英语专业毕业论文1 Introduction
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滨州医学院毕业论文
1 Introduction
The
world
is
developing
at
an
astonishing
speed
and
the
communication
especially
the
cross-cultural
communication
becomes
more
and
more
frequent.
Therefore,
bilingual
or
multilingual
education
has
appeared
and
developed
in
many
parts
of
the
world
for
years.
In
China, an increasing
number of people in different ages, different
genders begin learning foreign
languages, especially English, on
account of the reform and opening up policy, which
accelerates
the
communication
and
relations
between
China
and
other
countries.
In
particular,
more
and
more attention has been
paid to the English education in primary schools.
In
the
circle
of
linguistics,
representative
researchers
at
home
such
as
Gui
Shichun,
published his
Psycholinguistics
. He
questioned the popular concept of
“
the younger, the
better
”
and
further
proposed
that
without
qualification,
English
learning
in
primary
schools
was
not
recommended. Professor Hu Zhuanglin
held that English courses should not be set up in
primary
schools
before
the
problem
of
the
shortage
of
qualified
teachers
is
settled.
Recently,
in
2003,
based on an empirical
research of the qualification of English teachers
in Guangdong
province
，
Professor
Dong
Yanping
proposed
that
our
main
concern
should
be
the
teachers
training
programs.
Apparently, linguistic researchers on
the study of English education for children now
dwell
mainly
on
the
actual
economic
condition
and
the
educational
system
of
China.
Instead,
the
Critical
Period
Hypothesis
(CPH)
of
children
is
seldom
employed
by
the
researchers.
In
comparison with adults, children have
their own characteristics in several aspects, for
example,
the
relativity
of
correctness
in
pronunciation.
Inspired
by
the
preceding
achievements
made,
taking into account the current study
situation, this thesis uses CPH and correlational
researches
to
integrate
and
summarize
some
pieces
of
advice
which
are
inevitably
helpful
for
English
acquisition of children.
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滨州医学院毕业论文
The thesis begins with the general
description of CPH and Second Language Acquisition
(SLA)
that
will
be
referred
to
through
this
thesis.
By
utilizing
the
physiology,
sociology,
cognitive
psychology and some convictive
experiments, the central part of this thesis gives
a whole view
of
children
‟
s superiorities and
offers the corresponding suggestions in learning a
second language.
Finally,
the
thesis
draws
the
conclusion
that
children
are
good
learners
in
learning
a
second
language.
Based
on
the
superiorities
of
children
in
learning
languages,
proper
and
correct
methods
should
be
adopted
to
make
foreign
language
learning
of
children
more
effective
and
scientific
2 The
Critical Period Hypothesis and Second Language
Acquisition
The
foreign
language
learning
of
young
children
is
often
based
on
the
Critical
Period
Hypothesis.
This
part
tells
about
theoretical
background
of
the
Critical
Period
Hypothesis,
outlines the theoretical framework of
CPH and classifies the definition of some key
items related
to the theory of CPH.
2.1 The General
Description of Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH)
As an interdisciplinary
concept,
the CPH, originates
from
the biology.
Lorenz
discovered
that the ducklings of
goslings think of any mobile objects as their
mothers during the space of
8-9 hours
since they are given birth to. But such
phenomenon, imprinting, will die away after 30
hours.
In
1950s,
Penfield,
a
neurolinguistist,
according
to
the
study
of
aphasia
of
children,
put
forward that the children‟s ability in
learning language is closely related to the growth
of brain.
In 1960s, Lenneberg, a
psycholinguistist, further developed that
viewpoint and firstly formally
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滨州医学院毕业论文
advanced the
famous CPH in
his
book The
Biological
Foundation of
Language.
According to
Lenneberg, the biologist, the critical
period lasts until puberty (around age 12 or 13
years). That
leads
to
a
heated
discussion
among
a
large
number
of
domestic
and
foreign
researchers
from
different disciplines
different perspectives. The discovery of “wolf
kid” and “pig kid”, to some
extent,
provides the powerful
facts
for the hypothesis.
Many
scholars
also made many studies
and experiments which showed that there
were some evidences to support that children of
the
early
beginning
of
a
second
language
will
eventually
reach
a
high
level,
and
there
are
no
empirical evidences to
the contrary.
2.1.1 The
Defining of Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH)
In general, a critical
period is a limited time in which an event can
occur, usually to result in
some kind
of transformation. In developmental psychology and
developmental biology, a critical
period
is
a
phase
in
the
life
span
during
which
an
organism
has
heightened
sensitivity
to
exogenous stimuli that are compulsory
for the development of a particular skill. If the
organism
does
not
receive
the
appropriate
stimulus
during
this
period
it
may
be
difficult,
ultimately less successful, or even
impossible, to develop some functions later in
life.
