Download Language as second language and more Summaries English Literature in PDF only on Docsity!
English as a foreign or second language
ESL (English as a second language), ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), and
EFL (English as a foreign language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with
different native languages. The precise usage, including the different use of the terms ESL
and ESOL in different countries, is described below. These terms are most commonly used in
relation to teaching and learning English, but they may also be used in relation to
demographic information.
ELT (English language teaching) is a widely-used teacher-centred term, as in the English
language teaching divisions of large publishing houses, ELT training, etc. The abbreviations
TESL (teaching English as a second language), TESOL (teaching English to speakers of
other languages) and TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) are also used.
Other terms used in this field include EAL (English as an additional language), EIL (English
as an international language), ELF (English as a lingua franca), ESP (English for special
purposes, or English for specific purposes), EAP (English for academic purposes). Some
terms that refer to those who are learning English are ELL (English language learner), LEP
(limited English proficiency) and CLD (culturally and linguistically diverse).
Terminology and types
The many acronyms and abbreviations used in the field of English teaching and learning may
be confusing. English is a language with great reach and influence; it is taught all over the
world under many different circumstances. In English-speaking countries, English language
teaching has essentially evolved in two broad directions: instruction for people who intend to
live in an English-speaking country and for those who don't. These divisions have grown
firmer as the instructors of these two "industries" have used different terminology, followed
distinct training qualifications, formed separate professional associations, and so on.
Crucially, these two arms have very different funding structures, public in the former and
private in the latter, and to some extent this influences the way schools are established and
classes are held. Matters are further complicated by the fact that the United States and the
United Kingdom, both major engines of the language, describe these categories in different
terms: as many eloquent users of the language have observed, "England and America are two
countries divided by a common language." (Attributed to Winston Churchill, George Bernard
Shaw, and Oscar Wilde.) The following technical definitions may therefore have their
currency contested.
English outside English-speaking countries
EFL , English as a foreign language, indicates the use of English in a non–English-speaking
region. Study can occur either in the student's home country, as part of the normal school
curriculum or otherwise, or, for the more privileged minority, in an anglophone country that
they visit as a sort of educational tourist, particularly immediately before or after graduating
from university. TEFL is the teaching of English as a foreign language; note that this sort of
instruction can take place in any country, English-speaking or not. Typically, EFL is learned
either to pass exams as a necessary part of one's education, or for career progression while
working for an organisation or business with an international focus. EFL may be part of the
state school curriculum in countries where English has no special status (what linguist Braj
Kachru calls the "expanding circle countries"); it may also be supplemented by lessons paid
for privately. Teachers of EFL generally assume that students are literate in their mother
tongue. The Chinese EFL Journal [1]^ and Iranian EFL Journal [2]^ are examples of international
journals dedicated to specifics of English language learning within countries where English is
used as a foreign language.
English within English-speaking countries
The other broad grouping is the use of English within the Anglosphere. In what theorist Braj
Kachru calls "the inner circle", i.e. countries such as the United Kingdom and the United
States, this use of English is generally by refugees, immigrants and their children. It also
includes the use of English in "outer circle" countries, often former British colonies, where
English is an official language even if it is not spoken as a mother tongue by the majority of
the population.
In the US, Canada and Australia, this use of English is called ESL (English as a second
language). This term has been criticized on the grounds that many learners already speak
more than one language. A counter-argument says that the word "a" in the phrase "a second
language" means there is no presumption that English is the second acquired language (see
also Second language ). TESL is the teaching of English as a second language.
In the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, the term ESL has been replaced by ESOL (English for
speakers of other languages). In these countries TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other
languages) is normally used to refer to teaching English only to this group. In the UK, the
term EAL (English as an additional language), rather than ESOL, is usually used when talking
about primary and secondary schools, in order to clarify English is not the students' first
language, but their second or third.[3]
Other acronyms were created to describe the person rather than the language to be learned.
The term LEP (Limited English proficiency) was created in 1975 by the Lau Remedies
following a decision of the US Supreme Court. ELL (English Language Learner), used by
United States governments and school systems, was created by James Crawford of the
Institute for Language and Education Policy in an effort to label learners positively, rather
than ascribing a deficiency to them. LOTE (Languages other than English) is a parallel term
used in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Typically, this sort of English (called ESL in the United States, Canada, and Australia, ESOL
in the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand) is learned to function in the new host
country, e.g. within the school system (if a child), to find and hold down a job (if an adult), to
perform the necessities of daily life. The teaching of it does not presuppose literacy in the
mother tongue. It is usually paid for by the host government to help newcomers settle into
their adopted country, sometimes as part of an explicit citizenship program. It is technically
possible for ESL to be taught not in the host country, but in, for example, a refugee camp, as
part of a pre-departure program sponsored by the government soon to receive new potential
citizens. In practice, however, this is extremely rare.
