Critically evaluate the role of implicit and explicit knowledge in second language acquisition
INTRODUCTION
"Although it is not possible to get a precise date on
when Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research first established
itself as a field of enquiry, there is general agreement that it
took place around the end of the 1960. At this time, some of the
studies of second language (L2) learners were published (for
example, Ravem 1968; Huang 1970)" (Ellis, 1994:1)
So, since that time the way in which learners acquire
the Second Language Acquisition has been a topic of interest of
some linguistics, teachers and researchers, due to its importance
for the development of the teaching-learning process.
One of the issues that have been analysed is the fact
concerning the implicit and explicit knowledge of the Second
Language, their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages and
their contribution to Second Language Acquisition.
This essay will provide some information about the terms
explicit and implicit knowledge in general terms. The first part
of the essay will provide the definition of the term explicit and
implicit knowledge.
Then, it will outline a brief description of the terms
explicit and implicit knowledge and will determine a variety of
criteria concerning them.
This essay will also consider the contribution of the
term explicit and implicit knowledge to Second Language
Acquisition.
The final part of the essay will present the author"s
opinion about the acquisition of the second language by means of
explicit and implicit knowledge.
The aim of this essay is to describe and critically
evaluate the role of implicit and explicit knowledge in second
language acquisition.
Palabras clave: evaluation, implicit knowledge,
explicit knowledge, second language acquisition.
DEVELOPMENT
According to Reber (1996: 5) implicit learning is the
acquisition of knowledge that takes place largely independently
of conscious attempts to learn and largely in the absence of
explicit knowledge about what was acquired.
Implicit learning (i.e. learners are exposed to
exemplars of an L2 rule and are asked to memorize them) this
condition can be distinguished from "incidental learning" where
learners" primary attention is focussed on message rather than
form. (Ellis, 2001)
However, according to second language acquisition
research explicit knowledge is generally used to refer to
knowledge that is available to the learner as a conscious
representation. Learners may make their knowledge explicit either
in everyday language or with the help of specially learnt
"technical" language. (Ellis, 1994:355)
Implicit and explicit knowledge have as a main aspect in
common that by means of them learners can acquire the second
language in an unconscious or conscious way. However, each of
them has some unique characteristics that make them
different.
According to implicit knowledge, it is produced
naturally occurring language behaviour and cannot be easily
accessed separately from this behaviour, it is easily accessible,
unanalyzed (i.e. is memory-based rather than rule-based), it is
considered both abstract and structured and it can be consciously
analyzed. (Ellis, 2001)
On the other hand, through explicit knowledge, learners
acquire an analyzed knowledge (i.e. knowledge that the learner is
aware of), it is metalanguage, it manifests itself in some form
of problem-solving activity that calls for learners to pay focal
attention to linguistic form, it cannot be accessed easily and it
often is fragmentary and anomalous. (Ellis, 2001)
As a conclusion between the implicit and the explicit
knowledge, it is necessary to mention that the instruction leads
to explicit knowledge that is then used to produce and understand
language. The perception and production of the (more and more
correct) utterances serves as input for the implicit learners
mechanisms that extract information from the input. This implies
that what is implicit acquired may be quite different from what
the instruction was about. Explicit knowledge does not become
implicit, but it generates relevant input and output: Also,
explicit metalinguistic knowledge serves as a monitor to
control the
output, and it plays a role in generating more correct
utterances, which again serve as input for implicit learning.
Paradis (2004:35cited in Lowie et al., 2005)
According to Lowie et al., (2005), "there are two
systems than can have input. The first one, the implicit learning
system incorporates new information according to its own rules
that are not open to inspection and probably not open to
manipulation either. The second one, the input needed for the
explicit learning system that cumulates declarative knowledge for
conscious processing. The set of implicit knowledge develops
parallel to the explicit system but how the latter influences the
former is unclear. In other words, what is taught is not
necessarily implicit learned. Conscious processing and the
application of explicit knowledge demand a lot of resources,
mainly because it is not automatized. The implicit system is more
efficient in that respect, and that is probably the reason why we
have two such parallel systems."
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