Hi Michael E,
Hopefully others here will respond to your questions - I think you
might find traces of thoughts in the Stetsenko article just posted. The
idea of L1 children and L2 adults being "little adult learners' is
certainly debatable.
For starters, I would look at:
Breen (2001) Learner contributions to language learning: new directions
in research. Harlow: Pearson.
Kramsch, C (2002) Language Acquisition and Language Socialization. New
York: Continuum
Phil
On 17/06/2005, at 10:13 AM, Michael Erickson wrote:
> Xmcaers
> Fascinating discussion! As Steve T. mentioned quote that "language
> evokes ideas, it does not represent them" brought to mind a quote from
> Vygotsky and a problem for me concerning language as sign/tool and
> developmental stages as well as ZPD.
>
> The quote form Vy is " a young child thinks by remembering, an
> adolescent remembers by thinking."
>
> My problem is that some research looks at young children's use of
> language and learning language and L1 & L2 users of language and
> through extrapolation seems to see children as "little adult
> learners", which means if we study young children's use and
> processes, we can some how understand adult usage and processes.
>
> What if there are different processes at work? And what if different
> schemata are needed to truly understand languaging and thought for
> these differing learners? Although there may be some commonalities,
> what are the salient differences that need to be addressed? And when
> do these seemingly disparate processes mesh, or strands weave. When
> does the child truly become the "adult" user of language as tool/sign?
>
> Simply perplexed.
>
> Michael E.
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