Personal Second Language Acquisition Theory Research Paper

Judie Haynes’ article, “Stages of Second Language Acquisition”, clearly states five stages that a new learner of English may go through. In Haynes’ theory, there are five stages in total, and they are pre-production, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency. According to Haynes, new learners of English acquire language by going through the same stages. However, how much time each student spends at a particular stage may be different. Despite the different time length, the stages of people acquiring new language are worth discussing.

The approaches to Second Language Acquisition (SLA for short) have been changing and developing throughout the years. Since the beginning of the study of Second Language Acquisition, the approaches and theories of SLA have ranged from the Behaviourist approach to SLA by an American psychologist Burrhus Frederic Skinner in 1940s-1950s to Universal Grammar approach by an American linguist Noam Chomsky in 1960-1970s to the Information Processing Model introduced by Barry McLaughlin in 1983 (Malone 2012: 1). The field of SLA research nowadays includes relatively new approaches such as cognitive linguistics, as well as skill acquisition and various sociocultural theories, connectionism and many more. However,

A vocabulary is the set of words that make up a language. The acquisition of a vocabulary is a process that usually happens subconsciously and we usually are not aware that it is happening. Vocabulary can be classified as receptive or productive, i.e. what we understand and what we produce. But acquiring a vocabulary is a different process when it is a first language from when it is a second or a foreign language. Acquiring a first language is a natural process while acquiring a second language requires effort and hard work on the learner’s part. In first language acquisition, the basis for learning is universal grammar alone, but in second language acquisition, knowledge of the first language serves as groundwork for learning the second language

Guidelines to teaching a foreign language highlight all of these elements. Listening, reading, writing, and speaking are all taught and tested at beginner, intermediate, advanced, and superior levels so that these different learning methods are highlighted and executed at varying levels. Children also learn and are shown new ways of looking at the world through the varying strategies. In fact, correlation studies have shown that “students who have had several years of foreign language do better on SATs, particularly the verbal part” (WALKER). As root words, prefixes, suffixes, conjugation, and noun agreements are taught in new languages, it is easier to see connections to the structure of one’s first language. The knowledge of a language one is raised speaking and understanding is simply obtained through experience. However, learning a second language emphasizes the parts of language that come naturally in the first. It takes self-motivated work and dedication to learn a second language later in life, so the outcome of attaining a comprehensive grasp on a foreign language early on pays off in multiple ways.

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 (SLA) is a young but widely-discuss field of study. Many theories are exploring how children learn to talk and understand language such as behaviorism, nativism, social cognitive learning and stages of language development (Levine, Munsch 2013). For example, a mother-infant conversation is one of the

This paper discusses the previous research on second language learning in children and adults. It

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

In most general terms second language acquisition (L2A) challenges the similarity to first language acquisition (L1A). It is found that L1A is usually successful with all normal children, but in L2A results can be controversial.

It is believed that younger learners are better while acquiring a second language. The common notion is that younger children learn L2 easily and

The study of motivation in the area second language (L2) acquisition has seen much attention by researchers over the past decades. There is a general consesus that motivation is the driving fource that enables learners to expend the sustained effort it takes to learn another language (GD 2008; Moskovsky, Alrabai, Paolini, & Ratcheva, 2013), and motivation gives the competetivie edge to leanrning (Moskovsky, Alrabai, Paolini, & Ratcheva, 2013). However

People mostly learn the second language by language acquisition. From early childhood, they learn it in their daily life through interaction with their family members and the environments that around them. Acquisition can improve one’s vocabulary by hearing the others communicate. With that, one may be able gain to language pronunciation skills and experiences. Somehow, it is recommended for many to learn by language acquisition though there are the disadvantages to it. On the other hand, language learning is more effective mostly towards students. By language learning, one can able to learn deeper because it is the formal learning in the classroom between teachers and students. Formal learning is much easier due to the fact that the teachers immediately might help their students if they are

The study of acquiring a second language has been a topic of debate since it began being studied due to ambiguous results in research. A major debatable topic is if age is, in fact, a factor when attempting to acquire a second language. The Critical Period Hypothesis works to conclude that age is a factor when attempting to acquire a first language, but has often been refuted in connection with the acquisition of a second language. Within a student’s educational journey, it is often required that he or she must learn and study a foreign language. It is thought that if these students begin learning an L2 within a certain period of time then they will be able to reach a standard to that of a native speaker. But, there have researchers who have stated that age is not a major factor when attempting to acquire a second language, rather there are numerous factors that affect second language acquisition.

Language learning strategies are specific actions or techniques that students use, often intentionally, to improve their progress in developing L2 skills. Strategies encompass a wide range of behaviors that can help the development of language competence in many ways (Oxford, 1990; Rigney, 1978). Lists of characteristicsof good language learners refer to a variety of learning strategies, such as taking advantage of practice opportunities, willingly and accurately guessing, handling emotional issues in language learning, consciously developing the L2 as a meaning system and a structure system, and monitoring one 's own speech (Naiman, Frohlich, & Todesco, 1975; Naiman, Frohlich, Stern, & Todesco, 1978; Rubin, 1975; Stern, 1983). Effective L2 learners are aware of the strategies they use and why they use them, according to diary research (Lavine & Oxford, in press) and think-aloud studies (Abraham & Vann, 1987; O 'Malley& Chamot, 1990). Such learners manage to tailor their strategies to

The sociocultural theory of second language acquisition has provided me with the strongest reasons for reconsidering my previous views on second language learning. Vygotsky proposed a sociocultural theory that is very influential within the field of second language learning. The focus was on the idea that all learning is primarily social. The connections between people and the sociocultural context in which they interact with one another are crucial. Through interaction in shared experiences new knowledge is obtained. This perspective emphasizes the social nature of learning and examines the complex and dynamic social interaction involved in the process of learning a second language. According to Vygotsky the cognitive and social processes in acquiring a second language are inseparable. Social interaction has a vital role in the process of cognitive development.