Second language acquisition ( SLA ), second language learning , or L2 ( language 2 ) acquisition , is the process by which people learn a second language. The acquisition of a second language is also a scientific discipline devoted to studying the process. The second field of language acquisition is a subdiscipline of applied linguistics, but also receives research attention from other disciplines, such as psychology and education.
The central theme of the SLA research is that of the interlanguage, the notion that the language the learners use is not only the result of the difference between the language they already know and the language they are studying, but that it is a complete language system within itself, by its own systematic rules. This language gradually develops when students are exposed to targeted languages. The order in which learners acquire their new language features remains very constant, even for learners with different native languages, and regardless of whether they already have language instruction. However, languages ​​already known to participants can have a significant effect on the new learning process. This effect is known as language transfer .
The main factor driving the SLA seems to be the input of the language received by the students. Learners become more advanced the longer they are immersed in the language they learn, and the more time they spend on free voluntary readings. The input hypothesis developed by linguist Stephen Krashen makes the distinction between language acquisition and language learning (learning-difference acquisition), claiming that acquisition is a subconscious process, while learning is conscious. According to this hypothesis, the acquisition process in L2 (Language 2) equals the acquisition of L1 (Language 1). The learning process consciously learns and incorporates the language learned. However, this extent states that the input is all that is required for the acquisition. Subsequent work, such as interaction hypotheses and understandable output hypotheses, have suggested that opportunities for output and interaction are also necessary for learners to reach higher levels.
Research on how learners acquire new languages ​​covers a number of different areas. The focus is directed to provide evidence of whether basic linguistic skills are innate (natural), acquired (nurture), or a combination of two attributes. The cognitive approach to SLA research is related to processes in the brain that support language acquisition, such as how to pay attention to language affecting the ability to learn it, or how language acquisitions are associated with short-term and long-term memory. The sociocultural approach rejects the notion that SLA is a purely psychological phenomenon, and seeks to explain it in a social context. Some of the major social factors affecting the SLA are immersion levels, connections to the L2 community, and gender. The linguistic approach considers language separately from other types of knowledge, and seeks to use the findings of a broader linguistic study to explain the SLA. There is also much research on how SLAs can be influenced by individual factors such as age and learning strategies. A commonly discussed topic of age in the SLA is the critical period hypothesis, which shows that the individual loses the ability to fully learn language after a certain age in childhood. Another interesting topic in the SLA is the difference between adult and child learners. Learning strategies are usually categorized as learning or communicative strategies, and are developed to enhance their acquisition skills. Affective factors are emotional factors that affect an individual's ability to learn a new language. Common affective factors that affect acquisition are anxiety, personality, social attitudes, and motivation.
Individuals may also lose their language through a process called second language atrition. This is often due to lack of use or exposure of language over time. The severity of friction depends on various factors including the level of proficiency, age, social factors, and motivation at the time of acquisition. Finally, classroom research deals with the effects that language acquisition instruction has on acquisitions.
Video Second-language acquisition
Definition
Second language refers to any language learned other than one's first language; although this concept is named second - language acquisition, it can also combine third, fourth, or later language learning. The mastery of the second language refers to what the learners do; it does not refer to practice in language teaching, although teaching can affect acquisitions. The term acquisition was originally used to emphasize the nature of the unconscious learning process, but in recent years learning and acquisition has become very synonymous..
SLAs can combine inherited language learning, but usually do not include bilingualism. Most SLA researchers see bilingualism as the end result of learning the language, not the process itself, and seeing the term refers to genuine eloquence. Authors in such fields as education and psychology, however, often use bilingualism freely to refer to all forms of multilingualism. SLAs also should not be contrasted with foreign language acquisitions; on the contrary, second language learning and foreign language learning involves the same fundamental processes in different situations.
Maps Second-language acquisition
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The second academic discipline of language acquisition is a subdiscipline of applied linguistics. It's broad-based and relatively new. As well as the various branches of linguistics, the acquisition of a second language is also closely related to psychology, cognitive psychology, and education. To separate the academic discipline from the learning process itself, the term second language acquisition research , second language study , and second language acquisition study is also used.