Particularly in Canada and Australia, the term ESD (English as a second dialect) is used
alongside ESL, usually in reference to programs for Canadian First Nations people or
indigenous Australians, respectively.[4]^ It refers to the use of standard English, which may
and preferences are significant. For example, a study looked at Chinese ESL students and
British teachers and found that the Chinese learners did not see classroom discussion and
interaction as important but placed a heavy emphasis on teacher-directed lectures.[9][10]
Pronunciation
Consonant phonemes
English does not have more individual consonant sounds than most languages. However, the interdentals, /θ/ and /ð/ (the sounds written with th ), which are common in English ( thin , thing , etc.; and the , this , that , etc.) are relatively rare in other languages, even others in the Germanic family ( e.g., English thousand = German tausend ), and these sounds are missing even in some English dialects. Some learners substitute a [t] or [d] sound, while others shift to [s] or [z], [f] or [v] and even [ts] or [dz]. Speakers of Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Thai may have difficulty distinguishing [ɹ] and [l]. Speakers of Xiang Chinese may have a similar difficulty distinguishing [n] and [l]. The distinction between [b] and [v] can cause difficulty for native speakers of Spanish, Arabic, Japanese and Korean.
Vowel phonemes
The precise number of distinct vowel sounds depends on the variety of English: for example, Received Pronunciation has twelve monophthongs (single or "pure" vowels), eight diphthongs (double vowels) and two triphthongs (triple vowels); whereas General American has thirteen monophthongs and three diphthongs.[ citation needed ][ dubious^ –^ discuss ]^ Many learners, such as speakers of Spanish, Japanese or Arabic, have fewer vowels, or only pure ones, in their mother tongue and so may have problems both with hearing and with pronouncing these distinctions.
Syllable structure
In its syllable structure, English allows for a cluster of up to three consonants before the vowel and four after it ( e.g., straw , desks , glimpsed ). The syllable structure causes problems for speakers of many other languages. Japanese, for example, broadly alternates consonant and vowel sounds so learners from Japan often try to force vowels in between the consonants ( e.g., desks /desks/ becomes "desukusu" or milk shake /mɪlk ʃeɪk/ becomes "mirukushēku"). Learners from languages where all words end in vowels sometimes tend to make all English words end in vowels, thus make /meɪk/ can come out as [meɪkə]. The learner's task is further complicated by the fact that native speakers may drop consonants in the more complex blends ( e.g., [mʌns] instead of [mʌnθs] for months ).
Unstressed vowels - Native English speakers frequently replace almost any vowel in an unstressed syllable with an unstressed vowel, often schwa. For example, from has a distinctly pronounced short 'o' sound when it is stressed ( e.g., Where are you from? ), but when it is unstressed, the short 'o' reduces to a schwa ( e.g., I'm from London. ). In some
cases, unstressed vowels may disappear altogether, in words such as chocolate (which has four syllables in Spanish, but only two as pronounced by Americans: " choc-lit ".)
Stress in English more strongly determines vowel quality than it does in most other world languages (although there are notable exceptions such as Russian). For example, in some varieties the syllables an , en , in , on and un are pronounced as homophones, that is, exactly alike. Native speakers can usually distinguish an able , enable , and unable because of their position in a sentence, but this is more difficult for inexperienced English speakers. Moreover, learners tend to overpronounce these unstressed vowels, giving their speech an unnatural rhythm.
Stress timing - English tends to be a stress-timed language - this means that stressed syllables are roughly equidistant in time, no matter how many syllables come in between. Although some other languages, e.g., German and Russian, are also stress-timed, most of the world's other major languages are syllable-timed, with each syllable coming at an equal time after the previous one. Learners from these languages often have a staccato rhythm when speaking English that is disconcerting to a native speaker.
"Stress for emphasis" - students' own languages may not use stress for emphasis as English does. "Stress for contrast" - stressing the right word or expression. This may not come easily to some non-native speakers.
"Emphatic apologies" - the normally unstressed auxiliary is stressed (I really am very sorry)
In English there are quite a number of words - about fifty - that have two different pronunciations, depending on whether they are stressed. They are "grammatical words": pronouns, prepositions, auxiliary verbs and conjunctions. Most students tend to overuse the strong form, which is pronounced with the written vowel.
