Second Language Acquisition: Key Concepts and Theories

Posted on Jan 24, 2025 in Early Childhood Education Teacher (Teaching Degree)

What Does It Mean That Teaching Can Never Guarantee Learning?

Teaching can only construct opportunities for learning and help students take advantage of them. A learning-centered perspective should help to see how any activity can be adjusted to provide opportunities that are accessible to learners but will stretch minds beyond their current capability. Through a theorizing of practice, we will provide tools and concepts for planning, teaching, and assessment in a learning-centered language classroom.

L1 vs. L2 vs. FL

  • L1 is the mother tongue, the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period.
  • L2 is any language that you can learn at the same time as L1 or that you dominate very well; they are learned in an informal context.
  • FL is learned in a formal context, for example, school.

First Language Acquisition vs. Second Language Acquisition

First language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language, and also produce and use words and sentences to communicate. On the other hand, second-language acquisition is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition also refers to the scientific discipline devoted to studying that process. Second language refers to any language learned/acquired in addition to a person’s first language.

What Do Behaviorist Accounts Defend?

Traditional behaviorists believed that language learning is simply a matter of imitation and habit formation. Children imitate the sounds and patterns which they hear around them and receive positive reinforcement for doing so. Thus encouraged by their environment, they continue to imitate and practice these sounds and patterns until they form habits of correct language use. The behaviorists support imitation and practice as primary processes in language development. It is used in the Audio-lingual method.

What’s the CPH? Define and Give an Example

CPH, or Critical Period Hypothesis, is the period where your LAD (Language Acquisition Device) is more activated and works more successfully. If it’s not stimulated before puberty, you will have problems assimilating a second language. Example: Genie

What’s the Role of the Caretaker According to the Interactionist Position?

In the interactionist position, the caretaker, who could be the father or the mother, has the role of speaking to their child following motherese. Motherese is the distinct speech that adults often use with children: more varied intonation, higher pitch, frequent repetition, etc. These are different ways to facilitate the learning and understanding of the language for children.

Define TEFL

TEFL is teaching English as a foreign language, following the correct methodology and knowing about other cultures.

Competence vs. Performance

  • Competence refers to the psychological part of knowing about a system, facts, events, etc.
  • Performance is the manifestation of doing something or the realization of competence.

What Does Krashen Mean with This Quote?

“The best methods are therefore those that supply ‘comprehensible input’ in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are ‘ready’, recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production.” – Stephen Krashen

Comment Upon the Following Diagram (Input Hypothesis)

This diagram refers to the Input Hypothesis of Krashen. Following it, we can say that to acquire a language, firstly, you need to receive comprehensible input, once more difficult than the one you just know. Your affective filter must be relaxed to activate your LAD. So, finally, you will acquire knowledge and produce output. When you produce your own language and you are able to correct your own mistakes, you learn the language.

What’s the Role of Grammar in Krashen’s View?

For Krashen, the only moment when a teacher should teach grammar is when students are interested in the subject and the target language is used as a medium of instruction.

What Does a Good Method Need to Be Considered Relevant to Theory?

  • Usefulness and applicability: practical effects on FL teaching.
  • Explicitness: principal assumptions stated and defined.
  • Coherence and consistency: elements ordered and organized within a system.
  • Comprehensiveness: capacity to accept other special theories.
  • Explanatory power and verifiability: capacity to predict events and admit research.
  • Simplicity and clarity: easy to understand and direct.

Comment Upon the Following Diagram (Grammar-Translation and Direct Methods)

The Grammar-Translation and the Direct Methods have influenced FL methodology. Both methods are teacher-centered. An oral treatment (Direct Method) was thought as most appropriate in early ages, without completely rejecting the advantages of using reading and writing, translations of literary texts (Grammar-Translation Method). The use of reading or writing texts should not neglect the spoken activity. So the right balance between both methods is one that combines both characteristics and teaches what learners need for daily life, with the students being the protagonists of their learning. That is, looking for a learner-centered approach, which is the Reading Method.

Behaviorist Accounts and the Audiolingual Method

The Behaviorist position and the audiolingual method are closely related. For behaviorists, language learning is simply a matter of imitation and habit formation, and the audiolingual method is based principally on listening, repetition, and memorization of L2 communication structures that are incomplete and not useful for students to construct other grammatical forms or ways of communication. This method develops speaking skills that are useful and functional for students to use in the class but not outside it.

Theoretical Background in CLT Teaching

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) appears as a reaction to previous methodological principles, such as audiolingual and grammar translation. It involves:

  • Notional syllabus (clear activities and materials).
  • Textbook writers.
  • Language teaching specialists (dialogues and role-play).

