Second Language
Acquisition
A look into SLA and the key information you will want to know when teaching students additional languages.
D id you learn a language
as a kid in school? Maybe you used
an app to learn a language before
going on vacation? Or maybe you
took an interest in a culture and
decided to learn their language?
The process of learning other
languages in addition to ones native
language is called second language
acquisition and this is our subject
for today.
The first topic we are going
to address is the optimal age to
learn a language. Have you ever
wondered why as an adult it is so
difficult to retain words in another
language? Have you ever wonder
why kids pick up Spanish so easy
from watching Dora? There is an
explanation for this and that is the
critical period hypothesis. There
actually is a critical period in time
where young learners can learn a
language very easily and
completely. This age can alter
depending on what component of
the language is considered but it
ranges between 2 years and 13
years old. Some evidence
supporting this hypothesis from
1980 is a test by Patkowski.
Learners who learned a second
language prior to the age of 15 all
scored high, while those who
started after this age scored lower.
Children surpass adults on most
measures of second language
acquisition. Now you may be
wondering why this is? Linguist
Stephen Krashen explains
children’s affective filter is low. This
is where they are in an emotionally
safe place lowering imaginary walls
promoting more successful
language acquisition. It results in
increased self-confidence and a
desire to explore, learn and take
risks. After puberty students
become more inhibited and their
affective filter increases.
Krashen’s intelligence is also
brought through in this next topic of
what contributes to second
language acquisition. The key
ingredients for this are
comprehensible input, pushed
output and negotiation. Krashen’s
input hypotheses is that humans
learn language by receiving input
that is comprehensible ( i+1). In
studies students in an input only
course achieved just as well as
other forms of classes. Asher found
that students could develop high
levels of comprehension prior to
producing any language. Krashen
only believes output serves one
function in language acquisition
however other researchers find it to
be more instrumental. Swain states
the three main functions of output
are noticing/triggering function,
hypotheses-testing function and
metalinguistic function. Her
research demonstrates input alone
is not adequate for developing a
students linguistic abilities and
output is also important. Finally we
have negotiation, Long did a study
on his observation between two
native speakers and one native
speaker with a non-native speaker.
In result he noticed repetition,
confirmation and comprehension
checks and clarification between
the native speaker to non-native
speaker. Long then hypothesized
they were collaborating, negotiation
of meaning facilitated improved
learning conditions. With this we
now know teachers can facilitate
effective second language
acquisition by manipulating these
three ingredients.
Now we will view how explicit
knowledge contributes to second
language acquisition. Krashen
takes a no transfer position, and
believes explicit knowledge
strengthens the monitor but does
not contribute to language
acquisition. Explicit knowledge
developed through instruction can
contribute to language acquisition. It
can become a part of the
interlanguage system; it assists in
noticing elements of input and
assists in noticing the gap between
input and ones current
interlanguage. The weak interface
position facilitates noticing and the
noticing gap, and proposes more
often than not L2 knowledge begins
as implicit knowledge. Ellis’ model
demonstrates input progresses
through several stages before
becoming implicit knowledge.
After viewing how explicit
knowledge through instruction can
contribute to language acquisition
we will see the other influences
instruction can have. Roger Brown
found when learning English,
grammatical morphemes are
acquired in a consistent order. From
present progressive being the firs to
the auxiliary ‘Be’ as the last. Similar
studies for German and Spanish
demonstrated similar results. From
this we know that second language
learning is systematic, is largely
independent of the firs language of
the learner, and yet contains many
similarities with first language
acquisition.
On that note we will finish
with the influences L1 has on L2.
The contrastive Analysis
Hypothesis is the comparison of two
or more languages to determine the
differences or similarities between
them. L2 learners start off with
habits based on L1. Similarities
between L1 and L2 can facilitate
learning, while differences can
impede the learning process. L2
learners go through similar cycles of
errors to L1 learners regardless of
their mother tongue. Cummins’
interdependence hypothesis
suggests there is background
knowledge and experiences that
assist learners in acquiring the
second language. Finally transfers
of errors were found to be common
between languages that are similar.
Transfer only occurs with non-
beginners.
Hopefully this gave you a
better understanding of second
language acquisition.

Resources:

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/affective-filter/

http://developpement-langagier.fpfcb.bc.ca/en/optimal-age-learning-second-language

http://dergi.cumhuriyet.edu.tr/cumuscij/article/viewFile/5000118936/50001112