Language Acquisition

Adult Second Language Acquisition

In Negative Environments

Robert A. Cote

November 9, 2004
PSYC 408
Dr. LouAnn Gerken

Language Acquisition

Adult Second Language Acquisition

in Negative Environments
Gass and Selinker defined second language acquisition as learning a nonnative language in
an environment in which there is considerable access to speakers of the target language (2001, p. 5).
One of the most widely accepted theories of language acquisition is Krashens Monitor Model,
which contains several components or hypotheses, one being the Affective Filter. This theory,
according to Krashen (1985), focuses on the learners emotional state, which can act as a filter either
permitting or preventing input that is necessary for language acquisition (p. 7). This affective filter
includes factors such as ones motivation, attitude, self-confidence and anxiety (Gass and Selinker,
2001, p. 201). If the filter is up, explained Garcia and Hasson, input is minimized and acquisition
is blocked; if the filter is down, input enters freely, and acquisition is facilitated (1991, C-4). A
major aspect of this filter is that it is unique to adults. Gass and Selinker wrote:
According to Krashen, the Affective Filter is responsible for individual variation in second
language acquisition and differentiates child language acquisition from second language
acquisition because the Affective Filter is not something children have/use. (2001, p. 202)
This statement implies that adults, unlike children, have the ability to consciously acquire languages.
Though most research in support of this theory is intended for application to classroom
situations, low filter environments in unstructured natural settings would also aid in language
acquisition. Garcia and Hasson stated, a comfortable, nurturing environment is of the utmost
importance for promoting communication. A stress-free, low anxiety atmosphere will facilitate the
language acquisition process (1991, p. C-4). This distinction between classroom settings and the
real world is vital, as Pinker (1994) claimed that most learning takes place outside the classroom

Language Acquisition

lessons, by generalizing from examples (p. 432). Krashen (2003) expanded this concept when he
declared ...adults, given enough comprehensible input and a reasonably low anxiety environment,
typically achieve very high levels of competency in second languages (p. 3). This indicates that
ones interactions with people who speak the target language as their first language plays a crucial
for the language learner. It is also believed that the more positive the relationship between the native
speakers and the learner, the more the target language will be learned. Richard-Amato (1997)
observed that attitudes towards self, the target language, and the people who speak it...all seem to
have an influence on acquisition (p. 58). The way the learner views those around them who speak
the target language will either promote or retard acquiring the language. In the words of Krashen
(2003), we acquire language...when we understand what people say to us and when we understand
what we need (p. 3). This sounds logical, but what if ones native tongue is far-removed from the
target language? Furthermore, what if the learning environment is so stressful that it is not conducive
to language acquisition? Is it still possible to acquire a second language merely by being enveloped
by it? This paper will present cases of successful adult second language acquisition under conditions
of extreme duress, a subject which has rarely, if ever, been explored.
It is widely believed that learning of any kind takes place best in pleasant surroundings by
persons with a positive attitude. These external and internal variables are part of what is known as
the affective domain. Richard-Amato (1997) wrote, The affective domain includes several variables
that can either enhance second-language acquisition or hinder it, depending on whether they are
positive or negative, the degree to which they are present, and the combinations in which we find
them (p. 58). This would lead one to believe that stress, anxiety and violence would make learning
a new language very difficult, if not impossible. Surprisingly, this is not always the case. There are

