C ONC EP TS OF LANG UAG E LEAR NI NG

Presented by:
Group 3

Elly Rosalina Susanti

Syahirul Alim
Muhammad Arif Sanjaya
 Being discussed

01 Psychological Approaches to Language and Learning

“Our goal in this presentation is

Development of a Psychological Perspective in
to obtain sufficient background
02
Language Teaching: A Selective Review
and an overview on the
Models of Second Language Learning and the Concept
03
psychology of the second of Proficiency
language learner and the Models of Second Language Learning and the
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learning process” Concept of Proficiency

Learners Factors and Conditions of Learning and the

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Learning Process

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Psychological Approaches to Language and Learning

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 Before World War I (± 1900 )

From about 1900, questions of learning, memory,

thinking, and intelligence (the higher mental
processes) were the principal topics of
Thus, psychoanalysis and related schools of
investigation.
thought drew attention to the fact that language is
not only related to thinking, but also to the
affective life of man

Sigmund Freund’s
Galton (1883) Wundt (1877) Jung (1918)
(1900s)
verbal stimuli study of ‘ethnic psychology’ the unconscious is linked to language) use verbal associations as a
(Volkerpsychologie) . diagnostic tool to uncover
verbal responses or reactions
emotional complexes

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 The interwar period (± 1915 )

Behaviorism (Watson,1919) Lenneberg ,chomsky Piaget (1923)

describing linguistic processes Debate on nature and nurture . Relationship between language

as verbal behaviour or as vocal and intelligence
stimuli and responses, or as
habits or skills.

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After World War II (±1940): The Growth of Psycholinguistics

Started in USA around early fifties

O s g o o d & S e b e o k ( 1 9 5 4 / 1 9 6 5 : 4 ) : p s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c s d e a l s d i re c t l y w i t h t h e
p ro c e s s e s o f e n c o d i n g a n d d e c o d i n g

the Saussurian distinction between synchronic and diachronic linguistics to

psychology and psycholinguistics

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 The Study of Language Comprehension

Clark and Clark (1977) states that language comprehension and production were not
based on transformational generative grammar alone, but semantics and speech act and
discourse analysis were drawn in, and accounts of speech comprehension and
production, brought to consciousness processes and strategies implicit in the use of
language.
 Language acquisition in childhood
• Behaviourist : Language development as a matter of imitation, practice, and habituation
• Chomsky (1968) and Lenneberg ( 1967), were convinced that humans are born with a
Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that allows us to understand languages in terms of
universal principles.
• McLaughlin (1978) points out that the language acquisition process are ;
1. Taking both the linguistic knowledge and behaviour of the child into account’.
2. Reflecting the child’s changing experiences with the linguistic and non-linguistic
environment’ (dynamic process).
3. Gradual and reflecting the child’s cognitive growth.
4. Including Communicative skills through interaction with the social environment.
 The Psychology of Learning

The study of learning has obvious relevance to education. The analysis of learning became a central theme of
educational psyhcology. Learning has been approached in two main ways:

1. The theoretical and experimental study of learning 2. The empirical study of learning in educational settings

 Behaviourism : S-R (experiments on animals;

rat, pigieon) Experimental psychological processes are
 Cognitive approaches : Gestalt theory (the implicated in the formulation and test
experiences and perceptions of learners have a
theories of learning that are relevant for the
significant impact on the way that they learn)
 Combination of behaviourism and cognitive kinds of meaningful ideational learning that
approach (for example, Bruner and Gagne) : take place in school and similar learning
stimulus-response theory, while conceptual
learning or the learning of principles require a environments (Ausubel 19675)
cognitive theory.
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 Concepts of Learning in Educational Pyschology
Categories of the psychology of learning, commonly applied to formal educational activities, refer to :

Characteristics of the learner and individual differences among learners (abilities,

personality, attitudes, and motivation)

Different kinds of learning

The learning process

Outcomes of learning

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 Development of a psychological perspective in language teaching: a selective
review

a.Early Associationism
• Sweet (1899/1964) derived a few general principles of associative learning
• Harold Palmer (1922/1964) weighed up the importance of age, temperament, the
student’s motivation and academic background.
• They did not neglect the psychology of the learner and of language learning.

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B. Educational psychology enters the scene
Several studies attempted to apply the new psychology to second language teaching :
o Huse (1931 ) made a plea for a more experimental approach to problems of foreign language study
(critical work)
o Findlay (1932) stated that language learning is psychologically an imitative task of native speaker
o Brachfeld (1936) recommended that the learning of the language should be associated with an
introduction to the ideas of Individual Psychology, so that the learner is aware of the psychological
relationship between language learning and the learner’s life style
o Stengel (1939) made observations on the emotional resistances in adults learning a foreign language
in a foreign country.
 The post-war years: turning to psychology for answers

• Stott (1946) developed cognitive and active approach Like Findlay,he accepted the
need for memorization and habituation in language learning
• Carroll (1953) intrepreted second language learning as a process of imitation,
repetition, practice, habituation, or conditioning assisted by reinforcement and
generalization.
• Penfield (1963/1967) stated that the early years before puberty was favourable stage
for second language learning, and he recommended that the early years of childhood
should be used more intensively for language training.
 The Sixties: Questioning Psychological Assumptions

Carroll (1966) Rivers (1964) Rivers (1968)

demanded a critical and re- published a critical stated that second language learning has
thinking of current theories of two-stages; (1) a lower manipulative
analysis of the
early stage and
foreign language teaching in
psychological basis
psychological and (2) a more advanced stage
underlying a language
psycholinguistic theory.
teaching theory, the
audiolingual method
 The Attack On The Psychology Of Audiolingualism

Rivers (1964) and Anisfeld (1966) Jakobovits (1968)

advanced the theory that language can be recognized that (1) language learning
divided into two components: specific needed the discovery of the underlying
habits (for example, the acquisition of word structure of the language, (2)language
meaning) and general rules. learning involved some habit formation and
automatization.

