Second Language Acquisition: A Comprehensive Guide

Posted on Sep 10, 2024 in French

How Do Parents Speak to Children?

1. They use exaggerated intonation with higher pitch than is customary.
2. They simplify what they say, using shorter sentences and fewer subordinate clauses.
3. They choose special vocabulary that children can understand, rather than more sophisticated lexical items that they would not.
4. They tend to include the children in the conversation.
5. Even before children can themselves speak, parents act as if they were taking part in the conversation, as when a mother says…

Up to What Age is Language Acquired?

Guaranteed for children up to the age of six, language acquisition is steadily compromised from then until shortly after puberty, and is rare thereafter.

What are “Spontaneous” Capabilities?

The ability to acquire language naturally and subconsciously.

What are “Studial” Capabilities?

Allow students to organize their learning and apply their conscious knowledge to the task at hand.

What is Krashen’s Input Hypothesis?

Language that we acquire subconsciously is language we can easily use in spontaneous conversation, whereas language that is learned is not available for spontaneous use.

What is Roughly-Tuned Input?

Language learned subconsciously.

What is Finely-Tuned Input?

Language learned consciously.

What is the General Behaviourist Theory?

In behaviourist theory, conditioning is the result of a three-stage procedure:

1. Stimulus
2. Response
3. Reinforcement

What is the Behaviourist Theory Regarding Language Learning?

1. Repeat
2. Rewarded: praise from the teacher
3. Reinforcement

What Does “Considerable” Mean?

Means that adults give too much attention to aspects of language that are not important.

What is the Best Way to Acquire Language?

1. Students need considerable exposure to language.
2. Students need to try to use language in meaning-focused tasks.
3. Students also need to study language in some way or other.

Why is Repetition Important?

1. Because repetition has always played a part in language learning.
2. Because the more they come across this language, the better chance they have of remembering it.
3. Because what language students need is repeated encounters with language that are spaced out.
4. Because students also seem to gain from repeating tasks.

How Can Teachers Provoke Discovery Learning?

1. Instead of explicitly teaching the grammar, we could expose students to examples of it and then allow them to work out for themselves how it is used.
2. Instead of telling students which words collocate with “crime”, we can get them to look at a dictionary or a computer concordance of the word.
3. Instead of telling them about spoken grammar, we can get them to look at transcripts and come to their own conclusions about how it differs from written grammar.

What are the Disadvantages of Humanistic Learning?

1. Critics question whether it is the teacher’s job to ask students to reveal things of a private nature.
2. Strong cultural bias to this view of teaching and learning, which would be inappropriate in certain situations.
3. Concentration on the inner self may limit the range of language that students can experience.
4. Paying too much attention to affective issues in learning may mean that teachers neglect their students’ cognitive and intellectual development.

What is Scaffolding?

When teachers adjust the instructions to the level of the students or provide guided assistance.

Why Have Researchers Turned Their Attention to Language, Humor, and Play?

Because it is not just work language or the transactional language of communicative tasks that attracts people when they are free to choose, but that of songs, games, humor, aggression, intimate relations, and religion.

Why is Play Appropriate in L2 Classes?

1. Because the right kind of laughter works powerfully on students’ affect.
2. Students have to work together.
3. A lot of play and joke-telling is rule-bound and linguistically repetitive.
4. Humor and playful activities occupy large amounts of our real-life existence.

Name the Six Stages Children Go Through When Learning Their First Language.

1. Babbling
2. The first “word”
3. Two words
4. Phonological, syntactic, and lexical norms
5. Syntactic and lexical complexity and richness
6. Conversational skills

In Terms of Language Functions, What Stages are There?

1. First utterances
2. Children begin naming and classifying things, asking questions
3. Children ask many different kinds of questions
4. Children use increasingly complex structures
5. Children can use the language they need to give information, ask and answer questions, make direct and indirect requests, make suggestions and offers

Name Different Views of L1 and L2 Acquisition.

1. Behaviorist views
2. Nativist views
3. Cognitive-development views
4. Social-interactionist views

Are L1 and L2 Learned in the Same Way?

Although some L1 and L2 acquisition processes are very similar…

What General Factors Does L2 Learning Depend On?

1. The view of language learning you have
2. The learning context
3. The learners’ motivation

What Processes Do Learners Go Through?

Most learners go through four phases:

1. They work out rules about how the language works.
2. They generalize these across a group of similar instances.
3. They go on to use rules where they are not appropriate.
4. Going on to use language items correctly.

What Should the School Program be Based On?

Any school program should be based on realistic estimates of how long it takes to learn a second language.

What Learner Factors Play a Role in L2 Learning?

1. Levels of motivation
2. High-quality materials
3. Favorable public attitudes
4. Differences in language aptitude and personality
5. The quality of teaching
6. Appropriately trained teachers

What are the Characteristics of Good Learners?

1. Are willing to make mistakes
2. Are good at guessing and making accurate predictions
3. Look for patterns in language
4. Have a lot of confidence

What is the Ideal Learner Like?

1. Talkative
2. Confident
3. Extrovert
4. Risk-taker

What Does the Input that Children Receive Depend On?

1. The syllabus in use
2. The teacher’s language level
3. The goals of language learning
4. The teacher’s beliefs about learning and language
5. The type of resources available
6. The size of classes

What is the Key Factor for Young Learners?

Comprehensible input

What is the Most Important Way to Ensure that L2 is Assimilated?

The use of pair work is one of the most important ways of ensuring learners think and produce language independently and draw on the linguistic resources they have been developing.

