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Environmentalist Approach
Structural School of Linguistics (Bloomfield 1933) - based on evidence that speech was learned before reading & writing.
Behavioral School of Psychology (Skinner 1957) described learning as habit-formation that increased with reinforcement.
The combination of these two assumed that speaking a language involved just repeating, imitating and memorizing the input that speakers were exposed to. -
B.F. Skinner
In Skinner's behaviorist view, children received linguistic input from language users in their environment and positive reinforcement for their (grammatically) correct repetitions. Therefore, children were encouraged by the environment to continue to practice until habits were formed. -
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Innatist Approach
Generative Linguistics (Chomsky) - looks at both surface forms of utterances as well as the abstract structures - emphasizing the creative nature of human language.
Psychology (Klima & Bellugi, Slobin, Brown) - showed that children were "active" rather than "passive" participants in the language learning process. -
Noam Chomsky
Chomsky claimed that children were innately predisposed to acquire the language of the community into which they were born (LAD / Universal Grammar). Chomsky stated that regardless of the environment, speakers had the internal competence to create and understand an infinite amount of discourse. Speaking was still considered to be an abstract process, however, occurring in isolation. -
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Interactionist Approach
Linguistics (Schiffrin & Halliday) focused its attention on discourse or language beyond the sentence - looking at both structure and function in order to understand language.
Cognitive Psychology (Levelt) was interested in the mental processes involved in the language learning act (Information Processing Approach & Constructivist Approach). -
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Communicative Approach
Context and social factors play a role in language usage. Numerous proponents of communicative competence - Canale and Swain 1980; Canale 1983; Savignon 1983; Bachman 1987 & 1990; Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei & Thurrell 1995; Alcon 2000. -
Dell Hymes
Hymes introduced the term "communicative competence" which included the rules of language use in social context and the sociolinguistic norms of appropriacy. -
Larry Selinker
Selinker proposed the theory of interlanguages, which are systematic and dynamic and continue to evolve as learners evolve. Interlanguages are created as a result of five cognitive processes (interference from native language, effect of instruction, overgeneralization of target language rules, strategies involved in L2 learning, and strategies involved in L2 communication). -
Michael Halliday
Halliday described language in regards to function (instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, heuristic, imaginative, or representational). He theorized that children learned to talk because language served a function for them - speaking was a contextualized process in which both the context of the culture and of the situation influenced the nature of the language used. -
Stephen Krashen
Krashen focused on the role of "input" in language learning, proposing the Monitor Model:
1. Acquisition-Learning (acquisition=subconscious / learning=conscious focus)
2. Monitor (internal monitor checks and edits output)
3. Natural-Order (acquire rules in a predictable sequence)
4. Input (comprehensible input (i + 1)
5. Affective-Filter (affective filter / anxiety needs to be low for acquisition) -
Canale and Swain
Canale & Swain proposed a model which consisted of four main competencies: grammatical (knowledge of language code), sociolinguistic (knowledge of sociocultural rules of use in a particular context), strategic (knowledge of how to use verbal & nonverbal communication strategies to handle breakdowns in communication), and discourse competence (knowledge of achieving coherence and cohesion in a spoken or written text). -
Sandra Savignon
Savignon proposed a model which included the four competencies proposed by Canale & Swain (grammatical, sociolinguistic, strategic, and discourse) put into an inverted pyramid to show how an increase in only one component produces an increase in the overall level of communicative competence - all components are interrelated. -
Michael Long
Building on Krashen's theory of comprehensible input, Long proposed that individuals make their input comprehensible by:
1. simplifying it (using familiar structures & vocabulary)
2. using background knowledge
3. modifying the interactional structure of the conversation
Learners can negotiate meaning to resolve communication breakdowns and achieve mutual comprehension. -
Merrill Swain
Swain states that input is necessary but learners also need opportunities to produce output. Learners need to speak the language to achieve higher levels of language competence. Output helps learners discover gaps between what they want to say and what they're able to say; it provides a way for learners to try out new rules; it helps learners actively reflect on what they know about the target language. -
Willem (Pim) Levelt
Levelt proposed a model of speech production based on the assumption that messages were "planned." They followed four major processes: conceptualization, formulation, articulation, and monitoring. Speaking was regarded as a complex activity, where speakers' had choice or selection in a conversation. -
Lev Vygotsky
Sociocultural Theory states that language learning is a social process. He proposed 3 levels of development: actual (what learners can do without assistance), potential (what learners can do with assistance), and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (distance between actual & potential which requires scaffolding from an expert). -
Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei, and Thurrell
Model of communicative competence highlights the connection of all competencies - discourse (selection & sequencing of sentences to achieve a unified text), linguistic (basic elements of communication), sociocultural (speaker's knowledge of how to express appropriate messages within the social & cultural contexts), actional (understanding speaker's communicative intent), and strategic (knowledge of communication strategies & how to use them). -
Susan Gass
Gass argues that incomprehensible input may trigger learners' recognition of mismatches between L1 and L2 and these "instances of non-understanding" are what allow a learner to realize that linguistic modification is necessary.
