02. Second Language Acquisition.pptx

Second language

1. Second language Acquisition/ Learning The Study of Language George Yule Page 186-197 Applied Linguistics

2. Topics What is Second Language Learning/ Acquisition Difference Between Acquisition and Learning Difference Between Second Language and Foreign Language Acquisition Barriers Affective Filters Language Transfer Interlanguage Intraference Overgeneralization Language Input Communicative Competence

3. What is Language Acquisition? The process of attaining a specific variant of human language. The process of learning a native or a second language.

4. Second Language Acquisition The Process of Acquiring/learning a second or foreign language is called as second Language Acquisition

5. Difference Between Learning and Acquisition Acquisition “ A cquisition” to refer to a nonconscious process of rule internalization resulting from exposure to comprehensible input when the learner’s attention is on meaning rather than form, as is more common in a SECOND LANGUAGE context. Still others use “acquisition” only with reference to the learning of one’s first language. Learning using “learning” to mean a conscious process involving the study of explicit rules of language and MONITORING one’s performance, as is often typical of classroom learning in a FOREIGN LANGUAGE context Some theorists use “learning” and “acquisition” synonymously. Others maintain a contrast between the two terms,

6. Acquisition and learning

7. SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

8. Acquisition Barriers There are many general factors that influence second language learning such as age, aptitude, intelligence, cognitive style, attitudes, motivation and personality (Ellis, 1985). The factors effecting the second language acquisition can be divided in to two categories. These are Individual/internal factors External Factors There is also a third category of factors called effective filters, but these factors are usually discussed in Individual/internal factors.

9. Affective Filters These are also kind of individual/internal factors, but these are called as affective filters because these are related to personal emotions or psychology of individual learner. Affective factors are emotional factors which influence learning. They can have a negative or positive effect on learning a second language. Negative affective factors are called affective filters. People with high affective filter will lower their intake whereas people with low affective filter allow more input into their language acquisition device. These factors may include: Self esteem, inhibition, anxiety, empathy etc.

10. Transfer T ransfer” (also called “crosslinguistic influence”) Transfer means using sounds, expressions or structures from the L1 when performing in the L2. P ositive transfer If the L1 and L2 have similar features (e.g. marking plural on the ends of nouns), then the learner may be able to benefit from the positive transfer of L1 knowledge to the L2. N egative transfer On the other hand, transferring an L1 feature that is really different from the L2 (e.g. putting the adjective after the noun) results in negative transfer and it may make the L2 expression difficult to understand. We should remember that negative transfer (sometimes called “interference”) is more common in the early stages of L2 learning and often decreases as the learner develops familiarity with the L2.

11. Language transfer – interference Language transfer refers to the influence of the mother tongue on the learning of the foreign language. When there are no major differences between L1 and L2, the transfer will be positive , which will make language learning easier. When there are differences, the learner’s L1 knowledge may interfere with learning L2 , negative transfer will occur , which is called (mother-tongue) interference. Interference affects all levels of language , such as pronunciation, grammar, lexis, syntax and so on. The errors arise from the mismatch between the grammatical habits of the learners’ mother tongue and the new grammatical patterns that the learners have to acquire in the foreign language. Although mother tongue interference is a very important cause it is not the only one.

12. Interlanguage Errors were regarded as failures for a long time. Now it is accepted that errors are important because they are the indication of the learners’ developing competence, which Selinker (1972) called ‘interlanguage’. Interlanguage refers to the process the learner goes through from the initial stage when he knows very little about the language getting to a final stage when he possesses almost complete fluency. It shows a transitional stage of the learner’s development towards L2 competence. It is a system that the learners construct at any stage in their development.

13. Interlanguage Students’ errors are a very useful way of giving evidence of what they have learnt and haven’t learnt. So instead of regarding errors negatively, as a sign of failure, teachers can see them positively as an indication of what they still need to teach. If teachers try to prevent students from making errors, they can never find out what the learners do not know. Teachers need to correct some errors to help students learn the correct forms of the language. But they don’t have to correct students all the time.

14. Intraference Language learners may experience confusion when they find conflicting patterns within the structure of the newly acquired language. Scovel (2001) calls it intraference . A good example is the use of the third person singular suffix, which causes problems to a great number of learners irrespective of what their mother tongue is. The information about the suffixation (in simple present tense there are no suffixes only in the third person singular) confuses the learners and it comes from English itself. One of the most common indication of intraference is overgeneralization.

15. Overgeneralization A process common in both first- and second-language learning, in which a learner extends the use of a grammatical rule of a linguistic item beyond its accepted uses, generally by making words or structures follow a more regular pattern. For example, use mans instead of men for the plural of man .

16. Overgeneralization Overgeneralization means that whenever learners meet a new pattern or a new rule, they think that the pattern or rule applies to all cases without exception. Errors are produced because the learner extends the target language rule to inappropriate context ignoring the restrictions of the structures. Overgeneralization results from the fact that the learner finds it easier to transfer previous knowledge to produce a new pattern. A good example said by a foreign language learner is the following: She goes. “ She must goes”.

17. Input and output OUT Put: language produced by a language learner, either in speech or writing . input (in language learning) language which a learner hears or receives and from which he or she can learn. According to Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, comprehensible input is a necessary condition for second language acquisition. comprehensible input: Input that is comprehensible ( understanable ) for the learner. input language which contains linguistic items that are slightly beyond the learner’s present linguistic competence

18. Input and output

19. Input and output (Continues….)

20. Communicative competence

21. Sociolinguistic competence

22. S trategic C ompetence and Communication S trategy

23. Thank You