This document discusses key issues in second language acquisition. It begins by defining second language acquisition and distinguishing it from first language acquisition. It then covers various topics related to second language acquisition, including individual learner differences, the role of the first language, learner processes, the role of formal instruction, and criticisms of contrastive analysis. The overall aim is to provide an understanding of factors that influence the second language learning process.

1. * Second Language
Acquisition
Prepared By:
Edward Valcárcel Melgarejo
Docente de Educación en Idiomas
Universidad Nacional de San
Agustín de Arequipa

2. * CHAPTER 1
KEY ISSUES IN SECOND
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
OBJECTIVES
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the internal
factors influencing the learning process.
2. Integrate knowledge of second language
acquisition research and diverse cognitive
style.

3. *THEMATIC NUCLEUS 1
PREVIOUS CONCEPTS

4. * What is Second
Language Acquisition?
SLA as a Uniforms Phenomenon
SLA is not a uniform and predictable
phenomenon. There is no single way in
which learners acquire a knowledge of a
second language. SLA is the product of
many factors pertaining to the learner on the
one hand and the learning situation on the
other.

5. * SECOND LANGAGE ACQUISITION
VS FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Second language acquisition stands in
contrast to first language acquisition. It is the
study of how learners learn an additional
language after they have acquired their
mother tongue. The study of language leaner
language began with the study of first
language (L1) acquisition.

6. * What is the Study of Second Language
Acquisition?
It is the study of:
how second languages are learned;
how learners create a new language system with limited
exposure to a second language;
why most second language learners do not achieve the same
degree of proficiency in a second language as they do in their
native language; and
why some learners appear to achieve native-like proficiency in
more than one language.

7. THE CENTRALITY OF SYNTAX AND
MORPHOLOGY
COMPETENCE VERSUS PERFORMANCE
A distinction is often made beween competence
and performance in the study of language.
According to Chomsky competence consists of
the mental representation of linguistic rules
which constitute the speaker-hearer’s
internalized grammar. Performance consists of
comprehension and production of language.

8. * Competence Vs. Performance
According to Chomsky (1965), competence consists
of mental representations of linguistic rules that
constitute the speaker-hearer’s internal grammar.
This internal grammar is implicit rather than explicit.
It is evident in the intuitions, which the speaker-hearer
has about the grammaticality of sentences.
Performance consists of the use of this grammar in
the comprehension and production of the language.

9. *Language transfer
*L1 helps L2
*L1 makes difficult
*THE ROLE OF THE FIRST
LANGUAGE

10. * THE GIRL SMART
* THE SMART GIRL

11. *
Contrastive analysis is a way of comparing languages
in order to determine potential errors.
The ultimate goal of contrastive analysis is to predict
areas that will be either easy or difficult for learners.

12. * AGE: Do adults learn a L2 in the same way as
children.
* APTITUDE
* MOTIVATION: Intrinsec and Extrinsec.
* PERSONALITY AND COGNITIVE STYLE: What kind
of personality is most successful in learning a
L2? What role does inhibition play in SLA?
*INDIVIDUAL LEARNER
DIFFERENCES

13. *THE ROLE OF THE INPUT

14. *Cognitive Strategies.
*Universal Grammar
*LEARNER PROCESSES

15. * The effect that instruction has on the route of
learning and
* The effect that it has on rate of learning.
Order of grammar.
Does formal instruction help learners to perform in
all types of situations? Why?
* Accelerating the whole process.
* Learn more rapidly.
*THE ROLE OF FORMAL
INSTRUCTION

16. *THEMATIC NUCLEUS 2
THE ROLE OF THE FIRST
LANGUAGE

17. * The Role of the First Language Language
Transfer
Introduction
Foreing accents in SLA.
Transferring L1 features into the L2.

18. *Habits: Different stimuli produced
differente responses from a learner.
*What is a habit?
*The stimulus elicits the response.
*Imitation and reinforcement.
*Behaviourist Learning
Theory

19. *Errors: old habits get in the way
of learning new habits.
*Interference
was the result of
what was called proactive
inhibition.
*Behaviourist Learning
Theory

20. * Contrastive Analysis
Hypothesis: The Psychological
Aspect
There are two positions that developed with
regard to CA: (1) strong (2) weak.
The strong version (predictive) maintained that all
L2 errors can be predicted.
The weak version (explanatory) maintained that a
contrastive analysis can be used to identify which
errors are the result of interference..

21. *Contrastive Analysis
Hypothesis: The Linguistic
Aspect
Structuralist linguists: description of the different
categories that make up the patterns of a
language.
Procedure:
oDescription of the two languages.
oSelection of items or areas for comparison
oComparison.
oPrediction of areas which can cause errors.

22. *The ability of Contrastive Analysis to
predict errors.
*Contrastive Analysis doesn’t have
anything relevant to offer to language
teaching.
*Criticisms of the
Contrastive Analysis
Hypothesis

23. *Four types of errors.
1. Interference-like errors: reflect native language
structure.
2. First language developmental errors: are found in first
language acquisition data.
3. Ambigous errors: can not be categorized.
4. Unique errors.
*Empirical Research and
the predictability of
errors

24. *The attack on behaviourist accounts
of language learning which was given
impetus by chomsky`s (1959) review
of Skinner`s Verbal Behaviour;
*Theoretical
Criticisms

25. *Is Contrastive Analysis useful for the
teacher?
*The final set of criticisms concerns
whether Contrastive Analysis is of any
practical worth to language teachers.
*Practical Criticisms