TEAAFL

data collected at one point in time across a population, e.g. children who are two, three and four years old
 

Data is collected repeatedly over time with the same people, for example, the same child at 2, 3 and 4 years old.

• children usually have acquired the basic structures and functions of the language(s) spoken to them
• first attempts of using language to express themselves
• growing understanding of variations in language use
• beginnings of metalinguistic awareness (language becomes a separate object one can operate with)
• growth of vocabulary (due to the understanding of different text genres; approximately more than 1000 words a year)

• development of metalinguistic awareness
  •  multiple meanings and ambiguity (e.g., jokes, riddles, ...)  
  • reading: language has form and meaning
• acquisition of language registers and a greater lexicon
• dealing with varieties of their L1
• ability to express themselves appropriately in different situations 

1. behaviorist
2. innatist
3. interactional

• Theory influential in the 1940s - 1970s
• Best-known proponents: B. F. Skinner and Robert Lad
• children imitate and practice the language they hear until they form habits of correct language usage (important condition: quality/quantity of L1)
• positive reinforcement establishes correct language habits (in stimulus- response-cycles)
• children do imitate selectively, esp. what is new in the L1 input (10%-40%), and then move on to ever new patterns
• can explain the acquisition of routine formulaic units, i.e. ready-made chunks in the language (‘Thank you!’ – ‘What’s that?’ – ‘Bye bye!’)

• adds social interaction with humans or caregivers as a central element to the equation of L1 acquisition, i.e. to the interplay between innate capacities and environmental input
• L1 acquisition as part of a child’s general learning from experience and cognitive development (rather than a separate language module)
• child-directed speech as a modified language that supports comprehension and offers feedback
• stresses the role of interaction between child and interlocutors as conversational partners

• Developed by Noam Chomsky in 1959
• Basic idea: children are born with an innate ability to learn languages
• Universal to all human languages
• Universal grammar: contains principles that are universal to all languages
• "Language depends on a specific module of the brain
• almost all children acquire an L1 successfully, clearly going beyond practicing and imitating input
• language input activates the biological capacity for L1 acquisition
• no evidence of LAD/UG as a specific and separate module of the brain
• assumption: there is a critical period for acquiring an L1
   

• children use developing language patterns creatively beyond pure imitation, and they overgeneralize new language rules (‘catched’ – ‘putted’ – ‘childs’)
• children can produce language they have never heard before rather than simply repeating language
  • (Wug test / ‘logical problem of language acquisition’ = gap between experience/input and level of competence achieved)

Zone of Proximal Development

• ZPD: the gap between what the child can do completely on their own, and what they cannot do on their own
• idea: challenge the child just a little above their level to foster language growth and development, with the help of an interlocutor, caregiver or peer who supports the child in progressing(i.e. learning a language)

It acts as a temporary support structure, which is offered to a child to foster their language development towards a higher level.

• A combination of providing comprehensible input, challenging learners to produce language output and modifying language 

Each unit models new language forms into a 'language net' that is already available (vocabulary & grammar)

Activities that push learners to produce language more freely and creatively -> speaking and writin

...there are differences in age or rate of acqisition

From top to botto

"A learner's developing second language"

When learning a new language, the learner moves along a continuum in a gradual and on-going process of language development while acquiring new elements of the target language and integrating them into the developing Interlanguage. The developmental path also mirrors predictable and staged progress

...and a 'surface' to determine further interventions

...what a learner can do (competence view) and not just what they do wrong in terms of errors (deficit view)

The learner is not yet ready to produce a certain form (i.e. in their level of progress

A rule that has been understood is overused in contexts where it cannot be applied, e.g. the past -ed rule with irregular verbs

An L1 feature is transferred wrongly into the IL

I.e. the learner's own creative construction, but the error is neither like the target language nor like the native language