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Behaviorism
Proponent: J.B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, Leonard Bloomfield, B.F. Skinner
It is believed that babies learn oral language from other humans who speak around them. Children imitate, practice and receive rewards when they do so. Praise and affection are the rewards. Reinforcement is the key to success. Most talked about case was Pavlov's salivary response. -
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Structuralism
Proponent: Charles C. Fries, Ferdinand de Saussure
An approach that treats language as a system of structurally related elements to code meaning. Language may be analyzed as a formal system of differential elements. -
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Contrastive Analysis
Proponent: Robert Lado
An approach to the study of SLA which involves predicting and explaining problems learned go through with their L1 & L2 languages which determine their similarities and differences. The purpose of this theory is to predict where students will have difficulty in learning by comparing it to their native language. This theory was rejected because the learning theory cannot explain the logic problems of language. -
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Function-to-Form Mapping
Proponents: Talmy Givon
An approach which has been applied to the description and analysis of interlanguage. Grammaticalization is a process which reflects off of function-to-form mapping. The meaning of each context shows whether the structure is grammatical or not. This approach is based on the context in which words are used. The learner is expected to grow in the grammatical sense until they become advanced learners. -
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Functional Typology
Proponents: Roman Jakobson, J.A. Hawkins
The study of the patterns exhibited in languages worldwide, and functional approaches have as their main interest the study of how language functions. The purpose of typological approaches is to determine similarities and dissimilarities across languages. This approach is based on the comparative study of a wide range of the world's languages. -
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Mentalism
Proponents: Noam Chomsky
An approach that emphasizes on the innate capacity of the learner rather than on the external influences. This approach tries to describe the mental patterns of language that underlie linguistic behaviors. -
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Universal Grammar
Proponent: Noam Chomsky
This approach believes that the nature of speakers of a language knows things that he could not have learnt from the samples of speech he has heard. It is believed that some rules of grammar are hard-wired into our brains without them being taught. -
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Systemic Linguistics
Proponents: Michael Halliday, Ruqaiya Hasan, Jim Martin
An approach which provides a very useful descriptive and interpretive framework for viewing language as strategic. This approach is used in social contexts to achieve particular goals. A systemic approach allows you to focus on meaningful choices in language without needing to think of the particular structure. -
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Error Analysis
Proponents: Stephen Pit Corder
An approach which includes a focus on a learners creative ability to create language. Errors are an integral part of language learning. This approach is to observe a learner and their errors, correct them, and see if they continue to do them. This approach was also rejected because about 3% of the learners errors were due to interference while the rest were developmental errors. -
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Interlanguage
Proponents: Larry Selinker
This approach refers to the intermediate states of a learners language as it moves toward the target second language. A unique language system which is developed by L2 learners. The grammar system is permeable & transitional. -
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Morpheme Order Studies
Proponents: Roger Brown, Heidi Dulay, Marina Burt
This approach questioned if there was a natural order to L2 acquisition like that of L1 acquisition. A study was done by tracking the order in which 3 learners mastered the production of a set of grammatical morphemes in english, including inflections which mark tense on verbs and plural number on nouns. -
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Monitor Model
Proponents: Stephen Krashen
This approach is the process of internalizing new L2 knowledge, to storing this knowledge, and to use it in actual performance. It is believed that there is no fundamental difference between the way we acquire our first language and our subsequent languages. There are 5 hypotheses for this theory, the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the input hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis, & the affective filter hypothesis. -
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Constructionism
Proponents: Chomsky's Minimalist Program, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky
This theory is a theory of instruction. This approach considers interlanguage development as the progressive mastery of L2 vocabulary alone with the morphological features that are part of lexical knowledge. Individual learners construct mental models in order to understand the world around them. We each generate our own rules which we use to make sense of our experiences. -
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Information Organization
Proponents: Klein, Perdue
This approach refers to a functional approach which focuses on utterance structure, or the way in which learners put their words together. This task of studying SLA from this perspective included describing the structures of interlanguage. This approach regularly recorded the L2 production of speakers of six L1s who were learning five different L2s.