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1、Instruction in L2 Acquisition摘要：在外语教学中，教师的指导是必要的，它可以提高外语学习的精确度，加快外语学习的过程并且防止中介语的僵化。关键词：指导；外语学习；精确度；发展；中介语Abstract: This paper discusses the necessity of instruction in L2 acquisition, which leads, to accuracy,helps learners pass through stages of development and destabilize interlanguage grammars th
2、at have fossilized.Key Words: Instructioh; L2acquisition; Accuracy; Development; InterlanguageThis is a time of the World Wide Web and the global village. Communication between people is far beyond theirlocal speech communities, learning a second language (often referred to as an L2) is not just a p
3、astime, but a necessity. The systematic study of how people acquire an I_,2 has become a focus. As a teacher of English in college, by saying L2 I refer to English. Acquisition means whether the learner manifests patterns of language use that are more or less the same as native speakers of the targe
4、t language.(Rod Ellis, 1997:11 )Traditionally language pedagogy has emphasized form-focused instruction. The Grammar Translation Method and the Audiolingual Method attempt to teach students grammar. Communicative approach, however, claims learners do not need to be taught grammar before they can com
5、municate but will acquire it naturally as part of the process of learning to communicate. There is no place at all for the direct teaching of grammar.Does form-focused instruction work? In my experience of teaching English to college students I found the necessity to teach English and form-focused i
6、nstruction can lead toenhanced accuracy, help learners pass through stages of development rapidly and destabilize interlanguage grammars that have fossilized. According to R.Eltis Hypothesis, L2 acquisition involves different kinds of learning, item learning and system learning. In other words, on t
7、he one hand, learners internalize chunks of language structure (ie. Formulas), on the other hand, they acquire rules. In learning of English there are many items: structures, expressions and phrases that we dont need to analyze and just take in as a whole. For example, some fixed expressions such as
8、 Can I help you?How are you doing with. . ?Why not.?Youd better.are used as formulas and practiced consciously, which helps a learner reach accuracy in using English. Also a simple structure, which shows the relationship between its form and function directly may depend on instruction, For example,
9、the plural form -s, which is added to the end of a noun, is easily mastered through inshuction and practice. Here the instruction enables learners to construct rules by themselves. The instruction does have an effect. On the contrary if a structures function is very complex, such as the usage of Eng
10、lish articles, instruction almost has no effect.As for the teaching of systems, ie, how is a given linguistic feature used in a particular context with a particular function, instruction seems hopeless. For example, the use ofcan, which has a variety of functions. Can is followed by a original form
11、ora verb, but its meaning is different in different context.So the effect of instruction depend on the target structure that is being taught. Instruction is effective in teaching items but not in teaching systems.Second, instruction helps to speed up learners learning. Some grammatical structures se
12、em to be implicated with each other, so teaching one grammatical structure triggers acquisition of one or more other structures. Take the acquisition of relative pronouns as an example. When we teach attributive clause led by relative pronoun, we may begin with relative clauses with a subject pronou
13、n, for we know this is easier than that with a object pronoun and the most difficult one is that with a genitive pronoun. The order is as follows:(l)The student who wrote the essay is my friend.(2)The student whom we met yesterday is my friend.(3)The student to whom I introduced you is my friend.(4)
14、The student whose parents we met the other day is my friend.This hierarchy is known to us, so the teaching of them may be more effective. At the same time, linguistic facts can also be used to explain and even predict acquisition. In a word, our proper instruction enables students to generalize one
15、knowledge to another as far as same function is concerned.The third point is related to interlanguage. Interlanguage means L2 learner construct a linguistic system that draws, in part,on the learners LI but is also different from it-and also from the target language. Interlanguage grammar is likely
16、to fossilize.Some students tend to use a simplified or omitted form of English such as What you live for? When he get there? I no apen. Many students for the suggestion while John against it. Here the grammatical features are obviously a result of transfer from native language. The students here don
17、t progress beyond the first stage in the development of their learning of English and they fossilize their grammar. A large amount of input may help students use some forms but not sufficient to destabilize their interlanguage. It is claimed that learners can master the language once they are expose
18、d to target language environment. Chomsky argues that the input to which learners are exposed is insufficient to enable them to discover the rules of the language they are trying to learn. This is true to our students. So the input consisting only of positive evidence (i.e. it provides information o
19、nly about what is grammatical in the language) is far from enough. Negative evidence (i.e. input that provides direct evidence of what is ungrammatical in a language) (Rod Ellis, 1997:67) is necessary to provide information needed for learning to be successful. Learners need negative evidence, in th
20、e form of teachers correction, to eliminate errors. Teachers instruction including explicit information together with negative feedback prevent the occurrence of fossilization. As above shown, form-focused instruction is necessary in learning of L2 language. The effectiveness of instruction depends on a combination of nature of the target structure and abilities of individual learners. ReferenceslRod Ellis. Second language Acquisition. ShangHai Foreign Language Education Press.2002.2Hu Zhuanglin,LiuRunqing,LiYanfu. Linguistics: A course Book. Peking University Press. 1992.
