Language acquisition involves learning one's native language and any additional languages. The process of acquiring a second language involves five stages: pre-production, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency. Each stage is characterized by increasing vocabulary size and language ability, from not speaking at all in the earliest stage to functioning similar to a native speaker after 5-10 years.

2. Language Acquisition
Language acquisition is the process by which humans
acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language.

3. L1 and L2 Acquisition
• First Language Acquisition is a universal process regardless
of home language.
• Second Language Acquisition is the process of learning
other languages in addition to the native language.

4. Stephen Krashen divides the process of second-language
acquisition into five stages:
1. preproduction
2. early production
3. speech emergence
4. intermediate fluency
5. advanced fluency
Five Stages of Second Language Acquisition

5. Stage I: Pre-Production
This stage lasts for about six weeks or longer. At this stage
learners do not speak they just listen to second language.

6. Stage I: Pre-Production
Student Characteristics
• Hesitant and unsure
• May use one word responses
• Develop listening skills
• Need time to be comfortable
with classroom environment
procedures and activities
• Respond non-verbally by:
Pointing
Nodding
Gesturing
Drawing
Teachers Strategies
• Encourage listening; don't
force speaking
• Slow speech, emphasize key
words
• Use gestures and body
language
• Use multimedia aids to
illustrate concepts

7. Stage II: Early Production
This stage may last up to six months and students will develop a
receptive and active vocabulary of about 1000 words. During this stage,
students can usually speak in one- or two-word phrases.

8. Stage II: Early Production
Student Characteristics
• Begin to grasp main ideas of message
• Begin to focus on contextual clues
• Use routine expressions
independently
• Demonstrate improved
comprehension
• May not tell you if they do not
understand
• Mispronounce words
Teachers Strategies
• Speak only in target language, using the
native language only for clarification of
difficult words
• Ask Yes/No and directed choice questions
• Ask Who? What? Where? Questions
• Ask listing type questions
• Use Think-Pair-Share technique when
asking questions of the class
• Work intensively on their articulation by
putting their sentences together
• Allow students to illustrate knowledge

9. Stage III: Speech Emergence
Learners' vocabularies increase to around 3000 words during this
stage, and they can communicate using simple questions and phrases.

10. Stage III: Speech Emergence
• Demonstrate expanded
vocabulary
• May ask for clarification or
meaning
• Participate in small group
discussions
• May rely on native language to
communicate complex ideas
• Start to acquire basic
communication
Student Characteristics
• Encourage efforts to participate
small group discussions
• Ask How and Why questions
• Emphasize content area
vocabulary
• Provide opportunities for
participation in reading and
writing activities
• Modify work according to
individual need
Teachers Strategies

11. Stage IV: Intermediate Fluency
At this stage, learners have a vocabulary of around 6000
words, and can use more complicated sentence structures.

12. Stage IV: Intermediate Fluency
• Describe with details a place or an
event they have attended
• Retell stories with good command of
verb tenses
• Begin to think in the new language
instead of translating from native
language
• Interact with native speakers with
some support
• Understand the main idea of movies,
songs, reports, articles in the target
language
Student Characteristics Teachers Strategies
• Explore the richness of adjectives,
language constructions, phrasal
verbs and idioms.
• Engage the student in retelling
stories in order to expose students
to the language
• Explore different ways to express
the same things
• Promote ways of self-assessment
and learner empowerment

13. Stage V: Advanced Fluency
The final stage is advanced fluency, which is typically reached
somewhere between five and ten years of learning the language.
Learners at this stage can function at a level close to native speakers.

14. Student Characteristics
• Can interact extensively with native
speakers
• Have high levels of comprehension but
may not understand all of the academic
language
• Read and write for a variety of purposes
• Continue to need extensive vocabulary
development in content
Teachers strategies
• Encourage reading newspapers
and magazines in target language
• Encourage watching different TV
channels in the target language
• Encourage using Internet to read
different topics and to listen to
podcasts and videos in target
language
Stage IV: Advanced Fluency