The Applicability of SLA Research to L2 Pedagogy: Focusing on Mandarin Tones
作者单位：University of Connecticut Lafayette College
会议日期：2017年
学科分类：0501[文学-中国语言文学] 0303[法学-社会学] 050102[文学-语言学及应用语言学] 03[法学] 030303[法学-人类学] 05[文学]
关 键 词：SLA language pedagogy Mandarin Tone 3 low tone
摘 要：The relationship between SLA research and L2 pedagogy is a recurring topic. While many articles have discussed the theoretical applicability of SLA research in pedagogy, fewer attempts have been made to test the actual applicability and effectiveness of such applications. This study contributes to the discussion of this issue by applying SLA findings on the acquisition of Mandarin Tone 3 to L2 Mandarin teaching in the classroom setting. Two first-year Chinese classes in an American university participated in this study. The two classes adopted the identical curriculum except for the treatment of Tone 3（i.e., the low teaching approach versus the full teaching approach）. The comparison of Tone 3 productions in the two classes showed that the low teaching approach facilitated L2 learners’ Tone 3 acquisition and helped L2 learners reduce the production of the wrong low-dipping Tone 3 in inappropriate contexts. The low approach demonstrated advantage over the full approach in L2 tone acquisition, but also exhibited its own problems. The finding of this study supports Ellis’（2010） view that the application of SLA findings to L2 pedagogy is not straightforward. Rather, practitioners need to make adjustments specific to their own teaching contexts based on student learning outcomes and feedback. The results of this study suggest that more language instructors and practitioners should be engaged in empirical research integrating SLA research and language pedagogy.