The SLA research begins as an interdisciplinary field, and as it is difficult to identify the exact start date. However, two papers in particular are seen as instrumental to the development of the modern study of SLA: 1967 Pit Corder The Significance of Learners' Errors , and the Larry Selinker 1972 Interlanguage article. This field saw a lot of developments in the following decades. Since the 1980s, SLAs have been studied from various disciplinary perspectives, and theoretical perspectives. In early 2000, several studies have shown equality between the acquisition of human languages ​​and computer languages ​​(eg Java) by children in windows 5 to 11 years of age, although this has not been widely accepted among educators. Significant approaches in the current field are: systemic functional linguistics, sociocultural theory, cognitive linguistics, universal grammar Noam Chomsky, skill acquisition theory and koneksionisme.
There is much debate about how the language is learned, and many problems are still unsolved. There are many theories of second language acquisition, but none is accepted as a complete explanation by all SLA researchers. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the SLA field, this is not expected to happen in the future.
Stages
Stephen Krashen divides the second language acquisition process into five stages: preproduction, initial production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and continued fluency. The first stage, preproduction, also known as the silent period. Learners at this stage have a receptive vocabulary of up to 500 words, but they have not spoken their second language. Not all learners undergo a silent period. Some learners start talking directly, although their output may consist of imitation rather than the use of creative language. Others may be asked to speak from scratch as part of a language course. For students who pass the period of silence, it may last about three to six months.
The second of the Krashen acquisition stage is the initial production, in which learners can speak in short phrases of one or two words. They can also memorize the chunks of language, although they can make mistakes when using it. Learners usually have an active and receptive vocabulary with around 1000 words. This stage usually lasts for about six months.
The third stage is the emergence of speech. The vocabulary of learners increases to about 3000 words during this stage, and they can communicate using simple questions and phrases. They may often make grammatical errors.
The fourth stage is mid-level eloquence. At this stage, learners have a vocabulary of about 6000 words, and can use a more complex sentence structure. They can also share their thoughts and opinions. Learners can make frequent errors with more complex sentence structures.
The last stage is the continued fluency, which usually reaches somewhere between five and ten years of learning the language. Learners at this stage can function at a level close to the native speaker.
Krashen has also developed a number of hypotheses that address the nature of the second learner's thinking process and the development of self-awareness during the second language acquisition. The most prominent hypothesis is the Monitor Theory and Affective Filter hypothesis.
The time required to achieve a high level of proficiency may vary depending on the language being studied. In the case of native English speakers, some estimates are provided by the US State Department's Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which collects approximate estimates of learning for a number of languages ​​for their professional staff (native English speakers who generally know other languages). Of the 63 languages ​​analyzed, the five most difficult languages ​​to achieve speaking and reading skills, requiring 88 weeks (2200 class hours), are Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean. The Foreign Service Institute and the National Virtual Translation Center both note that Japanese is usually more difficult to learn than any other language in this group.
Comparison with first language acquisition
Adults who learn a second language differ from children who learn their first language in at least three ways: children still develop their brains while adults have adult thoughts, and adults have at least the first language to direct their minds and speak. Although some of the second learner's language students achieve a very high level of proficiency, pronunciation tends to be non-genuine. The lack of original pronunciation in adult learners is explained by the critical period hypothesis. When the speech plane of a learner, it is known as fossilization.
Some of the mistakes made by second language learners in their speech came from their first language. For example, Spanish speakers who learn English can say "Is it rain" instead of "Rain", leaving the subject of a sentence. The type of influence of the first language on both is known as a negative language transfer. However, French speakers who learn English, usually do not make the same mistake by leaving "it" in "Rain." This is because the subject of pronominal and impersonal sentences can be omitted (or as in this case, not used in the first place) in Spanish but not in French. French speakers who know to use the subject of pronominal sentences when speaking English are examples of positive language transfers . It is important to note that not all errors occur in the same way; even two individuals with the same native language learning the same second language still have the potential to exploit different parts of their native language. Likewise, these two identical individuals can develop the nearest fluency in various forms of grammar.
Also, when people learn a second language, the way they speak their first language changes in a subtle way. This change can be with any language aspect, ranging from pronunciation and syntax to gestures created by learner and language features that they tend to notice. For example, a French speaker who speaks English as a second language speaks/t/sounds in French is different from a monolingual French speaker. Changes in this pronunciation have been found even at the beginning of a second language acquisition; for example, English speakers speak English/pk/sound, as well as English vocals, different after they start learning Korean. The effects of this second language on the first led Vivian Cook to propose a multi-competence idea, which saw the different languages ​​of a person speaking not as a separate system, but as a related system in their minds.
