Second Language

Acquisition (SLA)
TSLB3103
Lesson 1

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 Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

 Areas of discussion:
Introduction to Second Language Acquisition
 Historical overview of Second Language Acquisition
 Nativism and Environmentalism
 - Review of Skinner and Chomsky
 - Nature versus nurture
 Role of first language in Second Language Acquisition

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 Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

 Learning outcomes:
 Understanding of the general concept of SLA
 Understanding nativism and environmentalism in SLA
 Understanding nature vs nurture in SLA
 Understanding the role of first language in SLA

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 Introduction to SLA
 What is language?
 The method of human communication, either spoken or
written, consisting of the use of words in a structured
and conventional way
A system of communication used by a particular
country or community

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 Introduction to SLA
 What is first language?
 a person's native language
 The language that someone learned first and speaks best
 What is second language?
 A person's second language or L2, is a language that is not the
native language of the person, but that is used in the locale of that
person.
 What is foreign language?
 A language that is learned in an area where that language is not
generally spoken by the community as a whole.

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 Introduction to SLA
 What is first language acquisition?
 The process by which a child acquires the capacity to perceive and
comprehend languages, as well as to produce and use words and
sentences to communicate through his/her innate capability.
 A child may acquire one or more first languages depending on the
linguistic environment or exposure (either mono or bi/multilingual).
 Acquisition occurs passively and unconsciously through implicit
learning (i.e. children do not need explicit instruction to learn their
first languages.
 Language acquisition of the first language in children just happen
naturally.
 Acquisition (as opposed to learning) depends on children receiving
linguistic input during the critical period. The critical period is defined
as the window of time, up to about the age of twelve or puberty, in
which humans can acquire first languages.
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 Introduction to SLA
 What is second language acquisition (SLA)?
 It is the study of HOW a second language is learned/acquired.
 Linguists assume that learning a second language happens after a first
language is already established. Some linguists argue that acquisition
happens only for L1)
 Anyone can do it at any age but better done at a young age (critical
period hypothesis)
 Why learn SLA?
 "... 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)

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 Five stages of second language acquisition
 1. Silent/receptive stage.
 It may last from several hours to several months, depending on the
individual learner.
 Learners may engage in self-talk, don’t normally speak the language
with any fluency or real understanding.
 This idea is controversial among language educators as speech is
fundamental in language acquisition
 2. Early production stage.
 It may last about six months.
 Language learners typically acquire understanding of up to 1,000
words (vocabulary).
 Learners learn to speak some words, forming short phrases, though
may not be grammatically correct.
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 Five stages of second language acquisition
 3. Speech emergence stage.
 Learners have to acquire a vocabulary of up to 3,000 words.
 Learners learn to communicate by putting the words in short
phrases, sentences, and questions, may still not be grammatically
correct.
 This is an important stage where learners gain greater
comprehension and begin reading and writing in second language.
 4. Intermediate fluency stage.
 It may last for a year or more.
 Learners have a vocabulary of as many as 6,000 words.
 Learners acquire the ability to communicate in writing and speech
using more complex sentences.
 Learners begin thinking in second language, which helps them gain
more proficiency in speaking it. 9
 Five stages of second language acquisition
5. Continued language development/advanced fluency stage.
 It takes most learners at least two years to reach this stage, and
then up to 10 years to achieve full mastery of the second language
in all its complexities and nuances.
 L2 learners need ongoing opportunities to engage in discussions
and express themselves in their new language, in order to
maintain fluency in it.

 The key to learning a new language and developing proficiency in

speaking and writing that language is consistency and practice.

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 Lang. Acquisition vs lang. learning

 Language Acquisition:
 Language acquisition is based on the neuro-psychological processes
(Maslo, 2007: 41).
 Language acquisition is opposed to learning and is a subconscious
process similar to that by which children acquire their first
language (Kramina, 2000: 27).
 Language learning:
 Language learning is a conscious process which is the product of
either formal learning situation or a self-study programme
(Kramina, 2000: 27).

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 Lang. Acquisition vs lang. learning
 “If the development of the native language begins with
free, spontaneous use of speech and is culminated in the
conscious realization of linguistic forms and their mastery,
then the development of a foreign language begins with
conscious realization of language and arbitrary command
of it and culminates in spontaneous, free speech. But,
between those opposing paths of development, there
exists a mutual dependency just as between the
development of scientific and spontaneous concepts”
(John-Steiner by Robbins, 2007: 49)”

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 Historical overview of SLA
 SLA has its roots/foundation in two seminal publications:
 1. S. Pit Corder’s 1967 essay “The Significance of Learners’ Errors.”
 Noted that advances in language instruction would not occur until
what language learners bring to the task of acquisition is
understood
 L2 learners came equipped with something internal, something that
guided and constrained their acquisition of the formal properties of
language (the internal syllabus)
 There is distinction between input and intake
 Input - language available from the environment
 Intake -language that actually makes its way into the learner’s
developing competence