The primary goal of CLT is to develop communicative competence. This general goal can be divided into two versions:

  • Weak: Stresses the importance of providing learners with opportunities to use their English for communicative purposes.
  • Strong: Language is acquired through communication.

According to Richards and Rodgers, three main principles can be inferred from CLT practices:

  1. The communication principle: activities involving real communication.
  2. The task principle: do something with the language communicatively.
  3. The meaningfulness principle: the learning process is supported by language which is meaningful to the student.

Define and Give Examples of the Different Types of Bilingualism

Firstly, a bilingual is an individual with complete competence in both languages. There are different types of bilingualism:

  • If bilingualism is considered as a continuum of abilities, equilibrated bilinguals are those who have the same competence in both languages, whereas dominant bilinguals are more skilled in one of the two languages.
  • According to their use, coordinated bilinguals can use both languages in the same situations, whereas compound bilinguals associate each language with a different context.
  • Also, there are early and late bilinguals, as a function of when they learn each language, and simultaneous and consecutive bilinguals, if both languages are acquired at the same time or one after another.
  • Socio-cultural factors are also important: in the process of becoming a bilingual, the individual may develop negative attitudes towards his mother tongue and become a subtractive bilingual. If those attitudes are positive, then he is considered an additive bilingual.

CLIL: Main Features, Examples, and the Case of Andalusia

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is a term created in 1994 as an approach for learning content through an additional language (foreign or second), thus teaching both the subject and the language. The idea of its creators was to create an “umbrella term” which encompasses different forms of using language as the medium of instruction. We can say that CLIL has become the umbrella term describing both learning another subject such as physics or geography through the medium of a foreign language and learning a foreign language by studying a content-based subject.

CLIL is important because with the expansion of the European Union, the diversity of language and the need for communication are seen as central issues. With increased contact between countries, there will be an increase in the need for communicative skills in a second or third language. Languages will play a key role in curricula across Europe. Attention needs to be given to the training of teachers and the development of frameworks and methods which will improve the equality of language education.

The basis of CLIL is that content subjects are taught and learned in a language which is not the mother tongue of the learners. It has different advantages, for example: preparing for internationalism, improving overall and specific language competence, increasing learner motivation, preparing for future studies and working life, etc.

CLIL assumes that subject teachers are able to exploit opportunities for language learning. The principles behind CLIL include global statements such as “all teachers are teachers of language.” The benefits of CLIL may be seen in terms of cultural awareness, internalization, language competence, preparation for both study and working life, and increased motivation. A CLIL lesson is similar to an ELT integrated skills lesson, except that it includes exploration of language, is delivered by a teacher versed in CLIL methodology, and is based on material directly related to a content-based subject. A CLIL lesson often follows a four-stage framework:

  1. Processing the text: the best texts are those accompanied by illustrations so that learners can visualize what they are reading.
  2. Identification and organization of knowledge: texts are often represented diagrammatically.
  3. Language identification: learners are expected to be able to reproduce the core of the text in their own words.
  4. Tasks for students: receptive skill activities of the “read/listen and do” genre.

From a language point of view, the CLIL approach contains nothing new to the ELT teacher. CLIL aims to guide language processing and support language production in the same way as ELT by teaching strategies for reading and listening and structures and lexis for spoken or written language. What is different is that the language teacher is also the subject teacher, or that the subject teacher is also able to exploit opportunities for developing language skills. This is the essence of the CLIL teacher training issue.

In Andalusia, in primary school, the number of hours of CLIL represents 30%-50% of the total hours of the curriculum, about 3-5 hours per week. Primary schools are encouraged to offer at least two subjects, of which one must be science and the other depends mainly on teacher availability. Pupils are also assessed for content learning by the content teacher. The level they started with is A1, and they should finish with A2 or B1. The reasons to implement the CLIL program are building intercultural knowledge and understanding; enabling pupils to access international certification; and increasing learner motivation and building self-confidence towards learning English. The materials to use in a CLIL classroom are not very good because translations of Spanish course books into English have been done with quite unsatisfactory results since they do not provide the English language support required to learn the content.

Factors Affecting SLA

Internal Factors

  • Age: SLA is influenced by the age of the learner. Children learn better than adults (motivated).
  • Personality: Introverted or anxious learners usually have problems learning an SL, whereas more outgoing students will take risks and will give themselves much more practice.
  • Motivation: Students who enjoy language learning and take pride in their progress will do better than those who don’t.
  • Extrinsic motivation: Interested learners will make greater efforts and thus greater progress.
  • Experiences: Learners who have acquired general knowledge and experience are in a stronger position to develop a new language than those who haven’t.
  • Cognition: Students with greater cognitive abilities will make faster progress.
  • Native language: Students who are learning a second language which is from the same language family as their first language have a much easier task than those who aren’t.

