Differences

between L1 and L2
learning

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 L1 acquisition takes place in numerous ways.

Differences By picking the language up through

between L1 and L2 hearing.

learning By learning the language in chunks.

How is L1 acquired? Through interaction with family

members and caregivers.

Through talking about things they see in

their environment.

By engaging in activities.

By listening to simplified speech.

By experimenting with the language.

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 L2 acquisition takes place in numerous ways.
Differences
By being taught specific language items
between L1 and L2
learning By focusing more on structures

How is L2 acquired? Through interaction with teachers and

other learners in the classroom.

With the need to produce new language

soon after it has been taught.

By talking about life, work, and topics of

interest.

By using language in controlled practice

activities and being corrected. (for
secondary school learners)

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 The “content” of a language — the sounds, words, grammar,
Differences conversational norms, etc — are the same regardless of
whether it’s learned as an L1 or L2. But aside from some
between L1 and L2 extreme cases, pretty much everyone successfully and
relatively effortlessly learns their first language(s). Therefore,
learning the differences in L1 abilities tend to be smaller and much
less noticeable than the vast differences found among L2
What are the differences? learners. However, variability enters the equation in nearly
every facet of L2 learning. That variability is translated into
different outcomes — successes and struggles.

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 The first key difference between L1 and L2 learning is variability
Differences in what researchers refer to as age of acquisition (AoA).
That’s simply how old someone is when they start learning a
between L1 and L2 language. AoA has been shown to have a clear and
significant impact on language learning outcomes.
learning Specifically, the older you are when you start learning a
language, the less proficient you are likely to become in that
Age of acquisition language.

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 While there may be some differences across cultures and
Differences individuals, there is pretty much only one way to learn an L1.
Babies are immersed in the languages they’re learning, pick
between L1 and L2 up regularities in the speech stream around them, and
interact with their caregivers. L2 learning contexts, on the
learning other hand, vary widely. All of these L2 learning contexts and
approaches are likely to result in different learning outcomes!
Learning context

Learners in immersion settings likely have to — and

often choose to — interact frequently with native
speakers, which results in more fluent speech.

Learners who watch movies or listen to music may have

very strong comprehension skills and large
vocabularies.

Classroom-taught learners tend to have a better grasp

of challenging grammatical concepts, though they
aren’t always able to put them to use in real-world
context.

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 Input is the target language that a learner is exposed to,
Differences through reading, and listening. Language learners need lots of
rich input from a variety of sources.
between L1 and L2 Babies aren’t learning their first languages in a whole lot of
learning different ways. There is variability in the amount of L1 input
young children receive too, but these differences in L1 input
Amount of quality input can and do affect things like language abilities and academic
performance, but not to the same extent that L2 input
differences do.

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 Affective factors are things such as anxiety, motivation,
Differences inhibition, and self-esteem, that might help or hinder
language learning. Once again, we can relate this back to
between L1 and L2 age. Young children are generally less inhibited and have less
anxiety when it comes to learning their languages. They don’t
learning really worry about making mistakes — and they do make
plenty of them! L2 learners, on the other hand, are older and
Affective factors more self-aware, and therefore tend to have more anxiety,
especially when it comes to speaking and making mistakes in
front of others. However, not all learners have the same levels
of anxiety and inhibition, and so the extent to which these
factors influence learning differs widely across individuals.
Context can interact with affective factors, too!

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