Learn languages ​​
Learner is a written or spoken language produced by a learner. This is also the main data type used in second language acquisition research. Much research in the acquisition of a second language is concerned with the internal representation of language in the mind of the learner, and how that representation changes over time. It is not possible to examine these representations directly with brain scans or similar techniques, so that SLA researchers are forced to draw conclusions about these rules from the speech or writing of learners.
Interface
Initially, attempts to describe a learner language are based on different language comparisons and in analyzing learners' errors. However, this approach can not predict all mistakes students make when in the second language learning process. For example, a Serbo-Croat speaker who learns English can say "What does Pat do now?", Although this is not a valid sentence in any of the languages.
To explain this kind of systematic error, the idea of ​​ interlanguage is developed. Interpretation is a language system that comes to the mind of a second language learner. The learner's undergraduate is not an imperfect version of the language being studied that is filled with random error, nor is the pure language based on errors introduced from the learner's first language. Instead, it is a language in itself, with its own systematic rules. It is possible to look at most aspects of the language from an interfaith perspective, including grammar, phonology, lexicon, and pragmatics.
There are three different processes that affect interfaith creation:
- Language transfer . Learners fall back into their native language to help create their language system. Transfers can be positive, that is, promoting learning, or negative, that leads to mistakes. In the latter case, the linguist also uses the term interference disorder.
- Overgeneralize . Learners use the rules of a second language in ways that are roughly the same as excessive children in their first language. For example, a learner might say "I'm coming home," exaggerating English rules adding -ed to create a tense verb form ago. English children also produce shapes like goed, sticked, bringed. The German children both overextend the usual tense forms into irregular shapes.
- Simplify . Learners use a highly simplified form of language, similar to what children say or in pidgins. This may be related to universal linguistics.
The concept of interlanguage has become very extensive in SLA research, and is often a basic assumption made by researchers.
Order of acquisition
In the 1970s, several studies investigated the sequence in which learners acquired different grammatical structures. These studies show that there is little change in this sequence among learners with different first language. Furthermore, it shows that the sequence is the same for adults and children, and that does not even change if the learner has a language lesson. This supports the idea that there is a factor other than the transfer of language involved in learning a second language, and is a strong confirmation of the concept of interlanguage language.
However, the study did not find that the command was exactly the same. Despite the remarkable similarity in the order in which all learners learn the grammar of both languages, there are still some differences between individuals and among learners with different first languages. It is also difficult to say exactly when the grammatical structure has been studied, because the learner can use the structure correctly in some situations but not in other situations. It is thus more accurate to talk about the acquisition sequence, where certain grammatical features in the language are obtained before or after certain others but the overall order of acquisition is less rigid. For example, if both feature B and feature D can not be obtained until feature A has been obtained and if feature C can not be obtained until feature B has been obtained but if acquisition of feature D does not require ownership of feature B (or, therefore, from feature C ), then the two acquisition orders (A, B, C, D) and the acquisition order (A, D, B, C) are possible.
Variability
Although the acquisition of a second language takes place in a discrete sequence, it does not progress from one sequence step to the next sequence regularly. There is considerable variability in the interlanguage features of learners while evolving from one stage to the next. For example, in one study by Rod Ellis, a learner used "Do not see my card" and "Do not look at my card" while playing bingo games. A small variation in the language is free variation , when the learner uses two forms in turn. Most variations, however, are systemic variation , a variation that depends on the context of speech made by the student. The form may vary depending on the linguistic context, such as whether the subject of the sentence is a pronoun or noun; they can vary depending on the social context, such as using formal expressions with superiors and informal expressions with friends; and also, they can vary depending on the psycholinguistic context, or in other words, whether the learner has a chance to plan what they will say. The cause of variability is a matter of great debate among SLA researchers.
Transfer language
An important difference between first language acquisition and second language acquisition is that the second language acquisition process is influenced by languages ​​already known by the learner. This effect is known as language transfer . Language transfer is a complex phenomenon resulting from the interaction between prior linguistic knowledge, the input of the target language they encounter, and their cognitive processes. Language transfers are not always from the native language of the learner; it can also be from a second language, or a third. Also not limited to a particular language domain; language transfers can occur in grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, discourse, and reading.
Language transfers often occur when learners feel the similarity between the language features they already know and the language features they develop. If this happens, the acquisition of more complicated forms of language can be delayed for a simpler form of language similar to the language familiar to the learner. Learners can also refuse to use some form of language at all if they are considered too far from their first language.
