Week 11: The Social-Cognitive Debate (Section 4) by Yixuan Luo

1. Second language acquisition and second language use CAN and SHOULD be studied separately.

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:00:08 UTC

2. The study of SLA should focus primarily on communicative "problems" rather than "successes".

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:00:36 UTC

3. Concepts such as "non-native speaker," "language learner," and "interlanguage" are inherently problematic for the study of SLA.

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:01:03 UTC

Social group

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:01:28 UTC

Cognitive group

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:03:44 UTC

Social group

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:04:22 UTC

Social group

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:04:37 UTC

Cognitive group

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:04:45 UTC

Cognitive group

luoyx2000 — 2024-04-02 15:04:50 UTC

Sample by Yumi

2024-04-02 22:12:47 UTC

Language is acquired and learned in and through social contact, as a social and cultural phenomenon (Firth & Wagner, 1997, p. 287).

Language use and acquisition normally happen simultaneously in the interaction, and it is extremely hard to study them separately.

Origins of such ideas

2024-04-03 02:01:20 UTC

Chomsky (1968): "linguists should 'establish certain general properties of human intelligence,'" the reason being that "linguistics is simply the sub-field of psychology that deals with these aspects of the mind" (1968, p. 24). Zeyun Tang

Not Interference, but successful deployment of linguistic resources.

2024-04-03 02:04:50 UTC

Such forms(Non-target like forms) may be deployed resourcefully and strategically, to accomplish social and interactional ends-for example, to display empathy, or to accomplish mutual understanding. (Rampton, 1987; Firth, 1996)

Zeyun Tang

Likely to be recognized as problems in interaction

2024-04-03 02:34:12 UTC

Because interaction and communication are per definition conjointly and publicly produced, structured, and made meaningful, communicative 'problems,' we suggest, are likely to be recognized as problems in interaction. In this sense, it may be more useful to view problems in communication as contingent social phenomena, as intersubjective entities, and not invariably as 'things' possessed by individuals (Firth & Wagner, 1997, p. 291).

Explore how language resides in the individual

2024-04-03 03:00:57 UTC

Views of language that consider language as a social phenomenon and views of language that consider language to reside in the individual do not necessarily have to be incompatible. It may be the case that some parts of language are constructed socially, but that does not necessarily mean that we cannot investigate language as an abstract entity that resides in the individual (Gass, 1998).

Xinzhu Shi

Yuxin Fan

2024-04-04 00:10:48 UTC

Language is not merely a collection of structures and rules to be internalized but is a tool for social action. Different from traditional SLA study which was preoccupied with linguistic failures and individual cognitive processes, the collaborative, inventive, and contextually situated nature of language learning should not be overlooked. How language is actually used in real interactions, including the ways that learners navigate communicative challenges and employ various strategies to facilitate understanding and learning in action, should be given priority. (Firth & Wagner, 2007)

Yuxin Fan

2024-04-04 00:25:53 UTC

The binary distinction of native/non-native speaker is supposed to be questioned: both NNS and NS can be "equally handicapped" in conversations due to mutual understanding challenges; there is an inappropriate assumption that the two groups are homogeneous--detailed language background and proficiencies should be provided in SLA study instead of fixed labels with certain characteristics (Gass, 1998)

Language learning as a social accomplishment

2024-04-04 04:13:56 UTC

Rather we are concerned to uncover learning as a ubiquitous social activity, as an interactional phenomenon that transcends contexts while be- ing context dependent; as an instance of socialcognition in the wild, specif- ically in relation to encounters where an L2 is in use. (Firth & Wagner, 2007)

Jin Zhong

learning and language use are interconnected processes

2024-04-04 04:50:16 UTC

Nevertheless, it is true that in order to examine these changes one must consider language use in context. But in some sense, this is trivial; the emphasis in input and interaction studies is on the language used and not on the act of communication (Gass, 1998).

