Second Language Acquisition

1. SARDAR BAHADUR KHAN WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY
QUETTA
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

2. َ‫ص‬ ‫ا‬َ‫م‬َ‫ك‬ ٍ‫د‬َّ‫م‬َ‫ح‬ُ‫م‬ ِّ‫ل‬‫آ‬ ‫ى‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬َ‫و‬ ٍ‫د‬َّ‫م‬َ‫ح‬ُ‫م‬ ‫ى‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ ِّ‫ل‬َ‫ص‬ َّ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬َّ‫الل‬ِّ‫ل‬‫آ‬ ‫ى‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬َ‫و‬ َ‫م‬‫ي‬ِّ‫ه‬‫ا‬َ‫ر‬ْ‫ب‬ِّ‫إ‬ ‫ى‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ َ‫ت‬ْ‫ي‬َّ‫ل‬
ُ‫م‬ ‫ى‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ َ‫ك‬ ِّ‫ار‬َ‫ب‬ َّ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬َّ‫الل‬ ،ٌ‫د‬‫ي‬ ِّ‫ج‬َ‫م‬ ٌ‫د‬‫ي‬ِّ‫م‬َ‫ح‬ َ‫ك‬َّ‫ن‬ِّ‫إ‬ ،َ‫م‬‫ي‬ِّ‫ه‬‫ا‬َ‫ر‬ْ‫ب‬ِّ‫إ‬َ‫ت‬ْ‫ك‬َ‫ار‬َ‫ب‬ ‫ا‬َ‫م‬َ‫ك‬ ٍ‫د‬َّ‫م‬َ‫ح‬ُ‫م‬ ِّ‫ل‬‫آ‬ ‫ى‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬َ‫و‬ ٍ‫د‬َّ‫م‬َ‫ح‬
ِّ‫ج‬َ‫م‬ ٌ‫د‬‫ي‬ِّ‫م‬َ‫ح‬ َ‫ك‬َّ‫ن‬ِّ‫إ‬ ،َ‫م‬‫ي‬ِّ‫ه‬‫ا‬َ‫ر‬ْ‫ب‬ِّ‫إ‬ ِّ‫ل‬‫آ‬ ‫ى‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬َ‫و‬ َ‫م‬‫ي‬ِّ‫ه‬‫ا‬َ‫ر‬ْ‫ب‬ِّ‫إ‬ ‫ى‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ٌ‫د‬‫ي‬
O Allah, bestow Your favor on Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬ and on the family of Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬ as
You have bestowed Your favor on Ibrahim (alayhi s-salām)and on the family of Ibrahim
(alayhi s-salām). You are Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.
O Allah, bless Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬ and the family of Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬ as You have blessed
Ibrahim (alayhi s-salām) and the family of Ibrahim (alayhi s-salām). You are
Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious.

3. Important Note for my Students:
All of your course-planners, video-lectures, audio-lectures, slides, and
additional readings, have been uploaded on Course Instructor’s website
mentioned below:
https://erudition.page.tl/ . The uploaded content is concise and easy to
understand. If you face any problem or need any clarification, feel free to
contact your Course Instructor at: https://erudition.page.tl/Contact-your-
teacher.htm
In order to pursue details of your other courses, please contact your (other)
concerned teachers.
(Note: Slides may not provide a comprehensive view of the topics, (as slides
essentially include the main outlines of the important themes) students are
hence required to download complete video lectures as prepared and uploaded
by your course instructor , (explaining the outlines as mentioned in these
slides) so as to ensure better learning.
Regards
Course Instructor : shaista.zakir@sbkwu.edu.pk

4. SARDAR BAHADUR KHAN WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY QUETTA
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
JUNE 2020
COURSE TITLE: Second Language Acquisition
CLASS: BS 7th SEMESTER (Linguistics)
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course focuses on second language acquisition (SLA), aiming overall to
introduce students to the major concepts and theories of SLA.
It is divided into two parts. The first part outlines some general concepts
concerning the field of SLA and the second part provides an overview of some
of the most influential SLA theories.