The transfer of language has been the subject of several studies, and many aspects remain unexplained. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain the transfer of language, but there is not a widely accepted explanation as to why it happened.
Input and interaction
The main factors affecting the acquisition of language seem to be input received by students. Stephen Krashen takes a very strong position on the importance of input, insisting that the understandable input is all that is required for the acquisition of a second language. Krashen points to studies that show that the length of time a person lives in a foreign country is closely related to the level of language acquisition. Further evidence for input comes from the study of reading: a large number of free voluntary readings have a significant positive effect on students' vocabulary, grammar, and writing. Input is also the mechanism by which people learn the language according to the universal grammatical model.
The input type is also important. One of Krashen's theoretical principles is that inputs should not be sorted grammatically. He claims that such sequences, such as those found in language classes where lessons involve practicing "day structures", are unnecessary, and possibly even dangerous.
While input is very important, Krashen's assertion that just the input in the second language acquisition has been contradicted by more recent research. For example, students enrolled in a French-language immersion program in Canada still produce non-original grammar as they speak, although they have lessons that focus on their statistical significance and native-level listening abilities. Outputs seem to play an important role, and among them, can help provide feedback to participants, get them to concentrate on what form they say, and help them automate their language knowledge. These processes have been codified in a comprehensible output theory.
The researchers also pointed to interactions in the second language as important for acquisitions. According to the Long interaction hypothesis, the conditions for acquisition are excellent when interacting in a second language; special, good condition when communication disruption occurs and learners have to negotiate for meaning. Modifications to speech arising from such interactions help make input more understandable, provide feedback to learners, and encourage learners to modify their speech.
Cognitive factors
Much modern research in the acquisition of a second language has used a cognitive approach. Cognitive research is concerned with the mental processes involved in language acquisition, and how they can explain the nature of learners' language knowledge. This field of research is based on a more general field of cognitive science, and uses many of the concepts and models used in more general cognitive learning theories. Thus, cognitive theories see the acquisition of a second language as a special case of the more common mechanism of learning in the brain. This places them in direct contrast to linguistic theory, which presupposes that language acquisition uses a unique process different from other types of learning.
The dominant model in the cognitive approach to second language acquisition, and indeed in all second language acquisition research, is a computational model. The computational model involves three stages. In the first stage, the learner maintains certain features of the language input in short-term memory. (This retained input is known as intake .) Later, learners change some of this intake into second language knowledge, which is stored in long-term memory. Finally, learners use this second language knowledge to produce oral output. Cognitive theory tries to codify both the mental representational properties of the language intake and knowledge, and the mental processes underlying these stages.
In the early days of research the acquisition of a second language in a foreign language was seen as a basic representation of a second language knowledge; However, more recent research has taken a number of different approaches in characterizing the mental representation of language knowledge. There are theories that hypothesize that the language of learners inherently varies, and there is a functionalist perspective which sees the acquisition of language that is closely related to the function it provides. Some researchers make the distinction between implicit language knowledge and explicit , and some of the declarative and procedural language knowledge. There is also a debating approach to dual-mode systems where some language knowledge is stored as a rule, and knowledge of other languages ​​as items.
The mental processes underlying the acquisition of a second language can be broken down into micro processes and macro processes. The micro-process involves attention; working memory; integration and restructuring. Restructuring is the process by which learners change their language system; and monitoring is the conscious presence of learners of their own language output. Macro-processes include the distinction between deliberate learning and incidental learning; and also the difference between explicit and implicit learning. Some important cognitive theories of second language acquisition include the model of nativisization, multidimensional models and process theory, emergentist models, competition models, and skills acquisition theories.
Other cognitive approaches have seen the production of speech learners, especially speech planning and communication strategies of learners. Speech planning can have an effect on the participants' oral output, and research in this field has focused on how planning affects three aspects of speech: complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Of the three, the effect of planning on fluency has the most research attention. Communication strategy is a conscious strategy that students use to overcome any communication disturbances they may experience. His influence on second language acquisitions is unclear, with some researchers claiming they helped him, and others claimed otherwise.
