Paper at the Association for Language Awareness Conference in Le Mans July 1 – 5 2006

Lars Anders KulbrandstadHedmark University College, NorwayDepartment of Teacher Education and Science «Because Chinese doesn’t even have letters» – folk linguistic perspectives on second language learning • Paper at the Association for Language Awareness Conference in Le Mans July 1 – 5 2006

”Environments of SLA”

EXTRACT FROM INTERVIEW WITH MY I You he –er- he –er- had learned -er- he hadn’t learned to speak Norwegian from he was little M Mhm I He had learned Norwegian. Is it difficult to learn Norwegian? M Yes, I believe so. For those who are kind of older I O.K. Why is it so? M I -er- I don’t really know, but most of those who I have met like the friends of my mom and like my dad they aren’t very good at speaking Norwegian I No, and how come? Why [is it M [’Cause they don’t speak Norwegain kind of regularly, for instance when they are at home they speak ((missing)) they aren’t very clever

I [If they had M [I mean they haven’t had instruction not like like every day like I’ve had I Yes M And been with Norwegian friends all the time and I Would they have been as good as you are if they had received instruction and been with [Norwegians M [And if they had learned Norwegian when they were young I Why is it more difficult to learn a language when you get older? M I don’t know ((laughter)) I No. Do you have any thoughts about that? M ((Pause) –er- like that they have become used to a language all their lives and then they are to learn a new one

I Yes. O.K. Mhm. You -er- is it equally easy or difficult to learn Norwegian regardless of what language you have as your mother tongue? M ((Pause)) ((missing)) -er- maybe not Chinese= I Why is it more difficult M =and Vietnamese I Why is it [difficult M [Because Chinese doesn’t even have letters I O.K. M And my mom can’t even pronounce /r/ correctly I No M And like that I No M And my dad like like they don’t have the same like grammar and things I No

M For instance when they like you say: /nå skal jeg spise/ ((now shall I eat)) IYes M Then they just say – yes I can’t exactly figure out ((missing)) but then they speak inversely in a way and then they use what they have learned= I Yes M =kind of from their old country from Vietnam and with Norwegian words I Yes M With the same grammar and then it sounds wrong in Norwegian. But they kind of know the words I Yes. O.K. Say are there any other are there any other say persons with another mother tongue that have an easier job when learning Norwegian than Vietnamese and Chinese? M Yes, those who live in the Nordic countries

I O.K. M Like Finnish, Swedish and yes I O.K. Is it easier for Finnish for those you speak Finnish? M Yes I believe so I And what about others – English? M Yes, maybe I Why is it easier for a person who has for instance [English M [Yes I really wonder about that, but I don’t really know ((laughter)) I You don’t know O.K. -Er- are boys and girls equally good at learning languages? M Yes, I believe so I Mhm

EXTRACT FROM INTERVIEW WITH MY I Du han eh han eh hadde lært eh han hadde ikke snakket norsk fra han var liten /You he –er- he –er- had learned -er- he hadn’t learned to speak Norwegian from he was little/ The age factor M Mhm I Han hadde lært norsk. Er det vanskelig å lære norsk? /He had learned Norwegian. Is it difficult to learn Norwegian?/ M Yes, I believe so. For those who are kind of older Active use I O.K. Why is it so? M I -er- I don’t really know, but most of those who I have met like the friends of my mom and like my dad they aren’t very good at speaking Norwegian I No, and how come? Why [is it M [’Cause they don’t speak Norwegain kind of regularly, for instance when they are at home they speak ((missing)) they aren’t very clever

Formal learning I [If they had M [I mean they haven’t had instruction not like like every day like I’ve had Interaction with native speakers I Yes M And been with Norwegian friends all the time and I Would they have been as good as you are if they had receiced instruction and been with [Norwegians Starting age M [And if they had learned Norwegian when they were young I Why is it more difficult to learn a language when you get older? Habit formation I No. Do you have any thoughts about that? M ((Pause) –er- like that they have become used to a language all their lives and then they are to learn a new one

I Yes. O.K. Mhm. You -er- is it equally easy or difficult to learn Norwegian regardless of what language you have as your mother tongue? The role of first language M ((Pause)) ((missing)) -er- maybe not [Chinese= I [Why is it more difficult M =and Vietnamese I Why is it [difficult M [Because Chinese doesn’t even have letters I O.K. Contrastive analysis M And my mom can’t even pronounce /r/ correctly I No M And like that I No M And my dad like like they don’t have the same like grammar and things I No