5. Outline of Unit 1:
Course-Title: Second Language Acquisition
Class: BS 7th Semester (Linguistics)
A Brief Introduction to Second Language Acquisition
Some of the Core Issues related to SLA
What is Primarily Emphasized in SLA-Research?
Conclusion
Review-Exercise
Bibliography
Question-answer-session

6. Unit1: A Brief Introduction to Second
Language Acquisition
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) refers both to the study of
an individual or groups learning a language subsequent to
learning a First language (as young children), and to the process
of learning that language. The additional language is known as a
second language (L2), even though it may actually be the third,
fourth, or tenth to be acquired. It is also commonly called a
target language (TL). The scope of SLA includes informal L2
learning that takes place in naturalistic contexts, formal L2
learning that takes place in classrooms, and L2 learning that
involves a mixture of these settings and circumstances
(Troike, 2012, p. 2)

7. According to Troike (2012), the functions performed
by L2 , are marked by the following distinctions:
 L2 is typically an Official Language, or a socially
dominant language, needed for education, employment,
and other basic purposes, acquired by minority group-
members or immigrants.
 L2 can be acquired as a Foreign Language. In this case,
L2 may not have any immediate or necessary practical
application and may not be widely used in learners’
speech community. It can, however be used for travel or
academic purposes .

8. Troike (2012… (Continued)
L2 can be used as Library Language (i.e. a language
which functions primarily as a tool for further learning
through reading, especially when books or journals in a
desired field of study, are not commonly published in
the learner’s native language.
 L2 can be used as an Auxiliary Language (i.e. a
language which may not have an exclusively official
status in learner’s social setting, it may, however be
needed for some official functions for a specific period of
time (e.g. in an immediate political or legal setting, or
for the purpose of wider/international communication).

9. Some of the Core Issues related to
Second Language Acquisition
Learner’s prior knowledge of L1
Learner’s Cognitive Maturity
Learner’s Metalinguistic Awareness
The role of learners’ affective factors
The Role of corrective feedback

11. LEARNER’S PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE
Learner’s prior knowledge of L1 (i.e. knowledge of
phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and
pragmatics) makes him/her able to build structural
grounds for L2 learning.
Learner of L2, with prior knowledge of L1,unconsciously
compares and contrasts between the two languages.
Since all languages are unique in their nature, learner’s
prior knowledge of L1 can have both positive as well as
negative effects on learning L2.

12. Positive and Negative Effects of Learners’
Prior Knowledge of L1
Positive Effects:
1. (As mentioned earlier) Learner’s prior
Knowledge of L1 makes him/her able to build a
foundational ground for L2 learning.
2. In many cases, a similarity between L1 and L2
may assist L2 learners.
Negative Effects:
Negative Effects of learners’ prior knowledge of L2
revolve around Transfer Errors ( Transfer Errors refer
to L2 learners’ errors that are caused by the
influence of L1).

14. COGNITION
Latin cognoscere “developing knowledge about something”
The mental action or process of acquiring
knowledge and understanding through thought,
experience, and the senses.

15. LEARNER’S COGNITIVE MATURITY
Is learner cognitively mature? Is he/ she able to
interpret sound systems, meanings, sentence structures
and contextual dimensions of language?
Is he able to engage in deduction, and complex
memory tasks?
Some of the Main Elements of Cognition:
Perception
Intuition
Reasoning
Memory
Learning

16. Some of the Main Elements of Cognition
Perception (the ability to see, hear, or become aware of
something through the senses).
Intuition (direct perception of truth, fact, etc.,
independent of any reasoning process)
Reasoning (the process of forming conclusions, judgments,
or inferences from facts or premises).
Memory (the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and
reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or
recognizing previous)experiences.
Learning (the modification of behavior through practice,
training, or experience).