Language Acquisition

adults who have acquired new languages under negative, even hostile, conditions. Unfortunately,
persons who have acquired languages while being prisoners of war, living under foreign occupation,
or being incarcerated in a foreign country rarely discuss their experiences from a linguistic angle. As
there has not been any formal study of such individuals, the author researched, contacted and
interviewed persons who experienced firsthand the difficulties of learning a new language under
highly negative conditions. It is imperative to note that these individuals evaluated their own levels
of target language competence, and they reported their experiences years after they acquired the
languages. Such self-reporting is controversial and labeled by Gass and Selinker as
questionablehighly unlikely to be an accurate reflection of effortand often colored by what
respondents assume is desired by the investigator (2001, p. 253). In an ideal situation,
independent observers who are fluent in both the subjects native language as well as the target
language would be required to conduct a longitudinal study to observe and record the target
language acquisition as it occurs. This would greatly increase the reliability of such a study.
Unfortunately, access to individuals who are experiencing language acquisition in such a manner is
very limited. Nonetheless, it will be shown that there are individuals who acquired languages as
adults in unsuitable learning situations, and their successes were rooted in a number of theories,
including immersion, motivation and acculturation.
Immersion Theory
Kiymazarslan (2003) defined immersion as a learning situation in which a learner is
expected to acquire a language and communicate in that language when he or she is surrounded by
the language...and hears nothing else (p. 6). This seems logical, but the theory was most likely
directed at students living and studying abroad, not adults living under foreign occupation or in

Language Acquisition

prison. Nevertheless, being surrounded by speakers of the target language in any situation is
significant, as Baker & MacIntyre noted: The second language context provides constant visual and
auditory stimulation in the target language (2000, p. 312). This would support being able to learn a
language in almost any situation, as was the case of Kay Danes.
Danes was an administrative manager from Australia working in Laos to develop a private
security company when she was arrested for no apparent reason and sent to Phonthong prison in
Ventiane [Laos]. Though Danes spoke some Thai and Lao, she was by no means fluent in either
language. However, being forced to live in an environment where no one spoke English for almost a
year changed that. Without any formal classes, Danes improved her speaking and listening skills
dramatically and even became familiar with a third language, Hmong. This occurred as she spent
hour after hour, day after day, interacting with target language speakers. Danes said, Most of my
closest friends in the prison were either Thai origin or Lao/Hmong. They did not speak English, so
we mostly conversed in Lao language (personal communication, October 10, 2003). Simply hearing
the target languages continuously may not have been the only factor aiding Danes in her language
acquisition. The rapport she developed with her fellow prisoners may have also played an important
role, as Richard-Amato suggested: ...peers can promote a lowered-level of anxiety by providing a
sort of surrogate family to serve as a buffer until independence is reached (1997, p. 63). Danes also
improved her Lao over time because the primary language of the prison guards was Lao and she
had to understand them quickly in order to follow the regulations (personal communication, Oct.
10, 2003). This would seem likely, as Krashen (1981) believed, ...informal environments must be
intensive and involve the learner directly in order to be effective (p. 47). Danes was directly
involved in the conversations of her cellmates and with the prison guards. Though Danes was

Language Acquisition

incarcerated for only one year, she claims to have improved her language skills significantly. When
asked about the language abilities of other foreign prisoners, she sadly commented, There were
foreigners in Phonthong that could speak the Lao language fluently because they had been there for
so long (Danes, personal communication, Oct. 10, 2003).
Warren Fellows, another Australian who spent an incredible eleven years in various prisons
in Thailand, reported that his ability to communicate in Thai developed rapidly. He had no one to
talk to, so in his first few months incarcerated, ho forced himself to learn the local language. Fellows
reported, During the many long days sitting in the crowded yard of Maha Chai prison, I did my best
to try to converse with as many Thais as possible, learning a phrase here and there (1998, p. 76). He
described the Thai language as complex, being incredibly descriptive and they explain everything
through imagery and symbolism (Fellows, 1998, p.76) This means the Thais used a great deal of
vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in their everyday speech. Regardless, in less than one year,
Fellows had a reasonable grasp of their language (1998, p. 9) and was able to tell jokes in Thai to
the amusement of the other prisoners. Every language educator as well as language student knows
that being able to tell and understand jokes in a foreign language is a clear indication of oral/aural
fluency. Within three years, Fellows knew enough Thai that he rarely needed the help of a translator
at his court hearings. At one of his hearings, he reported that I understood quite a bit of the Thai
language, so I basically knew what was being said (Fellows, 1998, p. 114). The most amazing
aspect of Fellows language development was that by his fifth year in prison, guards were utilizing
him to serve as a Thai to English translator for newly arrived English-speaking prisoners. One time,
after witnessing the brutal beating of another prisoner, Fellows reported the following incident:
On this same day, the head of security, a man called Sucha, called me over to help