Syntactic interference. Negative transfer M For instance when they like you say: /nå skal jeg spise/ now shall I eat IYes M Then they just say – yes I can’t exactly figure out ((missing)) but then they speak inversely in a way and then they use what they have learned I Yes M Kind of from their old country from Vietnam and with Norwegian words I Yes M With the same grammar and then it sounds wrong in Norwegian. But they kind of know the words I Yes. O.K. Say are there any other are there any other say persons with another mother tongue that have an easier job when learning Norwegian than Vietnamese and Chinese? M Yes, those who live in the Nordic countries

Linguistic distance between first language and target language I O.K. M Like Finnish, Swedish and yes I O.K. Is it easier for Finnish for those you speak Finnish? M Yes I believe so I And what about others – English? M Yes, maybe I Why is it easier for a person who has for instance [English M [Yes I really wonder about that, but I don’t really know ((laughter)) I You don’t know O.K. -Er- are boys and girls equally good at learning languages The gender factor M Yes, I believe so I Mhm

Topics raised in the interviews • Is it difficult to learn Norwegian? • What is it that is difficult? • SLA by children and adults • Starting age • Length of residence • Aptitude for language learning • Interest, motivation • SLA by girls and boys • Linguistic distance between first language and second language • Writing system Sound inventory Grammar Word resemblanc • Language as habit formation • Influence from the second language on the first language • Interaction with native speakers • Use of the second language at home • Explicit and implicit learning • Formal instruction • Varieties of the target language

Table of topics

IS NORWEGIAN A DIFFICULT LANGUAGE TO LEARN?

HUONG ON EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT LEARNING I Is Norwegian difficult to learn? Do you think so? H No No I H But, grammar is a little difficult. There is so much you have to learn by rote and stuff when we are going to take a test. And we just had such a test, and then we have had a lot about parts of speech and sentence constituents and things. That’s a little difficult I Yes. Do you have to know that to speak Norwegian? H Yes, if not you may like put the words in the wrong place and things I Yes. Do you think you would have put the words in the wrong place if you hadn’t known, if you hadn’t had grammar in school? H No, but – no, I don’t think so I You don’t think so? No

H No I So it’s not necessary to learn grammar in school to be able to speak Norwegian correctly? H No I No, no. O.K. H You just listen to the way other people talk and I Yes, yes. From whom have you learnt how to speak Norwegian? H -Er-, from everybody actually

SALIM DOING CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS I Yes. Is it equally difficult for all, no matter where you come from? Sa If you come from Scandinavia then (((laughter))) it’s not that I Then it’s not so difficult, all right Sa But if you come from – like the Middle East, then there is a very big difference I Yes Sa So then it becomes difficult I Why does it become difficult? Are you thinking of differences in …? Sa Yes, there are no words that are like quite similar I No Sa In any case not the way I hear it. For instance Persian doesn’t ressemble Norwegian at all I Is it only the words that are different? Are there other things? Sa ((Hesitation)) I don’t know…

I If you for instance compare Persian and Norwegian, you say that you don’t recognize any words A Yes I Are there other things that are different? Sa ((Hesitation)) It’s the way we talk and things I Yes Sa I don’t know, maybe I use the tongue a little bit more I Yes, you think so? Sa It goes faster in Persian I You think so, O.K. Sa Well, I’m not 100 % sure I No no. But you believe – faster – the word is different you say Sa Yes, and Norwegian is quite ((missing)) in a way, but in Persian it goes very much continously to put it that way

Very little about this • FOUR BASIC TOPICS IN SLA RESEARCH (Michell & Myles 1998:Second Language Learning Theories) • 1. The importance of internal mechanisms • Language specific •  L2 aquisition = L1 aquistition? •  Innate language aquisition disposition active also in L2 aquistion? •  Modelling of innate language aquisition disposition ? •  Relevance of UG? • Cognitive • Second language learning fundamentally different from other learning? • 2. The importance of L1 •  What kind of influence from L1 during L2 aquistion? • 3. The importance of psychological mechanisms •  Motivation • Personality • Aptitude for second language learning • . • 4. The importance of social and environmental factors More about this Most about this

Niedzielski & Preston: Folk linguistics (2000/2003): Folk-linguistics conceptions about second language learning

Niedzielski & Preston: Folk linguistics (2000): Folk-linguistics conceptions about second language learning

Merci! Kiitos! Giittus! Gracias! Cám ón! Thank you! Danke! Köszönöm! Takk! Efkaristo! Asante!

Paper at the Association for Language Awareness Conference in Le Mans July 1 – 5 2006