Key Concepts of Language Learning
Key Concepts of Language Learning
Learning
Acquisition vs Learning
Language Acquisition
-Stephen Krashen
”
Language Performance VS Competence
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 – 1913)
• La Langue
• Includes a large number of elements whereby meaning is created by the
arrangements between the elements and their consequent relationships
• While learning a language, it is necessary to master the system of grammar,
spelling, syntax and punctuation (elements of langue)
• Langue precedes and makes speech possible
• Parole
• Actual utterances
• External manifestation of langue
• Usage of the system, but not the system
de Saussure's Theory
• Competence
• A person’s underlying (subconscious) linguistic ability to create and
understand sentences, including sentences they have never heard before
• Acquaintance with a set of grammatical rules and is different from the
actual linguistic devices
• Includes components such as phonology, phonetics, syntax, semantics and
morphology
• Enables native speakers to recognize ambiguous sentences or accept even
apparently meaningless sentences as syntactically correct
Chomsky’s View
• Performance
• Real-world linguistic output
• May accurately reflect competence, but may also include speech errors
• May be flawed because of memory limitations, distractions, shifts of
attention and interest, and errors or other psychological factors
• Represents only a small sample of possible utterances
Performance Error