What Does a Teacher’s View of Play Depend On?

1. Their views on children’s learning
2. The learning culture of the school
3. The views of parents and management

What Resources are Important in Both L1 and L2?

Finally, all cultures have an oral tradition, especially in the form of teaching young children nursery rhymes, action rhymes, skipping rhymes, jokes, traditional tales, and songs.

What Does Learner-Centred Teaching Mean?

Every child is a unique individual who brings a unique set of experiences and understandings to each new learning situation and gradually constructs his or her own view of the world.

8 Multiple Intelligences

Linguistic

• Word games
• Reading games
• Writing games
• Storytelling
• Show and tell
• Role play
• Using puppets
• Tongue twisters
• Crosswords/Anagrams

Logical-Mathematical

• Word puzzles
• Reading puzzles
• Writing puzzles
• Logical problem solving
• Computer games
• Number puzzles
• Classifying
• Ranking
• Sequencing/Ordering

Spatial

• Shape puzzles
• Mind maps
• Drawing
• Visualizations
• Diagrams
• Constructing models
• Maps and coordinates
• Drawing
• Learning from videos & CD-ROMs

Interpersonal

• Pair/group work
• Brainstorming
• Peer teaching
• Dialogues
• Interviews
• Surveys

Musical

• Songs
• Action rhymes
• Chants

Bodily-Kinesthetic

• TPR
• Craftwork
• Dancing
• Physical activities
• Action rhymes, songs, and games

Naturalist

• Patterns
• Classifying
• Sorting
• Nature projects

Intrapersonal

• Learning diaries
• Reflection
• Creative writing
• Project work
• Personal goal-setting

What Situations Can Cause Anxiety for Language Learners?

1. Comparison of myself with other students
2. Emotive responses to such comparisons
3. The desire to outdo other students
4. Emphasis on tests and grades
5. The desire to gain the teacher’s approval
6. Anxiety, often after making errors
7. Withdrawal from the language-learning experience

How Can Teachers Help Students Overcome Anxiety?

1. By building self-confidence through positive early experiences
2. Through providing reassuring feedback
3. Through promoting self-perception of developing proficiency

What is the Affective Filter?

This is a representation of the way in which affective factors help or hinder language learning.

What Kinds of Motivation are There?

1. Intrinsic motivation or integrative motivation: is the individual’s wish to learn or enjoyment in learning.
2. Extrinsic motivation or instrumental motivation: The learner needs to learn because of external factors such as employment, social pressure, academic requirements, etc.

What is a Mismatch?

If a learner is between the two, he is known as a mismatch, that is, a person who has to learn but does not really want to, and this may lead to problems which may result in ineffective learning.

What Motivates Students?

In teachers’ minds, motivated students are those who participate actively in class, express interest in subjects, and study a lot.

How Can Teachers Contribute to Motivation?

If teachers can make classrooms places where students enjoy coming because the content is interesting and relevant to their age and level of ability, where learner goals are challenging but at the same time manageable and clear, and where the atmosphere is supportive, we can make a positive contribution to students’ motivation to learn.

Teachers should try to avoid boring the students by varying the activities, tasks, and materials. Routine should be avoided. By using cooperative rather than competitive goals, students’ self-confidence will be increased because every participant in a cooperative task has an important role to play. Knowing that their classmates are counting on them can increase students’ motivation.

Table: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

How Do Children Differ from Adults?

1. They respond to meaning even if they do not understand individual words.
2. They often learn indirectly rather than directly.
3. Their understanding comes not just from explanation.
4. They find grammar difficult to grasp.
5. They generally display an enthusiasm for learning.
6. They have a need for individual attention and approval from the teacher.
7. They are keen to talk about themselves.
8. They have a limited attention span.

What Activities Do Pupils Like?

Games, puzzles, and songs most, built around dialogues, question-and-answer activities, and matching exercises.

What Do Good Teachers of Young Children Need to Do?

1. To provide a rich diet of learning experiences.
2. They need to work with their students individually and in groups.
3. They need to plan a range of activities and move on when their students are getting bored.
4. Teachers need to understand how their students think and operate.
5. They need to know their students’ interests.
6. They need good oral skills in English.

What Should a Classroom for Young Learners be Like?

Classrooms should be bright and colorful, with windows the children can see out of, and with enough room for different activities to be taking place.

What Should Children be Doing in the Classroom?

Puzzle-like activities, making things, games, physical movement, or songs.

What are the Characteristics of a Good Learner?

1. Is a willing and accurate guesser.
2. Tries to get a message across even if specific language knowledge is lacking.
3. Is willing to make mistakes.
4. Constantly looks for patterns in the language.
5. Practices as often as possible.
6. Analyses his or her own speech and the speech of others.
7. Attends to whether his or her performance meets the standards he or she has learned.
8. Enjoys grammar exercises.
9. Begins learning in childhood.
10. Has an above-average IQ.
11. Has good academic skills.
12. Has a good self-image and lots of confidence.

What are the Factors Which Affect Language Learning?

1. Innate ability
2. Aptitude
3. Proximity of L1 to English
4. Learner types
5. Self-confidence
6. Motivation
7. Embarrassment and anxiety
8. Learning strategies
9. Learning theories
10. Age
11. Relationship with other learners
12. Relationship to the teacher
13. Relationship to teaching
14. Opportunity to use the target language
15. Attitudes towards language learning
16. Attitudes towards English and English-speaking countries
17. Status and value of the target language in the country