Socio-cultural factors
From the earliest days of discipline the researcher also acknowledged that social aspects played an important role. There are many different approaches to the study of sociolinguistic acquisition of a second language, and indeed, according to Rod Ellis, this plurality means that "the sociolinguistic SLA is full of a confusing set of terms referring to the social aspect of the acquisition of L2". However, what is common to each of these approaches is the denial of language as a purely psychological phenomenon; on the contrary, sociolinguistic research looks at the social context in which language is learned as important for a proper understanding of the acquisition process.
Ellis identifies three types of social structures that influence the acquisition of a second language: sociolinguistic arrangements, certain social factors, and situational factors. The sociolinguistic arrangement refers to the role of a second language in society, such as whether it is spoken by a majority or a small percentage of the population, whether its use is widespread or limited to some functional role, or whether society is predominantly bilingual or single. Ellis also incorporates differences in whether a second language is studied in a natural or educational setting. Certain social factors that may affect second language acquisition include age, gender, social class, and ethnic identity, with ethnic identity being the one that has received research attention. Situational factors are factors that vary between social interactions. For example, learners can use more polite language when talking to someone with a higher social status, but more informal language when talking to a friend.
The Immersion program provides sociolinguistic arrangements that facilitate the acquisition of a second language. The immersion program is an educational program in which children are instructed in L2. Although the language of instruction is L2, the parallel curriculum with non-immersion programs and support is clearly present in L1, because teachers are all bilingual. The aim of the program is to develop a high level of proficiency in both L1 and L2. Students in the immersion program have been shown to have a higher level of proficiency in their second language than students who receive a second language education only as a subject in school. This is especially true in terms of their acceptance skills. Also, students who join previous immersion programs generally have better second language skills than their later associate counterparts. However, students who join later have proven to gain such native skills. Although immersion student acceptance skills are very strong, their productive skills can suffer if they spend most of their time listening to instructions alone. Grammatical skills and the ability to have the right vocabulary are certain areas of struggle. It is said that immersion is necessary, but not sufficient for the development of such native skills in the second language. Opportunities to engage in ongoing conversations, and tasks that encourage syntax, as well as semantic development help develop the productive skills needed for bilingual skills.
The sense of linkage of learners with their groups, as well as target language communities emphasize the influence of sociolinguistic arrangements, as well as social factors in the second language acquisition process. Social Identity Theory argues that an important factor for second language acquisition is the perceived identity of the learner in relation to the language community being studied, as well as how the target language community perceives the learner. Whether a learner feels the connection with the community or culture of the target language helps determine their social distance from the target culture. Smaller social distances tend to encourage learners to get a second language, because their investment in the learning process is greater. Conversely, greater social distance hampers efforts to get the target language. However, negative views not only come from learners, but target language communities may experience greater social distance to learners, limiting learners' ability to learn the language. Whether or not bilingualism is appreciated by the culture or community of learners is an important indicator for motivation to learn the language.
Gender, as a social factor, also affects the SLA. Women have been found to have higher motivation and a more positive attitude than men for second language acquisition. However, women are also more likely to present higher levels of anxiety, which can hamper their ability to efficiently learn a new language.
There are several models developed to explain social effects on language acquisition. The Schumann Acculturation Model proposes that the level of student development and the attainment level of the final language is a function of "social distance" and "psychological distance" between the learner and the second language community. In the Schumann model, social factors are the most important, but the extent to which learners feel comfortable with learning a second language also plays a role. Another sociolinguistic model is Gardner's socio-educational model, designed to explain the mastery of class language. The Gardner model focuses on the emotional aspects of the SLA, arguing that positive motivation contributes to the individual's desire to learn L2; furthermore, the goal of an individual to learn L2 is based on the idea that the individual has a desire to be part of the culture, in other words, part of the community of languages ​​(targeted languages). Factors, such as integrity and attitudes toward learning situations encourage motivation. The result of positive motivation is not only linguistic, but non-linguistic, so that the learner has achieved the desired goal. Although there are many critics of the Gardner model, many of these critiques have been influenced by the advantages it has. The inter-group model proposes "ethnolinguistic vitality" as a key construct for second language acquisition. The socialization of language is an approach with the premise that "linguistic and cultural knowledge is built on one another," and sees increased attention after 2000. Finally, Norton's theory of social identity is an attempt to codify the relationship between power, and language acquisition.
