二语习得文献综述

Chapter ⅠIntroduction of Attention
1.1 What is Attention?
The word attention in dictionary is defined as the action of applying one’s mind to something or somebody or noticing something or somebody, a kind of particular care. As an important concept in psychology, attention refers to the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one thing while deliberately ignore other things. Among the various cognitive process in human mind, attention is usually considered as the most important. A leading psychologist William James gave us a clear definition: “everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought…it implies withdraw from something in order to deal effectively with others.( William James. 1890)
Today, rather than regarding attention as a filter on input most psychologists now conceptualize it as a mechanism of cognitive processing and more specifically another instance of construction：depending on what stimulus they wish to pay attention to, people select certain pieces of information from among those they receive and construct a perception from them．
The first and most basic characteristic of the mind is that it can only focus effectively on one thing at a time and can only focus on the selected goal for a short period of time before it shifted to something else．Thus, the processing capacity is limited. But sometimes the amount of new information being attended to depend on how many cognitive processing resources is needed for each stimulus. If you are confronted with a demanding task，full attention is required to accomplish it ．However, if you are doing habitual or automatic routine, you may split your attention to other activities．Therefore，it is safe to say that human cannot attend to two demanding tasks at the same time．Therefore, people should select information for processing according to priority.
The second characteristic is that human mind is always occupied by a continual stream of thoughts and considerations without any rest. Therefore, focusing on one thing is realized by subjectively choosing a goal to attend to at a certain period of time, not just by blocking out distractions.
1.2 Vocabulary Knowledge and Vocabulary Acquisition Process
No doubt, foreign language vocabulary is viewed as a footstone factor in successful communication (Ellis 1994)and，to a great extent，in high-level reading ability and comprehension. A large number of the studies in SLA examine the role of context in vocabulary acquisition which takes place through reading or reading-associated tasks．Context plays a primordial role in this acquisition by supplying the necessary input and trigger．A plausible explanation of lexical acquisition is a theory about the active role of the learner in the process of vocabulary acquisition．Learners should be encouraged to make their own lexical associations when they are actively learning new vocabulary.
The importance of vocabulary knowledge in L2 learning is supported by the schema-based approach to language learning．The learning theory based on information processing and the role of cognitive processes suggests that the information from long-term memory can be used to enrich the learners’understanding or retention of the new ideas by providing related information or schemata into which the new ideas call be organized．An often quoted definition of learning is the process by which information is obtained，stored，retrieved and used．Learning in itself cannot be separated from what is being learned or from the process of learning．For the learning of L2 vocabulary, Brown(1993)has identified five steps：
(a)having sources for encountering new words；
(b)getting a clear image，either visual or auditory or both, of the forms of the new words；
(c)learning the meaning of the words；
(d)making a strong memory connection between the forms and the meanings of the words；(c)using the words．
Accordingly, learning L2 vocabulary is，to some extent，related to these five steps，which，in a more or less degree，is associated with the attention mechanism in the cognitive process of L2 lexical acquisition. Lexical knowledge lies at the core of L2 vocabulary acquisition but as Laufer observe，“no clear and unequivocal consensus exists as to the nature of lexical knowledge”．
According to Nation (2004) vocabulary learning process consists of three psychological conditions：noticing，retrieval and creative use．Noticing，the first process is induced by, for
example，the salience of the word，learners’attention to the word，learner’s interest and motivation，etc．Noticing involves decontextualization and negotiation．The second process，retrieval is the proper way to strengthen the memory and the creative or generative use makes evident the extent to which the language user demonstrates his ability to use knowledge of linguistic rules for communication．
Chapter ⅡAttention in Noticing Hypothesis
Schmidt raises his claim that noticing is the necessary and sufficient condition for the conversion of input into intake for learning (1994). Awareness of the form is a prerequisite for the learning of a form. In the light of Schmidt, noticing is in need of learner’s focal attention and awareness, and subliminal learning cannot explain SLA process. The noticing hypothesis further states that it is whatever features of the input relevant for the target system not just the input in a global sense that must be noticed. From the above theory, we can see that only by attention to specific aspects of the input can learners acquire these aspects of the input.
According to Schmidt, by noticing is meant the subjective experience of the stimuli. It seems that noticing critically contains awareness, and Schmidt appears to include awareness with attention as central to noticing, Schmidt also expounds the role and the nature of noticing. In a restrict sense, noticing is isomorphic with Tomlin and Villa’s (1994) detection of selective attention, and to Robinson’s detection plus rehearsal in short term memory. Schmidt assumed that the objects of attention and noticing are elements of the surface structure of input language, rather than any abstract rules or principles of which such instances may be examples. Schmidt made relative claim that unattended stimuli remain in immediate short term memory for a very short time, and attention is the necessary and sufficient condition for stimuli to enter long term memory. In SLA, it is usually considered that attention selects the essential materials in input to be accessible for further central mental processing.