The
Critical
Period
Hypothesis
claims
that
there
is
an
ideal
'window'
of
time
to
acquire
language in a linguistically rich
environment, after which further language
acquisition becomes
much more difficult
and effortful. It states that the first few years
of life is the crucial time in
which an
individual can acquire a first language if
presented with adequate stimuli. If language
input
doesn't
occur
until
after
this
time,
the
individual
will
never
achieve
a
full
command
of <
/p>
language
—
especiall
y grammatical systems.
2.2
The Second language Acquisition (SLA)
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滨州医学院毕业论文
Over a
long period of time
，
many
researchers of language ignore the differences
between
second
language
and
foreign
language,
or
even
regard
it
unnecessary
to
make
such
a
distinction
．
However,
in fact, it is a fundamental issue concerning the
orientation of the English
Language
Teaching English in
China
．
SLA and FLL (Foreign
Language Learning) are different
in
terms of environment, motivation and
culture
．
but they share
certain similarities
．
Because
of
the
similarities
，
the SLA
theories can be applied in our EFL (English as a
Foreign Language)
education and because
of the differences
，
the EFL
teaching and learning is of our own features.
In order to investigate and understand
the factors of second language
acquisition
，
it is important
to
establish
clearly
what
the
meaning
of
the
term
“
SLA
”
is.
And
It
is
essential
to
differ
the
following items: second language,
foreign language, language acquisition and
language learning.
2.2.1
Second Language and Foreign Language
A second language, in its restricted
sense
，
is a
non
—
native language that is
widely used for
purposes of
communication
，
usually as a
medium of education
，
governme
nt
，
or business. Second
language is also used with reference to
immigrants and indigenous groups whose first
language
is a minority language. For
example
，
in the
USA
，
English is a second
language for millions of
immigrants
from
a
wide
range
of
language
backgrounds
as
well
as
for
speakers
of
American
Indian languages
(The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, 2002:
372).
A foreign
language
，
in the same
restricted sense
，
is a non-
native language taught in school
that
has no status as a routine medium of communication
in that country. For
example
，
English
has foreign language status in China
and Korea. For most people in China
，
English
，
French
，
German
，
Span
ish
，
and
Russian
are
all
foreign
languages(The
Cambridge
Encyclopedia
of
L
anguage
，
2002
：
372). The main difference between second
language and foreign language lies
in
the target language
status
，
as many linguists
distinguish between the two terms by language
use
，
recognizing
major differences in the learning
aims
，
teaching
methods
，
and achievement
levels involved. On the other
hand
，
on a wider
perspective
，
the term
“
foreign
language
”
was
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滨州医学院毕业论文
most widely used in contrast to
“
native
language
”
. The term
“
second
language
”
was intended to
mean simply that the language was not
the first language the students learned in point
of
recent
decades
，
the term
“
foreign
language
”
is popularly used
to refer to any language that is not
a
native language in a
country
，
and the term
“
second
language
”
is also commonly
used in this
way, especially in the
U.S.
，
thus has been
increasingly applied to all types of non-native
language
learning.
Restrictively
speaking
，
in
China
，
we will be focusing on
foreign language learning rather
than
second language learning. However, Rod
Ellis
，
in his book The Study
of Second Language
Acquisition
，
states that
“
There is a need for a
neutral and super ordinate term to cover both
types
of learning. Somewhat
confusingly, but in line with common usage,
the term„
second language
acquisition‟
will be used
for this purpose
”
(Ellis
，
1999
：
12).
2.2.2 Language Acquisition
and Language Learning
Krashen
(1982
，
10)states that adults
have two distinct and independent ways of
developing
competence in a second
language
People
have
two
independent
systems
for
acquiring
ability
in
second
languages:
subconscious
language acquisition and conscious language
learning, and these two systems are
inter-related. However, of the two,
subconscious language acquisition is the more
important.
Language
Acquisition
is
similar
to
the
process
of
children
learning
language,
involving
natural
communication
without
error
correcting
or
explicit
teaching
of
rules.
Acquirers
get
a
Language
Learning
does
involve
error
correction,
and
rule
teaching.
However,
conscious
learning is only
available to the performer (language learner) as a
Monitor
—
being focused on
grammatical correctness and taking the
time to concentrate on the correct mental
representations
of rules.
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滨州医学院毕业论文
3 The
Analysis on C
hildren’s
Superiority
There has been a popular belief that
childre
n as L2 learners are „superior‟
to
adults (Scovel
2000),
that
is,
the
younger
the
learner,
the
quicker
the
learning
process
and
the
better
the
outcomes.
In
order to prove that belief, Oyama (1976) made a
research on 60 Italian immigrants in the
USA and found that as far as
pronunciation is concerned, younger learners do
better. According
to Mark S.
Patkowski's (1980:449-472), who investigated 67
immigrants who had come to the
United
States at various ages and who had resided in this
country for various periods of time,
learners whose exposure to a second
language begins before the age of 15 years achieve
higher
syntactic proficiency in the
target language than adult learners. Apart from
these researches and
experiments, we
can further explore the characteristics of
children in SLA from the perspective
of
physiology,
sociology,
cognitive psychology.
