L2 learning

[Carolyn Chaney]

Here is a question from Flo Kimmerling, a colleague of mine at SFSU.   
Anyone have some ideas for her?  Send replies to me or to Flo at  
geokimm at sbcglobal.net.

Carolyn Chaney

 From Flo Kimmerling:
I have a question, which relates to a raging debate in my graduate  
class on language disorders. I was summarizing Genesee, Paradis, and  
Crago's new book, Dual Language Development and Disorders.    It goes  
about smashing some of the icons of bilingual education for the SLI  
child.  I took a lot of heat on several issues, but the one I need  
some clarification about relates to the ability to discriminate and  
ultimately produce phonemes one has not heard from birth.  I spoke  
about the fact that sequential learners of another  second language,  
who are systematically exposed to it between the ages of 4 and 8,  
while quite young, if not disordered, will carry some of the  
phonology and intonation patterns from L1 but will be able to learn  
L2 in time, without necessarily having specific, targeted  
intervention.  The SLI child will need that targeted intervention.   
Ben Barrett, who is a wealth of info and experience, said that no,  
these children can't even hear some of the phonemes not available in  
L1, due to lack of cortical exposure during early development.  He  
will need to be immersed in phonological awareness and discrimination  
exercises.  Otherwise the lack of discrimination will ultimately  
affect the building of morphology as well as phonological awareness.   
I thought the plasticity of the young language learning brain, given  
enough stimulation, would, in time, do the work through exposure, and  
that the teen and adult would need more of this targeted work.  I am  
interested in the normal L2 learner, who is exposed to L1 only for  
the first few years and then L2 when they enter preschool or  
kindergarten (similar to so many of the first generation children we  
have in the local schools.)  I appreciate your thoughtful comments,  
and if there is any research indicating that the normals, although  
still quite young, will need direct phonologic contrast drills or  
discrimination practice, I'd like to know that.  Can you clarify,  
please? 
  
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