Although consensus has arrived on the importance of attention, disagreement exists in the amount and types of attention. In Tomlin and Villa’s view (1994), attention contains three interrelated networks, namely, alertness, orientation, and detection, with alertness and orientation serving to make detection more likely, however, not ensuring detection or learning, and detection being the process by which particular examples are registered in memory and therefore can be made accessible to whatever the key processes are for learning (Tomlin & Villa, 1994).
According to them, detection requires no awareness. Up to this point, further mention should be made of awareness under the framework of both SLA and cognitive science. Awareness refers to a particular state of mind in which an individual has undergone a specific subjective experience of some cognitive content or external stimulus.
For the two opposing views of attention by Schmidt and Tomlin & Villa, Robinson has attempt to compromise their views. Noticing is defined as what is detected and then further activated following the allocation of attention resources from a central executive. (Robinson, 1995). Robinson argues that different tasks may result in different cognitive processing, and that different task demands may have an effect on attentional allocation, which consequently works on the quality of second language comprehension and production. Robinson argues that both Tomlin & Villa’s detection and Schmidt’s noticing require attention, and learning won’t occur without attention. Robinson persists that awareness is crucial to noticing, agreeing with Schmidt claim that there is no learning without awareness at the level of noticing.
Schmidt and Robinson have conviction that awareness is necessary for learning. In terms of his strong version of noticing hypothesis, while there is evidence for subliminal perception, subliminal learning is impossible. Unattended stimuli enter short term memory. If they are not noticed and selected via attention, they are not likely to enter long term memory. Therefore, as claimed by Schmidt (1990), only conscious noticing causes intake, which is meant to be pertinent to the learning of all respects of language. Schmidt still argued that the amount of noticing is in proper proportion to that of learning in that whoever notices most means whoever pays attention most. What’s more, Schmidt claims that many factors such as task demands, frequency, ect. Noticing is not end of the learning process but the initial step in language building.
Schmidt (1990) identifies three aspects of consciousness involved in language learning: awareness, intention and knowledge. The first sense, consciousness as awareness, embraces noticing. According to Schmidt (1995), "the noticing hypothesis states that what learners notice in input is what becomes intake for learning." Schmidt also states that a) whether a learner deliberately attends to a linguistic form in the input or it is noticed purely unintentionally, if it is noticed it becomes intake; and b) that noticing is a necessary condition for SLA. To help clarify Schmidt's hypothesis and the place of noticing in SLA the following model, proposed by Ellis, is useful.
Ellis has based his model on current theories of SLA, where two main stages are seen to be involved in the process of input becoming implicit knowledge. The first stage, in which input becomes intake, involves learners noticing language features in the input, absorbing them into
their short-term memories and comparing them to features produced as output. With regard to short-term memory, Kihlstrom (1984) suggests that 1) consciousness and short-term memory are essentially the same; 2) that for language items to be stored in long-term memory they must be processed in short-term memory; and 3) that items not processed into short-term memory or not further encoded into long-term memory from short-term memory will be lost. Schmidt therefore concludes, "If consciousness is indeed equivalent to the short term store, these amounts to a claim that storage without conscious awareness is impossible".
The second stage is one in which intake is absorbed into the learner's interlanguage system and changes to this system only occur when language features become part of long-term memory.
Chapter ⅢAttention and Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition Process
V ocabulary entails less complicated and abstract grammatical rules compared with syntax. Therefore, it seems there is no need for too great amount of focal attention and external efforts, for learners can assimilate the new words by directly memorizing them. However, many other facts refute the above statement. More often than not, students complain the difficulty of memorizing a large number of words in a due period of time, and sometimes, even the learned words can not keep in the memory for an expecting long time ready for retrieval. A more demanding problem is that even if the learners know the meanings of the words, they can not put them into proper use. All of the above problems show that vocabulary acquisition is not just an easy case of memory. It requires much more external controlled attention to every aspects of a new word, ranging from pronunciation, spelling to collocation and usage in a real context. A large number of theoretical and empirical studies have been done to verify the effects of different methods and strategies to facilitate vocabulary learning. Laufer conclude that elaboration, the same concept as “processing depth”,is the most important factor affecting vocabulary acquisition. Their further argument is from William James’s (1890) notion that all improvement of the memory lies in the line of elaborating the associates. In other words, the more special attention learners pay to the form and semantic associates the deeper the words be processed and the more meaningful associates will be the previously existing knowledge in learners’ interlanguge system.
Conclusion
We can say attention plays a very important role in vocabulary acquisition, for it is the prerequisite from input to intake and output. Besides, we can find that attention appears in the first place in the area of processing depth, for great elaboration for new words can help promote vocabulary acquisition from the perspective of quantity and quality of input, and then for deeper processing in working memory which in turn enhances good memory for convenient retrieval. Without focal attention to certain items, all of the input will just stay in working memory for a short period of time and then fall into oblivion.
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