My Fascination With Second Language Acquisition Essay

Many popular theories of second language acquisition have been analyzed throughout history. The socialization of L2 learners, their present emotional state that is present at time of acquisition, as well as the comprehensible input and output with the use of scaffolding play a major role in second language acquisition. Let us also not forget the importance of written expression as well as reading comprehension with these L2 learners. Each play a role in language development. However, I believe that in acquiring a language, one must use a variety of techniques that work together to create a balance within the learning environment. Furthermore, all L2 learners learn differently and so a variety of resources will need to be used based on the ability of each student. There are many theories that have been developed by highly qualified experts in the field on linguistics. However, I will address those areas that I agree with as I present my personal theories on second language acquisition.

Acquisition of an L2 (second language), has always been an important issue in the field of linguistics, and its relationship with an L1 (First language) is what concerns Vivian Cook in the chapter called “The relationship between first and second language learning revisited”.

Within this paper we will take a brief look at the Language Acquisition Principles and how they work on the behalf of ELL students. We will see how these principles can be applied within our own learning environment. There is much information from Walqui article that gives a brief overview of ELL students and how things looked in the past for these students. Now that times has change we will see how educators can make the requirements for ELL students better and more effective for teacher and students. Hopefully, as we look at ways of changing learning for our ELL students we must remember that every student learns differently. Even if you follow the principles from

Every human being holds a set of inherent behaviors that enables them to thrive and evolve over time. Be it, anger, jealousy, or closing your eyes when exposed to extreme brightness, one of the most unique human instincts is language. Language is the system in which humans can communicate amongst each other, an incredible phenomenon, and yet for many years psychologists and scientists have yet to come up with one set theory as to how we acquire the languages we have. There are two fundamentally different theories on language acquisition that I will be presenting, the first by linguist Noam Chomsky and the second by psychologist B.F Skinner.

Often, immigrant parents will push for their children to learn the official language of the country they live in. These parents claim that their children will be more successful in life if they acquire that second language, because of the pressure of versatility in society. By quickly enforcing second language, the children find themselves taken over by this incoming force. Constant exposure is the most efficient method of learning, but requires an immense amount of time and effort. Due to frequent subjection of practice, the second dialect will outweigh the original, taking its place as the most proficient language a person uses. Most importantly, the learner must have the eagerness within themselves to truly acquire a second language. Non-native speakers can be uncomfortable with residing in a country whose official language is not their primary. Virginia Gonzalez’s and Ana Celia Zentella’s reports analyze Latinos’ standard of living and the possible outcomes of children of immigrant families in an English governed community. Other works such as Aria by Richard Rodriguez reveals advantages from learning English, such as being able to communicate confidently and feeling included. However, the risk of losing the first language outweighs the advantages. The negative effects are often overlooked and unexpected as shown through the scholarly works of Lily Wong Fillmore, Monique Bournot-Trites and Ulrike Tellowitz. As I will argue in the paper, the common notion that learning a

In our everyday lives, the origin of our ability to communicate is usually not often taken into consideration. One doesn't think about how every person has, or rather had at one time, an innate ability to learn a language to total fluency without a conscious effort – a feat that is seen by the scientific community "as one of the many utterly unexplainable mysteries that beset us in our daily lives" (3).. Other such mysteries include our body's ability to pump blood and take in oxygen constantly seemingly without thought, and a new mother's ability to unconsciously raise her body temperature when her infant is placed on her chest. But a child's first language acquisition is different from these

First language acquisition is something most average people go through without giving it a second thought. According to Freeman and Freeman (2014), “Acquisition refers to a natural process that occurs without conscious effort or any kind of direct teaching” (p.21). Due to the fact that language acquisition is something almost everyone goes through without conscious effort and is still partially a mystery, it has become a widely studied subject. Researchers from many different fields have studied first language acquisition, including psychology, education, linguistics, and sociology. First language acquisition is a subject that is still being researched and has had many different theories throughout the years, regardless, knowing about

Computers nowadays can translate all kinds of languages. However, I still do believe that children need to learn foreign languages.

Many people believe that children have the ability to become with a native-like proficiency in a second language almost within a night because during childhood knowledge is absorbed like a sponge by children’s brain (Genesee, Paradis and B. Crago, 2004, p.133). In contrast, only few adults can achieve a desirable result in their attempt to acquire a second language (European Science Foundation, 1993, p.8). In addition the learning environment is separated into two the formal and the informal both of them are efficient, but the last one seems to be more accepted than the other as a better way of language learning because of its faculty to develop knowledge and skills to people without any predestinate rules. (Bahrani, 2011, p.372). However the process of acquiring a second language is not only affected by the age, but by the learner’s stimuli during this process as well.

Having read ‘Languages in Aotearoa New Zealand’, published on March 2013, by Royal Society of New Zealand, I was able to comprehend how important language diversity both individually and socially within New Zealand’s community.

Der Lugt, S. H. (2007). Assessing China’s Role in Foreign Direct Investment in Southern Africa, Centre for Chinese Studies (C

Language acquisition is the process of receiving and producing the languages they should understand well the words and the sentences to communicate with each other. It is the process whereby children achieve a fluent control of their native language. The first language is defined as the primary language -not necessary mother tongue which the speaker first acquires and use. There is a great difference between first and second language acquisition. First language acquisition refers to the way children learn their native language. Second language acquisition refers to the learning of another language or languages besides the native language

The understanding of second language acquisition has progressed from behaviorist (name theories here) to constructivist Universal Grammar (Chomsky, year?), language instinct (Pinker, 1995), Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1985), Attention-Processing model (McLaughlin, 1990, 1987), Explicit and Implicit models (Ellis, 1994, 1997; Bialystok 1982, 1978, 1990) and, finally, to social constructivist Interaction hypothesis (Long, 1981) later expanded on by Theresa Pica (year). (and complemented by the comprehensible output hypothesis (Swain, 1995), Authenticity/Task based-instruction (Selinger)

This paper is going to talk about Krashen's theory of second language acquisition, which has had a large impact in all areas of second language research and teaching since the 1980s.

The research of second language acquisition (SLA) and its theories surged in the twentieth century. At a first glance, the definition of SLA may seem clear, however when analysed further it becomes clear that the subject is a bit more complex. Nevertheless, a good definition of it could be as follows: “a study of … the way in which people learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside a classroom.” (Ellis, 1997:3) From the 1940s to the 1960s, a psycholinguistic theory known as behaviourism (stimulus-response), was developed, becoming recognised as a legitimate theory behind SLA. This was a positivist approach towards language learning which involved the interference and transfer between a speaker’s first