Morphological and Syntactic Awareness in Foreign/Second Language Learning
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MORPHOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC AWARENESS IN FOREIGN/SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
INTRODUCTION
We often use language with minimal or no awareness of the structural patterns we are employing: our minds are focussed on the meaning of the message we are trying to convey or understand. Becoming aware of linguistic patterns, i.e., being ‘metalinguistically’ aware is nevertheless something that happens to us very early on when, as children, we play games with words. It is an awareness that, at the time, is not informed by much, if any technical appreciation of language structure, and it appears to be enhanced amongst bilingual or multilingual children who have everyday involvement with different language systems (Bialystok, 2001; see also Baker, Knowledge about Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Volume 6). As older children become literate, formal schooling provides some of that technical knowledge, that is to say, from the time we learn to count syllables and, for example, identify nouns and verbs. This experience is often capitalised on later, in the foreign language classroom. Talented individuals go on to become writers and public speakers. It is not only for the sake of our general education that, apart from enlarging and refining our stock of words and expressions, we are also made aware of grammar: it is a necessary step, many people believe, toward fully mastering any language. The discussion that follows will focus on metalinguistic awareness in this context, especially with regard to acquiring a second or other language. Simply being immersed in language is clearly not enough for development to take place. Common sense would prompt the question: without being aware of what has to be learned, how can one possibly learn it? Establishing exactly what language learners actually notice when listening or reading a language, for whatever reason, and whether or not they are really aware of what they notice is fraught with tricky theoretical questions. It is important to appreciate this fact because common sense answers do not necessarily get us very far when we try and assess the value of directing learners’ attention to some aspect of the second language (L2) system. One issue concerns the very nature of ‘noticing’ and ‘attention’. The second, obviously related issue is that J. Cenoz and N. H. Hornberger (eds), Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd Edition, Volume 6: Knowledge about Language, 179–191. #2008 Springer Science+Business Media LLC.
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M I C H A E L S H A RW O O D S M I T H
of awareness itself: for instance, how aware are we, in a given situation, of what we notice? Are there indeed degrees of awareness and what has most impact on what we remember later? These are topics, which constitute an enormous challenge for researchers in cognitive science. Everything said about morphological and syntactic awareness in the ensuing discussion should be considered with this in mind. It is not necessary to spend much time on the theoretical status of morphology and syntax. It will be assumed here that morphology has
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