Suzanne Flynn | |
---|---|
Born | Cambridge, MA, USA |
Occupation(s) | Professor, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT; Speech-Language Pathologist, BCH |
Known for | Cumulative-enhancement model of third language acquisition, anaphora in SLA |
Title | Professor of Foreign Languages and Linguistics |
Awards | fellow of AAAS |
Academic background | |
Education | BA, University of Massachusetts-Boston; MS, University of Puerto Rico; PhD, Cornell University |
Alma mater | Cornell University |
Thesis | A Study of the Effects of Principal Branching Direction in Second Language Acquisition: The Generalization of a Parameter of Universal Grammar from First to Second Language Acquisition (1984) |
Influences | Noam Chomsky, Samuel Epstein, Barbara Lust |
Academic work | |
Discipline | language acquisitionist,linguist |
Sub-discipline | Bilingualism and multilingualism |
Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
Website |
Suzanne Flynn (June 30,1950- ) is an American linguist and Professor of Linguistics at MIT who has contributed to the fields of second and third language acquisition. She has also investigated language disorders. [1]
Suzanne Flynn received her PhD from Cornell University in 1983. Her work has spanned from syntax and second-language acquisition of syntax to language processing in people with neurocognitive disorders,such as changes in language during the prodromal course in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. [2]
In 1987,Flynn published a book which explored second-language acquisition (SLA) of anaphora and offered a parametric model for acquisition of this property. In line with the reorganization of the linguistic field at that point,the book considered characterization of Universal Grammar (UG) as a set of subtheories,each with its set of central principles and parameters according to which a principle can vary between an unmarked ('-') and a marked ('+') parametric value. [3] At the same time,Flynn was one of the key SLA specialists to start the GASLA (Generative Approaches to Second-Language Acquisition) conference. [4]
In 1996,Flynn,along with S.D. Epstein and Gita Martohardjono published a seminal paper evaluating key debates in the SLA field at the time. [5] One of the most important questions was to what extent,if any,Universal Grammar constrains second language acquisition? At the moment,three hypotheses of SLA were articulated. The first one was the “no access”hypothesis that claims that no aspect of UG is available to the L2 learner. [6] The second is the “partial access”hypothesis that claims that only LI instantiated principles and LI instantiated parameter-values of UG are available to the learner. [7] The third,called the “full access”hypothesis,asserts that UG in its entirety constrains L2 acquisition. [8] Flynn and co-authors argued for the "full access" hypothesis which remains a valid theory today and guides much of modern research.
From the early days of her work in SLA,Flynn has been a staunch proponent of principled approach to explaining processes which language acquisition involves. As such,she strongly advocates for strictly linguistic accounts of language acquisition within Chomskian tradition which are grounded in Minimalist Program and stem from our understanding of syntactic theory. [9]
In line with Flynn's earlier work on accessibility of the UG,she co-authored one of the first models of third language acquisition:The Cumulative-Enhancement Model (CEM). [10] The model argued that language learning is cumulative and all previous languages (i.e.,the native language and the second language) can facilitate language learning. The model,notably,does not claim that previous languages exert an exclusively facilitative effect. On the contrary,the model allows for more than occasional interferences from previous languages while claiming that the acquisition process per se cannot be characterized through a deficit model or alike. [11] The model has also been pointed out to be easily extendable to fourth language acquisition and beyond,which is not a feature most of the current models for L3 acquisition share. The CEM model stands in opposition to the so-called "wholesale" models of L3 acquisition (e.g. Typological Primacy Model [12] or L2 Status [13] ).
Flynn is co-founding editor (with Samuel D. Epstein) of the peer-reviewed journal Syntax.
Flynn was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2019. [14] [15] Linguistic Society of America described her as "a leading researcher on syntax acquisition of children and adults in bilingual,second,and third language contexts". [16]
Second-language acquisition (SLA),sometimes called second-language learning—otherwise referred to as L2acquisition,is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the scientific discipline devoted to studying that process. The field of second-language acquisition is regarded by some but not everybody as a sub-discipline of applied linguistics but also receives research attention from a variety of other disciplines,such as psychology and education.
An interlanguage is an idiolect which has been developed by a learner of a second language (L2) which preserves some features of their first language (L1) and can overgeneralize some L2 writing and speaking rules. These two characteristics give an interlanguage its unique linguistic organization. It is idiosyncratically based on the learner's experiences with L2. An interlanguage can fossilize,or cease developing,in any of its developmental stages. It is claimed that several factors shape interlanguage rules,including L1 transfer,previous learning strategies,strategies of L2 acquisition,L2 communication strategies,and the overgeneralization of L2 language patterns.
Sequential bilingualism occurs when a person becomes bilingual by first learning one language and then another. The process is contrasted with simultaneous bilingualism,in which both languages are learned at the same time.
Contrastive analysis is the systematic study of a pair of languages with a view to identifying their structural differences and similarities. Historically it has been used to establish language genealogies.
In the field of psychology,nativism is the view that certain skills or abilities are "native" or hard-wired into the brain at birth. This is in contrast to the "blank slate" or tabula rasa view,which states that the brain has inborn capabilities for learning from the environment but does not contain content such as innate beliefs. This factor contributes to the ongoing nature versus nurture dispute,one borne from the current difficulty of reverse engineering the subconscious operations of the brain,especially the human brain.
