WK 3 Monitor

8/8/2019 WK 3 Monitor

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Research, Theory and the

Monitor Model

3002LAL

WEEK 3



What is research?

A systematic approach to finding answers to questions

Research includes:

Research questions or hypotheses

Data

Interpretation

Research is CREATIVE



The roles & outcomes of research

Exploration and description ± Perceiving important aspects of a situation missed by

others

± Organising & labelling important phenomena

Explanation ± Recognising a relationship between & among variables

± Helps us make predictions

Validation ± Testing the explanation to make sure it works

Exploration Description Explanation Validation



K inds of research (in general)

Quantitative ± Tests a hypothesis

± Uses measures & statistics

± Tightly designed & controlled

± Independent & dependent variables ± Demonstrates a relationship between variables

± Deductive logic to predict results from a proposedexplanation

Qualitative ± Shaped by research questions NOT research

hypotheses

± Verbal descriptions

± Unstructured interviews

± Inductive logic to find an explanation



K inds of research II

Experimental (quantitative)

Ethnographic (qualitative)

Evaluation

± Determining the effectiveness of something

Case study Action research

± Research with a view to change

Cross-sectional

± At a point in time

Longitudinal ± Over a period of time

Historical

± Hitler¶s diaries

Model building

± Economists



What is theory & why is it important?

An explanation of behaviour that makes good logical

sense and that is consistent with research findings

When we consider the huge number of things thatcould be researched, theories help us find the

significant variables

They suggest research directions and help locate

points where more research is needed to strengthenthe arguments

Good research problems are strengthened when they

relate to theory



R esearch in Second Language Acquisition

Eclectic: SLA uses a variety of quantitative and

qualitative methods & techniques including«

Introspection ± Ls examine their own behaviour (self-report data)

± Successful in research on Learning Strategies

Participant // Non-participant observation ± Researchers take part // Researchers do not take part

± No initial hypotheses

± Descriptive (e.g. diary entries)

± Long term observation



SLA research methods & techniques II

Focused description

± Of course, descriptive

± Narrow scope with focus on specific variables (e.g.

morphology, or learner motivation)

± Interaction analysis classification schemes

± Dulay & Burt¶s study of morpheme acquisition

Experimental

± A true experiment tries to establish a causal relationship ± Requires experimental and control groups

± Requires random selection (cf quasi-experimental)



R esearch settings

The classroom setting

± Can instruction alter natural language processing?

± Textbook & teacher-induced errors (³However´)

± Students forced to produce structures before they are ready

± Feedback on errors

Naturalistic settings

± Different input

± Focus on communication of meaning

± No formal articulation of rules

± Only very occasional feedback on errors



Instrumentation: Production data

elicitation

Reading aloud

Structured exercises

Completion task

Elicited imitation/translation Guided composition

Question & Answer

Reconstruction

Communication games Role play

Oral interview

Free composition



Instrumentation: Intuitional data

elicitation Error recognition and correction

Grammaticality judgements

Other judgement tasks

± E.g. judging sentences in terms of their social acceptability

Card sorting

± E.g. Most polite to least polite



The problem of defining

³language proficiency´

Dividing language proficiency into:

± The four skills

± The language components (vocabulary, phonology,

grammar)

Problem

± Language learning is unitary & indivisible

Communicative competences ± Grammatical competence

± Sociolinguistic competence

± Discourse competence

± Strategic competence



K rashen¶s Monitor Model

A general theory of language learning

Based on a set of five basic hypotheses:

± The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

± The Monitor Hypothesis

± The Natural Order Hypothesis

± The Input Hypothesis

± The Affective Filter Hypothesis



The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

Highly influential in SLA research and in language

teaching; still the subject of much debate today

Premise is that acquisition & learning are separate

processes

Acquisition: the µsubconscious process identical in

all important ways to the process children utilise in

acquiring their first language.¶ (Krashen 1985, p. 1)

Learning: the µconscious process that results in

³knowing about´ language¶.



The Monitor Hypothesis

Learning & Acquisition are used in very specificways in second language performance

The Monitor Hypothesis states that conscious

µlearning has only one function, and that is as theMonitor or editor¶

Learning comes into play only to µmake changes inthe form of our utterance, after it has been³produced´ by the acquired system¶

Acquisition µinitiates¶ the speaker¶s utterances and isresponsible for fluency. (McLaughlin, 1987)



The Natural Order Hypothesis

The acquisition of grammatical structures proceeds

in a predictable order.

µWe acquire the rules of language in a predictable

order, some rules tending to come early and others

late. The order does not appear to be determined

solely by formal simplicity and there is evidence that

it is independent of the order in which rules are

taught in language classes.¶

(Krashen 1985, p. 1)



The Input Hypothesis

Linked to the Natural Order Hypothesis

L2 learners move along the developmental

continuum by receiving comprehensible input

Defined as L2 input just beyond the learner¶s current

L2 competence, in terms of its syntactic complexity.

This hypothesis is central to Krashen¶s model of SLA.



The Affective Filter Hypothesis

Determines how receptive to comprehensible input

the learner is going to be.

The learners¶ emotional state or attitudes as an

adjustable filter that freely passes, impedes or blocks input necessary to acquisition

Three main kinds of affective or attitudinal variable

related to SLA

± Motivation

± Self-confidence

± Anxiety



The Natural Approach

Derived from:

Tracy Terrell¶s experiences teaching Spanish

Stephen Krashen¶s theory of language learning

The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the

Classroom (Krashen & Terrell, 1983)



K ey features of the Natural Approach

The primary function of language as communication

Central role of comprehension and meaning

No use of L1

Emphasis on:

Comprehensible input rather than practice

Meaningful communication rather than form

Listening & reading; speaking allowed to ³emerge´ Optimising emotional preparedness for learning

Visual aids, written and other materials as a source

of comprehensible input

WK 3 Monitor

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