西安外国语大学英文学院陕西西安710128
Abstract:ItissignificantthatSwainandDeters(2007)collectsomenewmainstreamsecondlanguageacquisitiontheories,whichgetsecondlanguageacquisitiontheoriesexpandedandenriched,consistingoffourmajorinfluencesonagrowingbodyofsecondlanguageacquisition(SLA)research,socioculturaltheoryofmind,situatedlearning,poststructuraltheories,anddialogism.Inaddition,thesenewmainstreamtheoriesprovidemoreperspectivesforsecondlanguageacquisition.
Keywords:secondlanguageacquisition;sociocultualtheory;newmainstream
SwainandDeters(2007)comparesocioculturaltheoryofmind,thetheoreticalperspectivebasedontheworkoftheRussianpsycholinguistVygotsky,andtraditionalapproaches.LevVygotsky(1978)suggestedthathumandevelopmentresultsfromadynamicinteractionbetweeninpidualandsociety.Throughthisinteraction,childrenlearngraduallyandcontinuouslyfromparentandteachers.Consequently,socioculturaltheoryfocusesonthecomplexinteractionbetweentheinpidualactingwithmeditationalmeansandthesocioculturalcontext.
TheexamplesSwainandDeters(2007)giveshowthatitisimportantandnecessarytogetmoresocialinteraction.Maybeitwillappearsomelittleconflictsamongmembers,buttheinteractionspushonetogetprogressandeffectivelycompleteataskontime.
Duringtheinteractionwithgroupmembers,asecondlanguagelearnercanfindwhatheisgoodatandwhatheisweakat.Atthesametime,hecanseethemeritmygroupmemberdidnotshowatordinarytimes.Therefore,helearnsfromthemandcompleteshimself,sodoothergroupmembers.Whatisalsoimportantisthatstudentsshouldnotjustbeconfinedtotheclassroom,manylanguagelearningresourcesareworthyforthemtouse,includingthenet,theclassmates,thetalkshow,notjustteachersandnativespeakers.
Fromtheviewofteacher’spoint,theteachershouldregardstudentsasprincipalpartinclassandmakethemactivelyparticipateinsomeinterestingactivitiestoprovidemoreopportunitiesforstudentstofindtheirextraabilities.Agoodteacherisnotwhoonlysetuphisownlecture,butwhousuallyinteractwithstudentsbydifferentways.Indeed,socioculturaltheoryofmindsuppliesabenefitperspectivewithbothsecondlanguagelearnersandforeignlanguageteachers.
Astudentwillfacemultidisciplineteachers,anddifferentteachershavedifferentwaysofteachinganddifferentattitudestowardstudents.Itisgeneralthatastudentisgoodatonedisciplinebutweakatanotherdiscipline.Evenhewillhateonedisciplinebecauseoftheignoranceoftheteacher.Learners’agencyhasanimportantroleonshapingtheirownlearningandparticipation.Therefore,fromtheteacher’sperspective,ateachershouldfrequentlycreatemoreinterestingactivitiesandencouragestudentstoparticipateinclassactivities.Secondlanguagelearningisahighlycomplexandsociallysituatedprocessthatisdynamicandinvolvesthenegotiationofaccess,participation,andaboveall,identity.
Akeyconceptinpoststructuraltheoriesisthatmeaningisnotfixed,butcreatedthroughsocialdiscoursesandpractices.Asthetermindicates,theseapproachesdevelopedinreactiontostructuralism,whichisattributedtothestructurallinguisticsofSaussure(1974).Whenlanguagelearnersspeak,theyarenotonlyexchanginginformationwithtargetlanguagespeakers,buttheyareconstantlyorganizingandreorganizingasenseofwhotheyareandhowtheyrelatetothesocialworld(Norton,2000,p.11).Norton(2000)arguedthatthesocialidentitiesoflanguagelearnersaremultiple,asiteofstruggle,andsubjecttochange.Hisworkhasmadeasignificantcontributiontothesocialturninsecondlanguageacquisitionresearch.Asecondlanguagelearnercanjoininaconversationwithotherskillsfirst,thengetopportunitytouseandimproveEnglishskills.
Wemustpaybalancedattentiontosocial,cognitive,andaffectiveaspectsthatbearonthewayswelearnasecondlanguage.Muchworkneedstobedonetoseekwaystoincorporateourbroadenedunderstandingofsecondlanguageacquisitiontobenefitlearners.Weshoulddomorestudiestofindthecrucialreasonofdifficultyonlearningasecondlanguageandabetterwaytoacquireasecondlanguage.Itmustbealong-termanddifficultproject,anditmusthaveprofoundsignificance.
References
［1］Swain,M.,&Deters,P.(2007).“New”mainstreamSLAtheory:Expandedandenriched.TheModernLanguageJournal,91,820-836.
［2］Norton,B.(2000).Identityandlanguagelearning:Gender,ethnicityandeducationalchange.Harlow,UK:Longman.
［3］Saussure,F.de.(1974).Acourseingenerallinguistics.London:Fontana.(Originalworkpublishedin1916).
［4］Vygotsky,L.S.(1978).Mindinsociety:Thedevelopmentofhigherpsychologicalprocesses.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress.
作者简介：李培栋，1993年10月19日出生，女，汉族，河南省长葛市人，现就读于西安外国语大学英文学院2016级外国语言学及应用语言学专业。主要研究方向：应用语言学。