External Factors

  • Curriculum: For ESL students in particular, it is important that the totality of their educational experience is appropriate for their needs.
  • Instruction: Some language teachers are better than others at providing appropriate and effective learning experiences for the students in their classrooms.
  • Culture and status: There is evidence that students in situations where their own culture has a lower status make slower progress.
  • Motivation: Students who are given continuing, appropriate encouragement to learn by their teachers and parents will generally fare better than those who aren’t.
  • Access to native speakers: The opportunity to interact with native speakers both within and outside of the classroom is a significant advantage.

Grammar Translation Method vs. Direct Method

The grammar-translation method was born from the practice developed during centuries in teaching Latin and Greek in England and Europe. Modern foreign languages were studied in the grammar-based format the same way Latin had been taught previously.

Its principal features are: explanations are in the mother tongue by teachers; meta-language is used for grammatical notions; practice exercises to apply the notions in a deductive way; memorization of long vocabulary lists and translations of literary texts; and they make compositions.

The pros of this method are that it is an easy method for teachers, students are relaxed and they are obedient, teachers have good control of the class, and there is correctness in language use. The cons are that there are no routines, the students don’t communicate in L2, there aren’t contents, and there are a lot of grammar corrections. There isn’t any communication between students. The types of activities that work with this method are translation ones, doing and memorization of long vocabulary lists, putting sentences in order, or looking for words in the dictionary. For example: the teaching of Latin and Greek.

On the other hand, the Direct Method was discovered by Gouin when he observed how his nephew had acquired his mother tongue and was able to speak without any problem. For him, after listening, children conceptualize meanings and develop a capacity of thinking and speaking in that language.

A similar conclusion on how the first language is acquired takes Berlitz to an immersion or direct methodology. The features of the Direct Method are: only the target language is used and is spoken everyday language that is the first goal; questions and answers are the main vehicle for a graded oral progression; the students work in small groups with native speakers by direct techniques with no use of L1. The pros of this method are that gradual teaching is used, listening and speaking are used; students work on communicative skills with a lot of participation, and it is easy to learn the language through practice. The cons of the method are that only the target method is used; correction is not neglected; everyday language is the first goal; no writing skills are developed; and students are not fluent and do not communicate. The types of activities typical of this method are repetitions of flashcards in the L2.

Chomsky’s Hypothesis vs. Krashen’s Hypothesis

Chomsky claims that children are biologically programmed for language and that language develops in the child in just the same way that other biological functions develop. The environment makes a basic contribution in this case, the amount of people who speak to the child, so the child’s biological endowment will do the rest. For Chomsky, children come to know more about the structure of their language than they could reasonably be expected to learn on the basis of the samples of language which they hear.

Chomsky’s LAD

The language the child is exposed to in the environment is full of confusing information and does not provide all the information which the child needs. Following Chomsky, children’s minds are not empty boxes to be filled by imitating language that they hear in the environment. Instead, he says that children are born with a special ability to discover for themselves the rules of a language system, what he calls the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), an imaginary black box which exists in children’s brains. This device contains all and only the principles which are universal to all human languages and prevents the child from going off on lots of wrong trails in trying to discover the rules of the language.

On the other hand, Krashen’s theory consists of five main hypotheses:

  • The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis
  • The Monitor hypothesis
  • The Natural Order hypothesis
  • The Input hypothesis
  • The Affective Filter hypothesis

Krashen’s Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis is the most fundamental. According to the author, there are two independent systems of second language performance: “the acquired system” is the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first language. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language and natural communication. The students must be concentrated in the communication act, which is the most important for Krashen. The “learned system” is the product of formal instruction, and it comprises a conscious process which results in conscious knowledge about the language.

Krashen’s Monitor Hypothesis

The Monitor hypothesis explains the relationship between acquisition and learning and defines the influence of the latter on the former. The monitoring function is the practical result of the learned grammar. To Krashen, the learning system performs the role of the monitor or editor. The monitor acts in planning, editing, and correcting functions. The role of the monitor should be minor, being used only to correct deviations from normal speech and to give speech a more polished appearance.

Krashen’s Natural Order Hypothesis

The Natural Order Hypothesis is based on research findings which suggested that the acquisition of grammatical structures follows a natural order which is predictable. For a given language, some grammatical structures tend to be acquired early while others late. This order seemed to be independent of the learner’s age.

Krashen’s Input Hypothesis

The Input hypothesis is the explanation of how the learner acquires a second language. This hypothesis is only concerned with acquisition, not learning. The learner improves and progresses along the natural order when he receives second language input that is one step beyond his current stage of linguistic competence. (stage e à acquisition e + 1)

Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis

Finally, the Affective Filter hypothesis supports that a number of “affective variables” play a facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition. These variables include: motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image, and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for success in second language acquisition.