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Behaviorism and Language Transfer Worksheet

Total questions: 25

Worksheet time: 13mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

The subfield of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research concerning the role of the native language is known as

a)

Interlanguage

b)

Error Analysis

c)

Language Transfer

d)

Psycholinguistics

2.

Lado's influential early book on the role of the native language is titled

a)

Language

b)

Second Language Learning Theories

c)

Linguistics Across Cultures

d)

The Behaviorist Approach

3.

According to Lado (1957), learners tend to transfer forms and meanings from their native language (NL) to the foreign language (FL) both when speaking and acting (productively) and when attempting to grasp the new language (receptively)

a)

True

b)

False

4.

The Contrastive Analysis of the native and target languages was deemed necessary primarily to produce

a)

Theoretical linguistic models

b)

Pedagogically relevant materials

c)

Universal Grammar theories

d)

Sociolinguistic studies

5.

The determination of whether a learner has positively or negatively transferred is based on the

a)

Underlying cognitive process

b)

Product (output), as analyzed by the researcher

c)

Learner's conscious intention

d)

Teacher's intuition

6.

In the behaviorist position regarding language, speech is considered the precondition for

a)

Analogizing

b)

Mimicking

c)

Habits

d)

Writing

7.

Within the behaviorist framework, speaking primarily consists of

a)

Rule application and creativity

b)

Innate knowledge and universal principles

c)

Mimicking and analogizing

d)

Critical thinking and problem-solving

8.

According to Bloomfield's description of language acquisition, the final step involves the reinforcement of correct performance because

a)

Adults provide explicit rule instruction.

b)

The child naturally generates perfect forms.

c)

Correct performance yields better, fortified results

d)

The stimulus-response connection is innate.

9.

From the behaviorist view, learning involves the establishment of a habit by means of which

a)

Semantic networks are formed

b)

Stimulus–response sets become associated

c)

Innate rules are activated

d)

Cognitive restructuring occurs

10.

The main claim of the behaviorist concept of transfer in the psychology of learning is that the learning of task A will affect the subsequent learning of...

a)

The first language

b)

Task B

c)

Cognitive ability

d)

Language loss

11.

According to behaviorist learning theory applied to language, the major cause for lack of success in learning the L2 is primarily due to...

a)

Interference from L1 habits

b)

Lack of motivation

c)

Essential difficulty of the L2 features

d)

Age of the learner

12.

The fundamental goal of Contrastive Analysis (CA) is to compare languages in order to...

a)

Determine universal linguistic features.

b)

Determine potential errors and isolate what needs to be learned.

c)

Prove the superiority of one language over another.

d)

Study language loss (retroactive inhibition).

13.

A key tenet of the CAH is that similarities between the L1 and the L2 will lead to ease in learning because...

a)

They are consciously perceived by the learner.

b)

They will be transferred and function satisfactorily in the L2.

c)

They stimulate active rule formation.

d)

They are ignored by the learner.

14.

The strong version of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) maintained that one could make predictions about learning based on...

a)

Analysis of actual learner errors (a posteriori view)

b)

Comparison between two languages (a priori view)

c)

The complexity of the target language

d)

The learner's attitude

15.

The weak version of the CAH gained credence largely due to...

a)

The shift to Universal Grammar theory.

b)

The failure of predictive contrastive analysis.

c)

New findings in experimental psychology.

d)

Increased funding for language teaching.

16.

What was the major source of difficulty that ultimately led to the demise of the CAH framework in the 1960s?

a)

It was too focused on vocabulary.

b)

Its behaviorist theoretical underpinnings were challenged.

c)

It focused too much on European languages.

d)

It ignored the role of writing.

17.

Errors like "He comed yesterday" made by second language learners could not be accounted for primarily by CAH because..

a)

They reflect forms transferred from the native language.

b)

They reflect an attempt to impose regularity (an overgeneralization error).

c)

They are examples of positive transfer.

d)

They were too infrequent to analyze.

18.

A major criticism of the CAH concept of difficulty was that it...

a)

Was too easy to measure.

b)

Confused the linguistic product (description) with the psycholinguistic process (learner's struggle).

c)

Was only relevant to sound systems.

d)

Ignored grammatical differences.

19.

When a Spanish speaker correctly produces the question word order in Italian (Positive Transfer), the transfer results in...

a)

Something correct (facilitation).

b)

Something incorrect (interference).

c)

Language loss.

d)

Fragmented speech.

20.

Which category in Stockwell, Bowen, and Martin's Hierarchy of Difficulty is considered the most difficult?

a)

Coalescing

b)

Correspondence

c)

Absent category

d)

Differentiation

21.

The example of the English speaker learning Italian who must distinguish between sapere (to know a fact) and conoscere (to be familiar with) illustrates which category of difficulty?

a)

Coalescing

b)

New category

c)

Absent category

d)

Differentiation

22.

A situation where the native language has a category present (e.g., English articles) but the target language has it absent (e.g., Japanese) is known as...

a)

Differentiation

b)

Coalescing

c)

Absent category

d)

Correspondence

23.

Lado (1957) himself noted the necessity of validating the results of the theoretical comparative analysis by checking it against...

a)

Linguistic theory updates.

b)

The actual speech of students.

c)

Psychological laboratory experiments.

d)

General societal attitudes.

24.

The overall conclusion of the chapter regarding the role of the native language is that...

a)

It has no role whatsoever in SLA.

b)

It is the sole predictor of L2 failure.

c)

Its role is far more complex than the simple 1:1 correspondence implied by early CAH.

d)

The strong version of CAH has been empirically proven correct.

25.
  1. What did Zobl's (1980) data show regarding French and English speakers learning each other's language?

a)

Both groups consistently preposed the object pronoun.

b)

French learners never preposed the object pronoun in English, violating their NL habit.

c)

English learners always correctly followed French word order.

d)

Both groups showed strong proactive inhibition.