The document discusses key concepts in second language acquisition (SLA). It defines SLA as referring to both the study of individuals learning a language after their first, and the process of learning that additional language. SLA can involve learning a second, third, or subsequent language. The document outlines factors that affect SLA, including individual factors like age and cognition, external factors like instruction and culture, and affective factors like anxiety and self-esteem. It also discusses concepts like interlanguage, language transfer, and the role of both innate ability and social experience in language acquisition.

1. Second Language
Acquisition
Kashma Sardar Ali
2020-2021
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2. The Foundation of SLA
• Second Language Acquisition (SLA) refers both to 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. The additional language is called a second language (L2), even though it may
actually be the third, fourth, or tenth to be acquired.
• The term acquisition was originally used to emphasize the non-conscious nature of the learning
process but in recent years learning and acquisition have become largely synonymous.
• Multilingualism: refers to the ability to use two or more languages.
• Monolingualism : refers to the ability to use only one language.
• Some linguists and psychologists use bilingualism for the ability to use two languages and
multilingualism for more than two.
• Bilingualism: is present in practically every country of the world, in all classes of society, and in all
age groups. Most SLA researchers see bilingualism as being the end result of learning a language, not
the process itself, and see the term as referring to native-like fluency. Writers in fields such as
education and psychology, however, often use bilingualism loosely to refer to all forms
of multilingualism. SLA is also not to be contrasted with the acquisition of a foreign language; rather,
the learning of second languages and the learning of foreign languages involve the same fundamental
processes in different situations.
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3. • A second language is typically an official or societally dominant language needed for education, employment, and
other basic purposes. It is often acquired by minority group members or immigrants who speak another language
natively. In this more restricted sense, the term is contrasted with other terms in this list.
• A foreign language is one not widely used in the learners’ immediate social context which might be 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.
• A 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.
• An 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. (ESP)
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4. What is a first language?
There is also sometimes a need to distinguish among the concepts first language, native language, primary
language, and mother tongue, although these are usually treated as a roughly synonymous set of terms
(generalized as L1 to oppose the set generalized as L2). The distinctions are not always clear-cut. For purposes of
SLA concerns, the important features that all shades of L1s share are that they are assumed to be languages which
are acquired during early childhood – normally beginning before the age of about three years – and that they are
learned as part of growing up among people who speak them. Acquisition of more than one language during early
childhood is called simultaneous multilingualism, to be distinguished from sequential multilingualism, or
learning additional languages after L1 has already been established. (‘Multilingualism’ as used here includes
bilingualism.) Simultaneous multilingualism results in
more than one “native” language for an individual, though it is undoubtedly much less common than sequential
multilingualism. It appears that there are significant differences between the processes and/or results of language
acquisition by young children and by older learners, although this is an issue which is still open to debate, and is
one of those which we will explore in chapters to follow.
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5. A central theme in SLA is that of interlanguage, the idea that the language that learners use is not simply the result of
differences between the languages that they already know and the language that they are learning, but that it is a complete
language system in its own right, with its own systematic rules. This interlanguage gradually develops as learners are exposed
to the targeted language. The order in which learners acquire features of their new language stays remarkably constant, even for
learners with different native languages and regardless of whether they have had language instruction. However, languages that
learners already know can have a significant influence on the process of learning a new one. This influence is known
as language transfer.
Language Transfer Theory
Definition
In second language learning, learners use different strategies to acquire knowledge. One of these strategies is language transfer.
It consists of replicating structures from the learners’ first language when they are speaking or writing something in a second
language. Linguists agree that language transfer is used by language learners especially when they are unsure about which
structure to use in the second language. Because languages are different, language transfer can have a positive or negative
impact depending on whether the native and second languages share the specific structure used by the learner.
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6. • Cognitive transfer
Definition:
is the broader term given to the potential of applying knowledge, skills, and practices, learnt previously, in different contexts. This concept
is essential to explain learning, and it is the starting point to understand language transfer, as language transfer theory also relies on
the transfer of learning concept.
• Positive and negative transfer
• Language transfer can have positive or negative effects on spoken and written compositions by second language learners. If the structure
from the native language used matches the one in the second language, there is a positive effect, and if the structures do not match, then,
there is a negative effect.
• Positive effect example: Use of cognates, e.g. “family” (English) and “familia” (Spanish).
• Negative effect examples: Spanish speakers may omit the subject of a sentence when speaking in English, e.g., they might say “Is sunny”
instead of “It is sunny” .
• Misuse of the neutral gender article in German, e.g., “the table” (English) and “das Tisch” (incorrect) instead of “der Tisch” (German). In
German nouns have grammatical gender and they must be accompanied by the correct article to indicate it. As this is not the case in
English, English native speakers learning German may overuse the gender-neutral article “das” as it is equivalent to the neutral article “the”.
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7. The Nature of Second Language
The role of natural ability
• Humans are born with a natural ability or innate capacity to learn language. Such a predisposition must be assumed in order to explain
several facts:
• 1-Children begin to learn their L1 at the same age, and in much the same way, whether it is English, Bengali, Korean, etc.
• 2-Children master the basic phonological and grammatical operations in their L1 by the age of about five or six, as noted above, regardless
of what the language is.
• 3-Children can understand and create novel utterances; they are not limited to repeating what they have heard that children produce are often
systematically different from those of the adults around them.
• 4-There is a cut-off age for L1 acquisition, beyond which it can never be complete.
