(ii) Development of non-verbal intelligence and statistical learning skills
(iii) Learning environments and the role of education
(iv) Early childhood opportunities and depth of experience
The role of L1 in SLA
The majority of the studies make reference to the speakers’ L1 and the ways in which it both aids with and hinders SLA. With that in consideration, it is therefore worthwhile to consider the role that the L1 of an individual might play in SLA and on ways to ensure that it becomes a vantage point for the acquisition of an L2. Thus far, there have been limited findings on whether two structural regularities in people’s lives help them to take advantage of the dual language context. In Frost et al. (2013), it has been shown that the linguistic capabilities of an individual in their L1 generally predict success in an individual’s acquiring of an L2. Although this might superficially imply that the L1 may provide a foothold for the acquisition of the second language, it is important to note that that may not necessarily be the case for all individuals. Whether or not the L1 aids in SLA depends largely on the degree of similarity and dissimilarity between statistical properties of the first and second language, for example, the language distance between the L1 and acquiring L2. In Kempe & Brookes (2009), it was found that individuals did attempt to transfer knowledge from a previously learned language to the learning of a new language(Kempe & Brooks, 2008).However, the success of that process was heavily dependent on how similar the L1 and L2, for example, in the case of Russian and Spanish/Italian gender-marking.
Naturally, this then prompts the question: To what extent can the L1 be useful in aiding SLA? In the case of Singapore, the population is faced with an environment of vast linguistic variety, with grammatical structures sometimes getting muddled between languages, with the mixing of (Fig. 2) and syntactic structures (Fig. 3).
Looking to the future, a possible area to explore is how do we, as linguists, then, ensure that individuals do learn the grammatical structures of the L1 and L2 if the grammatical structures differ (e.g., “Subject-Verb-Object“ as opposed to “Subject-Object-Verb”), without getting learners confused in the process, and thus achieving a good grasp of the L2.
Development of non-verbal intelligence and statistical learning skills
Discussed fervently in two of the studies we have selected, it is important that we take an even deeper look into the concept of Implicit Statistical Learning (ISL). ISL is said to be the ability to break down a complex language stream into regularities that can make learning a language more efficient. Conway et al. (2010) have identified a direct link between language skills and ISL. In a test that measured language ability based on word predictability in degraded listening conditions, subjects were asked to predict the last word of a sentence under one of two conditions – either under a semantically-predictable or non-predictable sentence. Results suggested that the correlation of ISL and language scores were significantly positive.
The findings in Frost et al. (2013) also suggest the correlation between ISL and language proficiency. They further hypothesised that ISL was the basis of learning to read in a new language that is characterised by a novel set of statistical regularities. In the case of English L1 speakers learning to read Hebrew, this would mean that they if they had relative success in learning the transitional probabilities of random visual shapes (liken to the Hebrew script), then they would be able to predict the speed and success of learning to read Hebrew. From the results obtained from the study conducted, there seemed to be a correlation between statistical learning scores and language learning scores.
Kempe & Brooks’ (2009) study also noted that their non-verbal intelligence tests prompted subjects to tap into their ability to notice and identify patterns in complex stimuli. They, too, reported the ability of individuals to detect complex patterns and that it seems to be a powerful predictor for learning grammar over and above the effects of other cognitive predictors like IQ, working memory and PSTM. As such, the weight of this particular variable has to be considered and thereby, further our research on how this ability can be honed to aid SLA.
Given that ISL seems to be important to the adequate acquisition of the L2, the next question we have to ask is how then we can cultivate the skill, taking into consideration limitations such as individuals’ cognitive capacities, ageing, and perhaps a more challenging circumstance of disabilities like hearing or speech disabilities. The study done by Yim & Rudoy (2012) found that kids who had been deprived of auditory input had significantly weaker ISL abilities, which put them at a disadvantage when it came to the learning of a language. Therefore, it is pertinent to explore other various types of input that one can receive in order to be in equal standing as those without disabilities.
Learning environments and the role of education
It is important to note the vital role that education plays in the ultimate attainment of SLA proficiency, expounded on in the two studies of Dabrowska & Street (2005), and Kempe & Brooks (2009). Both studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between education and performance on sentence types. That implies that the more highly educated produce higher language scores. Furthermore, there seems to be an indication of a relationship between IQ and the command of passive constructions. The role of education and one’s learning environment, which can include family members or caretakers, has the potential to play a highly substantive role in SLA and we would be remiss not to take a closer look at them. Therefore, it is important to consider SLA through instructional methods, that is, how lessons are conducted in schools, and how teachers interact with the children.
Learning at home also needs to come under greater scrutiny. The amount of emphasis placed on language proficiency in the home may influence how well children eventually pick up the language. Ensuring that there is a conducive environment for language use and growth begins with the adults of the household, where the language they use and the way they use it (whether formally or colloquially) may have a bearing on how the children use language in their later years. Little can be done about how parents choose to speak to their children at home, but in school, teachers could act as norm-makers, using only exonormative standards as their method of instruction.
The Singaporean government has done just that by implementing language policies in schools (Low & Brown, 2005; Pakir, 1994). In general, it is about consistency – the more children listen to and are exposed to a standard, the more likely they will be to adopt that standard.
Early childhood opportunities and depth of experience
In Yim & Rudoy (2012), the question is posed as to whether children who are exposed to two languages simultaneously develop more robust statistical learning mechanisms due to receiving dual-language input. They hypothesised that the greater the depth and amount of experience children had with tracking statistical probabilities for multiple languages, the more robust their statistical learning abilities.
In Lany & Gomez’s (2008) study, it was found that infants as young as 12-months old, who were passively exposed to artificial languages, were better able to predict the last word of a semantically predictable sentence.
Furthermore, additional studies by Dabrowska & Street (2005) demonstrated the crucial role experience plays through the use of the full passive. A full passive is a paraphrase of an active clause where the object precedes the subject, and where the agent of the action is identified (e.g., the rat was chased by the cat). Considering that the full passive is a structure that is usually found in formal written texts, it is less common and therefore, would help to separate people into two relatively distinct groups – those who are familiar with this kind of discourse (academics or intellectuals) and those who find the discourse unfamiliar (e.g. the layman).
On the basis that the more highly educated should be more familiar with this type of structure (more experience with the structure), the researchers were able to prove that they would outperform the less educated on tasks tapping knowledge about the passive construction.
Through this study, they demonstrated the effects of linguistic experience in relation to familiarity (and hence, acquisition) of language. Future developments in this area should, therefore, concentrate on a child’s growing years. Considering that the amount of experience in navigating through various sets of grammar can help to aid a child’s statistical learning ability. A more robust statistical learning ability would then enable the individual to acquire languages with greater ease and proficiency.