时间：2022-08-01 09:11:58
Abstract： Psycholinguistics is a relatively new branch of linguistics， an outcome of two-field convergence —philology and psychology. Psycholinguistics explores mental factors of SLA， and the current psychological research is also reflected in SLA. The research of psycholinguistics contributes a lot in second language acquisition.
Key Words： Psycholinguistics； Second Language Acquisition （SLA）； Critical-Age Hypothesis
1. Introduction
Psycholinguistics or Linguistics of psychology is the study of the psychological and neurological factors that enable humans to acquire， use and understand language. It contributes a lot to second language acquisition.
Second language acquisition， or SLA， is the academic discipline concerned with the study of the process by which people learn language in addition to their native tongue. The term SLA has become standard for referring to all research on non-native language learning， even when the language learned is a learner’s third or fourth. The language to be learned is often referred to the “target language”， or as the “L2”. The study of SLA is usually viewed as part of applied linguistics. It is concerned with the way an individual becomes able to use one or more languages different from his first language.
2. The contribution of Psycholinguistics on SLA
The acquisition of second languages is studied primarily by applied linguists. People learning a second language pass through some of the same stages， including overgeneralization， as do children learning their native language. However， people rarely become as fluent in a second language as in their native tongue. Some linguists see the earliest years of childhood as a critical period， after which the brain loses much of its facility for assimilating new languages. The content of SLA ranges widely over topics drawn from sociolinguistics， from social psychology and from educational psychology. Most traditional methods for learning a second language involve some systematic approach to the analysis and comprehension of grammar as well as to the memorization of vocabulary. The cognitive approach， increasingly favored by experts in language acquisition， emphasizes extemporaneous conversation， immersion， and other techniques intended to simulate the environment in which most people acquire their native language as children.
There are many factors in learning a second language， while psychological factors play a crucial role. Second language acquisition researcher Stephen Krashen developed the construct of an affective filter， consisting of the variables of anxiety， motivation， and self-confidence. According to Krashen， these psychological variables may strongly enhance or inhibit second language acquisition by playing a critical mediating role between the linguistic input available in the educational setting and the student’s ability to learn. In order for students to fully engage their innate capacity to acquire language within an input-rich environment， they should ideally be relaxed， motivated， and self-confident. Consequently， Psycholinguistics is highlignted in the research of second language acquisition.
Psycholinguistics is a relatively new branch of linguistics， an outcome of two-field convergence -- philology and psychology. This discipline investigates the following areas： （1） Language， Mind and Brain. （2） Mental Lexicon. （3） Language Processing. （4） Speech Generation. （5） Language Acquisition. （6） Second-Language Learning.
Psycholinguistics is also the branch of cognitive psychology that studies the psychological basis of linguistic competence and performance. In other words， it is the study of psychological states and mental activity associated with the use of language. An important focus of psycholinguistics is the largely unconscious application of grammatical rules that enable people to produce and comprehend intelligible sentences. Psycholinguists investigate the relationship between language and thought， a perennial subject of debate being whether language is a function of thinking or thought a function of the use of language. However， most problems in psycholinguistics are more concrete， involving the study of linguistic performance and language acquisition， especially in children.
It analyses the processes that make it possible to form a correct sentence out of vocabulary and grammatical structures. This process is called codification. Psycholinguistics also studies the factors that account for decodification， i.e.， the psychological structures that allow us to understand utterances， words， sentences， texts etc.
To give an example， one field of research deals with questions like 'How do people learn a second language？' and 'How do children learn their native language？'. According to Noam Chomsky and his supporters， humans have an innate Universal Grammar （i.e.， an abstract concept containing the grammatical rules of all world languages）. Opponents of this view claim that language is learned only through social contact. However， it is scientifically proven that every healthy human being has the innate ability to learn many languages， as many as one is exposed to for a long enough period of time. This period of time lengthens considerably after the onset of puberty， so that children can learn any language fairly rapidly wheareas adults may require years to learn a second or third language. It also seems to be the case that the more languages one knows， the easier it is to learn more.
Moreover， Psycholinguistics concerns with two questions： （1） How is language actually stored in and processed by the brain？ （2） How is language acquired？
From learning psycholinguistics， we know the physical Features of the Brain： the left hemisphere is dominant in analytic reasoning， temporal ordering， arithmetic， and language processing， while the right hemisphere is dominant in processing music， perceiving nonlinguistic sounds， visual and spatial skills and pattern recognition. The left hemisphere concerns with mathematical thinking， analytical skills， temporal order， judgments， and associative thoughts. The right hemisphere is related to pattern matching， recognizing people’s faces， recognition and memories of melodies， and identifying environmental sounds.
One important theory of psycholinguistics is Critical-Age Hypothesis， which implies that acquisition has to be finished before a certain age or else native proficiency would never be achieved. For second language acquisition， it is said that children are far superior to adult at L2 learning.
There are also some theories of Language Acquisition in Psycholinguistics：
Imitation Theory claims that children acquire language by listening to the speech around them and reproducing what they hear. For example， children may make such errors as eated， and goed.
Reinforcement Theory， insists that children learn to speak like adults through reinforcement and correction.
Active Construction of Grammar maintains that children acquire a language by inventing rules of grammar based on the speech around them.
Though there are some different opinions on these theories， they are still very valuable in studying second language acquisition.
Besides， there is the Language Bioprogram Hypothesis， raised by Bickerton（1984）. The main idea is that we， as children， have an innate grammar that is available biologically if our language input is insufficient to acquire the language of our community. It is something like a linguistic backup system.
The current psychological research is also reflected in SLA， such as B.F. Skinner’s work on stimulus-response learning.
B. F. Skinner’s entire system is based on operant conditioning. The organism is in the process of “operating” on the environment， which in ordinary terms means it is bouncing around it world， doing what it does. During this “operating，” the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus， called a reinforcing stimulus， or simply a reinforcer. This special stimulus has the effect of increasing the operant -- that is， the behavior occurring just before the reinforcer. This is operant conditioning：” the behavior is followed by a consequence， and the nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency to repeat the behavior in the future.”
3. Conlusion
Above all， Psycholinguistics is the psychological study of language： the study of the structures and processes which underlie human ability to learn and speak a language. Psycholinguistics explores mental factors of SLA， and the research of psycholinguistics contributes a lot in second language acquisition. With the development of Psycholinguistics， the study of SLA will carry forward continuously.
Reference
Bickerton， D. （1983）. Creole Languages. In S-Y. Wang（Ed）， The Emergency of Language： Development and Evolution（pp.59-69）. New York： W.H. Freeman
David W.Carrol. （2000）. Psychology of Language. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
D. Foss and D. Hake. （1978） Psycholinguistics. New York： Prentice Hall
Weidong D. & Zhaoxiong H. （2002）. A New concise Course on Linguistics for Students of English. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
J. C. Richards. （1974） Error Analysis： Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition. London： Longman. Press
Andersen （1981）（ed.）： New dimensions in second language acquisition research. Rowley， MA： Newbury House.
作者简介：赵雪梅（1981-），女，山东省济南市，山东艺术学院公共课教学部，讲师，博士在读，英语语言文学。