• 5-Acquisition of L1 is not simply a facet of general intelligence
The role of social experience
• Not all of L1 acquisition can be attributed to innate ability, for language specific learning also plays a crucial role. Even if the universal
properties of language are preprogrammed in children, they must learn all of those features which distinguish their L1 from all other
possible human languages.
• Children will never acquire such language-specific knowledge unless that language is used with them and around them, and they will learn
to use only the language(s) used around them, no matter what their linguistic heritage. American-born children of Korean or Greek ancestry
will never learn the language of their grandparents if only English surrounds them, for instance, and they will find their ancestral language
just as hard to learn as any other English speakers do if they attempt to learn it as an adult. Appropriate social experience, including L1 input
and interaction, is thus a necessary condition for acquisition.
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8. Factors affect the learning of a new language
• Some learners learn a new language more quickly than others ,let us ask why?
• Because they are successful by virtue of their strong determination, hard work ,and persistence.
• Also they are some factors which can roughly be categorized as individual (internal )factors, and external factors,
and lastly as affective factors
3.Affective factors
(emotional) factors
Self-esteem
Inhibition
Risk taking
Anxiety
Empathy
2.External Factors
Curriculum
Instruction
Culture and status
Motivation
Access native speaker
1. Individual factors
(internal) factors
Age
Personality
Motivation
Experiences
Cognition
CONCLUSION
Acquiring and learning a second language is very important in a bilingual and multi lingual society. It is also a
necessity in today’s global world where technology is mostly restricted to specific countries speaking a small
number of languages. In fact, a lot of students, teachers, specialist and politics find themselves in a bad need for
learning these languages.
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9. The Linguistics of Second Language Acquisition
• This seminar is about SLA that „ve been heavily influenced by
• linguistics.
• It has been followed with a survey of early linguistic approaches to SLA, beginning with Contrastive Analysis then several
which take an internal focus on learners' creativity or construction of language: Error Analysis, Interlanguage, Morpheme
Order Studies, Monitor Model, and finally the Universal Grammar (UG).
• Then internal approaches switch to approaches which involve
• an external focus on the functions of language that emerge in the course of second language acquisition: Systemic
Linguistics, Functional Typology, Function-to-Form Mapping, and Information Organization.
• The Nature of Language
• 1. Languages are systematic (They consist of recurrent elements which occur in regular patterns of relationships). All
languages have an infinite number of possible sentences, and the vast majority of all sentences which are used have not
been memorized. They are created according to rules or principles which speakers are usually unconscious of using or even
of knowing if they acquired the language(s) as a young child.
• 2. Symbolic (Sequences do not inherently posses meaning but it comes through the agreement of speakers).
• 3. Social (reflects society that uses it) The only way to learn the language is to use it with others.
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10. • linguists traditionally divide a language into different levels for description and analysis, even though in actual use all levels
must interact and function simultaneously. The human accomplishment of learning language(s) seems all the more
remarkable when we consider even a simplified list of the areas of knowledge which every L1 or L2 must acquire at
these different levels. All of this knowledge about language is automatically available to children for their L1 and is somehow
usually acquired with no conscious effort. However, this knowledge of L2 is seldom achieved, even though much time and
effort may be expended on learning.
• • lexicon (vocabulary)
• 1. word meaning
• 2. pronunciation (and spelling for written languages)
• 3. grammatical category (part of speech)
• 4. possible occurrence in combination with other words, collocations and in idioms.
• • phonology (sound system)
• 1. speech sounds that make a difference in meaning ( phonemes )
• 2. possible sequences of consonants and vowels (syllable structure)
• 3. intonation patterns (stress, pitch, and duration), and perhaps tone in words
• 4. rhythmic patterns (pauses and stops)
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11. word structure
• 1. parts of words that have meaning ( morphemes )
• 2. inflections that carry grammatical information (like number or tense)
• 3. prefixes and suffixes that may be added to change the meaning of words or their grammatical category
syntax (grammar)
• 1. word order
• 2. agreement between sentence elements (as number agreement between subject and verb)
• 3. ways to form questions, to negate assertions, or structure information within sentences.
• nonverbal structures (Body language)
• 1. Facial expressions
• 2. gestures and other body movement
discourse
• 1. ways to connect sentences, and to organize information across sentence
• boundaries.
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12. • Contrastive Analysis (CA)
• It is the starting point approach to the study of SLA which involves predicting and explaining learner problems based on a comparison of L1
and L2 with each other to determine similarities and differences. This approach which highlighted learning problems, was highly influenced
by theories which were dominant in linguistics and psychology, Structuralism and Behaviorism.
• a. Robert Lado states that, the goal of CA was primarily pedagogical to make L2 learning & teaching more efficient.
• b. Charles Fries stated that, the chief problem is not at first that of learning vocabulary items. It is first, the mastery of the sound system.
second, the mastery of the features of arrangement that constitute the structure of the language.
• a. Notions in behaviorist psychology, Stimulus–Response–Reinforcement (S-R-R). Learners respond to the stimulus (linguistic input), and
reinforcement strengthens (i.e. habituates) the response. When learners imitate and repeat the language that they hear, and when they are
reinforced or gain confidence for that response, learning occurs. The implication is that “practice makes perfect.”
• b. Another assumption of this theory is that there will be transfer in L1 to the target L2. The transfer is called positive or facilitating when the
same structure is appropriate in both languages, as in the transfer of a Spanish plural morpheme -s on nouns to English e.g.
• The transfer is called negative or interference when the L1 structure is used inappropriately in the L2, as in the additional transfer of
Spanish plural -s to a modifier in number agreement with the noun e.g. green s bean s for green beans.
