Second Language Acuisition, Lecture notes of English Language

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Second Language Acquisition

Semester 4 - Introduction to Language

Prof. Noamane

Objectives

This presentation will be concerned with the following questions:

● How do we learn/acquire a second language? ● How different is second language learning/acquisition from FLA?

The field of study that deals with FLA and SLA is called Applied Linguistics

Stephen Krashen on Language Acquisition

Background

● Comprehensible Input + high motivation = natural acquisition of language.

● If the learner feels pressure or anxiety in this process an emotional barrier Krashen called the “affective filter” forms.

● To avoid interference and overcome barriers, learners must be exposed to linguistic messages they can understand, highlighted by the use of visuals, body language, demonstration, and physical objects to help facilitate this process.

Second Language Learning

Other than language, there is apparently no other system of “knowledge” that we can learn better at two or three years of age than at thirteen or thirty.

A number of reasons have been suggested to account for this enigma, and a number of different approaches have been proposed to help learners become as effective communicating in a foreign or second language (L2) as they are in their first language (L1).

Second Language Learning

A distinction is sometimes made between:

● Learning in a “foreign language” setting: Learning a language that is not generally spoken in the surrounding community

● And learning in a “second language” setting: Learning a language that is spoken in the surrounding community.

Inductive reasoning/teaching - An example

Acquisition barriers

People’s experience with an L2 is fundamentally different from their L1 experience.

Most people usually encounter the L2 during their teenage or adult years, in a few hours each week of school time (limited interaction), with a lot of other things going on.

They also have developed an unconscious commitment to the sounds and structures of an already known language that has been in use for most of their daily communicative requirements for many years.

Even in ideal acquisition situations, very few adults seem to reach native-like proficiency in using an L2.

Acquisition barriers - Affective Filter Hypothesis

If there is a strong element of unwillingness or embarrassment in attempting to produce the different sounds of another language, then it may override whatever physical and cognitive abilities there are.

This type of emotional reaction, or “affect,” may also be the result of dull textbooks, unpleasant classroom surroundings or an exhausting schedule of study and/or work.

Basically, if we are stressed, uncomfortable, self-conscious or unmotivated, we are unlikely to learn very much.

In contrast, learners who have other personality traits, such as self-confidence, low anxiety and a positive self-image, seem better able to overcome difficulties in the learning space.

All these negative feelings or experiences are affective factors that can create a barrier to

Focus on teaching method

The need for instruction in other languages has led to a variety of educational approaches and methods aimed at fostering L2 learning.

● The Grammar-translation method ● The Audiolingual method ● Communicative approaches

The Audiolingual method

A systematic presentation of the structures of the L2, moving from the simple to the more complex, in the form of drills that the student had to repeat.

This approach, called the audiolingual method, was strongly influenced by a belief that the fluent use of a language was essentially a set of “habits” that could be developed with a lot of practice.

Critics have noted that isolated practice in drilling language patterns bears no resemblance to the interactional nature of actual spoken language use.

Communicative Approaches

This is a reaction against the artificiality of “pattern-practice” and also against the belief that consciously learning the grammar rules of a language will result in an ability to use the language.

Based on a belief that the functions of language (what it is used for) should be emphasized rather than the forms of the language (correct forms and structures).

Classroom lessons are likely to be organized around concepts such as “asking for things” in different social settings, rather than “the forms of the past tense” in different sentences.

Focus on the learner

● Transfer ● Interlanguage ● Motivation ● Input-output ● Task-based learning ● Communicative competence

Input