Connected speech
Phonological processes such as assimilation, elision and epenthesis together with indistinct word boundaries can confuse learners when listening to natural spoken English, as well as making their speech sound too formal if they do not use them. For example, in RP eight beetles and three ants /eɪt biːtəlz ənd θriː ænts/ becomes [eɪtbiːtlznθɹiːjæns].
See also: Accent reduction
Grammar
Tense, aspect, and mood - English has a relatively large number of tense–aspect–mood forms with some quite subtle differences, such as the difference between the simple past "I ate" and the present perfect "I have eaten." Progressive and perfect progressive forms add complexity. (See English verbs.) Functions of auxiliaries - Learners of English tend to find it difficult to manipulate the various ways in which English uses auxiliary verbs. These include negation (e.g. He hasn't been drinking. ), inversion with the subject to form a question (e.g. Has he been drinking? ), short answers (e.g. Yes, he has. ) and tag questions ( has he? ). A further complication is that
Spelling : probably the biggest difficulty for non-native speakers since English spelling doesn't follow the alphabetic principle consistently. Because of the many changes in pronunciation which have occurred since a written standard developed, the retention of many historical idiosyncrasies in spelling, and the large influx of foreign words (mainly from Danish, Norman French, Classical Latin and Greek) with different and overlapping spelling patterns,[11]^ English spelling is difficult even for native speakers to master. This difficulty is shown in such activities as spelling bees that generally require the memorization of words. The generalizations that exist are quite complex and there are many exceptions leading to a considerable amount of rote learning. The spelling system causes problems in both directions - a learner may know a word by sound but not be able to write it correctly (or indeed find it in a dictionary), or they may see a word written but not know how to pronounce it or mislearn the pronunciation. However, despite the variety of spelling patterns in English, there are dozens of rules that are 75% or more reliable.[12]
For further discussion of English spelling patterns and rules, see Phonics.
Varieties of English
England, the historical home of English, has significant regional language differences in pronunciation, accent, vocabulary and grammar. The thriving communities of English native speakers in countries all over the world also have some noticeable differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. English has no organisation that determines the most prestigious form of the language - unlike the French language which has the Academie de la langue française , Spanish language's Real Academia Española , the Brazilian Portuguese Academia Brasileira de Letras, or the Italian Accademia della Crusca.
Teaching English therefore involves not only helping the student to use the form of English
most suitable for his purposes, but also exposure to regional forms and cultural styles so that
the student will be able to discern meaning even when the words, grammar or pronunciation
are different to the form of English he is being taught to speak.
Qualifications for teachers
Non-native speakers
Most people who teach English are in fact not native speakers of that language. They are state
school teachers in countries around the world, and as such they hold the relevant teaching
qualification of their country, usually with a specialization in teaching English. For example,
teachers in Hong Kong hold the Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers. Those who
work in private language schools may, from commercial pressures, have the same
qualifications as native speakers (see below). Widespread problems exist of minimal
qualifications and poor quality providers of training, and as the industry becomes more
professional, it is trying to self-regulate to eliminate these.[15]
United States qualifications
Most U.S. instructors at community colleges and universities qualify by taking a Master of
Arts (MA) in TESOL[ citation needed ]. This degree also qualifies them to teach in most EFL
contexts. In some areas of the United States, a growing number of elementary school teachers
are involved in teaching ELLs (English Language Learners, that is, children who come to
school speaking a home language other than English.) The qualifications for these classroom
teachers vary from state to state but always include a state-issued teaching certificate for
public instruction. This state licensing requires substantial practical experience as well as
course work. The MA in TESOL typically includes both graduate work in English as one of
the classical liberal arts (literature, linguistics, media studies) with a theoretical component in
language pedagogy. Admission to the MA in TESOL typically requires at least a bachelor's
degree with a minor in English or linguistics, or, sometimes, a degree in a foreign language
instead.
It is important to note that the issuance of a teaching certificate or license is not automatic
following completion of degree requirements. All teachers must complete a battery of exams
(typically the Praxis subject and method exams or similar, state-sponsored exams) as well as
supervised instruction as student teachers. Often, ESL certification can be obtained through
extra college coursework. ESL certifications are usually only valid when paired with an
already existing teaching certificate. Certification requirements for ESL teachers vary greatly
from state to state; out-of-state teaching certificates are recognized if the two states have a
reciprocity agreement.
British qualifications
Common, respected qualifications for teachers within the United Kingdom's sphere of
influence include certificates and diplomas issued by Trinity College London ESOL and
University of Cambridge ESOL (henceforth Trinity and Cambridge).
