Studying Processability Theory
An Introductory Textbook
1st Edition
Published on 17. August 2011
XI, 179 pages
978-90-272-8661-1 (ISBN)
Description
Processability Theory (PT) as developed by Manfred Pienemann is a prominent theory of second language acquisition. PT serves as a framework for a wide range of research covering issues, including L2 processing, interlanguage variation, typological effects on SLA, L1 transfer, pidgins and creoles, linguistic profiling, stabilisation/fossilisation and teachability. This textbook provides a reader-friendly introduction to PT. It is designed for students with a basic knowledge of (applied) linguistics. The components of PT are set out in four parts. The first part focuses on observed facts, in particular on paths of L2 development and learner variation. The second part gives an overview of the theoretical basis of PT. Part three details the application of PT to contexts other than ESL (i.e. Japanese, creoles and bilingual acquisition), and the fourth part focuses on practical applications. Each chapter contains exercises (including data analysis and interpretation) which may be used for individual study or in class. The textbook can be used as a concise introduction to PT. However, it may also serve as a point of reference for particular PT-related topics. The individual chapters were written by specialists in each of the research areas.
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Content
- Studying Processability Theory
- Editorial page
- Title page
- LCC data
- Table of Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- PART I. The facts
- 1. Developmental schedules
- 1. Introduction and overview
- 2. English question formation
- 3. Analysing ESL question formation in interlanguage data
- 4. The big picture: ESL development
- Summary
- Study questions
- 2. Learner variation
- 1.Introduction
- 2. Variation and solving developmental problems
- 3. Variation and linguistic redundancy
- 4. The role of conversational context
- 5. The role of grammar
- 6. The role of situational context
- Summary
- Study questions
- PART II. The theory
- 3. The psycholinguistic basis of PT
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Key features of language production
- 2.1 Processing components are relatively autonomous specialists which operate largely automatically
- 2.2 Processing is incremental
- 2.3 The output of the processor is linear, while it may not be mapped onto the underlying meaning in a linear way
- 2.4 Grammatical processing has access to a grammatical memory store
- 3. Incremental language generation
- 4. The processability hierarchy
- 5. LFG and processability
- 6. Feature unification
- 7. Linking arguments and constituents to functions
- Summary: Processability hierarchy
- Study questions
- 4. Explaining developmental schedules
- 1. ESL acquisition: Empirical evidence
- 2. Applying the processability hierarchy to ESL acquisition
- Summary
- Study questions
- 5. Explaining learner variation
- 1. Learner variation is constrained
- 2. Learner language is steady - despite learner variation
- 3. Bad variational choices trigger stabilization
- Summary
- Study questions
- 6. L1 transfer
- 1. The Developmentally moderated transfer hypothesis
- 2. The rationale of the DMTH
- 3. Empirical evidence
- 4. A common misunderstanding
- Summary
- Study questions
- 7. Research Methodology
- 1. Data collection
- 2. The role of communicative tasks in data collection
- 3. Transcription
- 4. Finding regularities: Data analysis and implicational scaling
- 5. What counts as acquired? Data density and acquisition criteria
- Summary
- Study questions
- PART III. Applying PT to other contexts
- 8. Japanese as a second language
- 1. Some key features of Japanese grammar
- 2. Empirical support
- 3. Brief overview of work on Japanese L2 within the PT framework
- Summary
- Study questions
- 9. Pidgins and Creoles
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 Tok Pisin (West Sepik dialect)
- 1.2 Ghanaian Pidgin English
- 1.3 Sranan
- 2. Inflectional morphology in pidgins and creoles
- 3. Syntactic structures
- 3.1 Basic word order: SVO, SOV
- 3.2 Question formation
- 3.3 Negation
- 4. Conclusion
- Summary
- Study questions
- 10. Bilingual first language acquisition
- 1. Introduction
- 2. A brief description of methods used for comparing linguistic development across the different languages in BFLA
- 3. Using PT for cross-linguistic comparison
- 4. A case study of a Japanese-English bilingual child
- 4.1 Data
- 4.2 Haru's morphological development of English and Japanese
- 4.3 English
- 4.4 Japanese
- 4.5 Comparison of Japanese and English
- Summary
- Study questions
- PART IV. Practical applications
- 11. Diagnosing L2 development
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Rapid Profile - The history
- 3. Linguistic profiling of ESL development using Rapid Profile
- 3.1 Training the analysts
- 3.2 Interactive training sessions
- 3.3 Eliciting speech samples
- 4. Tasks for data elicitation
- 5. Rapid Profile - A feasibility study for the EFL classroom
- 5.1 Overview of the main results of the study
- 6. Future perspectives
- 6.1 Extending the stages of acquisition
- 6.2 Implications for teaching
- 6.3 Multilingual Rapid Profile
- Summary
- Study questions
- 12. Teaching
- 1. Introduction
- 2. The Teachability Hypothesis
- 3. Input and output in foreign language teaching
- 4. Developmentally moderated approaches to the foreign language classroom: Focus on form and TBLT
- Summary
- Study questions
- References
- Appendices
- Appendix A:Transcript A
- Appendix B:Transcript B
- Appendix C
- Name index
- Subject index