Socio-cultural approach
The unique approach to SLA is the sociocultural theory. It was originally developed by Lev Vygotsky and his followers. Vygotsky's theory center is the concept of a proximal development zone (ZPD). The ZPD statement states that social interaction with more advanced target language users allows one to learn a language at a higher level than if they were learning the language independently. Sociocultural theory has a very different set of assumptions for a second language acquisition approach based on computational models. Furthermore, while closely affiliated with other social approaches, this is a theory of mind and not a general social explanation of language acquisition. According to Ellis, "It is important to recognize... that this paradigm, although the 'sociocultural' label does not attempt to explain how learners derive L2 cultural values ​​but how L2 knowledge is internalized through experience of sociocultural traits.
The linguistic factor
The linguistic approach to explain the acquisition of a second language arises from a broader linguistic study. They differ from cognitive and sociocultural approaches because they consider language knowledge to be unique and different from other types of knowledge. The tradition of linguistic research in the acquisition of a second language has evolved in the relative isolation of the cognitive and sociocultural research traditions, and by 2010 the influence of the broader linguistic field is still strong. Two major threads of research can be identified in the linguistic tradition: approaches informed by universal grammar, and typological approaches.
Typological universality is the principle that applies to all languages ​​of the world. They are found empirically, by surveying different languages ​​and concluding which aspects of them can be universal; these aspects are then examined in another language to verify the findings. An intermediate language learner has been shown to adhere to typological universism, and some researchers have suggested that universal typology may inhibit language development.
The universal grammatical theory was proposed by Noam Chomsky in the 1950s, and has enjoyed popularity in linguistics. It focuses on describing the linguistic competence of an individual. He believes that children not only acquire language by studying descriptive grammar rules; he claims that children creatively play and form words when they learn the language, creating the meaning of these words, as opposed to the mechanism of memorizing the language. It consists of a set of universal, constant principles , and a set of parameters , which can be set differently for different languages. "Universal" in universal grammar differs from universal typology in the sense that they are mental constructs derived by researchers, whereas the typological universality is easily verified by data from world languages. It is widely accepted among researchers in the universal grammatical framework that all first linguistic learners have access to universal grammar; However, this does not apply to second-language learners, and much of the research in the context of second language acquisitions has focused on the level of access that the learners have.
Universal grammar theory can explain some observations of SLA research. For example, L2 users often display knowledge about their L2 they have never known. L2 users are often aware of ambiguous or ungrammatical L2 units they have not learned from any external source, nor from the pre-existing L1 knowledge. Knowledge that does not have this source indicates the existence of a universal grammar.
Individual variations
There is considerable variation in the rate at which people learn a second language, and at the level of language they ultimately achieve. Some learners learn quickly and reach the same level of competence, but others learn slowly and get caught in the early stages of acquisition, even though they live in a country where the language is used for several years. The reason for this disparity was first discussed with a study of language learning talent in the 1950s, and then with good language learning in the 1970s. Recent research has focused on a number of different factors that influence individual language learning, in particular the use of strategies, social and civic influences, personality, motivation, and anxiety. The relationship between age and the ability to learn language has also been the subject of long debates.
Age
The age problem was first handled with a critical period hypothesis. [note 4] The strict version of this hypothesis states that there is a cut-off age of about 12, after which the learners lose the ability to fully learn the language. However, the right age marks the end of a critical period of debate, and ranges from ages 6 to 13, for many reasons that it is around the beginning of puberty. This rigorous version has since been denied for the acquisition of a second language, as some adult learners have been observed which reach the original pronunciation level and general fluency. However, in general, second-language adult learners rarely achieve fluency as originally shown by children, although it often runs faster in the early stages. This has led to speculation that age is indirectly associated with other more central factors that affect language learning.
Children who have two bilingual languages ​​from birth are called simultaneous bilinguals. In this case, the two languages ​​are spoken to the children by their parent or caregiver and they grow by knowing the two languages. These children generally achieve linguistic milestones at the same time as their monolingual peers. Children who have not learned two languages ​​since infancy, but learned a language from birth, and others at some point during childhood, are referred to as sequential bilinguals. One often assumes that the first language of sequential bilingual is their most proficient language, but this is not always the case. Over time and experience, the language of both children can be his strongest. This is especially likely if the child's first language is a minority spoken at home, and the second language of the child is the majority language learned at school or in the community before the age of five. The proficiency for both simultaneous and sequential bilinguals depends on the child's chance to engage in meaningful conversations in various contexts.