18. METALINGUISTIC AWARENESS
Metalinguistic awareness is a cognitive process that
allows a person to monitor and control their use of
language. It is a type of metacognition, which is an
awareness and control of one's own knowledge and
cognitive processes (being able to think about thinking).
People vary in their metalinguistic awareness-
capabilities ; high levels of awareness entail efficiency of
language learning.
Metacognition
(An awareness or analysis of one's own cognition)

21. The Role of Affective Factors (i.e. the factors related to
Feelings & Emotions)
Etymology: Affect: From Latin afficere ‘to influence’
Some of the Main Affective Factors in SLA:
Anxiety: (apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness
usually over an impending or anticipated ill).
Self Esteem/Self-respect: (a confidence and satisfaction in oneself
Inhibition: (an inner impediment to free activity,
expression, or functioning)
Empathy: (the (psychological identification with the feelings,
thoughts, or attitudes of another).
Extroversion: (the act of directing one's interest outward
or to things outside the self.
Introversion (the act of directing one's interest inward or to
things within the self).

23. CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK
The type of feedback supplying correct response to a
learner’s error or mistake.
Wait: is there any difference between an error and a
mistake?
Yes!
Errors reflect the lack of knowledge
Mistakes do not reflect the lack of knowledge; they
rather reflect lapses in performance (e.g. because of
haste, lapse of memory, anxiety, etc)

24. Some of the Most Common Kinds of Corrective Feedback
1. Explicit Correction: Clearly indicating that
the student's utterance was incorrect, the teacher provides
the correct form.
2. Recast: Without directly indicating that the student's
utterance was incorrect, the teacher implicitly reformulates
the student's error, or provides the correction.
3. Clarification request. By using phrases like "Excuse me?"
or "I don't understand," the teacher indicates that the message
has not been understood or that the student's utterance
contained some kind of mistake and that a reformulation is
required.
4. Repetition. The teacher repeats the student's error and adjusts
intonation to draw student's attention to it.

25. 1. Linguists analyze the characteristics of differences and similarities
on the basis of linguistic competence and linguistic performance
2. Psychologists and psycholinguists analyze the cognitive processes
involved in acquisition and the representation of languages in brain
3. Sociolinguists analyze variability in learners’ linguistic
performance on the basis of diverse sociological factors.
4. Social psychologists in the realm of SLA, with specific reference to
the theories of social psychology, analyze the ways whereby human
communication is influenced by social groups.

27. Defining some Important Terms:
Social Psychology:
The branch of psychology that deals with social interactions,
including their origins and their effects on the individual.
Linguistic Competence Vs. Performance
Linguistic competence is an underlying system of
linguistic knowledge possessed by the speakers of
a language. It is distinguished from linguistic
performance, which is the way a language system is used
in actual communication. The distinction was introduced
by Noam Chomsky in his elaboration of generative
grammar.

28. What is meant by Second Language Acquisition?
What are the core issues related to SLA?
What is primarily emphasized by researchers
in the realm of SLA?
Note: In order to access detailed video lectures /audio –lectures
(based on these slides), paper pattern, marking criteria,
additional readings, format for submitting review exercises (i.e.
summaries) etc., visit your course instructor’s website:
https://erudition.page.tl/
Regards:)

29. Q. Summarize Unit 1: A Brief Introduction to Second
Language Acquisition in your own words
Note: While attempting the review exercise, discuss the
most important points as explained in your lecture;
your answers should not exceed 3 to 4 pages.
Download the word-format for submitting these review
exercises from your course –instructor’s website.

30. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ausubel, D.P. (1968) Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View,
New York, NY: Holt.
Brown, H. D. (2002). Principles of Language Learning and
Teaching. NY: Longman.
Ellis, R. (1991). Second language, acquisition and language
pedagogy. Clevcdon: Multilingual Matters.
Ellis, R. 1994: The study of second language acquisition.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (1997). SLA research and language teaching. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (1999). Item versus system learning: explaining free
variation. Applied Linguistics . 20, 460-80.
Troike, M. (2012). Introducing Second Language Acquisition.
London: Cambridge University Press.