutoraki” for strike
 Simplification: deletion of consonants out of words if
not allowed in L1
 Cantonese: “Joa” for Joan

30. 7. Learner Problems
7.4 In Detail: Voicing (VOT)
 Voice onset time: the moment voicing starts
 Systems differ
 Example: stops
 English voiced: before or almost simultaneous to
moment of release
 English unvoiced: after release
 Spanish: before release
 Spanish unvoiced: almost simultaneous to
release
 Spanish speaker may interpret voiced as unvoiced

31. 7. Learner Problems
7.5 Universal Processes
 Occur in later stages of L2 acquisition (Major, 1986)
 Early stages: stronger L1 interference
 Simplification happens almost regardless of L1
 Devoicing of final consonants
 Epenthesis depends on structure of L1 but seems
available to all L2 learners

32. 8. Teaching Pronunciation
 Recent studies: can make difference when focus
lies on suprasegmentals rather than segmentals
(Hahn, 2004)
 Typical: Ad-hoc correction of single words in
isolation
 Learning must include: pronunciation rules,
syllable structure & precise VOT control
 Relationship reception/production of sounds is
complex

33. 8. Teaching Pronunciation
 Evelyn Altenberg (2005)
 Learners good at writing pseudowords
 NOT so good at production
 Faults need to be related to students current
interlanguage
 Learner stage orientation:
 Beginners: emphasis on single words
 Intermediate: relate to L1
 Advanced: L2 sound system separate

34. 8. Teaching Pronunciation
8.1 Standards
 Controversial issue
 Intelligibility rather than native-like ability
 Strong foreign accent can still be
comprehensible (Munrow/Derwing, 1995)
 Teachers should be aware that some sounds will
never improve (treat them differently to the ones
that will)
 Remember: success rate depends on learner’s
motivation

35. 8. Teaching Pronunciation
8.2 Influential Factors
 Student’s L1
 Amount and type of exposure to L2
 Degree of L1 use
 Ethnic orientation and sense of identity

36. 8. Teaching Pronunciation
8.3 Standard Teaching Techniques
 Phonetic Script
 Disputed whether conscious awareness
converts into ability to speak
 Imitation
 Discrimination of sounds
 Minimal pair exercises: no context
 Consciousness raising
 Training ears to hear things better (cf. Cook)
 Communication
 Real life problems

37. 8. Teaching Pronunciation
8.4 Intonation
 Intonation shows: grammatical points, discourse
connections, speakers’ attitudes
 Helps intelligibility
 L2 intonation similar to L1: few problems
 New patterns: own strategies of students
 Mostly: practice and repetition
 Better: awareness for nature of intonation
 Dickerson (1987): L2 intonation instruction is indeed
very helpful

38. Sources
 Gass, S.M. & Selinker, L. (2001). Second Language
Acquisition. An Introductory Course. 2nd ed.
London: LEA.
 Cook, V. (2001). Second Language Learning and
Language Teaching. 3rd ed. New York: OUP.
 Lightbown P.M. & Spada, N. (2006). How
Languages are Learned. 3rd ed. Oxford: OUP.

39. And finally:
Thanks for your attention!
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