I want to be able to talk about the field of Second Language Acquisition, my encounter with it last semester, and how much the questions it raises are more than the answers it provides. I am back into reading extensive materials in the field many of which didn’t make as much of a dent as they should have during that first encounter. I won’t now, not just because my knowledge is not yet as comprehensive as it should, and that a carry-over from a daunting first encounter is unhelpful in allowing me open up more to its possibilities, but also because I’m afraid of misrepresenting the extent and influence of what I already know. My MA thesis will have very much to do with SLA and I need all the concentration I can get.
But talking about what I’m doing always helps, as I have found out. Having less time to travel around the country discovering places now like I did before, all I have now is my research and the hard work of creating relevance in a field that gives me the freedom to think, and the tools to make a difference. This time, I’m looking at tonal acquisition. The fact that not much has been done in the area so far is also as positive as it is challenging. So while the research process begins to take shape, let’s see what Krashen and Chomsky have to say again.
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Shedding Khawatir at http://sheddingkhawatir.blogspot.com
If you haven’t already, you should also check out the SLA psycholinguistic literature on this topic, particularly if you’re looking at perception. As well as speech perception research like that done by Munro and Derwing and Flege and others I can’t come up with off the top of my head. You may find it more helpful than Chomsky and Krashen. Very important work, as there isn’t much on tonal acquisition, and much of what I’ve seen at least focuses on Mandarin.
Posted at June 12, 2011 on 2:22pm.
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Kola at http://www.ktravula.com
Thank you Shedding. I am looking at perception, and acquisition, and what I’ve found so far all point to work done in Mandarin. You’re right, and I thank you for the comment. I will look up the works you recommended. When you find more, please send them to me. I need as much as I can get. I am reading Chomsky, Krashen and the other prominent scholars of the sub-field only to re-acquaint myself with the sufficient background needed to do the specific work that I need to do in tonal acquisition. There’s not much to work with so far in the specifics relating to other tonal languages except Mandarin.
Posted at June 12, 2011 on 2:48pm.
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Shedding Khawatir at http://sheddingkhawatir.blogspot.com
Well, although not really relevant to your topic, I’d put in a plug for the Firth and Wagner debates for getting a sense of SLA as well. I’ll let you know if I come across any other articles (it’s not my specific topic, but is my general field).
Posted at June 13, 2011 on 9:50pm.
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Kola at http://www.ktravula.com
This is very helpful. Thanks.
Posted at June 15, 2011 on 8:28am.