Jin Zhong

2024-04-04 19:44:32 UTC

As Firth and Wagner (1997) argue, "Rather than depictions of interactional success in an L2, we found an overwhelming emphasis on and preoccupation with the individual’s linguistic and pragmatic failure". This critique highlights how traditional SLA concepts can inadvertently focus on linguistic deficiencies, rather than recognizing the social and interactional competencies that language learners display. The emphasis on individual cognitive processes overlooks the social dimensions of language use and acquisition, which include the ability to navigate and negotiate meaning within specific social contexts.

Joicy

2024-04-04 19:52:32 UTC

The result of that communicative experience--and/or of the interaction of linguistic input with certain innate (linguistic or general) knowledge structures and/or neural networks--does not evaporate when an interlocutor leaves the room or when an the learner goes to sleep at night; it remains, memory permitting, in the form of a modified, individual, party idiosyncratic, internal, mental representation of the L2.

The goal of research on SLA, is to understand how changes in that internal mental representation are achieved(Long, 1997, p.319).

Meghan Miao

user + learner

2024-04-04 20:02:36 UTC

Firth and Wagner (1997) emphasizes the need to integrate the study of language use and acquisition, challenging the traditional cognitive-oriented focus on individual linguistic knowledge over social and contextual dimensions of language use. They critique the prevailing view that constructs the foreign language speaker as "a deficient communicator struggling to overcome an underdeveloped L2 competence". Language learner and language user happen at the same time in language acquisition.

Joicy

2024-04-04 20:09:19 UTC

“We claim that, for the most part, they(these concepts) are applied and understood in an oversimplified manner, leading to an analytic mindset that elevates an idealized "native" speaker above a stereotypicalized "nonnative," while viewing the latter as a defective communicator, limited by an underdeveloped communicative competence" (Firth & Wagner, 1997, p.285).

Meghan Miao

The language acquisition should be processed separately from its usage due to the fact that acquisition is merely about indoctrination of knowledge, while language use contains several social factors such as family and social backgrounds.

2024-04-04 20:33:22 UTC

Chen

Firth and Wagner give rebuttal to the traditional language acquisition theory which focuses on educating non-native speakers the standard English. The correction of the traditional ethnocentric ideology has to be achieved through the clear definition of non-nativeness since otherwise society will tend to ignore non-native speaker’s comparative incapability in language acquisition.

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Chen

2024-04-04 20:45:21 UTC

All language users utilize their broader linguistic repertoire to communicate with each other. They draw from their L1 and L2 to create a rich and dynamic communicative repertoire (Gass, 1998)

Yunzhen

Heqi

2024-04-04 20:47:31 UTC

Studying second language acquisition and second language use separately allows researchers to delve into the distinct processes involved in learning a new language and utilizing it in real-life contexts. This separation enables a more focused analysis of the factors influencing language learning and language use, leading to a deeper understanding of both aspects (FIRTH & Wagner, 1997, p. 297)

Heqi

2024-04-04 20:51:03 UTC

The concepts of "non-native speaker," "language learner," and "interlanguage" have been critiqued in SLA research as being oversimplistic and flawed, as they fail to adequately account for the interactional and sociolinguistic dimensions of language acquisition.These terms have been challenged for portraying L2 acquirers as deficient communicators striving to overcome L2 competence when interacting with an idealized native speaker, which limits the understanding of the nature of language use by second or foreign language speakers. (Long, 1997).

Miriam

mwattenb1_1 — 2024-04-04 20:58:05 UTC

There are different tools to study SLA and SC, but they may be studied for the same project if the study is designed for each one.

Miriam

mwattenb1_1 — 2024-04-04 20:59:49 UTC

Not necessarily. We can learn from problems and succes.

SLA is a communicative process

shareedevose — 2024-04-04 21:00:06 UTC

SLA focuses on language development as a communication process, i.e. exchange of information from one party to another (Frist & Wagner, 1997). Interaction is influenced by contexts, and problems are negotiated as they arise. - Sharee

Interlanguage as mental process

shareedevose — 2024-04-04 21:05:25 UTC

Development of learner language, specifically interlanguage, is inherently tied to mental processes (Long, 1997). During the process of language acquisition, interaction influences development of grammar and language use in L2 learners. - Sharee