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 Historical overview of SLA
 SLA has its roots/foundation in two seminal publications (cont):
 2. Larry Selinker’s 1972 publication “Interlanguage.”
 Argued that L2 learners possessed an internal linguistic system
worthy of study in its own right, a language system that had to
be taken on its own terms and not as some corrupted version of
the L2
 He called this system an “interlanguage” because the system
was neither the L1 nor the L2, but something in-between that
the learner was building from environmental data.
 Also posited a number of constructs still central today in L2
research, notably L1 transfer and fossilization

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 Historical overview of SLA
 The 1970s
 Descriptive studies sought to refute behaviorism and to apply the basic ideas
of Corder and Selinker
 Emergence of researches on:
 Acquisition orders (the famous “morpheme studies”) - replicating both
the methodology and the findings of L1 acquisition research in the L2
context.
 Transitional stages of competence - replicated important findings from L1
research which supported Corder’s.
 Error analysis - careful examination of learner output with particular
attention to “errors”
 Minimalizing L1 influence on SLA - researchers revealed that L1 transfer
was not as widespread as once thought.

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 Historical overview of SLA
 The 1980s
 Early 1980s, - Krashen’s ideas on acquisition (e.g: Monitor Theory and
acquisition versus learning and Input Hypothesis) were mainstream.
 He posited that learners acquire language through interaction with language,
most notably through comprehension of the input they are exposed to.
 While fundamentally true, Krashen’s ideas left a good amount of acquisition
unexplained:
 Eg: If L1 influence is limited, why was it limited? What was this built-in
syllabus and where did it come from? If all learners needed was exposure
to input, why were so many L2 learners non-native-like after so many
years of interaction with the language?
 The 1980s overall is marked by a critical review of his ideas and the quest
for more explanatory models about the specifics of acquisition.

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 Historical overview of SLA
 The 1990s
 Lots of theories came forth but two dominated the field:
 1. The application of linguistic theory
 Central tenet - language is special, uniquely human, encapsulated in its own module
in the mind/brain and comes equipped from birth with a set of language-specific
constraints called Universal Grammar.
 Thus, acquisition was a particular kind of experience for humans that involved the
interaction of Universal Grammar with data from the outside world.
 2. The application of certain psychological approaches (skill theory and the modern
version of associationism)
 Eschew any linguistic description of an interlanguage / no mental representation at
all
 Saw language as just another instance of human behavior, the belief was that
theories of behavior should be sufficient to account for SLA and thus there was no
need to posit unique faculties of the mind that dealt exclusively with language
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 Historical overview of SLA
 The 2000s and beyond
 SLA looks pretty much like it did in the second half of the 1990s in
terms of their emphases.
 Splintered, with certain camps not in dialogue with others
 But both linguistic and cognitive approaches continue to dominate
the field
 The field of SLA would stay largely focused on the mind/brain
where language resides, either:
 a special mental representation as the linguists argue or
 as some manifestation of behavioral imprints as the
psychologists prefer

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 Review of Skinner and Chomsky

 Refer to handouts

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 Nativism
 Views language acquisition as innately determined - human beings
are born with a built-in device of some kind that predisposes them
to acquire language.
 This predisposition is a systematic perception of language around us,
resulting in the construction of an internalized system of language.
 Nativists use more of a rationalist approach in explaining the mystery
of language acquisition.
 Chomsky (1965) claimed the existence of innate properties of
language that explain a child’s mastery of his/her native language
in a short time.
 This innate knowledge, according to Chomsky, is called Language
Acquisition Device (LAD)

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 Nativism
 Nativists have contributed to the discoveries of
how the system of child’s language works.
 Theorists such as Chomsky, McNeill, and others
helped us understand that a child’s language, at
any given point, is a legitimate system in its own
right.

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 Environmentalism
 Behaviorist Theory dominated both psychology and linguistics in the 1950’s.
 This theory suggests that external stimuli (extrinsic) can elicit an internal
response which in turn can elicit an internal stimuli (intrinsic) that lead to
external responses.
 The learning process has been described by S-R-R theorists as a process
forming stimulus-response-reward chains (come about because of the nature
of the environment and the nature of the learner)
 The environment provides the stimuli and the learner provides the
responses. Production of certain aspects of language and the environment
provide the reward.
 The environment plays a major role in the exercise of the learners’ abilities
since it provides the stimuli that can shape responses selectively rewarding
some responses and not others.
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 Environmentalism
 When the learner learns a language, this learning includes a set
of stimulus-response-reward (S-R-R) chains.
 The learner learns to imitate the productive responses
provided by the environment.
 The characteristics of human and non-human learners include
the ability to:
 1. respond to stimuli in a certain way
 2. intuitively evaluate the reward potential of responses
 3. generalize the parameters to similar situations to form
classes of S-R-R chains.

