WHAT’S IN A NAME?

THE QUEST
FOR A NEW SLA METAPHOR Vera Menezes (UFMG/CNPq)
BRAZIL
"What's in a name? that which we call a
rose/ By any other name would smell as
sweet” says Juliet to Romeo, trying to

02
persuade Romeo to abandon his surname.

Can we use the same reasoning to

abandon the acquisition metaphor?
What is a metaphor?
 Metaphor definition
“A set of conceptual correspondences, or more
technically, mappings, between two conceptual
domains, a source and a target (Lakoff and
Johnson, 1980; Köveceses, 2002). The source
is more physical and the target more abstract.
Ex. source: container
domain: mind
Thus the mind is a container
Knowledge Transfer
Knowledge building.
Knowledge is socially
constructed
 Etymoloy of “learn”
• learn
– O.E. leornian "to get knowledge, be cultivated," from P.Gmc. *liznojan (cf. O.Fris.
lernia, O.H.G. lernen, Ger. lernen "to learn," Goth. lais "I know), with a base
sense of "to follow or find the track," from PIE *leis- "track." Related to Ger. Gleis
"track," and to O.E. læst "sole of the foot" (see last (n.)). The transitive sense (He
learned me how to read), now vulgar, was acceptable from c.1200 until early
19c., from O.E. læran "to teach" (cf. M.E. lere, Ger. lehren "to teach;" see lore),
and is preserved in the adj. learned "having knowledge gained by study"
(c.1340).(Oxford Dicionary of Etymology)

– apprehend
late 14c., "to grasp in the mind," from L. apprehendere "to take hold of, grasp,“
from ad-"to" + prehendere "to seize" (see prehensile). Metaphoric extension to
"seize with the mind" took place in L., and was the sole sense of cognate O.Fr.
aprendre (Mod.Fr. apprendre "to learn, to be informed about;" also cf.
apprentice). Original sense returned in Eng. in meaning "to seize in the name
of the law, arrest," recorded from 1540s, which use probably was taken
directly from Latin.

to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, practice or experience. (Webster)

to gain knowledge of or skill in, by study, practice or being taught: ~ a foreign language
(Oxord)
The concept of language
 Acquisition and participation
• When a metaphor names a phenomenon it highlights one of
its aspects, but hides others. In the case of acquisition,
language is conceived as a commodity, something the
learner (a recipient) acquires from the ones who possess it.
Sfard (1998:5) tells us that “[S]ince the dawn of civilization,
human learning is conceived of as an acquisition of
something” and building on Lave and Wenger’s theory
(1991), she proposes the participation metaphor (becoming
member of a community) to complement the acquisition
metaphor (mind as recipient). Such a metaphor emphasizes
the sociocultural aspects of the phenomenon but neglects
the cognitive aspects.
 (Sfard, 1998:7)

In the acquisition metaphor "turning into a part of a greater

language is conceptualized whole“, togetherness,
as a commodity: reception, solidarity, and collaboration.
acquisition, construction,
internalization, appropriation, Learning as a process of
transmission, attainment, participation.
development, accumulation,
grasp.
 What are the learners’ metaphors?
A journey (sail new seas, travel
crazily, have a passport for the
globalized world; fly in an
unknown place)
An adventure
To ride a bicycle
To discover the world
To open the windows/doors of
the world
To dive into an unknown place
To overcome an obstacle
To enjoy an experience
To climb a ladder/ a
mountain
To build a multi-storey
building
To learn the commands of
a new software
To make connections
To acquire a powerful tool
To be part of a globalized
world
“We have to accept the fact that the
metaphors we use while theorizing
may be good enough to fit small areas,
but none of them suffice to cover the
entire field.” (Sfard, 1988:11)
 Is participation a metaphor?
• What is the source?

source: commodity
domain: language
Thus the language is a commodity

• Acquisition metaphor: something (language) is acquired

• Where is language in the participation metaphor?

• I can say second language acquisition, but I cannot say second

language participation.

• Participation in which community?

 Language learning histories
• Learners are aware that to learn a
language they must look for linguistic
social practices. So, participation is implicit
in their narratives, but language as a
commodity is also present.
SLA AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM
As pointed out by van Lier (1996:170), “we can neither
claim that learning is caused by environmental stimuli
(the behaviourist position) nor that it is genetically
determined (the innatist position). Rather, learning is the
result of complex (and contingent) interactions between
individual and environment”.

There is evidence to support the claim that SLA is a

Complex adaptive system due to its inherent ability to
adapt to different conditions present in both internal and
external environments.
 A complex
model can
accommodate
apparently
opposed
elements in an
effort to explain
SLA.
 Automatic
habits

interaction output

Identity/ Neural
Affiliation connections

Innate mental
Sociocultural mediations
structures

input
 LANGUAGE
In this perspective, language must be understood as a non-
Linear dynamic system, made up of interrelated bio-cognitive,
sociocultural, historical and political elements, which enable us
to think and act in society. A language is not a static object,
but a system in constant movement and its interacting
elements influence and are influenced by each other. As
language is in evolution, so too is SLA and any change in a
subsystem can affect other elements in the network. It
develops through dynamic and constant interaction among the
subsystems, alternating moments of stability with moments of
turbulence.
SLA AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM
SLA consists of a dynamic interaction among different
Individual and social factors put into movement by inner
and social processes. The random interaction among all
the elements of the acquisition system yields the changes
responsible for acquisition.

The rate of change is not predictable and varies according

to the nature of the interactions among all the elements of
the system. A live acquisition system is always in movement
and never reaches equilibrium, although it undergoes periods
of more or less stability.
 In a complex perspective,
Emergence of a second language
might be a good alternative.

BUT
What's in a name? that which we
call acquisition or participation/ By
any other name would sound as
inadequate”.