A certificate course is usually undertaken before starting to teach. This is sufficient for most
EFL jobs (see TEFL for an extended discussion of travel-teaching) and for some ESOL ones.
CertTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), issued by
Trinity, and CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults), issued by
Cambridge, are the most widely taken and accepted qualifications for new teacher trainees.
Courses are offered in the UK and in many countries around the world. It is usually taught
full-time over a one-month period or part-time over a period up to a year.
Teachers with two or more years of teaching experience who want to stay in the profession
and advance their career prospects (including school management and teacher training) can
take a diploma course. Trinity offers the Trinity Licentiate Diploma in Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages (DipTESOL) and Cambridge offers the Diploma in English
Language Teaching to Adults (DELTA). These diplomas are considered to be equivalent and
are both accredited at level 7 of the revised National Qualifications Framework. Some
teachers who stay in the profession go on to do an MA in a relevant discipline such as applied
linguistics or ELT. Many UK master's degrees require considerable experience in the field
before a candidate is accepted onto the course.
The above qualifications are well-respected within the UK EFL sector, including private
language schools and higher education language provision. However, in England and Wales,
in order to meet the government's criteria for being a qualified teacher of ESOL in the
Learning and Skills Sector (i.e. post-compulsory or further education), teachers need to have
the Certificate in Further Education Teaching Stage 3 at level 5 (of the revised NQF) and the
Certificate for ESOL Subject Specialists at level 4. Recognised qualifications which confer
one or both of these include a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in ESOL, the
EIL - English as an international language (see main article at International English) ELF - English as a lingua franca ELL - English language learner. The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types. ELT - English language teaching. The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types. ESL - English as a second language. English for use in an English-speaking region, by someone whose first language is not English. The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types. ESOL - English for speakers of other languages. This term is used differently in different countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types. ESP - English for specific purposes, or English for special purposes (e.g. technical English, scientific English, English for medical professionals, English for waiters). EST - English for science and technology (e.g. technical English, scientific English). TEFL - Teaching English as a foreign language. This link is to a page about a subset of TEFL, namely travel-teaching. More generally, see the discussion in Terminology and types. TESL - Teaching English as a second language. The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types. TESOL - Teaching English to speakers of other languages, or Teaching English as a second or other language. See the discussion in Terminology and types. TYLE - Teaching Young Learners English. Note that "Young Learners" can mean under 18, or much younger.
Other abbreviations
BULATS - Business Language Testing Services, a computer-based test of business English, produced by CambridgeEsol. The test also exists for French, German, and Spanish. CELT - Certificate in English Language Teaching, certified by the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (ACELS). CELTA - Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults CELTYL - Certificate in English Language Teaching to Young Learners DELTA - Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults ECPE - Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English IELTS - International English Language Testing System LTE - London Tests of English by Pearson Language Tests TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language TOEIC - Test of English for International Communication UCLES - University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, an exam board
Language terminology
A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue.
Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or
lingua francas (such as Esperanto).
A person's first language may not be their dominant language, the one they use most or are
most comfortable with. For example, the Canadian census defines first language for its
purposes as "the first language learned in childhood and still spoken", recognizing that for
some, the earliest language may be lost, a process known as language attrition. This can
happen when young children move, with or without their family (because of immigration or
international adoption), to a new language environment.
Age
According to some researchers, the defining difference between a first language (L1) and a
second language (L2) is the age the person learned the language. For example, linguist Eric
Lenneberg used second language to mean a language consciously acquired or used by its
speaker after puberty. In most cases, people never achieve the same level of fluency and
comprehension in their second languages as in their first language. These views are closely
associated with the Critical Period Hypothesis.
In acquiring an L2, Hyltenstam (1992) found that around the age of six or seven seemed to be
a cut-off point for bilinguals to achieve native-like proficiency. After that age, L2 learners
could get near-native-like-ness but their language would, while consisting of few actual
errors, have enough errors to set them apart from the L1 group. The inability of some subjects
to achieve native-like proficiency must be seen in relation to the age of onset (AO). ―The age
of 6 or 8 does seem to be an important period in distinguishing between near-native and
native-like ultimate attainment... More specifically, it may be suggested that AO interacts
with frequency and intensity of language use‖ (Hyltenstam, 1992, p. 364).
Later, Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson (2003) modified their age cut-offs to argue that after
childhood, in general, it becomes more and more difficult to acquire native-like-ness, but that
there is no cut-off point in particular. Furthermore, they discuss a number of cases where a
native-like L2 was acquired during adulthood.
