Item Details

‘We’re just fillin’ in the blanks’: Access revisited

Issue: Vol 3 No. 3 (2006) JAL Vol 3, No 3 (2006)

Journal: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice

Subject Areas: Writing and Composition Linguistics

DOI: 10.1558/japl.v3.i3.305

Abstract:

We propose an alternative view to the metaphor ‘access to the linguistic system’ for the study of early stage adult L2 learning, drawing on a sociocultural theoretic perspective and taking a microgenetic analytic approach to our data. We believe a reciprocal process called internalization/externalization aptly describes the performance of L2 learners during problem-solving tasks, and has explanatory potential for theory-building in L2 learning. Our data come from transcriptions of videotaped task performance by two of very early stage L2 Swahili learners. Our tasks required them to jointly identify the direction of Point B from Point A on a map of a fictitious East African village. They found the task very challenging, despite its conceptual simplicity. Our questions are:

• What evidence exists of the internalization/externalization process cycle in carrying out the map tasks?
• How does this cycle better capture the processes underlying learners’ task performance than the term access?

We begin with an overview of the theoretical framework, then explain relevant concepts and describe the background, data collection and analysis. The findings section portrays the two learners’ performance in terms of ways they successfully enacted the task. The discussion and conclusions sections follow with implications for theory building in Second Language Learning.

Author: Elizabeth Platt, Frank B. Brooks

View Original Web Page

References :