• Problems with Contrastive Analysis: a. Cannot explain how learners know more than they have heard or have been taught (“the logical
problem of language learning”). In another word, Speakers of a language can understand and produce millions of sentences they have never
heard before, they cannot merely be imitating what they have heard others say. b. The predictions were not accurate. Sometimes different
problems appeared. c. As linguistic theory changed after revolution, the exclusive focus on surface level forms and patterns by structural
linguists shifted to concern for underlying rules. d. The behaviorist assumption that habit formation accounts for language acquisition was
seriously questioned by many linguists and psychologists. e. The study of SLA was no longer motivated as strongly by teaching concerns as
it had been for CA. L2 learning came to be thought of as independent of L2 teaching to some extent, and researchers began to separate issues
in SLA from pedagogical concerns. f. How can you do this approach when you have multiple students with different language backgrounds?
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13. • 2. Error Analysis It is the first approach to the study of SLA that includes Internal focus on learners‟ ability to construct, or create
language. Based on actual learner errors in L2, not on predictions. The procedure for analyzing learner errors:
• 1. Collect a sample of learner language to determine patterns of change in error occurrence with increasing L2 exposure and proficiency.
• 2. Identify the errors distinguishes between systematic errors (which result from learners‟ lack of L2 knowledge) and mistakes (the results
from some kind of processing failure such as a lapse in memory).
• 3. Describe the errors according to language level (whether an error is phonological, morphological, syntactic) , or general linguistic
category (e.g. auxiliary system, passive sentences, negative constructions), or more specific linguistic elements (e.g. articles, prepositions,
verb forms).
• 4. Explain the errors Interlingual between languages (factors resulting from negative transfer or interference from L1). Intralingual within
the language (It often represents incomplete learning of L2 rules or overgeneralization of them, e.g. Open –opened and the same applied to
see, seed instead of saw).
Problems with Error Analysis:
• Ambiguity in classification (Is the error because of a L1 influence or is it part of the developmental process?)
• Lack of positive data (does not explain what the learner has acquired)
• Potential for avoidance: sometimes learners find the language structure difficult, so they avoid using it, and the error wont be recognized.
Chinese and Japanese L1 speakers make few errors in English L2 relative clauses because they avoid using them. (Errors won‟t be
recognized always). Kashma Sardar Ali 13

14. 3. Interlanguage
• Larry Selinker and others are taking this approach considered the development of the interlanguage (IL) to be a creative
process, driven by inner forces in interaction with environmental factors, and influenced both by L1 and by input from the
target language. While influence from L1 and L2 language systems in a learner‟s IL is clearly recognized, emphasis is on the
IL itself as a third language system in its own right which differs from both L1 and L2 during the course of its development.
• It has the following characteristics:
• 1. Systematic: the IL is governed by rules which constitute the learner‟s internal grammar, what he or she can produce and
interpret correctly as well as errors that are made.
• 2. Dynamic. The system of rules which learners have in their minds changes
• frequently
• 3. Reduced system, both in form and function. reduced form, refers to the less complex grammatical structures that typically
occur in an IL compared to the TL, such as the past tense suffix. And the characteristic of reduced function refers to
the smaller range of communicative needs typically served by an IL, especially if the learner is still in contact with members
of the L1 speech community.
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15. • 4. Morpheme order study
• One important question in the study of SLA which the concept of IL highlighted during the 1970s is whether there is a natural order (or
universal sequence) in the grammatical development of L2 learners.
• These results indicate, for example, that the progressive suffix -ing and plural -s are the first of this set of morphemes to be mastered by both
L1 and L2 learners of English; the irregular past tense form of verbs and possessive -s are acquired next in sequence for L1, but relatively
later for learners of L2 (after forms of be and a/the ). A lthough not identical, the order of morpheme acquisition reported was similar in L1
and L2. Further, the order was virtually the same in English L2 whether children were L1 speakers of Spanish or Chinese
• 5. Monitor Model
• proposed by Stephen Krashen (1978) . It explicitly and essentially adopts the notion of a Language Acquisition Device (LAD), which is a
metaphor Chomsky used for children‟s innate knowledge of language (the one that you born with). It is a collection of five hypotheses
which constitute major claims and assumptions about how the L2 code is acquired.
• Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis. There is a distinction to be made between acquisition and learning . Acquisition is subconscious, and
involves the innate Language Acquisition Device which accounts for children’s L1. Learning is conscious and is exemplified by the L2
learning which takes place in many classroom contexts.
• Monitor Hypothesis. What is “learned” is available only as a monitor , for purposes of editing or making changes in what has already been
produced.
• Natural Order Hypothesis. We acquire the rules of language in a predictable order, step by step. First, sounds, putting together, chuncks,
morphemes, words and phrases.
• Input Hypothesis. Language acquisition takes place because there is comprehensible input. If input is understood, and if there is enough of
it, the necessary grammar is automatically provided.
• Affective Filter Hypothesis. Input may not be processed if the affective filter is up (e.g. if conscious learning is taking place).
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16. Universal Grammar
• Universal Grammar (UG) continues the tradition which Chomsky introduced in his earlier work. Two concepts in particular have been of central importance:
• 1. What needs to be accounted for in language acquisition is linguistic competence, or speaker/hearers’ underlying knowledge of language. This is distinguished
from linguistic performance, or speaker- hearers’ actual use of language in specific instances.
• 2. Such knowledge of language goes beyond what could be learned from the input people receive(because language is learned naturally). This is the logical
problem of language learning, or the poverty-of-the stimulus
• Argument, (they believe language is a behavior).
