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SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. MEIDIANA INSANIA A. 2201410062 Rombel 403-404. Chapter 1 : Introduction. Describing and Explaining L2 Acquisition. What is ‘second language acquisition’?. In this context ‘second’ can refer to any language that is learned subsequent to the mother tongue.
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SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION MEIDIANA INSANIA A. 2201410062 Rombel 403-404
Chapter 1 : Introduction Describing and Explaining L2 Acquisition
What is ‘second language acquisition’? • In this context ‘second’ can refer to any language that is learned subsequent to the mother tongue. • ‘L2 acquisition’ the way in which people learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside of a classroom.
What are the goals of SLA? • The goals of SLA : • People learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside of a classroom. • Identifying the external and internal factors that account for why learners acquire an L2 in the way they do.
The external factors : • The social milieu in which learning takes place. Social conditions influence the opportunities that learners have to hear and speak the language and the attitudes that they develop towards it. e.g : it is one thing to learn a language when you respect and are respected by native speakers of that language.
The input that learners receive, that is, the samples of language to which a learner is exposed. Language learning cannot occur without some input. e.g : do learners benefit more than input that has been simplified for them or from the authentic language of native-speaker communication?
The internal factors explain why learners vary in the rate they learn an L2 and how succesful they ultimately are. e.g : it has been suggested that people vary in their language aptitude, some finding it easier than others.
So, the goals of SLA are to describe how L2 acquisition proceeds and to explain this process and why some learners seem to be better at it than others.
Two case studies • A case study of an adult learner e.g : Omit –s from plural nouns, rarely put –s on the third person singular of verbs, and never used the regular past tense • A case study of two child learners e.g : R just pointed at a piece of card to let the teacher know that he wanted him to put a staple in it. He saying ‘Sir, give me a paper’ Then sometimes after this, they learned to use ‘Can I have _____?’
Methodological issues • 1st issue One issue has to do with what it is needs to be described. Schimdt was concerned broadly with how Wes developed the ability to communicate in an L2, examining his grammatical development, his ability to use English in situationally appropriate ways, and how he learned to hold succesful conversations.
2nd issue Another issue concerns what it means to say that a learner has ‘acquired’ a feature of the target language. Schmidt, like many other researchers, defines ‘acquisition’ in terms of whether the learner manifests patterns of language use that are more or less the same as native speakers of the target language.
3rd issue There is a problem in determining whether learners have ‘acquired’ a particular feature. Both Schimidt and I point out that the learners made considerable use of the fixed expressions or formulas.
4th issue A problem in trying to measure whether ‘acquisition’ has taken place concerns learners’ overuse of linguistic forms. Schimdt showed that Wes knew when to use the present progressive correctly but he also showed that Wes used this form in contexts that did not require it. SLA researchers recognize the need to investigate how the relationship form and function in learners’ output compares with that of native speakers.
Issues in the description of learner language • One finding is that learners make errors of different kinds. We failed to use some grammatical features at all and used others incorrectly. These are errors of omission and overuse. • Another finding is that L2 learners acquire a large number of formulaic chuncks, which they use to perform communicative functions that are important to them and which contribute to the fluency of their unplanned speech
These studies suggest that learners do acquire aspects of an L2 systematically and, moreover, that they follow particular developmental routes, with some features being acquired before others.
Issues in the explanation of L2 acquisition Why was acquisition in these learners so incomplete?
They simply needed more time to learn • L2 learners, unlike children acquiring their L1, just stop learning. • Perhaps learners like Wes, J, and R are only motivated to learn an L2 to the extent that they are able to satisfy their communicative needs. • Perhaps all three learners did not wish to belong to the community of native speakers they had contact with and, therefore, kept a linguistic ‘distance’ between themselves and them.
These case studies, then, illuminate the kinds of issues that preoccupy SLA. These issues will figure in subsequent chapthers.
