What Is The Hypothesis Of Second Language Acquisition

Many second language acquisition theories have been developed over the years. These theories examine the avenues in which second language is acquired and the avenues in which they are learned. The avenue of socialization is crucial in learning a second language. When natural conversations occur with native and non-native speakers, a natural

First, children¡¯s acquisition of language is an innate mechanism that enables a child to analyze language and extract the basic rules of grammar, granted by Chomsky. It basically states that humans are born with a language acquisition device that, the ability to learn a language rapidly as children. However, there is one important controversy in language acquisition concerns how we acquire language; since Chomsky fails to adequately explain individual differences. From the behaviorists¡¯ perspectives, the language is learned like other learned behaviors. It is learned through operant

'First Language Acquisition' or also known as the 'Child Language Acquisition' is a process whereby children from infancy through early school years acquire their first languages (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). The term 'First Language Acquisition' or 'FLA' can be referred to the field that investigates the process by which children develop to use words and sentences in

Many second language acquisition theories have been developed over the years. These theories examine the avenues in which second language is acquired and the avenues in which they are

Numerous theories try to explain the process of language acquisition. These theories fall into one of two camps. The environmentalist (or connectionist) theory of language acquisition asserts that language is acquired through environmental factors (Halvaei et al. 811). Theorists in this camp believe that a child learns language by gaining information from the outside world and then forming associations between words and objects. The nativist (or rationalist) approach, on the other hand, asserts that it is innate factors that determine language acquisition. Noam Chomsky, often described as “the father of modern linguistics”, falls into this camp as he believes that speech is the result of hidden rules of language that are hidden somewhere in the brain (Rahmani and Abdolmanafi 2111). Steven Pinker, a colleague of Chomsky, is a renowned psychologist, cognitive scientist and linguist who discusses his own theories on language acquisition in his book Words and Rules.

Second language acquisition is a process by which people learn a second language. It refers to any language learned in addition to the first language and the differences between both processes. Second language acquisition is a controversial issue; since, there is no a general agreement about how and when it takes place. Several theories and models have tried to explain the facts that may be involved

The first area of difference between first (L1) and second (L2) language learning is input – specifically the quality and quantity of input. It is the idea of the "connectionist model that implies... (that the) language learning process depends on the input frequency and regularity" (5).. It is here where one finds the greatest difference between L1 and L2 acquisition. The quantity of exposure to a target language a child gets is immense compared to the amount an adult receives. A child hears the language all day everyday, whereas an adult learner may only hear the target language in the classroom – which could be as little as three hours a week. Even if one looks at an adult in a total submersion situation the quantity is still less because the amount of one on one interaction that a child gets for example with a parent or other caregiver is still much greater then the adult is receiving.

Normally a child acquires the grammar of the ambient language they are first introduced with perfectly, making L1 acquisition a success in most cases. SLA on the other hand varies with its success rate. To attain ‘native-like’ levels of competence in a second language is almost impossible over a certain age. By SLA one means the acquisition of a second

This theory can be used in creating behavioural agreement at home as well as school.

When it comes to the debate about the advantages and disadvantages of learning languages in a classroom, SLA researchers also put emphasis on the distinction between the terms ‘learning’ and ‘acquiring’. Stephen Krashen (1982), a prominent linguist in the field of SLA, considers these two terms to be connected to two different ways an individual can reach proficiency in a foreign language. He sees learning as a process which includes rules and conscious attention to form, and acquisition as a process similar to the way children learn their first language, which means that they do not consciously pay attention to language form (p. 17).

Second language acquisition has become an increasingly active field of study in the past couple of decades. As the world became more dynamic and people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds more connected, language played a crucial role in keeping those relations successful. Subsequently, knowledge of only one language has become rarely sufficient, resulting in growing bilingualism. As bilingualism has slowly become the new norm, the researchers have become engrossed in the field of second language acquisition. One of numerous important questions within that field is that of the role of the first language in second language acquisition. In this essay, I will pinpoint some of the theoretical approaches and studies that dealt with the question of the role of the first

To differentiate between language learning and acquisition, Krashen ( 1982) thinks that the exposure to language naturally and gradually where a person interact and acquire the messages subconsciously is known as acquisition. On the other hand, using language consciously , when picking one's grammar and words, where communication is not natural means learning."Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill.” This means that acquisition is a process of gradual development of the learner’s ability that occurs subconsciously through in natural communicative situations during interaction. He also adds that the focus during the process of acquisition, it “requires meaningful

The question of what in the input guides learners forward throughout interlanguage development (Young-Scholten & Piske, 2009) has fueled empirical investigations in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) for decades. Such interest over the strength of second language (L2) input gets transpired into a variety of research

The language acquisition process is disparate between first language and foreign language. In this essay, we are going to investigate how they are different from each other on several aspects: phonology, semantics, syntax and pragmatics.

Besides the acquisition-learning distinction theory by Krashen’s which differentiate the condition of second language acquisition (SLA) and second language learning (SLL), there are other theories which explain SLL in detail. Among the earliest theory suggested in relation to SLL is the behavioural theory of language learning which initiates by Skinner in 1950s as cited in Scarino and Liddicoat (2009). The theory suggests that human and animal learn in similar ways which are through the response to stimuli. The responses enhance the learning of the language where the repetition and reinforcement help the input to be comprehended by the learner through time.