• Chomsky and his followers have claimed since the 1950s that the nature of speaker-hearers‟ competence in their native language can be accounted for only by
innate knowledge that the human species is genetically endowed with.
• They argue that children (at least) come to the task of acquiring a specific language already possessing general knowledge of what all languages have in
common, including constraints on how any natural language can be structured.
• This innate knowledge is in what Chomsky calls the language faculty, which is “a component of the human mind, physically represented in the brain and part of
the biological endowment of the species” (Chomsky 2002:1). What all languages have in common is Universal Grammar
Principle & Parameters
• Universal Grammar has been conceptualized as a set of principles which are properties of all languages in the world. So, (the principles are universal)
Some of these principles contain parameters , or points where there is a limited choice of settings depending on which specific language is involved. (The
parameters are vary).
• An example of an early principle which Chomsky posited that every phrase in every language has the same elements including a Head:
• e.g. a noun phrase (NP) must always have a noun head (N), a verb phrase (VP) must always have a verb head (V), a prepositional or postpositional phrase (PP)
must always have a postposition head (P). The only choice, or parameter setting, that speakers have in different languages is Head Direction, or the position of
the head. There are only two possible choices: head-initial or head-final.
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17. Functional approach
While UG has been the dominant linguistic approach to SLA for many years, many researchers have rather
chosen to take an external focus on language learning. The more influential of these approaches are based on
the framework of Functionalism. Approaches to SLA which are characterized as functional differ in emphasis
and definition but share the following characteristics in general opposition to those in the Chomskyan
tradition:
• 1. Focus is on the use of language in real situations ( performance ) as well as underlying knowledge (
competence) . No sharp distinction is made between the two.
• 2. Study of SLA begins with the assumption that the purpose of language is communication, and that
development of linguistic knowledge (in L1 or L2) requires communicative use.
• 3. Scope of concern goes beyond the sentence to include: discourse structure and how language is used in
interaction, and to include aspects of communication beyond language (Tomlin 1 990) .
• Functional approaches
• The most influential approach on linguistics among the others is Functionalism. differ from structuralism
and early generative models by emphasizing the information content of utterances and in considering
language primarily as a system of communication rather than as a set of rules.
• The term function has several meanings in linguistics: structural function, such as the role which elements
of language structure play as a subject or object, pragmatic function (what the use of language can
accomplish, , such as convey information, control others’ behavior, or express emotion)
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18. • Functional approaches which have been influential in SLA are
• a. Systemic Linguistics
• b. Functional Typology
• c. function-to-form mapping
• d. information organization
a. Language acquisition . . needs to be seen as the mastery of linguistic functions. Learning one’s mother tongue is learning the uses of
language, and the meanings, or rather the meaning potential, associated with them. The structures, the words and the sounds are the
realization of this meaning potential. Learning language is learning how to mean. (Halliday 1973 :345)
Halliday (1975) describes the evolution of the following pragmatic functions in early L1 acquisition which are universal for children:
• 1. Instrumental – language used as a means of getting things done (one of the first to be evolved): the “I want” function.
• 2. Regulatory – language used to regulate the behavior of others: the “do as I tell you” function.
• 3. Interactional – use of language in interaction between self and others: the “me and you” function.
• 4. Personal – awareness of language as a form of one’s own identity: the “here I come” function. – in another word, you form a new identity
for your self.
• 5. Heuristic – language as a way of learning about things: the “tell me why” function
• 6. Imagination – creation through language of a world of one‟s own making: the “let‟s pretend” function.
• 7. Representational – means of expressing propositions, or communicating about something (one of the last to appear): the “I‟ve got
something to tell you” function. Kashma Sardar Ali 18

19. • b/ It is based on the comparative study of the world‟s languages. This study
involves the classification of languages and their features into types to describe
patterns of similarities and differences among them, and to determine which
types and patterns occur more/less frequently. For example,
• In phonology, the most common syllable structure which occurs in languages of
the world is CV (consonant+ vowel, as in me, It is much less common to have a
sequence of consonants at the beginning or end of syllables.
• In syntax, the basic word order in sentences of SVO (subject–verb– object) is
more common in languages of the world than is SOV.
• In discourse, the expected “unmarked” response to the English greeting “How
are you?” is “Fine” because the answer is about the same topic while silence or
answering on different topic is marked or uncommon in languages
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20. • C/ Function-to-form mapping
• Acquisition of both L1 and L2 involves a process of grammaticalization in which a grammatical function
(such as the expression of past time) is first conveyed by shared extralinguistic knowledge-sign language and
inferencing based on the context of discourse, then by a lexical word, such as yesterday, and only later by a
grammatical marker, suffix -ed.
• For example, If you ask a beginning learner of English what he did the day before he might say “I play soccer”, relying
on context to convey the meaning of past time; a somewhat more advanced learner might say Yesterday I play
soccer , using an adverb to convey the meaning of past; and a still more advanced learner might say I played soccer,
using the grammatical inflection -ed.
• Talmy Givón (1979) proposed the distinction between a style of expressing meaning which relies heavily on context
(pragmatic mode ) and a style which relies more on formal grammatical elements (a syntactic mode).
• D/ Information organization
• Information organization refers to the way in which learners put their words together The task of studying SLA from
this perspective includes describing the structures of interlanguage (called learner varieties), discovering what
organizational principles guide learners for their production at various stages of development, and analyzing how
these principles interact with one another.