Antón, M. and DiCamilla, F. (1998) Socio-cognitive functions of L1 collaborative interaction
in the L2 classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review 54 (3): 314–342.
Baldwin, J. M. (1895/1915) Mental Development in the Child and the Race. New York:
Macmillan. doi:10.1037/10003-000
Bordova, E. and Leong, D. J. (1996) Tools of the Mind; The Vygotskian Approach to Early
Childhood Education. Columbus, OH: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Brooks, F. B., Donato, R. and McGlone, J. V (1977) When are they going to say it right?
Understanding learner talk during pair-work activity. Foreign Language Annals 30 (4):
524–541. doi:10.1111/j.1944-9720.1997.tb00860.x
Cardinal directions (2000) Using a compass. Como Planetarium.
Centeno-Cortés, B. and Jiménez-Jiménez, A. F. (2004) Problem-solving tasks in a foreign
language: The importance of the L1 in private verbal thinking. International Journal of
Applied Linguistics 14 (1): 7–35. doi:10.1111/j.1473-4192.2004.00052.x
Chomsky, N. (1965) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (1986) Knowledge of Language. New York: Praeger.
Como Planetarium (2000) Using a Compass to find North. Retrieved on 27 March 2008
from http://planetarium.spps.org/Como/curric/CurricPDFS/Gr2PDFs/201Cmpas.pdf
di Pietro, R. (1987) Strategic Interaction: Learning Languages Through Scenarios. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Donato, R. (1994) Collective scaffolding in second language learning. In J. P. Lantolf and
G. Appel (eds) Vygotskian Approaches to Second Language Research 33–56. Norwood,
NJ: Ablex.
Frawley, W. (1997) Vygotsky and Cognitive Science: Language and the Unification of the
Social and Computational Mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gass, S. M., Mackey, A. and Pica, T. (1998) The role of input and interaction in second
language acquisition: Introduction to the special issue. Modern Language Journal 82 (3):
299–307.
Gibson, J. (1979) The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin.
Goodwin, C. (2000) Action and embodiment within situated human interaction. Journal of
Pragmatics 32: 1489–1522. doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00096-X
Goodwin, C. (2003) Pointing as situated practice. In S. Kita (ed.) Pointing: Where Language,
Culture and Cognition Meet 217–241. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Green, J. L. and Wallat, C. (1981) Mapping instructional conversations – A sociolinguistic
ethnography. In J. L. Green and C. Wallat (eds) Ethnography and Language in Educational
Settings 161-205. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Hopper, P. (1998) Emergent grammar. In M. Tomasello (ed.) The New Psychology of
Language: Cognitive and Functional Approaches to Language Structure 155–175. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kozulin, A. (1998) Psychological Tools: A Sociocultural Approach to Education. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Lantolf, J. P. and Thorne, S. L. (2006) The Sociogenesis of Second Language Learning. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Lantolf, J. P. and Yañez, M. (2003) Talking yourself into Spanish: Intrapersonal communication
and second language learning. Hispania 86 (1): 97–109.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997) Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition.
Applied Linguistics 18 (2): 141–165. doi:10.1093/applin/18.2.141
Lee, J. and VanPatten, B. (1995) Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen. New
York: McGraw-Hill.
Levinson, S. C. (2003) Space in Language and Cognition: Explorations in Cognitive Diversity.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Long, M. H. (1990) The least a SLA theory needs to explain. TESOL Quarterly 24 (4): 649–
666. doi:10.2307/3587113
Markee, N. (2000) Conversation Analysis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
McCafferty, S. G. (1994) Adult second language learners’ use of private speech: A review of
studies. Modern Language Journal 78 (4): 421–436. doi:10.2307/328581
McCafferty, S. G. (1998) Nonverbal expression and L2 private speech. Applied Linguistics 19
(1): 73–96. doi:10.1093/applin/19.1.73
McCafferty, S. G. (2002) Gesture and creating zones of proximal development for second
language learning. Modern Language Journal 86 (2): 192–203. doi:10.1111/1540-
4781.00144
McCafferty, S. G. (2004) Space for cognition: Gesture and second language learning.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics 14 (1): 148–165. doi:10.1111/j.1473-4192.
2004.0057m.x
McCafferty S. G. and M. K. Ahmed. (2000) The appropriation of gestures of the abstract
by L2 learners. In J. P. Lantolf (ed.) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning
199–218. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Negueruela, E. (2003) A Sociocultural Approach to Teaching and Researching Second Language
Systemic-theoretical Instruction and Second Language Development. Unpublished PhD
dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, College Park, Pennsylvania.
Newman, F. and L. Holzman (1993) Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist. New York:
Routledge.
Ohta, A. S. (2001) Second Language Acquisition Processes in the Classroom: Learning
Japanese. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Olson, D. (1994) The World on Paper. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press.
Pica, T. (1991) Classroom interaction, negotiation, and comprehension: Redefining
relationships. System 19 (4): 437–452. doi:10.1016/0346-251X(91)90024-J
Pica, T, Kanagy, R. and Falodun, J. (1993) Choosing and using communication tasks
for second language instruction and research. In G. Crookes and S. Gass (eds) Tasks
and Language Learning: Integrating Theory and Practice 9-34. Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters.
Platt, E. J. (2004) ‘Uh uh no hapana’: Intersubjectivity, meaning, and the self. In J. K. Hall,
L. Marchenkova and G. Vitanova (eds) Dialogue with Bakhtin and Second Language
Learning 119–148. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Platt, E. J. and Brooks, F. B. (2002) Task engagement: A turning point in foreign language
development. Language Learning 52 (2): 365–400. doi:10.1111/0023-8333.00187
Roebuck, R. (1998) Reading and Recall in L1 and L2: A Sociocultural Approach. Stamford,
CT: Ablex.
Rommetveit, R. (1974) On Message Structure: A Framework for the Study of Language and
Communication. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Shrum, J. and Glisan, E. (2005) Teachers’ Handbook (3rd edition). Boston, MA: Heinle &
Heinle.
Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. (2000) Task-based second language learning: The uses of the
first language. Language Teaching Research 4 (3): 251–274. doi:10.1111/j.1473-4192.
2005.00086.x
Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. (2005) The evolving sociopolitical context of immersion education
in Canada: Some implications for program development. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics 15 (2): 169–186. doi:10.1111/j.1473-4192.2005.00086.x
Thorne, S. L. (2003) Fragments and Repertoires as Language Development: From Nativism(s)
to Cultural-historical Mediation. Paper presented at the Colloquium on Access to the
Linguistic System: A viable metaphor? at the annual Conference of the American
Association for Applied Linguistics, Arlington, VA.
Valsiner, J. and van der Veer, R. (2000) The Social Mind: Construction of the Idea. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Van Lier, L. (2000) From input to affordance: Social-interactive learning from an ecological
perspective. In J. P. Lantolf (ed.) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning
245–259. New York: Oxford University Press.
Van Lier, L. (2003) The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural
Perspective. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
VanPatten, B. (1996) Input Processing and Grammar Instruction: Theory, Research, Challenges
and Implications. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
VanPatten, B. (2003) From Input to Output: A Teacher’s Guide to Second Language
Acquisition. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
Villamil, O. and de Guerrero, M. C. M. (1996) Peer revision in the L2 classroom: Socialcognitive
activities, mediating strategies, and aspects of social behavior. Journal of Second
Language Writing 5 (1): 51–75. doi:10.1016/S1060-3743(96)90015-6
Volosinov V. N. (1973) Discourse in life and discourse in poetry. In Marxism and the
Philosophy of Language (translated by L. Matejka and I. R. Titunik). Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987) The Collected works of L. S. Vygotsky, Volume 1. Principles of General
Psychology. (Edited by R. W. Reiber and A. S. Carton). New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. and Luria, A. (1994) Tool and symbol in child development. In R. van de Veer
and T. Prout (eds) The Vygotsky Reader. Boston, MA: Blackwell.
Wertsch, J. (1998) Mind as Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wertsch, J. V. and Stone, C. A. (1985) The concept of internalization in Vygotsky’s account of
the genesis of higher mental functions. In J. V. Wertsch (ed.) Culture, Communication, and
Cognition: Vygotskyan Perspectives 162–179. New York: Cambridge University Press.