The Field Of Second Language Acquisition ( Sla )

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.

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 second language classroom is full of theories of how to get students to acquire the target language (L2). These theories have been around for many years and have been debated and revised numerous times. Theories such as the grammar translation theory, used up until the 1940’s, are no longer in favour because of their inability for learners to use the language in colloquial situations have been superseded by new innovative ideas. At the time of writing this paper, there are three main theories used in the second language classroom: Behaviorist, Innate, and Interactionist.

My seminar provided an overview of chapter 4- explaining second language learning. During my introduction, key points from each of the 5 perspectives were discussed. The cognitive perspective was given priority as it contained many subcategories within itself. This section also allowed my group mates to connect theory and practice of second language learning. My group mates were able to connect to the noticing hypothesis, processability theory and the three principles of practice through their own personal experiences while learning a second language. The first discussion question asked my group members to evaluate their own understanding of how language learning occurs and compare it with the perspectives we covered. The second discussion question provided them a chance to assess each perspective and think of one weakness and one strength for each. Overall if I were to re-do my seminar, I would like to provide more attention to the other perspectives. I would add more discussion questions in order to stimulate more in-depth discussions. Similarly, adding supplemental information from an outside source to further discussion and connect the theories to pedagogy. Additionally, I would create an activity that focused more on teaching of a second language and how these theories have influenced the current practices used.

In the video titled The Four Stages of Acquiring Language, in which I observed. The first stage is “Babbling” one syllable sounds. I observed an infant at 4 months of age babbling. According to the CDC, at 4 months of age infants begin babbling, they can babble with expression and copy sounds he/she hears. Infants at this age can cry in different ways to express hunger, pain or being tired.

Students who are more introverted may observe and listen to others until they are more confident of what to say. Teachers need to understand that the outgoing student may not be as fluent as he or she seems to be and that the more introverted student may be more proficient in their second language than they appear to be. Although it will take time, both types of students will learn to speak their second language proficiently. While these students are learning, they will make mistakes. The article states that if teachers correct the mistakes directly, it may discourage students from trying out their new language skills. Modeling the correct language is a much better way of correcting mistakes then using direct correction.

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 the time of acquisition, as well as the comprehensible input and output with the use of scaffolding play a major role in second language acquisition. Kirsten Hummel states, “The one most effective way to increase L2 competence was by exposure to ‘comprehensible input’.” (Hummel, 2014, p. 73) Let us also not forget the importance of written expression as well as reading comprehension with these L2 learners. Each plays a role in language development. However, I believe that to acquire language one must use a variety of techniques that work together to create a balance within the learning environment. Furthermore, all L2 learners acquire language differently and so using a variety of resources that are based on the ability of each student is neccesary. There are many theories that have been developed by highly qualified experts in the field of linguistics. However, I will address those areas that I agree with as I present my personal theories on second language acquisition.

How can language and content instruction be coordinated to generate acquisition of social and cognitive academic languages?

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

A behaviorist view treats language learning as environmentally determined, controlled from outside by what learners are exposed to and the reinforcement they receive. In contrast, mentalist theories emphasize the importance of the learner’s ‘black box’ in their memory. They maintain that learners’ brains are especially equipped to learn language and all that is needed is minimal exposure to input in order to trigger acquisition (Ellis, 1997). On the whole, input is absolutely necessary and there is no theory or approach to SLA that does not recognize the importance of input and making sure that it is comprehensible. In Schwartz’s view (1993), the input feeds or nurtures an innate system to aid its growth. But input alone cannot facilitate second language learning. It will not function to the full in SLA until it gets involved in interaction. Input processing is just as important because it aims to offer an explanation as to how L2 learners process input, how they make form-meaning connections and how they map syntactic structures onto the utterance.

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

Children acquire language since they were born. They communicate with their parents. Furthermore, children and parents interact with each other using a language that we often call the first language or mother tongue. At an early age, children are only learning one language that is the mother tongue. By age and speech development, children improve to acquire a second language from the school or the environment around them. In terms of speed of langgauge acquisition, children are factorized by both the child and the child’s learning environment. Therefore, it is important to understand how children acquire second language. This paper is provided

At its core, Vygotsky’s theory investigates the mediating role of language in the cognitive development of children, however, the “social” principles underlying his theory can be applied into L2 context. Stemming from this idea, the process of second language acquisition is understood as a meaning-making collaborative activity.

Listening can be described as children’s first contact with language and also provides the basis for other language forms. It is seen as the most used of the language forms and is called the “orphan” of all the language forms. One of the important aspects of listening in the second language classroom is the input it provides for the learner. It is believed that learning cannot begin if input is not understood at the correct level.

There are various theories and hypotheses concerning second language learning which explain how learners obtain the language in many aspects. Even though not one of them is accepted by researchers broadly, they are illuminating the progression of the second language learning. Most of them are related to branches including linguistics, neuroscience, education, sociolinguistics, and psychology. And all of them have their differences and similarities. In this essay those similarities and differences will be covered.