• Developmental levels:
• 1. Nominal Utterance Organization (NUO) Learners generally begin with the seemingly unconnected naming of
subjects and objects (i.e. with nouns and pronouns, or “nominals”). They may also use adverbs and adjectives or
other elements but seldom use a verb to help organize an utterance.
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21. • 3. Infinite Utterance Organization (IUO). Learners increasingly add verbs to their utterances, but they seldom use grammatical morphemes
to convey the meaning of tense, person, or number. There is also increasing use of grammatical relators such as prepositions. At this stage,
learners have constructed an interlanguage grammar which is called the Basic Variety. They may be able to express themselves
adequately at this stage in some contexts, and not all continue development beyond this level.
• 4. Finite Utterance Organization (FUO). Learners who continue interlanguage development beyond the IUO level next add grammatical
morphemes to the verb. This is the process of progressive grammaticalization.
Organizing principles
• There is a limited set of principles which learners use it for organizing Information that may be classified as follows:
• Phrasal constraints, or restrictions on the phrasal patterns which may be used. A basic pattern is noun phrase plus verb (NP + V), with a
second NP after the verb possible. Some times the composition and complexity of each phrasal category are reduced. For example, at one
stage of development a noun phrase (NP) may consist only of a noun (N) or a pronoun. At the next stage of development, it may consist of
a determiner (e.g. the) + noun or an adjective + noun.
• Semantic constraints, or features of categories like NP which determine their position in a sentence and what case role they are assigned
(e.g. agent or “doer” of the action). When an utterance has more than one NP, learners use such semantic factors to decide which one
should come first. The principle that learners follow is to put the agent first, or the NP that refers to the thing that is most likely to be in
control of other referents.
• Pragmatic constraints, including restrictions that relate to what has been said previously, or to what the speaker assumes that the hearer
already knows. The general pragmatic principle is to put what is known (the topic) first, and new information or what the speaker is
focusing on last.
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22. Second Language Learning and Teaching
Second language learning Is a conscious process where the learning of another language other than the First Language (L1)
takes place. The process has to take place after the first language(s) has already been acquired. Second language learning could
also refer to the third, fourth, or fifth language the learner is currently learning.
Language Learning Strategies:
Memory strategies: involve the mental processes for storing new information in the memory and for retrieving them when
needed. These strategies entail four sets: creating mental linkages, applying images and sounds, reviewing well and employing
action.
Comprehension strategies: supply the knowledge gaps that a learner may have either in speaking or writing, overcoming
language difficulties. Compensation strategies are employed by learners when facing a temporary breakdown in speaking or
writing. These strategies are divided into two groups, guessing intelligently and overcoming limitations in speaking and writing.
Cognitive strategies: These are perhaps the most popular strategies with language learners. The target language is
manipulated or transformed by repeating, analyzing or summarizing. The four sets in this group are: Practicing, Receiving and
Sending Messages, Analyzing and Reasoning, and Creating Structure for Input and Output.
Metacognitive strategies: refer to methods used to help students understand the way they learn; in other words, it means
processes designed for students to 'think' about their 'thinking’.” They enable learners to control their own cognition by using
different strategies such as focusing, arranging and evaluating.
social/affective strategies control their feelings, motivations and attitudes when in social situations such as asking questions,
communicating with others, facilitate conversation and interaction.
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23. What exactly does the second language learner come to know?
1. A system of knowledge about a second language which goes well beyond what could possibly have been taught.
2. Patterns of recurrent elements that compromise components of second language specific knowledge: vocabulary lexicon,
morphology word structure, phonology sound system, syntax grammar, and discourse (ways to connect sentences and organize
information).
3. How to encode particular concepts in the second language including grammatical notions of time, number of referents, and the
semantic role of elements.
4. pragmatic competence, or knowledge of how to interpret and convey meaning in contexts of social interaction.
5. Means for using the second language in communicative activities: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
6. Communicative competence: all of the above plus social and cultural knowledge required for appropriate use and interpretation
of second language forms.
● A basic disagreement among different linguistic perspectives
● An abstract system of underlying rules or principle.
● A system of linguistic patterns and structures.
● A mean of structuring information and a system of communication.
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24. How does the learner acquire second language knowledge ?
Innate capacity: the natural ability of people to acquire language.
Applications of prior knowledge, the initial state of second language includes knowledge of first language (and
language in general) and the processes of that knowledge.
Interaction: social perspectives generally hold that second language acquisition benefits from the active engagement
of learners in interaction, or participation in communicative events.
Restructuring of the second language knowledge system. SLA occurs progressively through a series of systematic
stages.
Mapping of relationships or associations between linguistic function and forms.
Automatization: frequency of input as well as practice in processing input and output are widely recognized
determinants of second language development.
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25. • Why are some learners more successful than others?
1. Social context: Social context is the indirect and direct influence individuals are in constant
communication and within involvement of by means as role player or participants.
2. Social experience: Quantity and quality of second language input and interaction are determined
by social experience, and both have significant influence on ultimate success in second language
learning.
3. Relationship of first language and second language: We can say all languages are learnable, but not
all second languages are equally easy for speakers of particular first language to acquire.
4. Age: Commonly believed that children are more successful second language learners than adults.
5. Aptitude: Learners differs in capacity to discriminate and process auditory input, to identify
patterns and make generalizations, and to store linguistic elements in memory.
6. Motivation: Motivation largely determines the level of effort which learners expend at various stage
in their second language development and it is often a key to ultimate level of proficiency.
7. Instruction: Quality of instruction clearly makes a difference in formal context of second language
learning.
