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BCLCA Book Club

2024-25

Language Acquisition in a Nutshell

A Primer for Teachers

�by Drs. Bill VanPatten &

Russell Simonsen

Session 3, Chapter 3:

The Basic Ingredients��January 23, 2025

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RECORD!

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BCLCA Book Club

2024-25

Language Acquisition in a Nutshell

A Primer for Teachers

�by Drs. Bill VanPatten &

Russell Simonsen

Session 3, Chapter 3:

The Basic Ingredients��January 23, 2025

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Our Meetings

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Thursday, October 17, 2024: Chapter 1

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Thursday, November 28, 2024: Chapter 2

�Thursday, January 23, 2025: Chapter 3

�Thursday, February 20, 2025: Chapter 4��Thursday, March 13, 2025: Meet Dr. Bill VanPatten!

Michelle Metcalfe, SD 45

Fränzi Karlen, SD 73

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On the traditional lands of the Secwépemc people

Kamloops

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We are committed to providing a Book Club that is…

  • Engaging
  • Inclusive
  • Safe & Fun
  • Transformative

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Please post your name & �affiliation under your picture.

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Our Structure

  1. Summary of and reflections on the chapter: 15-20 min.
  2. Small Group Conversation: 15-20 min.
  3. Whole Group Conversation: 25 min.
  4. Final Words

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Let’s dive in

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The Goal of Language Acquisition in a Nutshell

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  • Nothing is controversial�
  • Not about how or what to teach

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The goal is for teachers to be able to �make informed decisions and have �realistic expectations of �themselves and their students.

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Book Overview

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Chapter 1: Language vs. communication�

Chapter 2: Language develops in an ordered way. That order is not determined or affected by curriculum or effort.

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Chapter 3: What contributes to language acquisition?

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Chapter 4: Implicit vs. explicit learning

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Chapter 1: The Object of Acquisition

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Language vs Communication

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Language

Language is a mental representation that takes time to build.

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�It exists in our heads.

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It is abstract, complex and implicit.

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Language

Language is a mental representation that takes time to build (slow & piecemeal).

�It exists in our heads.

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It is abstract, complex and implicit.

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Communication

Communication is behaviour that happens between entities.

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Interaction is the process by which communication happens between entities.

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Chapter 2: Ordered Development

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Language develops in an ordered & constrained way. �This order is not determined by the curriculum or learners’ conscious efforts to acquire language (p. 29).

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What may obscure Ordered Development

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 5

Stage 4

Stage 3

There are no abrupt transitions, but rather �overlapping stages that form a slow gradient climb.

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Students acquire language at different rates,�but never skip a stage.

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Chapter 3: The Basic Ingredients

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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External Ingredients

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  1. LSM�
  2. GLM

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms: �(to build a linguistic system) �

Universal Grammar: �Languages are more alike than we may think. Languages adhere to some abstract and deep principles. Language is constrained & guided by UG.

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  • General Learning Mechanisms:

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  • LSM�
  • GLM

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms: �(to build a linguistic system)�

Universal Grammar: �Languages are more alike than we may think. Languages adhere to some abstract and deep principles. Language is constrained & guided by UG.

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  • General Learning Mechanisms:

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Vocabulary & phrases

The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  1. Input

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  • Interaction

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  • Disposition

External Ingredients (EI)

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  • Input

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  • Interaction

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  • Disposition

External Ingredients (EI)

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  • Input - the most fundamental EI�
  • Input is what language learners �hear or read in communicative contexts. Input is not practiced or manipulated language.�
  • For language acquisition to occur, � Input must be:
  • Comprehensible
  • Communicatively-embedded (CCI)
  • Frequent (repetition)

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> You cannot acquire a language you do not understand. However, comprehension does not guarantee acquisition.

  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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External Ingredients (EI)

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  • Input

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  • Interaction

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  • Disposition

External Ingredients (EI)

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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2. Interaction�

  • Interaction is the most frequent way learners get exposed to CCI.

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External Ingredients (EI)

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  • Input

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  • Interaction

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  • Disposition

External Ingredients (EI)

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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3. Disposition�

  • Disposition = attitude, motivation, self-perception �
  • Frequent CCI propels acquisition

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  • Disposition encourages the � learner to seek out CCI.�
  • Aptitude and working memory � are not related to acquisition.

External Ingredients (EI)

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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SUMMARY: The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  • Input

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  • Interaction

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  • Disposition

External Ingredients

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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IMPLICATIONS: The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  • Input

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  • Interaction

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  • Disposition

External Ingredients

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  • Language-Specific Mechanisms�
  • General Learning Mechanisms

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IMPLICATIONS: The Basic Ingredients of Language Acquisition

Internal Ingredients

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  • Input
  • Comprehensible
  • Communicatively-embedded
  • Frequent

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  • Interaction
    • Compelling

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  • Disposition

External Ingredients

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Group Discussion

Appoint a:

  • Leader: Facilitates the discussion
  • Timer: Eye on time, equal air time
  • Reporter: Reports back to the group a highlight or aha!

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  • You have 20 minutes
  • Take a picture of the questions that follow.

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Group Discussion

  1. Input must be c______________, c___________ -embedded and frequent. We cannot acquire a language we do not _______________.�
  2. What do you think makes input comprehensible? How does a 1- or 2-year old get such input from the environment? Have you ever looked closely at parent-child interactions when the child is barely toddling? What about teenagers and adults learning an L2? How is input made comprehensible? How do you know it has been comprehended?�
  3. Consider how you interact or might interact with learners in the classroom. Are you focused on the expression or interpretation of meaning or on learners “getting the language right?”�
  4. In most languages, third person singular is the most frequent verb form, in the present tense for example. What does this mean for you in terms of teaching your language or having concern for other verb forms?�
  5. What is the teachers’ role in learners’ disposition and motivation in the classroom? What about the teacher’s own disposition and motivation?�
  6. If learners’ internal devices pick and choose data from communicatively embedded input, does this mean you have to teach things and make learners practice them because they might “miss them” �in the input? Or does it mean you should change your expectations about language acquisition?�
  7. Questions on pages 78-81 in Language Acquisition in a Nutshell.

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Let’s go into Breakout Rooms

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  • 10 minutes of reports
  • 10 minutes of open discussion

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Our Website

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Our next BCLA Book Club Meetings

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Thursday, February 20, 2025: �Chapter 4: The Centrality of Implicit Learning

�Thursday, March 13, 2025: Meet Dr. Bill VanPatten!

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Questions for Bill

Was there ever an analysis of made-up languages to see if they adhere to UG?

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I am a magical communicator.