Define and distinguish a few SLA key terms; Briefly examine different perspectives to answer the three foundational questions “What, How and Why”; Discuss the ways in which the second language acquisition processes of individuals may vary.

1. Chapter 1:
What is Second Language
Acquisition
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AGA INSTITUTE
Course:
Second
Language
Acquisition
(SLA)
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• Email: varyvath@gmail.com

2. Learning Outcomes
Define and distinguish a few SLA
key terms;
Briefly examine different
perspectives to answer the three
foundational questions “What,
How and Why”;
Discuss the ways in which the
second language acquisition
processes of individuals may
vary.
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3. Introductory Discussion
Questions
What do we know about
second language acquisition
(SLA)?
What are the similarities and
differences between First and
Second language acquisition?
How do people learn a second,or
a third,or a fourth language?
What are the implication for
foreign/second language teaching?
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4. What is SLA?
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SLA
• the study of individuals
and groups who are
learning a language
subsequent to learning
their first one as young
children
• and to the process
of learning that
language

5. What is the study of SLA?
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It is the study of
how second
languages are
learned
It is the study of How
learners create a
new language
system with only
limited exposure to
a second language
It is the study of
Why most second
language learners
do not achieve the
same degree of
proficiency in a
second language
as they do in their
native language
It is the study of Why some
individuals appear to achieve
native0like proficiency in a
second language as they do in
their native language
It Is also concerned with the
nature of the hypotheses
(whether conscious or
unconscious) that learners
come up with regarding the
rules of the second language

6. What is Second Language Acquisition
(SLA)?
The additional
language
… is called a second
language (L2) (the
third, fourth, or tenth)
Target language (TL):
… any language that is
the aim or goal of
learning
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7. What Is Scope Of SLA?
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Informal L2 Learning:
• takes place in naturalistic contexts.
• Ex. A child from Japan is brought to
the USA and “picks up” English in the
course of playing and attending
school with native English-speaking
children.
• L2 learning that involves a mixture of
these settings and circumstances.
• Ex. A student from the U.S. takes Chinese
language classes in Taipei or Beijing while
also using Chinese outside of class for social
interaction and daily living experiences.
Formal L2 Learning:
• takes place in
classrooms.
• Ex. A high school student
in England takes a class
in French.

8. Three basic questions help us
understand the ‘process’ of SLA
(1) What
exactly does
the L2
learner come
to know?
(2) How does
the learner
acquire this
knowledge?
(3) Why are
some learners
more successful
than others?
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9. What is SLA?
SLA has emerged as a field of study primarily
from within … to answer the what , how , and why
questions
Linguistics Psychology
Applied
linguistics’
subfield
Psycholing
uistics
Sociolingu
istics
Social
psychology
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10. An Asian fable of the three blind men
describing an elephant:
 one, feeling the tail,
says it is like a rope;
 another, feeling the
side, says it is flat and
rubbery;
 the third, feeling the
trunk, describes it as
being like a long
rubber hose
 While each
perception is correct
individually, they fail
to provide an
accurate picture of
the total animal
because there is no
holistic or integrated
perspective.
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What is SLA?

11. Linguists
emphasize:
linguistic performance (The use of language
knowledge in actual production) of learners at
various stages of acquisition.
linguistic competence (underlying
knowledge that speakers/hearers have of a
language);
the characteristics of the differences
and similarities in the languages that
are being learned;
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12. • Psychologists and
psycholinguists
emphasize
and the representation of
language(s) in the brain
the mental or cognitive
processes involved in
acquisition,
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13. Sociolinguists
emphasize
and extend the scope of study to
communicative competence
(underlying knowledge that
additionally accounts for language
use, or pragmatic competence).
variability in learner
linguistic performance,
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14. • Social
psychologists
emphasize
and the interactional and
larger social contexts of
learning.
group-related phenomena,
such as identity and social
motivation,
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15. MR. VATH VARY
What is a second language?
the specific areas of
vocabulary
knowledge we need
the level of
grammatical
complexity we
have to attain,
and whether
speaking or
reading skills are
more important.
The four different terms may significantly
affect what we learn.

16. What is a second language?
Second
language
• is typically an official or societally dominant
language needed for education, employment, and
other basic purposes.
• is often acquired by minority group members or
immigrants who speak another language natively.
Foreign
language
• is one NOT widely used in the learners’ immediate
social context used for future travel or other cross-
cultural communication situations, or studied as a
curricular requirement or elective in school, but with
no immediate or necessary practical application.
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17. What is a second language?
Library
language
• is one 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
learners’ native tongue.
Auxiliary
language
• is one which learners need to know for some
official functions in their immediate political
setting,
• or will need for purposes of wider
communication, although their first language
serves most other needs in their lives.
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18. What is a first language?
First language
Native language Primary language Mother tongue
languages which are acquired during early childhood
( normally before the age of about 3 years and languages are learned as part
of growing up among people who speak them)
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19. What is a first language?
Multilingualism
Simultaneous
multilingualism
The ability to use more than 2
languages; it also includes bilingualism.
Sequential
multilingualism
Acquisition of more than one language
during early childhood
learning additional languages after
L1 has already been established
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20. Diversity in learning and learners
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• informal exposure to
speakers of other
languages;
• Immersion in a setting
where one needs a new
language to meet basic
needs, or formal
instruction in school,
• these learning
conditions are often
profoundly influenced
by powerful social,
cultural, and
economic factors
affecting the status of
both languages and
learners
What is learned in acquiring a second language and how
it is learned, are often influenced by whether the situation
involves:

21. Diversity in learning and learners
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Linguists
distinguish
categories of
learners in
terms of
identity and
relationship of
their L1 and L2
Psycholinguists
examine
individual
aptitude for L2
learning,
personality
factors,types and
strength of
motivation,and
different
learning
strategies
sociolinguists
distinguish
among learners
with regard to
social, economic,
and political
differences and
learner
experiences in
negotiated
interaction;
Social
psychologists
categorize
learners
according to
aspects of their
group identity
and attitudes
toward target
language
speakers or
toward L2
learning itself
why some L2 learners are more successful

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