3. It is the systematic study of how people acquire a second
language (L2),
A recent phenomenon
A means of obtaining an education or securing employment
‘Second’ can refer to any language that is learned
subsequent to the mother tongue, so it can also refer to
the learning of a third or fourth language.
4. Differences between:
First language acquisition ( Child language acquisition)
The field that studies cases of mother tongue acquisition.
Second language Acquisition The field that studies
language(s) that we learned after acquiring our mother
tongue, including third and fourth languages. L2 acquisition is
the way in which people learn a language other than their
mother tongue, for instance, naturally as a result of living in a
country where it is spoken or through instructions in a
classroom
5. Foreign Language Acquisition The field that studies
languages that you acquired inside certain educational
environments on purpose. e.g. an English student who learns
French as a module in the classroom or a Japanese student
who learns English in the UK for taking a TOEFL test.
This doesn't mean that they are in the opposite
position, but just different terms. In broad sense, foreign
language acquisition can be included in the second
language acquisition.
6.
7. Describing how learner language changes over time by collecting
and analysing samples of learners language (spoken or writing).
Explain one figures out internal and external factors which play a
role for learners who acquire an L2:
a) Internal factors like cognitive mechanisms and knowledge
b) External factors like the social milieu and the input
Findingstrategies that can help us make effective use of our
language knowledge.
8. It is really important to acquire a second language as the
world is becoming more and more globalized, and as a
result, demand for studying about
By studying SLA, it could be possible to develop new, more
proficient teaching methods which can be taught to
students who learn a second language. "Much of what we
now know about the way people learn languages has been
discovered only in the last twenty years, and many teaching
methods are much older than that.
9. Definition:
A case study is a detailed study of a learner s acquisition of an
L2. These studies are longitudinal (samples of the learner s
speech or writing are collected over a period of time).
The Case:
The first case study is a study of an adult learner learning English
in surroundings of daily communication.
The second case study is a study of two children learning English
in a classroom.
10. SUBJECT Wes, 33 year old artist, native speaker of Japanese
Had little formal instruction in English
Began to use English as visiting Hawaii for
working , finally took up residence
Naturalistic learner
RESEARCHER Richard Schmidt, University of Hawaii
Research for 3 years
AIM Observing Wes’ development of knowledge of
English Grammar
11. METHOD Asked Wes to make recording in English when he went on
trips back to Tokyo.
Made written transcription of the monologues (1-3 hours)
Also made recordings and transcriptions of informal
conversations between Wes and his friendsin Honolulu.
RESULT Wes still far short of native-speaker accuracy three years
later.
HOWEVER, it might be wrong to consider Wes as a failed
language learner. He did develop in other ways.
Achieved considerable success as a communicator
12. SUBJECT 1. J: 10 year-old Portugese boy, literate in his native
language.
- Adventurous, confident
2. R: 11 year-old Pakistani boy, speaking (not writing)
Punjabi.
- Lack of confidence,
RESEARCHE Rod Ellis, writer of this book
R & WHERE In a language unit in London
& HOW J : Spent 4 school terms (12 months)
LONG R :Spent 2 whole school years
AIM How the two learners acquired the ability to perform
requests for services and good over the period of study.
13. METHOD Mixed Instruction
Formal and informal language instruction
Little exposure to the target language outside the
classroom
Developmental Verbless
Sequences Use imperative verbs
Use “Can I have - ?”
Extensions of the lingustic devices
Finally, “Can”
RESULT Both learners were capable of successfully performing
simple requests, even when they knew very little English.
They manifested development in their ability to perform
requests.
Many of their requests seemed formulaic in nature.
They progressed in much the same was despite the fact
that they had different native languages.
IMPLICATION They raise a number of important methodological issues
relating to how SLA should be studied.
14. The second study is more typical of SLA because researchers have
to focus on some specific aspects of Language rather than on the
whole complex phenomenon.
One has to make a distinction between their knowledge
and what learners can do.
One possibility to measure whether acquistion has taken
place or not is to consider the overuse of linguistic forms.
15. Learners make errors of different kinds
Language learner acquire a large number of
formulaic chunks
Learners do acquire aspects ofnguage sys a
latematically
16. involving different kinds of learning
Learners must engage in both item learning and
system learning
Language acquisition needs explanation