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The seventies: Fresh Theorizing and Empirical Research

Annual meetings (TESOL convention) have reflected the increasing interest and
research activity in the area of second language acquisition, interlanguage studies, and
bilingualism.

A wide spread theory by Krashen (Monitor Model) Krashen distinguished between

conscious processes of language learning and the less conscious but equally or even more
important processes of language acquisition.

Schumann (1978) interpreted the second language learning is ‘acculturation’. By

acculturation he means ‘the social and psychological integration of the learner with the
target language .

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 CONCLUSION

• Since language teaching is concerned with the acquisition by individuals of a dual

language command, its theory is bound to operate with psychological concepts of
language use and language learning, and psychological thinking on these topics
f o r m s a n e s s e n t i a l p a r t o f a n y l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g t h e o r y.

• In the future one the researchers will of course continue what had already been
begun many years ago, i.e., to scan the field of psychology and psycholinguistics so
as to be cognizant of theories, concepts, studies, and research findings that appear
relevant, extrapolate from them, and work out their implications for language
teaching theory

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 Models of Language Learning

It is a framework or map of essential factors to be

taken into account in interpreting Second
Language Learners.
There are 5 variables that are considered as the model of second language learning

Learning Condition

Social Context Learner Process Learning Outcome

Learning
Characteristics

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 This framework is helpful to our enquiry
because they establish the kind of overview we need.

Age
Cognitive characteristics
Affective characteristics Learning Condition
Strategies,
Personality characteristics Techniques, and
Mental Operations competence/
proficiency

Social Context Learner Process Learning Outcome

e.g. EFL e.g. ESL

Educational Treatment Exposure to target
Objectives language as its natural
Sociolinguistic. Contents setting
Learning Procedures
sociocultural, and Characteristics
socioeconomic Materials
Evaluation
factors
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Proficiency / Competence

Proficiency can be looked at as a goal and

thus be defined in terms of objectives or
standards.

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 “Among different learners at
different stages of learning
second language competence or
proficiency ranges from zero to
n a t i v e - l i k e p r o f i c i e n c y. ”

Zero Proficiency native-like proficiency

This native-like proficiency is
hardly ever reached by second
language learners
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 Characteristics
The native speaker spontaneously uses language
for the purpose of communication and has an
Linguistic and communicative competence
intuitive understanding of the socio- linguistic
manifests itself in language behavior receptively
functions of language in use.
and productively.
The native speaker has an intuitive grasp of
The native speaker uses the first the linguistic, cognitive, affective, and
language ‘creatively’. sociocultural meanings expressed by
language forms.
A child also has linguistic and
The language user knows the rules
communicative competence
governing his native language and he can
‘apply’ them without paying attention to
them.

These give particular significance for a theory of second language teaching

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 Knowing a language, competence, or proficiency in the first or second language can be summarized as:

4. 1.

The creativity of language use The intuitive mastery of the

forms of the language

3. 2.

The capacity to use the language The intuitive mastery of the

with maximum attention to l i n g u i s t i c , c o g n i t i v e , a ff e c t i v e
communication and minimum and sociocultural meanings,
attention to form expressed by the language
forms 26
 Approaches

1. 2.

Theoretically-based
conceptions of proficiency
T D Description of proficiency
levels on rating scales

3. 4.

Proficiency as measured by
standardized tests
P I Interlanguage studies

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 In teaching, the language
teachers have looked upon
language learners with

Learning Factors fixed assumptions about

how a learner should react
to a given curriculum or a
particular teaching
approach
Learning takes place
anywhere and everywhere

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 Learner Factors

Age Question 01
Language learning aptitude and other
cognitive characteristic 02
Affective and personality factor 03

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 Age question, language learning before
puberty was called into “question” because

1
there is evidence that the cortical
lateralization occurs much earlier, i.e.,
before the age of five (Krashen 1973)

This theoretical is based on the assumption

that children are in effect better language
learners than adolescents or adults

Age Question The fact: Language can be taught from any

age upward.
• Language is a gift

2
• The second language aptitude
depend upon underlying language
teaching theories and
interpretations of learner
characteristics and language
learning process.

• The concept of second or foreign

language aptitude can be used to Language learning
focus on specific cognitive learner aptitude and other
qualities needed in second
language learning cognitive characteristic

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 Attitudes and motivation

Motivation is likely to be strongly in

evidence because acquisition of the target

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language is likely to be a prerequisite

Personality factors

Language learning requires other qualities

of personality

The affective component contributes at least

Affective and Personality as much as and often more to language
learning than the cognitive skills
Factor
 Conditions of learning & the learning process

Language learning as a
Three central issues of language developmental process
learning
As a developmental process
second language learning
The L1 – L2 connection has been viewed in an
idealized way as a
The explicit-implicit option progression from zero
proficiency to one hundred
The code-communication dilemma
per cent, full, or native-like
proficiency
 These issues with which all language learners and language teachers
must come to terms. In doing so the learning process is best understood
as threefold involving the learner

1.Intellectually/cognitively
2.Socially
3.Affectively
 A conception of language learning is an essential component of a language teaching theory

Language teacher should do

1. 2. 3.
Recognize possible
Observe the patterns of tanguage Develop concepts about language
learning process learning relationships (Learning
outcomes, learning process,
learner characteristics, the
conditions of learning, and the
social and linguistic context in
which learning occurs)

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 Thank you!

Any questions?