July 18th

A new chapter has begun, our version of summer break has ended, and we're ready to begin a new adventure. This week we were able to catch up with our friends, our professors, and classmates. In addition to that, we also had the chance to assess the knowledge we've been able to retain throughout the small break we had. More importantly, we did no miss the chance to learn about new topics, such as: “The theoretical perspectives on learning a language”.

The perspectives are divided in two main branches which are the Empiricists and the Rationalists, from these two we have smaller sub-branches.

Behaviorist theory:

• Human and animal learning are similar. 
• The child’s mind is a tabula rasa. There is no innate pre-programming specifically for language learning at birth. 
• Psychological data should be limited to that which is observable.
• All behavior is viewed as a response to stimuli. Behavior happens in associative chains; in fact, all learning is associative in nature. 
• Conditioning involves the strengthening of associations between a stimulus and a response through reinforcement. 
• Human language is a “sophisticated response system” acquired through operant conditioning. 

On the other hand, under the rational perspectives, we have the following three branches:

Universal Grammar Theory:

• Language is a species-specific genetically determined capacity.
• Language learning is governed by biological mechanisms.
• There is a “core grammar” congruent with universal principles, and a “peripheral grammar”, consisting of features that are not part of a universal grammar. 
• Each language has its own “parameters” whose “settings” are learned on the basis of linguistic data. 

Monitor Theory by Krashen:

• Adults have two distinct ways to develop competence in a second language: acquisition (subconscious) and learning (conscious) 
• When acquisition is natural, the order in which certain grammatical features of the language are acquired is predictable. 
• Learning can serve as a “monitor” and “editor” of what is produced. 
• We acquire new structures only when exposed to “comprehensible input” (i+1).
• The affective filter is necessary. (No anxiety needed to learn). 

Cognitive Theory:

• Learning results from internal mental activity. 
• Internal representations of language are constantly restructured as proficiency develops. 
• Skills are automatized (learned) only after they have first been under “controlled processing.” 
• Learners’ production is variable depending on the degree of attention they pay to language learning. 
• Some cognitive theorists distinguish between declarative language (knowing that) and procedural language (knowing how) 
• Only meaningful material can be integrated into existing cognitive structure. 

This week was full of new, interesting content, but of course I can't leave without a small pic dump of that day…