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26. Approaching Near-Native competence
1. The most likely level of linguistic production to retain some identifiably “foreign” feature is pronunciation, especially if
second language learning began after the age of twelve.
2. Learners will have to select from a more limited lexical repertoire than do native speakers of the same educational level, will
not use words with the same probability of occurrence in the same phrasal units (e.g. collocations), and will not recognize
connotations and allusions which require cultural information and experience.
3. Older second language students who do approach “near-native” competence almost surely have benefited from extensive
and varied input, feedback which includes some correction and focus on grammatical form and very high levels of motivation.
4. At the same time, we must recognize that many intelligent hard working, highly motivated students will not approach this
level of competence.
5. It is important for language teachers, in particular, to accept the fact that “native-like” production is neither intended nor
desired by many learners whose goals for second language use do not include identification with native speakers of the
language nor membership in its native speech communities.
Implications for second language learning and teaching
1. Consider the goals that individuals and groups have for learning an additional language.
2. Set priorities for learning/teaching that are compatible with these goals.
3. Approach learning/teaching tasks with an appreciation of the multiple dimensions that are involved: linguistic, psychological
and social.
4. Understand the potential strength and limitations of particular learners and contexts for learning and make use of them in
adapting learning/teaching procedures.
5. Recognize achievement in incremental progress.
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27. Acquiring Knowledge for L2 Use
• Competence and use
• Academic vs. Interpersonal competence
• Components of language knowledge
• receptive and productive activities
1. Competence and Use
 Communicative competence: everything that a speaker needs to know in order to communicate appropriately within a particular community.
 linguistic competence: knowledge of the specific components and levels of a language, and knowledge that is required for their appropriate use in
communicative activities.
 pragmatic competence: is what people must know in order to interpret and convey meaning within communicative situations:
2. Academic competence: the knowledge needed by learners who want to use the L2 primarily to learn about other subjects, or as a tool in scholarly research, or
as a medium in a specific professional or occupational field.
• Acquiring specific vocabulary for that field.
• Receptive skills have priority
• Reading proficiency is needed.
• Processing oral L2 input.
• Be proficient at academic writing.
Interpersonal competence: encompasses knowledge required of learners who plan to use the L2 primarily in face-to-face contact with
other speakers.
 Learning vocabulary.
 Knowledge that helps with listening and speaking in real time. (oral skills have priority)
 Use clarification and negotiation.
 language may be formal or informal.
 Writing and reading are less important than listening and speaking.
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28. 3. Components of language knowledge
The specific L2 needs of a specific group should be identified before they learn the language.
 vocabulary (lexicon)
 morphology (word structure)
 phonology (sound system)
 syntax (grammar)
 discourse (ways to connect sentences and organize information)
Vocabulary (Lexicon)
Learning vocabulary is a priority for all learners for both academic and interpersonal competence.
• You learn the vocabulary according to your need.
• The most important vocabulary for everyday life are the function words: a limited set of terms that carry primarily grammatical
information.
Example: the, this, to, of, I, you, is, was, yeah, oh.
• English words that occur with high frequency in a wide range of academic (but not interpersonal) contexts include modifiers.
Example: analytical, explanatory, data, and hypotheses.
• Interpersonal situations can be divided into:
1- Interactional: have primarily affective purpose.
2- Transactional: is task oriented.
• Beside single words there are idioms, metaphors, and collocations.
Example: on that note, the big picture, and kind of.
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29. • knowledge types that makes use of context for vocabulary learning
Linguistic knowledge: syntactic information; constraints on possible word meanings; patterns in word structure; meanings of
surrounding words.
World knowledge: understanding of the concepts which the words represent; familiarity with related conceptual frameworks;
awareness of social associations.
Strategic knowledge: control over cognitive resources
• Morphology (word structure)
Is important for developing vocabulary and achieving grammatical accuracy.
Word can be formed by compounding smaller words. (note+book =notebook)
By adding affixes.
inflectional morphology: knowledge of the word parts that carry meanings such as tense, aspect, and number. (kicked, coming,
books)
• Phonology (sound system)
As a component of academic competence, proficiency in phonological perception is required for listening if learners are studying other
subjects through the medium of L2, and at least intelligible pronunciation is needed for speaking in most educational settings.
As a component of interpersonal competence, proficiency in phonological perception and intelligible production are essential for
successful spoken communication, but a significant degree of “foreign accent” is acceptable in most situations as long as it is within
the bounds of intelligibility.
Difference of the sound systems in L1 and L2.
 Possible sequences of consonants and vowels (phonotactics)
 Which speech sounds can and cannot occur in combination with one another, in which syllable and word positions
 Intonation patterns (stress, pitch, and duration)
 Rhythmic patterns (pauses and stops)
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30. • (grammar) Syntax
• recognizing that sentences are more than just combinations of words, and that every language has specific limits
and requirements on the possible orders and arrangements of elements.
1. Certain aspects of language are universal. (They all have structure for making statement, and questions.
Sentences in all languages have a subject and a predicate. )
2. The order of the elements may differ.
• In some languages you can change the place of the words and the reader will still understand which one is the
subject because of the article that comes before it.
• When learning about syntax of a language you need to know whether you need to change the place of the words
to form passive sentences.
• Nominalization: whole sentences are transformed into fillers for noun phrase positions. (Edison invented the
phonograph. →Edison’s invention of the phonograph)
Discourse (ways to connect sentences and organize information)
• At a microstructural level: sequential indicators, logical connectors, and other devices to create cohesion.
• At a macrostructural level: we go beyond linguistic elements to knowledge of organizational features that are
characteristic of particular genres, and of interactional strategies.