Language attrition is the process of decreasing proficiency in or losing a language. For first or native language attrition,this process is generally caused by both isolation from speakers of the first language ("L1") and the acquisition and use of a second language ("L2"),which interferes with the correct production and comprehension of the first. Such interference from a second language is likely experienced to some extent by all bilinguals,but is most evident among speakers for whom a language other than their first has started to play an important,if not dominant,role in everyday life;these speakers are more likely to experience language attrition. It is common among immigrants that travel to countries where languages foreign to them are used. Second language attrition can occur from poor learning,practice,and retention of the language after time has passed from learning. This often occurs with bilingual speakers who do not frequently engage with their L2.
The generative approach to second language (L2) acquisition (SLA) is a cognitive based theory of SLA that applies theoretical insights developed from within generative linguistics to investigate how second languages and dialects are acquired and lost by individuals learning naturalistically or with formal instruction in foreign,second language and lingua franca settings. Central to generative linguistics is the concept of Universal Grammar (UG),a part of an innate,biologically endowed language faculty which refers to knowledge alleged to be common to all human languages. UG includes both invariant principles as well as parameters that allow for variation which place limitations on the form and operations of grammar. Subsequently,research within the Generative Second-Language Acquisition (GenSLA) tradition describes and explains SLA by probing the interplay between Universal Grammar,knowledge of one's native language and input from the target language. Research is conducted in syntax,phonology,morphology,phonetics,semantics,and has some relevant applications to pragmatics.
The critical period hypothesis or sensitive period hypothesis claims that there is an ideal time window of brain development to acquire language in a linguistically rich environment,after which further language acquisition becomes much more difficult and effortful. It is the subject of a long-standing debate in linguistics and language acquisition over the extent to which the ability to acquire language is biologically linked to developmental stages of the brain. The critical period hypothesis was first proposed by Montreal neurologist Wilder Penfield and co-author Lamar Roberts in their 1959 book Speech and Brain Mechanisms,and was popularized by Eric Lenneberg in 1967 with Biological Foundations of Language.
Processability theory is a theory of second language acquisition developed by Manfred Pienemann. The theory has been used as a framework by scientists from Europe,North America,Asia and Australia.
The Competition Model is a psycholinguistic theory of language acquisition and sentence processing,developed by Elizabeth Bates and Brian MacWhinney (1982). The claim in MacWhinney,Bates,and Kliegl (1984) is that "the forms of natural languages are created,governed,constrained,acquired,and used in the service of communicative functions." Furthermore,the model holds that processing is based on an online competition between these communicative functions or motives. The model focuses on competition during sentence processing,crosslinguistic competition in bilingualism,and the role of competition in language acquisition. It is an emergentist theory of language acquisition and processing,serving as an alternative to strict innatist and empiricist theories. According to the Competition Model,patterns in language arise from Darwinian competition and selection on a variety of time/process scales including phylogenetic,ontogenetic,social diffusion,and synchronic scales.
Martha Young-Scholten is a linguist specialising in the phonology and syntax of second language acquisition (SLA).
Crosslinguistic influence (CLI) refers to the different ways in which one language can affect another within an individual speaker. It typically involves two languages that can affect one another in a bilingual speaker. An example of CLI is the influence of Korean on a Korean native speaker who is learning Japanese or French. Less typically,it could also refer to an interaction between different dialects in the mind of a monolingual speaker. CLI can be observed across subsystems of languages including pragmatics,semantics,syntax,morphology,phonology,phonetics,and orthography. Discussed further in this article are particular subcategories of CLI—transfer,attrition,the complementarity principle,and additional theories.
Anne Vainikka was a Finnish-American linguist specialising in the syntax of Finnish and in the syntax of second language acquisition (SLA).
The order of acquisition is a concept in language acquisition describing the specific order in which all language learners acquire the grammatical features of their first language. This concept is based on the observation that all children acquire their first language in a fixed,universal order,regardless of the specific grammatical structure of the language they learn. Linguistic research has largely confirmed that this phenomenon is true for first-language learners;order of acquisition for second-language learners is much less consistent. It is not clear why the order differs for second-language learners,though current research suggests this variability may stem from first-language interference or general cognitive interference from nonlinguistic mental faculties.
The main purpose of theories of second-language acquisition (SLA) is to shed light on how people who already know one language learn a second language. The field of second-language acquisition involves various contributions,such as linguistics,sociolinguistics,psychology,cognitive science,neuroscience,and education. These multiple fields in second-language acquisition can be grouped as four major research strands:(a) linguistic dimensions of SLA,(b) cognitive dimensions of SLA,(c) socio-cultural dimensions of SLA,and (d) instructional dimensions of SLA. While the orientation of each research strand is distinct,they are in common in that they can guide us to find helpful condition to facilitate successful language learning. Acknowledging the contributions of each perspective and the interdisciplinarity between each field,more and more second language researchers are now trying to have a bigger lens on examining the complexities of second language acquisition.
The mental lexicon is a component of the human language faculty that contains information regarding the composition of words,such as their meanings,pronunciations,and syntactic characteristics. The mental lexicon is used in linguistics and psycholinguistics to refer to individual speakers' lexical,or word,representations. However,there is some disagreement as to the utility of the mental lexicon as a scientific construct.
Marit Kristine Richardsen Westergaard is a Norwegian linguist,known for her work on child language acquisition and multilingualism.
Cornelis Kees de Bot is a Dutch linguist. He is currently the chair of applied linguistics at the University of Groningen,Netherlands,and at the University of Pannonia. He is known for his work on second language development and the use of dynamical systems theory to study second language development.
Roumyana Slabakova is a linguist specializing in the theory of second language acquisition (SLA),particularly acquisition of semantics,and its practical implications for teaching and studying languages.
The Teachability Hypothesis was produced by Manfred Pienemann. It was originally extracted from Pienemann's Processibility model. It proposes that learners will acquire a second language (L2) features if what is being taught is relatively close to their stage in language development.