Language Acquisition

him.
A foreign prisoner had just been visited by a representative from his embassy, and
Sucha wanted me to translate a message to this prisoner. (1998. p. 125)
This statement reveals that the native Thai speakers felt Fellows had reached the point of
communicative fluency, accomplished without ever having seen a Thai language textbook or sitting
in a classroom.
Instrumental Motivation
Gardner wrote that persons who acquire languages through instrumental motivation are
seeking a goal that doesnt seem to involve any identification or feeling of closeness with the
other language group, but instead focus on a more practical purpose [that] learning the language
would serve for the individual (2001, p. 10). Such motivation would be exaggerated in situations
where ones survival is the ultimate goal. Deci and Ryan believed intrinsic motivation is related to
basic human needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness. Intrinsic motivation activities are
those that the learner engages in for their own sake because of their value, interest and challenge (as
cited in Walqui, 2000, p. 4). In prison, the target language was the key to survival. It was important
for Danes to learn Lao not only for her own welfare, but for those with whom she lived. Danes
wrote:
If you wanted to survive, or to be understood, you had to submerge yourself fully
into the culture and language or you would never understand fully what was
expected of you, how to follow the regulations...how to negotiate with the guards in
order to attempt to build a rapport so that they would not look on you so
dishonorably, how to shout out to the police at night when another prisoner was

Language Acquisition

dying. (personal communication, Oct. 10, 2003)

Learning another language in prison ensured the ultimate goal, extending human life. Fellows
concurred with this notion of the importance of learning the target language to be accepted in order
to make it through each day. He wrote, To win the trust and respect of the Thai prisoners, I had to
learn their language as best I could (1998, p. 76). In both cases, the desire to survive provided the
motivation needed to learn a new language. This is further supported by Baker and MacIntyres
belief that motivation is the driving force that initiates learning in the first place and sustains
learning when the situation becomes difficult (2000, p. 317). Danes and Fellows situations clearly
support this assumption.
Living in prison is not the only situation that motivates persons to learn a language. Miriam
W. was 17 when the Russian army liberated her small town in eastern Poland from the Germans in
1944. To make money to survive, her mother would bake cakes and bread and send Miriam into the
streets to sell the food to the Russian soldiers from 6 a.m. until evening. Miriam stated, It only took
me seven months to become very good at speaking Russian. When you deal with soldiers all day
every day selling and arguing, you learn fast (personal communication, October 31, 2003). Miriam
realized that learning to communicate in Russian would have positive effects on her life. Norris-Holt
described Miriams experience perfectly when she wrote, Instrumental motivation underlies the
goal to gain some social or economic reward through L2 achievement, thus referring to a more
functional reason for language learning (2001, p. 1).
Such situations could be considered language learning by force, not simply motivation.
Silverstein reported the following story about an African-American miner who became fluent in
Serbian:

Language Acquisition

Publisher William Jovanovich, in his 1998 biography, tells of how as a young boy
he was surprised to see his Tata [Papa] launch into a conversation in Serbian with
an elderly black man in Denver. Jovanovichs Tata explained that the black man
had worked with us Montenegrins in a coal mine...and nobody spoke English. He
learned our language in self-defense. (1999, p. 1)
Perhaps Krashens beliefs that language learning best occurs with low affective filter may
not be applicable when the environment is so hostile that the filter has little if any effect on
language acquisition.
Acculturation
Another influential force driving Danes and Fellows language acquisition was the need to
socialize with other prisoners. Second language learners, wrote Stauble, will succeed to the
degree that they acculturate to the target language group if no formal instruction is attempted (as
cited in Richard-Amato, 1997, p. 63). Danes mentioned that most of her closest friends were Thai,
Lao or Hmong, and Fellows told jokes to his fellow Thai prisoners in their language. This shows that
the two became an integral part of the larger non-English speaking prison population. Both
developed a feeling of community and belonging with members of the target language. This is
probably the most important factor in their language acquisition. Baker and MacIntyre wrote
integrativeness is described as a positive temperament toward the target language group and the
desire to interact with members of that community (2000, p .318). Both prisoners demonstrated this
behavior. Additionally, Baker and MacIntyre determined that mastery of a second language
involves, to some degree, taking on the identity and culture of the target language (2000, p. 318).
Danes felt she reached the point where she was no longer an English- speaking Australian. By the

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end of the year spent inside Ponthong prison, she stated, I had almost forgotten how to speak
English because my mind was undergoing some changes. Basically I think I was losing my national
identity (personal communication, Oct. 10, 2003). This seems difficult to comprehend. How could a
person who had spent more than 30 years of her life speaking one language claim that within 12
months of being incarcerated, she was not only forgetting her native language, but the cultural
identity associated with it as well? According to Gardiner, this is a possibility in extreme cases
where integrativeness involves complete identification with the community and possibly even
withdrawal from ones own group (2001, p. 12). Thorne attributed such behavior to ones belief
that the language of the speakers in the environment is considered far more important than the native
language for socialization reasons. In reality, the second language begins to replace the first. Thorne
reported, The entailments of a sociocultural theory approach foreground sociality to individuality,
language as socially constructed rather than internally intrinsic (2000, p. 219). Simply stated, the
languages of the people in Danes and Fellows surroundings were more important to them than their
native language.
Towards the end of her incarceration, Danes felt so comfortable interacting with the other
prisoners in their native languages that listening to and speaking Thai and Lao became second
nature. She no longer believed that these new languages were not her own. Danes explained that at
times, she did not even realize she was communicating in the target languages. She wrote:
Actually in the prison, it was quite bizarre. I would sit and listen to the women
speaking in Lao and Thai and I could understand the gist of what they were saying
even though I couldnt understand all. It became uncanny...that they would be talking
and I would interject with a comment...like in affirmation...or yeah, and what about

Language Acquisition

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this? The women would look at me and pause for a moment and then laugh and
say...you turning into Lao people now, Kay. (personal communication, Oct. 10,
2003)
Pinker further supported Danes experiences when he stated, a second reason for language to be
partly learned is that language inherently involves sharing a code with other people. An innate
grammar is useless if you are the only one possessing it (1994, p. 244). Had Danes and Fellows not
learned the target languages, they would have been extremely lonely.
Conclusion
Various cases of adults acquiring second languages under extremely unpleasant conditions
have been presented. In all situations, target languages were learned without ever seeing a textbook,
memorizing a grammar rule or being told how to pronounce the language. Pinker attributed such
language success to innateness. He commented that knowing about the ubiquity of complex
language across individuals and cultures and the single mental design underlying them all, no speech
seems foreign to me, even when I cannot understand a word (1994, 448). This may be true, but he
may never have considered acquiring a language under the conditions endured by Danes and
Fellows. When asked why she thought she was able to learn Thai, Lao and some Hmong, Danes
sadly wrote the following:
You see, when we have everything stripped away from us, then we must look at
ways by which we can survive. Our right to speak and think are sometimes the only
things we have left. We soon learn that the differences in our cultures and languages
are not so important after all, and that we must all work hard to bridge the gap that
these differences create to find a common ground where we can communicate in

Language Acquisition
whatever language in order to be understood. This is the essence of our survival.
(Personal communication, Oct. 7, 2003)
Perhaps this is the key to language learning which, unfortunately, no classroom can provide.

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