Second language acquisition

Reflective summary Language learning and teaching course is a necessary course for everyone interested in the field of teaching English as a second language. This course provided me with theories and explanations in how human acquired the first and second language and what factors can affect their ability to acquire the language. There are three theories that have been described first language acquisition. Behaviorist approach insists that language behavior is a production of correct response to a particular stimulus. Functional approach focused on the social interaction while the nativist theory insists that we are born with the inner ability to understand and developed language. All of these theories explained just one aspect and factor…

SLA Research As far as the research of major issues Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is concerned, a set of widely attested empirical, findings has been achieved in the past 50 years. Interest areas and priority areas have included age effects; effects of individual differences in language aptitudes and other affect and cognitive variables; the role of the broader social context and linguistic environment as sources of negative and positive evidence and of opportunities for input, output, and…

Second Language Acquisition Learning a second language is deemed mandatory in many secondary schools in various countries and also has many benefits, but studies show that many students — even if they excel academically in every other subject — struggle with foreign language classes. Most children will learn their first language through listening to the language spoken around them and imitate what they hear. It is known that if a child is raised in a household where multiple languages are…

Second Language Acquisition is a major topic for linguistics; it’s a set of hypotheses or generalizations that is consistent with experimental data to be able to achieve new data. There has been major research of the attempts of explaining the difference between children and adults in second language acquisition. The assumption of the two is fundamentally flawed when looking into each aspect of learning a second language. It is easily discussed that within learning a second language you can…

Gass and Selinker (2008) discuss the impact of previously studied languages on acquiring a target language and language transfer. Schachter (1974) argues second language learners form a hypothesis about second language learning on the basis of knowledge of the first language. Consequently, first language (L1) learning strategies are employed during the learning of L2. Students learn constructions similar in L1 and in L2 easily. This process is called “facilitation” in second language…

Does age play a role in second language acquisition? In recent years, more and more parents have decided to introduce their children to one, or even several foreign languages in order to increase their opportunities in professional life. Parents are often uncertain whether or not their children could actually benefit from multilingualism and if an early acquisition of a foreign language could interfere with their child’s ability to fluently speak the mother tongue. To optimally prepare the…

The following is a comparison of both quilts, the mission of the school, and instructional strategies to determine the best way to educate English language learners using the second language acquisition theory. Comparison of community quilts When the Strive Smart quilt is compared to my quilt, I find more similarities than differences. Although the exact symbols are not same, the effort to provide the best education for my child…

Skill acquisition theory focuses on how people learn a skill and the advancement of that skill. (DeKeyser, 2007) .According to Lightbown and Spada (2013), second language acquisition is seen as a build up of knowledge that eventually becomes automatised. In addition, McLaughlin (1990) views language acquisition as a type of motor skill and that language acquisition is related to learning a skill like driving a car or riding a bike. Skill acquisition theory claims that we all acquire skills in…

The impact of second language acquisition on individuals Second language acquisition, often defined as the process of an individual learning a second language in addition to a person’s first language. This could also be incorporated as learning a third, fourth or fifth language. (Gass and Selinker 2008,p7) The process is usually divided to 5 stages: preproduction, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency. (Haynes 2007 p29-35) The learning process requires…

English language teachers can assist their school to design instructional programs for ELLs that meet federal, state, and local guidelines, policies, and laws. One way teachers can assist school districts is by asking guiding questions to aid schools in meeting federal and state requirements regarding ELLs. Some guiding questions could include in the following: How does the school learn of the child’s home language and schooling experiences? Does the program that is serving ELLs have adequate…