As we are learning more and more about the brain, there is a hypothesis that when a child is
going through puberty, that is the time that accents start. Before a child goes through puberty,
the chemical processes in the brain are more geared towards language and social
communication. Whereas after puberty, the ability for learning a language without an accent
has been rerouted to function in another area of the brain—most likely in the frontal lobe area
promoting cognitive functions, or in the neural system of hormone allocated for reproduction
and sexual organ growth.
Similarities and differences between L2 and L
Speed
Acquiring a second language can be a lifelong learning process for many. Despite persistent
efforts, most learners of a second language will never become fully native-like in it, although
with practice considerable fluency can be achieved. However, children by around the age of 5
have more or less mastered their first language, with the exception of vocabulary and a few
grammatical structures.
Stages
Acquiring a second language occurs in systematic stages. Much evidence has been gathered
to show that basic sounds, vocabulary, negating phrases, forming questions, using relative
clauses, and so on are developed. This development is independent of input (we do not hear
nor read language in this order) and learning situation (in the classroom or on the street). It is
Theories of second language acquisition (SLA)
Blackboard used in class at Harvard shows students' efforts at placing the ü and acute accent
diacritic used in Spanish orthography.
The distinction between acquiring and learning was made by Stephen Krashen (1982) as
part of his Monitor Theory. According to Krashen, the acquisition of a language is a natural
process; whereas learning a language is a conscious one. In the former, the student needs to
partake in natural communicative situations. In the latter, error correction is present, as is the
study of grammatical rules isolated from natural language. Not all educators in second
language agree to this distinction; however, the study of how a second language is
learned/acquired is referred to as Second Language Acquisition or SLA.
Research in SLA focuses on the developing knowledge and use of a language by children and
adults who already know at least one other language... [and] a knowledge of second
language acquisition may help educational policy makers set more realistic goals for
programmes for both foreign language courses and the learning of the majority language by
minority language children and adults (Spada & Lightbown, p. 115).
SLA has been influenced by both linguistic and psychological theories. One of the dominant
linguistic theories hypothesizes that a device or module of sorts in the brain contains innate
knowledge. Many psychological theories, on the other hand, hypothesize that cognitive
mechanisms, responsible for much of human learning, process language.
Foreign language
A German student learning FrenchIn pedagogy, a distinction is often made between 'second
language' and foreign language, the latter being learned for use in an area where that language is
not generally spoken. Arguably, English in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the
Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands can be considered a second language for many of its
speakers, because they learn it young, speak it fluently, and use it regularly, indeed in southern Asia
it is the official language of the courts, government and business.
The same can be said for French in the Arab Maghreb Union, except for Libya, although—
like for English in the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands—French is not an official
language in any of these Arabic-speaking countries. In the post-Soviet states states such as
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, Russian can be considered a second language, and
there are large Russophone communities there.
In China (with the exception perhaps of Hong Kong), however, English would be considered
a foreign language due to the lack of a number of characteristics, such as historical links,
media, opportunities for use, similar vocabulary, and common script.
French would be considered a foreign language in Romania, Lebanon and Moldova as well.
This is despite Romanian and French being Romance languages (unlike Chinese and English,
which come from two different language families). This is also despite Romania and
Moldova being the only two countries in the world where Romanian is an official language at
the federal level, Romania's historical links to France, and both Romanian-speaking countries'
membership in the Francophonie. For Lebanon, French would be considered a foreign
language, even though most of its universities operate in either that language or English,
French is an administrative language and—like Romania—Lebanon has historical ties to
France and is a Francophonie member state.
George H. J. Weber, a Swiss businessman and independent scholar, founder of the Andaman
Association and creator of the encyclopedic andaman.org Web site, made a report in
December 1997 about the number of secondary speakers of the world's leading
languages.[1][2]^ Weber used the Fischer Weltalmanach of 1986 as his only source[3]] for the
L2-speakers data, in preparing the data in the next table. These numbers should be compared
with those referred to by Ethnologue, an authoritative site in the linguistics field, however,
the data for English as L2 has not been yet reported by Ethnologue.
Language Weltalmanach 1986 Ethnologue.com
- French 190 million 50 million
- English 150 million N/A
- Russian 125 million 110 million
- Portuguese 28 million 15 million
- Arabic 21 million 246 million
- Mandarin 20 million 178 million
- Spanish 20 million 60 million
- German 9 million 28 million
- Japanese 8 million 1 million
