Prof. Tseng's speech on December 13

Speech Outline

Theresa Jiin-ling Tseng
ttseng@thu.edu.tw
December 13, 2007

The Role of Error in Second Language Acquisition: A Historical Perspective (1890s-2000s)

I. Defining Error? Depends on different perspectives:
A. Pedagogical:
1. “an utterance, form, or structure that a particular L teacher deems unacceptable because of its inappropriate use or its absence in real-life discourse” (Hendrickson, 1978, p. 387).
2. “unsuccessful use or usage of a target language” (Tseng, 2006, p. 8).
B. Sociolinguistic Perspective:
1. Variation, change
2. A dialect that is counterpart of a particular standard language
C. Language Acquisition/Learning:
1. “Flawed side of learner speech or writing” (Dulay, Burt, & Krashen, 1982)
2. Part and parcel of learner language development

II. The Role of Error in Second Language Acquisition
A. 1890s-1920s (the emergence of modern linguistics, associationism)
B. 1930s-1960s (structuralism and behaviorism)
C. Late 1960s-1970s (Chomsky’s influence: generative grammar/psycholinguistics, innatism)
D. 1970s-1980s (coexistence of cognitive & socio-cultural aspects)
E. 1980s-2000s (cognitive approaches to SLA: perceptual saliency)
F. Some recent topics: ultimate attainment, optionality, fossilization v. stablization