3.1
Physiological Priority
The brain
‟
s
development is one of important factors making
children and teenagers excel
adults in
the SLA. It is generally believed that compared
with the older, the younger are acuter in
audition
and
stronger
in
imitation,
and
hence
less
obstruction
and
interference
in
the
learning
process.
3.1.1
Brain
’
s Plasticity
In
the
study
of
SLA,
a
theory
—
Brain
Plasticity
Theory
of
Penfield
and
Roberts
is
often
used
as
a
biological
basis
for
explaining
the
phenomenon
that
the
younger
the
better
in
L2
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滨州医学院毕业论文
learning. The notion of
“
plasticity
‟‟
comes
from a study of aphasia kids who suffer from
partial
or
total
loss
of
the
ability
to
articulate
ideas
or
comprehend
or
spoken
or
written
language
，
resultin
g
from
damage
to
the
brain
caused
by
injury
or
some
diseases(Fan
Rongling
127).
It
refers
to
the
way
the
brain
Call
reorganize
itself
by
shifting
functions
from
one
brain
area
to
another
after damage
，
at least during
childhood. The theory suggests that the little
kid
‟
s brain has
a
cellular
receptivity
to
language
acquisition.
This
receptivity
may
be
a
function
of
cellular
plasticity or elasticity which is
controlled by a sort of biological clock. With
age
，
the biological
clock changes
the
cellular plasticity, which reduces the
organism
‟
s capacity to
learn language.
Penfield
and
Roberts
predict
that
an
optimal
age
period
for
L2
learning
is
between
4
and
8
because of greater brain
plasticity (Fan Rongling 128).
On the
contrary, after the puberty, the plasticity and
adaption of brain become decaying. In
consequence, many difficulties come
into appearance in the way to acquire a second
language.
3.1.2 Memory Span
Unlike
adults
，
children
enjoy
a
quicker
but
relatively
shorter
memory
span.
Children
remember things easily and quickly by
memorizing them in a more mechanical way. They
often
repeat
exactly what
parents
say or what
is
told in a story,
sometimes even without
missing or
changing a single word. Adults however
find it harder and harder to remember things with
the
increasing
age.
Many
might
have
the
experience
of
being
forced
by
parents
to
recite
archaic
poems when they were
still preschool children. They might, then, find
it very easy to remember a
poem
，
even if, for
most of the times
，
they did
not know the meaning of it at all. Once grown up,
remembering things becomes more and
more time-consuming.
During
the teaching of
children
，
some teachers also
find that they can remember the spelling
and pronunciation of new words very
quickly and accurately without effort, because
such things
are kept in mind by the so-
called
“
mechanical
memory
”
. Adult learners,
however, complain more
and more about
their bad memories that result in poor and limited
English vocabulary. In spite of
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滨州医学院毕业论文
this, many
adults
—
second language
learners consciously try to perfect their
pronunciation of the
second
language,
but
they
are
unsuccessful.
The
child
pays
no
conscious
attention
to
such
problems
and
yet
seems
to
learn
native-
like
pronunciation
naturally.
Lenneberg
considers
this
phenomenon
to
be
a
consequence
of
a
biologically
based
“
critical
period
”
for
language
acquisition,
extending
from
the
age
of
2
to
puberty,
and
states
that
foreign
accents
cannot
be
overcome easily after puberty.
3.2 Cognitive Priority
Children are immature in
cognition, while adults are mature. Newport
believes that it is the
immature
ability
that
is
in
favor
of
the
second
language
acquisition.
Children‟s
short
-term
memory
capacity is limited, which, in turn, makes them
can only extract a little information to
process when outputting language.
Conversely, adults can extract much more language
materials.
However,
analyzing
too
much
information
in
the
same
time
will
inevitably
bring
lots
of
difficulties. Halliday, a modern
English linguist, emphasizes the language
function, which means
when utilizing a
language, people should place more weight on what
the language can do but not
what
the
language
is.
Adults
regard
language
as
a
system.
They
try
to
acquire
language
consciously with
certain purposes and grammar rules. Obviously, it
is this cognitive habit that
prevents
them to master a language easily and rapidly. In
contrast, children learners, while not
totally lacking in meta-awareness, are
not so prone to respond to the second language as
form.
For them, it is a tool for
expressing meaning. Influenced by the mother
tongue, adults tend to
compare the
second language with it, and the complete
distinctions between the two languages
will definitely bewilder the learners.
Littlewood explained that the older depended too
much on
“learn” but children preferred
acquiring language unconsciously.
Rosansky, a linguist, believes that the
second language development can take place in two
different ways, according to whether or
not the learner is aware of what he is doing. The
young
child
sees
only
similarities,
lacks
flexible
thinking,
and
is
self-centered.
These
are
the
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