• Discourse requires an essential interface of linguistic knowledge with content, culture, and context.
• We have different genres in discourse, which are the different types of discourse. Different genres are typically
characterized by having different functions within a language community, involving different classes of participants
(speakers/writers and audience), addressing different topics, and requiring different language styles and
organization.
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31. • Contrastive Rhetoric is an area of research that compares genre-
specific conventions in different languages and cultures, with
particular focus on predicting and explaining problems in L2 academic
and professional writing.
Example1: Chinese writer may not write review of other researches
when they write.
Example 2: politeness.
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32. Receptive Activities
• Reading and listening.
• Bottom-up processing: requires prior knowledge of the language system (i.e. vocabulary, morphology, phonology,
syntax, and discourse structure) and interpretation of physical (graphic and auditory) cues.
• At early stages of learning, bottom-up processing is limited to visual or auditory recognition of the limited set of
words and word combinations that have been acquired thus far, and of simple grammatical sequences.
• Top-down processing: allow learners to guess the meaning of words they have not encountered before, and to
make some sense out of larger chunks of written and oral text.
• top-down processing utilizes prior knowledge of content, context, and culture.
• Content knowledge is background information about the topic that is being read about or listened to; new
information is perceived and interpreted in relation to this base.
• Context knowledge includes information learned from what has already been read or heard in a specific text or
situation, as well as an understanding of what the writer’s or speaker’s intentions are, and the overall structure of
the discourse pattern being used.
• Culture knowledge subsumes content and context in many ways but also includes an understanding of the wider
social setting within which acts of reading and listening take place.
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33. Reading
• Plays a big role In the development of L2 academic competence.
• Source of L2 input.
• Introduces you to the culture.
• Gives you access to different sources.
component abilities and types of knowledge that are involved in fluent academic reading
• Automatic recognition ability. Automatic word perception and identification is necessary for fluency.
• Vocabulary and structural knowledge. Fluent reading requires a large recognition vocabulary (some estimates range up to
100,000 words) and a sound knowledge of grammatical structure.
• Formal discourse structure knowledge. Good readers know how a text is organized, including (culture-specific) logical
patterns of organization for such contrasts as cause–effect and problem–solution relations.
• Content/world background knowledge. Good readers have both more prior cultural knowledge about a topic and more
text-related information than those who are less proficient.
• Synthesis and evaluation processes/strategies. Fluent readers evaluate information in texts and compare it with other
sources of knowledge; they go beyond merely trying to comprehend what they read.
• Metacognitive knowledge and comprehension monitoring. Fluent readers have [unconscious] knowledge about
knowledge of language and about using appropriate strategies for understanding texts and processing information.
Monitoring involves both recognizing problems that occur in the process of interpreting information in a text, and
awareness of non-comprehension.
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34. functions for reading in academic settings
1. Reading to find information
2. Reading for general understanding
3. Reading to learn
4. Reading to critique and evaluate
Beginning L2 reading
• Learners first try to learn the symbols of the target language.
• The target language symbols will be easy if they are similar to the L1.
• The punctuation system should be learned.
• Learners with prior oral knowledge will learn to read faster than those
without oral knowledge.
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35. Listening
Classifying listening.
1. Reciprocal (face to face)and non-reciprocal (listening to radio).
2. General or selective listening.
Beginning L2 listening
1. Foreign language is perceived as a stream of noise.
2. Recognizing patterns and attaching meaning to them.
3. segmenting the stream of speech into meaningful units.
4. Segmenting speech requires not only perceiving sound, but noticing patterns in relation
to a context which allows interpretation.
Learners can make sense from sounds easily if:
• They know in advance what the speaker is going to be talking about.
• Key words and phrases are learned as recognition vocabulary elements before they are
encountered in connected speech.
• Speakers pause frequently at boundaries between parts of sentences.
• Auditory messages are supported by visual images (including writing).
• The communicative situation is a reciprocal one that allows the listener to seek repetition
and clarification, or to ask the speaker to slow down.
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36. Productive activities
• Writing and Speaking
• Writing and speaking differ from reading and listening in referring primarily to
constructing one’s own linguistic forms rather than interpreting what others write or
say.
• Writing
• Important productive skill for academic competence development.
• used for testing knowledge.
• Used for interpersonal interaction as well.
• Writing can contribute to L2 learning in that meaningful language output facilitates
SLA in several ways:
1. Generating input.
2. Enhancing fluency by furthering development of automaticity through practice.
3. Helping learners notice gaps in their own knowledge as they are forced to visibly
encode concepts in L2 forms, which may lead them to give more attention to
relevant information. Kashma Sardar Ali 36

37. Speaking:
• Is essential for interpersonal purposes.
• speaking tasks can be classified on a continuum from reciprocal to non-reciprocal
communication.
• A linguistic approach to SLA that is commonly used to account for speaking
phenomena is Functionalism, which considers the development of learner
language to be motivated and furthered by interactive language use.
• Speech acts:
• language use accomplishes speaker goals by means of utterances which request
something, apologize, promise, deny, express emotion, compliment, complain,
and so forth. Utterances which fulfill such functions are called speech acts:
• Give me your notes.
• Please let me make a copy of your notes.
• You are a much better note-taker than I. Would you help me prepare for this test?
• Could I take a little peek at your notes before the test?
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38. • Second Language Acquisition and the Age Factor
• “ Young children in suitable environments pick up a second language with little trouble, whereas adults seem to struggle ineffectively with a
new language and to impose the phonology of their mother tongue on the new language.”
