The Success Of Second Language Acquisition

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.

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

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.

(Zhang, 2014) Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) in a college setting can be impacted by the professor’s skills to understand their student’s attitudes and emotional needs towards learning.  ESL can be classes can be daunting because of the teacher’s style of teaching, which can

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

Language acquisition is the way in which humans perceive and understand a certain language, as well as producing and using words and sentences in order to communicate with one another. The way in which people learn another language is known as Second Language Acquisition, this refers to someone learning a language other than their mother tongue. A very important aspect within this process is cross-linguistic influence. Cross-linguistic influence is a term used to describe the various ways that certain language systems in the brain interact with and influence one and other. It explains how they can affect either the linguistic performance or the linguistic development of the learner, if not both. This most commonly refers to two separate languages, for example the effect that French has on a native speaker trying to learn another language such as Italian.

Teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) is a process full of obstacles that lead the teachers regret due to the factors that inhibit a healthy learning environment such as “Affective filters” and empowered by motivation. In seeking the best way to teach a second or foreign language (L2) with the rising demand for language learning in a short period of time, a wide variety of interpretations and applications have come up. Marckwardt (1972, p.5) called this duration of searching for the best method of language teaching as “changing winds and shifting sands” since every quarter of a century, a new approach appeared and each new approach or method escaped from the old but took with it some of the positive aspects of the previous practice.

Many researchers have hypothesized that language could be acquired only within a critical period, which is from early infancy to puberty. If this is true, this should be extended to second language acquisition as well, and, if so, young children should be better at acquiring the second language than adults, and the individuals who started to learn the second language in their early childhood should reach higher levels of proficiency in the second language compare to those who started to learn the language in their adulthood. If this prediction is true, it would importantly demonstrate that children should be exposed to language with rich vocabulary and grammar within the critical period, and foreign language exposure at school should take place in early grades in order to maximize their opportunity to learn the language effectively. However, the self-motivation and the value of learning the language may differ depending on the individuals and those factors can limit or expand the exposure to the target language. In this paper, I would like to discuss the correlation between the age that bilingual individuals are exposed to the second language as well as their motivation, and the value of learning the second language. I would like to suggest that regardless of the age that individuals are exposed to the second language, if one values the importance of learning the target language and maximize their exposure to it, they can reach to the native level of

Psychological aspects of the learners have attracted the researchers due to their main role in debilitating or enhancing the process of learning a second or foreign language. Learning a second or foreign language needs additional emotional and cognitive efforts and one of the variables that have an effect on the process of learning an additional language is foreign language anxiety Abu-Rabia (2004). Language anxiety is one of the characteristics of learning an additional language. However, FL students experience higher level of anxiety than SL learners Siegel (1989). The term Foreign Language Anxiety came to existence after the work of Horwitz et al. (1986) who defined anxiety as “the feeling of tension, apprehension and nervousness associated with the situation of learning a Foreign Language”.

First and second language acquisition have been a topic of interest in linguistics for decades. Researchers have been approaching these topics from many points of view, angles, and models (Gass, 2013). Regarding second language acquisition, and especially English as a second language, the most researched topics include the effects of the Critical Period on second language learners, age of acquisition, age of onset, and individual differences (i.e. L1, motivation, aptitude) (Gass, 2013). Even though it is possible to find a wide variety of research on L2 acquisition, researchers are still debating on which elements affect learners more. Furthermore, while there is plenty of research on gender differences in the field of first language acquisition, there seems to be a lack of studies on said topic in regards to learning a second language. For said reason this research paper will focus on gender and first language influences on English as a second language acquisition, with the goal to comprehend whether one, both or neither of those factors contributes or hinders L2 acquisition and why. Furthermore, the current research paper is a follow up of Chiamenti (2016).

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

“The term motivation is derived from the Latin verb movere, which means to move. In other words, motivational theories attempt to answer questions about what gets individuals moving (energization) and toward what activities or tasks.” Pintrich and Schunk (2002, as cited by Pintrich, 2003). Despite its complexity and its multi-faceted nature, language learners’ motivation can be easily identified by teachers. In other words, if we ask teachers to select their highly motivated students, they can easily do so through observing students’ behaviors. For instance, how much time and effort students invest on doing class activities and their assignments; how much attention they pay to their teachers and classmates; how willingly they use the target language in class. These different types of behaviors are usually collectively referred to as motivation. Those students who manifest these various motivational behaviors are considered to be highly motivated students. Thu, the field of L2 motivation research is focused on identifying and examining a range of different motivational variables that get L2 learners to show these types of behaviors.

The journey of language learning is very complex. There are essential factors to consider such as the learning style, linguistic and cultural background, motive to learn a new language, and the teacher’s approach. It is important to examine these components because they will develop an understanding of the individuality and uniqueness of any given student’s progression. Gathering personal feedback from a student and constructing a customized teaching strategy will present a specific case to investigate. These key aspects involved in the process of new language obtainment will be the determining factors of how to teach them effectively and specifically.

Second language learners are more motivated on tasks that they value. They value a task since it is intrinsically interesting or it can be applicable in their lives. Students with self-efficacy have confidence that they can solve problem. They believe that the more they learn and practice, the more their capabilities will improve. They understand that mistakes are a part of learning. Teachers should ensure that students experience meaningful successes with teaching strategies by providing authentic, appropriately challenging tasks and by teaching strategies explicitly so that students know how to apply them.