Key Concepts in Second Language Acquisition
Syntactic Pivot
Syntactic pivot refers to the argument of the verb around which the sentence revolves. A pivot language is an artificial or natural language used as an intermediary language for translation.
Silent Period
The silent period is a stage in second language acquisition where learners do not attempt to speak. Silent periods are more common in children than in adult learners, as there is often more pressure on adult learners to speak during the early stages of acquisition. This can be due to communication demands, such as a language being necessary at work, or to mainstream language teaching methods insisting on production from the very start of instruction. The silent period is often associated with Stephen Krashen’s input hypothesis, and does not appear very frequently in modern second language acquisition literature. Krashen hypothesizes that learners are building up language competence during their silent periods through actively listening and processing the language they hear, and that they do not need to speak to improve in the language.
Universal Grammar
Universal grammar is a theory in linguistics that suggests that there are properties that all possible natural human languages have. Usually credited to Noam Chomsky, the theory suggests that some rules of grammar are hard-wired into the brain and manifest without being taught.
Acquisition Barriers
Learning a second language isn’t easy. There is a lot that can get in the way. It isn’t as automatic or sure as we’d suppose. Depending on the person, there can be some high barriers to learning another language. These barriers can be grouped into five categories:
Social
- Peer group
- Socio-economic status
- L1 education and literacy
- Parental/family support
- Access and support
- Psycho/emotional
- Affective factors (anxiety, social bias)
- Self-belief
- Motivation (low intrinsic and extrinsic forces)
- Attitude towards language and learning
- Social disposition/character
Biological
- Psycho-motor skills
- Cognitive functioning
- L1 development/childhood developmental factors
- Physical impairments (deafness, blindness, etc.)
- Psychological fitness
- Age and health
Pedagogical
- Type and method of instruction
- Improper materials and curriculum
- Little access to input (native speakers/audio material)
- School and classroom culture
- Lack of learning skills, strategies
- Teacher/student relationship
- Planning and use of time
Cultural
- Language transfer and interference (L1-L2 closeness)
- Cultural values regarding risk-taking, openness
- Government policy and investment
- Dislocation, movement, war
Fossilization
In linguistic morphology, fossilization refers to two close notions. One is the preservation of ancient linguistic features that have lost their grammatical functions in the language. Another is the loss of productivity of a grammatical paradigm (e.g., of an affix), which still remains in use in some words.
Interlanguage
Interlanguage is the term for a dynamic linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of a second language (or L2) who has not become fully proficient yet but is approximating the target language. This involves preserving some features of their first language (or L1), or overgeneralizing target language rules in speaking or writing the target language and creating innovations.
Error
In applied linguistics, an error is a deviation from accepted rules of a language made by a learner of a second language. Such errors result from the learner’s lack of knowledge of correct rules of the target language. A significant distinction is generally made between errors and mistakes, which are not treated the same from a linguistic viewpoint. The study of learners’ errors was the main area of investigation by linguists in the history of second-language acquisition research.