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 Nature versus nurture
 Nature or Nativist Perspective says that human
infants are born with the capacity to learn
language.

 Nurture or Behaviorist (environmentalism)

perspective says that language acquisition is a
result of imitation and reinforcement (influence of
environment)

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 Role of first language in Second Language Acquisition

 Positive role – supporting L2 development

 1. The common characteristics among all
languages
 2. Positive transfer
 3. L1 thinking
 4. L1 as a tool for SLA

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 The Common Characteristics Among All Languages

 Although there may be some differences, but in nature,

language is the conjunct specialty of all human beings: it
frequently related with the thinking pattern of human beings
 Human beings’ thinking pattern has some similarities, so do
languages, which are used to express thinking may also have
some similarities
 linguistic universals involves all grammar and the relationships
among them, besides, it involves the form of expression of
grammar rules. All these principles formed the Universal
Grammar (UG), and the UG is the foundation of specially
designated grammar for each language.

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 The Common Characteristics Among All Languages

 a) All languages use limited scattered speech sounds, and they formed meaningful
words or component parts; all these words and component parts can form
unlimited sentences.
 b) All the grammar includes the rules of words making and sentences making.
 c) Each language has a certain number of vowels and consonants.
 d) Each language has similar classified grammar.
 e) Linguistic universal exists in all languages.
 f) Each language has its own way in expressing some concepts such as passive, tense,
negative, order, etc.
 g) Everyone can create and understand unlimited sentences no matter what kind of
language he speaks.
 h) Every child can master the language he interacts to wherever he is born, whatever
his nationality is, and however the economic condition is.

 All these (linguistic universal/universal language) can be used positively during SLA
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 Positive transfer
 L1 and L2 share much in common, the learners can at least stay in
communication and manage to make him or herself understood not to
mention the language rules.
 Similarities may come in many forms:
 Syntax (sentence pattern)
 Eg: Thai and Malay share common sentence pattern.
 Vocabulary
 Eg: Many English words are used in BM
 Phonetics
 BM uses the same sound system as English
 Writing system
 BM uses the same alphabets as English

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 L1 thinking
 Thinking starts before language, thinking creates language, but thinking has to
rely on language
 Language can express thinking and assist the action of thinking - Neither of
them can exist independently
 The modes of thought of different nations have both common characteristics
and peculiar characteristics
 Eg: Some functions of L1 thinking in L2 writings: a. Raising questions; b.
Evaluating the organization; c. Enhancing their self- expression; d. Displaying
cultural sensitivity; e. Brainstorming; f. Forking through complicated ideas; g.
Increasing lexical variety; h. Recalling past experience
 Students who rely more on L1 thinking performs better in the content,
construction and detail in their composition then students who lack of L1
thinking
 Conclusion: A learner who is good in L1 can be a good L2 learner
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 L1 as a tool for SLA
 Note: Especially for early stage learners
 The aim of learning and using a foreign language is to coordinate the
relations of two languages and tries to equally exchange language code
 Most of people use L1 as an assistant tool; they should know what is the
meaning of a word or a sentence of L2 in his L1 (esp. early learners)
 For example, when teacher wants to explain some abstract L2 words, L1
is the best choice, for students will be confused with the L2 explanation.
 Study on Japanese students:- comparing two methods of the Japanese
students’ English compositions writing
 One is translation method (firstly written in Japanese then translated), the
other one directly written in English
 The results show that the translation method has great advantages over the
direct method (Kobavashi and Rinnert __)

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 Suggestions

 Foreign language teachers should take advantage of

positive transfer, similarities between languages and L1
thinking, overcome differences between L1 and L2 and
the negative transfer as much as possible in teaching
practice
 Pay more attention to the comparison between the L1 and
L2 and accurately identify students’ problem

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 Role of first language in Second Language Acquisition

 Negative role – making learning L2 difficult because of L1 interference:

 Some aspects associated with the foreign culture did not make sense in
their native language
 Not all the words that seem to be similar between both languages have
the same meaning
 Sentences in the MT structure did not correspond to what the English
structure should be
 Source of mistakes in beginner students’ oral production came from their
thought process in their mother tongue or from making a literal
translation from their native structures into the target language
 Mispronunciation and grammatical errors were the most common types of
interference
 etc
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 Tutorial
 Let us discuss your own experience of learning English as a second
language.
 How did you manage to speak the language?
 What were the developmental processes you went through?
 Did you find it difficult?
 What were the initial problems?
 How did you overcome them?
 What are the problems that you find still difficult to master now?
 Compare the level of confidence in using English then and now?

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 SLT
 Read and find out more about first language
acquisition theories and second language
acquisition theories
 Compare the similarities and differences between
them

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