ESL Acquisition Theories 5

Question 1

The 'Poverty of the Stimulus' argument (Chomsky) is used to support UG because:

Accepted Answer

Children receive too little positive input to acquire complex grammar through experience alone

Answer

Children are exposed to too many grammatical errors in adult speech

Answer

Children learn language faster in poverty-stricken environments

Answer

Native speakers provide insufficient correction for learner errors

Question 2

Which SLA concept describes learners reverting to earlier, less accurate forms under communicative pressure?

Accepted Answer

Backsliding

Answer

Fossilization

Answer

Negative transfer

Answer

Overgeneralization

Question 3

Communicative Competence (Hymes) expanded Chomsky's competence model by adding:

Accepted Answer

The social and contextual rules governing appropriate language use

Answer

Phonological and syntactic rules only

Answer

A focus on written grammar over spoken interaction

Answer

An innate language acquisition device

Question 4

In Information Processing Theory applied to SLA, what happens as a skill becomes 'automatized'?

Accepted Answer

It becomes effortless and requires minimal conscious attention

Answer

It requires more working memory and conscious attention

Answer

It transfers back to declarative memory for storage

Answer

It becomes susceptible to negative transfer

Question 5

Krashen's five hypotheses collectively form which model of SLA?

Accepted Answer

The Monitor Model

Answer

The Communicative Competence Model

Answer

The Interaction Model

Answer

The Sociocultural Model

Question 6

Which finding from research on morpheme acquisition order MOST challenged the Behaviorist account of SLA?

Accepted Answer

Learners from different L1 backgrounds acquired English morphemes in a similar order

Answer

Learners made fewer errors with explicitly taught structures

Answer

Adults learned morphemes faster than children through drills

Answer

Morpheme acquisition order matched textbook presentation order

Question 7

Which term describes the use of the learner's L1 as a resource that can both help and hinder L2 acquisition?

Accepted Answer

Language transfer

Answer

Interlanguage

Answer

Code-switching

Answer

Language attrition