Often the simultaneous bilingual is more adept in their language than the sequential bilingual. One argument for this is that simultaneous bilinguals develop a representation that is more different from their language, especially with regard to phonological and semantic processing levels. This will cause learners to have more differentiation among languages, leading them to recognize the subtle differences between languages ​​less advanced to learn by students. Learning the language early in life will help to develop this different language representation, because the learner's first language will be less established. Conversely, learning a language in the future will result in a more similar semantic representation.
Although child learners more often acquire native abilities, older children and adult learners often advance faster in the early stages of learning. Older children and adult learners are quicker to acquire early grammar knowledge than child learners, but, with sufficient time and language exposure, children go beyond their older counterparts. Once exceeded, older learners often display clear language deficiencies compared to child learners. This is due to having a strong understanding of the first language or mother tongue they first learned. Having this cognitive ability already developed can help the process of learning a second language because there is a better understanding of how the language works. For this same reason interaction with family and the further development of the first language are encouraged along with positive reinforcement. The exact language deficiency that occurs past a certain age is not unanimously agreed upon. Some believe that only the pronunciation is affected, while others believe that other abilities are also affected. However, some of the generally agreed differences including older learners have a real accent, smaller vocabulary, and make some linguistic mistakes.
One explanation for differences in proficiency between older learners and younger students involves Universal Grammar. Universal Grammar is a contentious theory that shows that people have an innate knowledge of the universal linguistic principles that are present at birth. These principles guide children as they learn the language, but the parameters vary from language to language. Theory assumes that, while Universal Grammar remains mature, the ability to reset the parameters set for each language is lost, making it more difficult to learn a new language proficiently. Since adults have an established, native language, the process of language acquisition is much different for them, than young students. The rules and principles that guide the use of the native language of the learner play a role in the way a second language is developed.
Some nonbiological explanations for age differences in second language acquisition include variations in social and psychological factors, such as motivation; the linguistic environment of the learner; and level of exposure. Even with less favorable nonbiological effects, many child learners achieve a better level of proficiency than adult learners with more favorable nonbiological influences.
Strategy
Significant attention has been paid to strategies used by students to learn a second language. Strategies have been found to be so important, so much so that strategic competence has been suggested as a major component of communicative competence. Strategies are usually divided into learning strategies and communicative strategies , although there are other ways to group them. Learning strategies are techniques used to improve learning, such as mnemonics or using dictionaries. A communicative strategy is a strategy the learner uses to convey meaning even when he or she does not have access to the correct form, such as using pro-form like things , or using non-verbal means such as gestures. If learning strategies and communicative strategies are used correctly, language acquisition succeeds. Some things to keep in mind when learning additional languages ​​are: providing information that appeals to students, offering students the opportunity to share their knowledge and teaching the right techniques for the use of available learning resources.
Other strategies may include deliberate means of obtaining or improving their second official language skills. Adult immigrants and/or second language learners who wish to acquire a second language may engage in various activities to receive and share knowledge and improve their learning; some of which include:
- incidental or informal learning ( media sources, family/friends interactions, work interactions )
- purposeful learning ( self-study, take language classes )
- pursue formal education
Affective factor
The learner's attitudes towards the learning process have also been identified as very important for the acquisition of a second language. Anxiety in language learning situations has almost unanimously proved to be detrimental to successful learning. Anxiety disrupts the processing of mental language because the mind-related demands of anxiety create competition for mental resources. This results in less storage and energy available for tasks required for language processing. Not only this, but anxiety is also usually accompanied by self-deprecating thoughts and fear of failure, which can undermine a person's ability to learn a new language. Learning a new language provides a unique situation that can even produce certain types of anxiety, called language anxiety, which affects the quality of the acquisition. Also, anxiety can damage the SLA as it may affect the ability of learners to concentrate, concentrate, and encode language information. This can affect the speed and accuracy of learning. Further, the fear created as a result of anxiety hampers the learner's ability to pick up and produce correct information.
Related factors, personality, also received attention. There has been discussion about the impact of extravert and introverted personality. Extravert quality can help learners explore opportunities and people to help L2 learning, while introverts may find it more difficult to find such interaction opportunities. However, it has also been suggested that, while extraverts may experience greater fluency, introverts tend to make fewer linguistic errors. Furthermore, while extraversion may be useful through its drive to self-study, it can also present challenges because learners may find reflective skills and time management difficult. However, one study has found that there is no significant difference between extraverts and introverts on how they achieve success in a second language.
