Chapter 4. The psychology of Second Language文档文库文献.docx

1 Chapter 4. The psychology of Second Language Acquisition 1) Languages and the brain Broca’s area – to be responsible for the ability to speak. Wernicke’s area - located in the left temporal lobe, result in excessive speech and loss of language comprehension. Brain lateralization – specialization of the two halves of the brain. Methods for gathering data: Correlations of location of brain damage with patterns of loss/recovery in cases where languages are affected differentially. Presentation of stimuli from different languages to the right versus the left visual or auditory fields. Mapping the brain surface during surgery by using electrical stimulation at precise points and recording. Positron Emission Tomography and other non-invasive imaging techniques. Some researches and questions in this area: How independent are the languages of multilingual speakers? How are multiple language structures organized in relation to one another in the brain? Are both languages stored in the same areas? Does the organization of the brain for L2 in relation to L1 differ with age of acquisition, how it is learned, or level of proficiency? Do two or more languages show the same sort of loss or disruption after hbrain damage? When there is differential impairment or recovery, whic language recovers first? h 2) Learning processes Psychology provides us with two major frameworks for the focus on learning processes: Information Processing and Connectionism. 2 Information Processing (IP) (1) Perception and the input of new information. (2) The formation, organization, and regulation of internal representations. (3) Retrieval and output strategies. Assumptions: Second language learning is the acquisition of a complex cognitive skill. Complex skills can be reduced to sets of simpler component skills. Learning of a skill initially demands learners’ attention. Controlled processing requires considerable mental “space” . Humans are limit