L'apprenant en langues et dans les métiers de la traduction : source d'interrogations et de perspectives

At the turn of the century, Firth and Wagner (1997) published an article that led to the reconceptualizing of second language acquisition as a field. They brought attention to the fact that the field of SLA suffered from a crippling divide between social approaches and cognitive approaches. Since then, the healing process has begun as both sides of the divide recognize the significance of the other. However, not all cognitivists have fully embraced the social turn. Input Processing Theory, in particular, has resisted the social trend in SLA due to its emphasis on studying the internal mechanisms that transform input into intake, or input that is understood and used for the building of a mental representation of the language. Research in input processing has been solely quantitative, oriented to adult SLA in either lab-based or foreign language classrooms (secondary and higher). Qualitative methods and social approaches to language acquisition do not seemingly provide any evidence regarding internal mechanisms of the learner's mind; instead, cognition is situated in the learning context, in interaction. I argue, however, that one qualitative approach, conversation analysis, can offer insight into the internal mechanisms that are at work during structured input activities– activities designed based on principles of input processing to address the internal impediments that learners face. These activities require learners to make form-meaning connections. In this presentation, I will discuss the insights that both input processing and conversation analysis have brought to the field of SLA, respectively. I will then propose a union of the two approaches to provide a more complete view of L2 learner cognition.

Bibliography

Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The modern language journal, 81(3), 285-300.

Lauzon, V. F., & Doehler, S. P. (2013). Focus on form as a joint accomplishment: An attempt to bridge the gap between focus on form research and conversation analytic research on SLA. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 51(4), 323-351.

Markee, N. (2008). Toward a learning behavior tracking methodology for CA-for-SLA. Applied Linguistics, 29(3), 404-427

Kirby Childress is a doctoral student of French and Second Language Acquisition at The Ohio State University in the United States. His primary research interest is Input Processing Theory, particularly in French as a Foreign Language contexts. His other research interests lie in the field of French visual culture, namely film and bandes dessinées. He is currently participating in a teaching exchange program between his university in the U.S. and the Université de Rennes 1.