Other personality factors, such as sincerity, friendliness, and openness affect self-regulation, which helps L2 students engage, process meaning, and adjust their thoughts, feelings, and actions to benefit the acquisition process. The SLA research has shown seriousness to be associated with time management skills, metacognition, analytical learning, and perseverance; friendliness towards effort; and openness to elaborative learning, intelligence, and metacognition. Both genetics and the learner's environment have an impact on the learner's personality, either facilitating or impeding the individual's ability to learn.
Social attitudes such as gender roles and people's views on language learning have also proved important. Language learning can be severely hampered by cultural attitudes, with the often cited example being the difficulty of Navajo children in learning English.
Also, the motivation of the individual learner is crucial to the success of language learning. Motivation is influenced by the importance of purpose, valence, and self-efficacy. In this context, the importance of purpose is the importance of the L2 objectives of the learners, and how often they are pursued; valence is the value of L2's learning place in the SLA, determined by the desire to learn and attitudes about learning L2; and self-efficacy is the learner's own belief that he is capable of achieving linguistic goals. Studies have consistently shown that intrinsic motivation, or genuine interest in the language itself, is more effective in the long run than extrinsic motivation, such as in learning a language for rewards such as high value or praise. However, motivation is dynamic and, as the L2 learner progresses, their extrinsic motivation can develop more intrinsically. Student motivation can develop through contact with L2 communities and cultures, as learners often want to communicate and identify with individuals within the L2 community. Furthermore, a supportive learning environment facilitates motivation through increased confidence and autonomy. Learners in a supportive environment are more often willing to take on challenging tasks, thus encouraging the development of L2.
Atrisi
Friction is the loss of proficiency in the language caused by lack of exposure or the use of language. This is a natural part of the language experience because it exists in a dynamic environment. As the environment changes, language adapts. One way is to use L1 as a tool to navigate the periods of change associated with acquisitions and attritions. L2 students do not suddenly disappear with no use, but the communication function is slowly replaced by L1.
Similar to second language acquisition, second language attachment occurs gradually. However, according to the regression hypothesis, the erosion phases occur in reverse order of acquisition. With acquisition, receptive skills develop first, and then productive skills, and with attrition, earning skills disappear first, and then receptive skills.
Age, skill level, and social factors play a role in how attrition occurs. Most often younger children are faster than adults losing their L2 when left unused. However, if a child has a high level of proficiency, he or she may take several years to lose language. The level of proficiency seems to play the greatest role in the level of attrition. For highly skilled individuals, there is a period of time in which very little, if any, attrition is observed. For some, even residual learning may occur, which is a marked improvement in L2. In the first five years of unused language, the total percentage of lost language knowledge is less for a proficient individual than for someone less advanced. The explanation of cognitive psychology for this suggests that higher levels of proficiency involve the use of schemes, or mental representations for linguistic structures. The scheme involves a deeper mental process for mental retention that is resistant to attrition. As a result, the information associated with this system is less likely to experience less extreme attrition than information that is not. Finally, social factors can play an indirect role in attrition. In particular, motivations and attitudes affect the process. Higher levels of motivation, and positive attitudes toward relevant languages ​​and communities can reduce attrition. This may be because a higher level of competence is achieved in L2 when the learner is motivated and has a positive attitude.
Second language class
Although many SLA studies have been devoted to language learning in a natural environment, there are also attempts made to investigate second language acquisitions in the classroom. Such research has significant overlap with language education, and it is primarily concerned with the influence that the instructor has on the learner. It also explores what teachers do, the class context, the dynamics of classroom communication. This is a qualitative and quantitative study.
The study is extensive. Efforts are made to systematically measure the effectiveness of language teaching practices for every level of language, from phonetics to pragmatics, and to almost all current teaching methodologies. This research shows that many traditional language teaching techniques are very inefficient. cited in Ellis 1994 It is generally agreed that pedagogy that is restricted to teach grammar rules and vocabulary lists does not give students the ability to use L2 with accuracy and fluency. Conversely, to become proficient in a second language, the learner should be given the opportunity to use it for communicative purposes.
Another field of research has been regarding the effect of corrective feedback in helping learners. This proves to vary depending on the techniques used to make corrections, and the overall focus of the class, whether on formal accuracy or on meaningful content communication.. There is also considerable interest in complementing published research with approaches involving language teachers in action research on the language of learners in their own classes. When teachers become aware of the language features of students generated by their students, they can refine their pedagogical interventions to maximize language development.
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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