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Second Language Acquisition. Introduction: Describing and Explaining L2 Acquisition. By. By Alimatun Nikmah 2201410020 . What is ‘second languange acquisition?’. Second any language that is learned subsequent to the mother tongue.
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SecondLanguage Acquisition Introduction: Describing and Explaining L2 Acquisition By By Alimatun Nikmah 2201410020
What is ‘second languange acquisition?’ • Second any language that is learned subsequent to the mother tongue. • L2 acquisition the way in which people learn a language other than their mother tonge, inside or outside of a classroom. • Second Language Acquisition the study of L2.
What are the goals of SLA? • To describe how L2 acquisition proceeds and to explain this process and why some learners seem to be better at it than others. • To identifying the external and internal factors that account for why learners acquire an L2 in the way they do.
The learners can possess general knowledge about the world which they can draw on to help them understand L2 input. • Finally, learners possess communication strategies that can help them make effective use their L2 knowledge.
Two Case studies A case study is a detailed study of a learner’s acquisition of an L2. It is typically longitudinal, involving the collection of samples of the learner’s speech or writing over a period of time, sometimes years.
A case study of an adult learner Wes (33 years old artist, native speaker of Japanese, left school in 15, began to visit Hawaii) is a naturalist learner-someone who learns the language at the same as learning to communicate in it.
Schmidt, a researcher at the University of Hawaii, was interested in how Wes’s knowledge of English grammar developed over three years. He focused on a small number of grammatical features, such as the use of auxiliary be, plural –s, 3rd person –s and regular past tense. But, Wes did not learn much grammar, he did develop in other ways.
A general feature of Wes’s use of English was his use of formula- fixed expressions such as ‘Hi! How’s it?’, ‘Whaddya want?’ and ‘I dunno why’ He was adept at identifying these fixed phrases and that he practice them conciously to develop his English. So, he became a success communicator, a skilled conversationalist, and an effective negotiator.
A Case Study of Two Child Learners • J: 10 years old Portuguese boy, literate in his native language, an adventurous and confident learner, willing to struggle to communicate in English, even he had very limited resources. • R: 11 years old boy from Pakistan, speaking (but unable to write) Punjabi as his native language. He lack confident using his native language. Gradually, he became more confident and independent .
Moreover, the two learners appeared to develop in much the same way. For example: • First, their requests were verbless.R just pointed at a piece of card by ‘Sir’. • Second, they use imperative verbs in their requests e.g. ‘Give me’ - Third, they use ‘Can I have__?’
-Then, their development of requstes was marked by a general extension of the linguistic they used e.g. ‘Miss,I want.’ (stapler) • Both learners used indirect requests e.g. ‘This paper is not good to colour blue.’ (J wanted the teacher to give another coloured piece of paper) - Finally, the learners began to use ‘can’ with a range of different verbs e.g. ‘Can you pass me my pencil?’
Methodological Issues • Language is such a complex phenomenon that researchers have generally preferred to focus on some specific aspect rather than on the whole of it. • Another issue concerns what it means to say that a learner has ‘acquired’ a feature of the target language e.g. Wes might be said to know how to make plurals even he does not always add –s to a plural noun.
Learners may manifest target-like use of a feature in a formula without having acquired the ability to use the feature productively e.g. ‘Can I have a___?’ • A third problem in trying to measure whether ‘acquisition’ has taken place concerns learners’ overuse of linguistic forms. • SLA researchers recognize the need yo investigate how the relationship between form and function in learners’ output compares with that of native speakers.
Issues In The Description of Learner Language • The learners make errors of different kinds. Wes failed to use some grammatical features at all and used others incorrectly. J and R also made grammatical errors in their requests. That is, they failed to use requests in a socially appropriate manner. • One of the most interesting issues raised by these case studies is whether learners acquire the language systematically.
Issues in The Explanation of L2 Acquisition • Learners must engage in both item learning and system learning. • The systematic nature of L2 acquisition also requires explanation. One is the learners follow a particular developmental pattern because their mental faculties are structured in such a way that this is the way they have to learn.
None of the three learners in the two case studies reached a native-speaker level performance. Why was acquisition in these learner is so incomplete? Perhaps, learners like Wes and J and R only motivated to learn an L2 to the extent that they are able to satisfy their communicative needs. After all, it is not necessary to learn the full grammar of grammar of a language in order to get one’s meaning across.
