L1/L2 universal sequences of acquisition
Francoise Herrmann (fherrmann who-is-at igc.apc.org)
Thu, 9 Nov 1995 16:13:02 -0800
Hi Gordon and Bill, Just a few thoughts in response to your
posts this morning regarding L1 and L2 sequences of
acquisition. I am not really up to date on the literature in that
domain, but about 5 years ago there was much work done in that
area. Mostly, I believe because of the practical implications of
such research on the necessity to teach language forms explicitly
in contrast to perhaps more inductive and communicative modes of
teaching. The problem that I was reading in Bill's "sociocultural
something" is that I believe that it is perhaps difficult to infer
where the locus of these universal sequences of acquisition lie.
As it seems that there is some evidence for universal sequence of
acquistition of certain features of the English language across
different L1 speakers, for example, how is it possible to know
whether these are of the individual, rather than the language
(L2), in contrast to an individual-in-action (learning the L2).
Don't know that any part can be held constant, while the other
gets toggled around. And that sounds to me perhaps to be the
"sociocultural something" that Bill was referring to. As well as
the question of where the individual is. Perhaps that the concept
of permeabilty (between subject and object, learner and L1/L2)
needs to be factored in and to live with the uncertainty of where
exactly the boundaries are? (without canceling or denying that an
individual exists that will show great variations on such
dimensions as perhaps speed of mastery and even to some extent the
routes of acquiring X and Y features of language that are
problematic in universal ways).
0.02$ worth.
Francoise
Francoise Herrmann
fherrmann who-is-at igc.org