FIRST EXPOSURE STUDIES: AN INTRODUCTION

Vortrag von Jacopo Saturno, Ph.D. (Università di Bergamo)

Montag, 11.12.2017, 12 Uhr c.t.
Dorotheenstr. 65, 5.30

This talk provides an introduction to initial L2 acquisition studies, whose purpose is to collect data on the very beginning of the acquisition process – ideally, right from the very first contact with a completely new target language. The focus of the talk is on the main theoretical questions inspiring the field as well as the methodological solutions adopted to try and answer them.

After an overview of classic studies, we will focus in greater detail on two recent projects devoted to the acquisition of Polish.

VILLA is a large experiment in which 188 participants with five L1s and no experience of the target language took a 14-hour Polish course. The project focusses on input control, which was achieved by integrally recording and transcribing classes. These data were then correlated to learner production, observed in the context of both structured tests and interactional tasks. No grammatical explanations were provided, so that learners had to autonomously identify regularities in the input in order to develop their own L2 grammar.

Next, VILLA NOVA aims to test some of the results obtained in the VILLA project in a realistic dydactic environment, namely the Humboldt university introductory Polish course. In this naturalistic setting, participants may have varying initial skills in the target language, which provides fertile ground for interactional studies. Further, building on the VILLA experiencce, efforts were made to completely avoid written language during both classes and tests.

The talk will conclude with a few suggestions as to future research in terms of both language acquisition and language teaching.