Human Behavior in Military Contexts (2008) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Adult Second Language Acquisition: A Cognitive Science Perspective--Judith F. Kroll
Adult Second Language Acquisition: A Cognitive Science Perspective--Judith F. Kroll
Pages 106-126
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 106... ...
Although more of the world's population is bilingual than monolingual, research on language and thought has focused almost exclusively on monolingual speakers. In the past decade, perhaps due in part to the recognition of the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity within the United States, this situation has changed dramatically, and there has been a virtual explosion of research on how bilingual people and second language learners negotiate their lives in two languages.
|
From page 107... ...
. Rather than dismiss second language learning as an unattainable task for most adults, I focus on those aspects of the learner and the learning context that appear to enable at least some adult learners to acquire functional skills in a second language.
|
From page 108... ...
A second implication of the evidence for parallel activity of the two languages is that once individuals achieve proficiency, there are also effects of the second language on the first language. Cross-language influences on the native language have been observed for learners and proficient bilinguals at the level of lexicon (e.g., Jared and Kroll, 2001; Van Hell and Dijkstra, 2002)
|
From page 109... ...
During normal aging, there are significant cognitive declines in executive control processes. While bilingualism does not prevent cognitive aging, it appears to offer some protection against the rate of cognitive decline.
|
From page 110... ...
I next consider the empirical evidence that is available to evaluate this hypothesis. Individual Differences in Adult Second Language Learning Although folk wisdom suggests that some people are more talented language learners than others, there is a relatively limited research literature on individual differences that have been documented to affect second language learning (Michael and Gollan, 2005; Miyake and Friedman, 1998; Segalowitz, 1997)
|
From page 111... ...
This result obtained even when word naming was blocked by language. The observed cost suggests that second language learning may impose processing costs even on native language tasks that have been taken to be highly automatic for adults, such as naming words aloud.
|
From page 112... ...
for a related discussion of the neural mechanisms that might support inhibitory control in bilingual production. CONTEXTS OF SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING For adults exposed only to classroom instruction, second language acquisition is typically slow and only partly successful.
|
From page 113... ...
; (2) the Spanish word resembled the lexical form of the translation of the English word (e.g., hambre-man, when hambre means hunger in Spanish and the correct translation of man is hombre)
|
From page 114... ...
. However, the absence of a lexical interference for direct lexical neighbors stands in direct contrast to the findings for highly proficient bilinguals in word recognition tasks (for a recent review, see Dijkstra, 2005)
|
From page 115... ...
For individuals identified as having high levels of cognitive resources, either with respect to memory capacity, attentional skills, or sensitivity to phonology, it may be possible to exploit the immersion environment as a means to jump-start rapid second language learning. STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF THE SECOND LANGUAGE In addition to the cognitive characteristics of learners and the learning context, there is also a question about how the structural relation between a native language and a new second language affects the trajectory of second language learning.
|
From page 116... ...
. What is not apparent from the existing research is how the relative contribution of similarity or distinctiveness at each level of language representation and processing shapes the overall skills of the second language learners.
|
From page 117... ...
Technology for Language Learning Contemporary classroom instruction has changed radically with the introduction of computer-assisted technology for language delivery. However, very little research has been conducted from a cognitive perspective to determine how the method of delivery and context of learning affect the acquisition of second language skills.
|
From page 118... ...
Assessing Learner Outcomes A contribution of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience to the field of second language acquisition is an emphasis on tasks that measure processes as they happen and thus more sensitively than metalinguistic judgments or after the fact assessments. A key issue for designing training programs for adult learners will be to determine whether the goals of a particular learning situation require that the second language be fully accessible for immediate performance (that is, on-line)
|
From page 119... ...
Tokowicz and MacWhinney argued that this method of identifying sensitivity to second language structures that learners are not able to process explicitly might provide an important method for identifying milestones in language development that could then be exploited by explicit instruction. Third Language Learning by Bilinguals Are individuals who are already proficient bilinguals better able to acquire a third language than monolinguals acquiring a second language?
|
From page 120... ...
demonstrated that highly proficient and relatively balanced bilinguals did not reveal this asymmetry; they showed switch costs that were similar for their two languages. Most critically, when these bilinguals were asked to switch between their first language and a third language in which they were less proficient, they continued to produce a pattern of switch costs that was symmetric, in contrast to learners and less proficient bilinguals who show the typical switch cost asymmetry.
|
From page 121... ...
Finally, recent developments in social neuroscience will certainly benefit studies of second language learning. The affective side of second language learning has only recently begun to receive attention from both sociocultural and experimental perspectives (e.g., Harris, Ayçiçegi, and Gleason, 2003; Pavlenko, 2005)
|
From page 122... ...
CONCLUSIONS Although knowledge of the cognitive and neural basis of second language learning in adults is far from complete, the research to date demonstrates the fundamental plasticity of the language learning mechanism. While there are clearly constraints that reflect the way in which the first language is learned during early childhood (e.g., Pallier, Colomé, and Sebastián-Gallés, 2001; Weber-Fox and Neville, 1996)
|
From page 123... ...
. Individual differences in second language learning.
|
From page 124... ...
Bourne (Eds.) , Foreign language learning: Psycholinguistic experiments on training and retention (pp.
|
From page 125... ...
. Is the relation between phonological memory and foreign language learning accounted for by vocabulary acquisition?
|
From page 126... ...
Language Learning, 47, 507-546. Van Hell, J.G., and Dijkstra, T
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.