• Second Language Acquisition
• Second language acquisition is the process of acquiring language capacity after another language has already been learned natively.
• Learning an L2 requires a conscious effort.
• L2 is not learned during infancy, and most often after puberty.
• Factors that can influence second language acquisition:
• Biological
• Mother Tongue
• Motivation
• Age
• Emotions
• Learning Environment
• Intelligence Kashma Sardar Ali 38

39. Key concepts concerning the age factor:
Cognitive factors:
• Critical period
• Biological schedule
• Brain plasticity
Brain plasticity / Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's tendency to undergo structural reconfiguration in response to
environmental stimulus, cognitive demand or behavioral experience. Recent research has begun to examine neuroplasticity as
a function of language acquisition.
• The loss of brain plasticity happens by the age of nine. This plasticity assigns functions to different areas of the brain and
cannot be changed
• The loss of brain plasticity explains why adults may need more time and effort compared to children in second language
acquisition.
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40. An approach to age effect in second language learning
• Maturational approach: Maturational approach to language acquisition assumes that the observed age effects in second language
acquisition are temporally aligned with maturation and therefore most likely due to biological changes affecting the human language
acquisition capacity. It has been proven that there is a critical period for language acquisition in which there is a biological ‘window of
opportunity’ for attaining native-like levels of competence in a (second) language that closes during or after (brain) maturation
• What is the critical period hypothesis?
• The original formulation of the CPH is based upon the work of the German-born American neurologist Eric Lenneberg (1967).
• The hypothesis implies that children have a special innate propensity for acquiring language that is determined by biological factors – so
to speak a biological clock that limits the period during which natural language acquisition can take place.
• This assumption is based on the biological observation that the brain of a child is plastic whereas the brain of an adult is rigid and set.
• According to Lenneberg, during early childhood language appears to be more spread out across both brain hemispheres, but as the child
grows older and the two hemispheres become increasingly specialized for certain functions, language gradually relocates, settling in the
left one.
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41. What is the critical period hypothesis?
• The CPH holds that primary language acquisition must occur during a critical period which starts at about the age of 2
years and ends at puberty (around the age of 12 or 13). Lenneberg argues that language acquisition before the age of 2 is
impossible because the brain has not developed the capacities it needs. After puberty the natural acquisition of language
is blocked because the brain has lost its cerebral plasticity. Of course, Lenneberg does not deny that language learning is
possible after puberty.
• However, “automatic” acquisition from mere exposure to a second language seems to disappear: Most individuals of
average intelligence are able to learn an L2 after the beginning of their second decade, although the incidence of
‘language-learning blocks’ rapidly increases after puberty.
• Moreover, he notes that foreign accents cannot be overcome easily after the end of the critical period.
• Since its conception in the 1960s, the CPH has been closely linked to innatist claims which gave rise to the well-
known innatist theory of first language acquisition advocated by the theoretical linguist Noam Chomsky.
• The theory emphasizes the essential role that biological contributions, as opposed to the child’s social life and cultural
experience, appear to play in L1 development. Since children acquire their native language by mere exposure with
facility and an enormous speed, Chomsky maintains that the only explanation possible is that children are pre-
programmed to acquire language at a definite point in their development.
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42. • When critical period is passed:
• After the critical period has passed, around the time of puberty, it becomes very difficult to acquire another language fully.
• Our capacity to openness for accepting new sounds is lost after critical period and we are overtaken by sounds of our L1.
• Benefits of learning a second language at an early age:
• Pronunciation and intonation
• Motivation (lack of inhibitions)
• Imitation (this capability fads away after puberty)
• Flexibility
• Curiosity
• Tolerance
• Learning and memory capacity
• The position which derives most directly from the conception of the CPH posits quite simply that younger second language learners are
globally more efficient and successful than older learners, and (in most versions) that puberty marks the onset of a decline in second
language learning capacity. This view has not only been a popular belief for centuries, there is also scientific evidence from several studies
conducted on the age factor.
• Possible explanations for adults’ learning incapability:
• Social psychology: They do not want to lose their accent.
• Cognitive factors: They become too sensible when learning L2.
• Neurological changes: They lose plasticity and flexibility.
• Language input: They are not exposed to L2 input as well as children.
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43. Individual differences and SLA
Definitions of Individual differences (IDs)
1. Drever James:
“Variations or deviations from the average of the group, with respect to the mental or physical characters, occurring in the
individual member of the group are individual differences.”
2. Good, C.V.:
“The variation or deviations among individual is regard to a single characteristics or a number of characteristics, those
differences which in their totality distinguish one individual from another.”
3. Skinner, C.E.:
“Today we think of individual differences as including any measurable aspect of the total personality.”
4. Woodworth, R.S. and Marquis, D.G.:
“Individual differences are found in all psychological characteristics physical mental abilities, knowledge, habit,
personality and character traits.”
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44. Factors affect individuals in learning
• 1. Age
• Do you think there is an optimal age for L2 acquisition?
-Everybody agrees that age is a crucial factor in language learning. However to which extent age is an important factor still remains an
open question.
-It is a common belief that children are more successful in L2 learners than adults.
-Children have only a limited years, which normal acquisition is possible, (critical period) beyond that, physiological changes cause the
brain to lose its plasticity.
-Individuals who for some reason deprived of the linguistic input which is needed to trigger first language acquisition during the critical
period will never learn any language normally.
• There are two different views about how Age effects L2 learning
• 1-When critical period passed
✓ After the critical period has passed, around the time of puberty, it becomes very difficult to acquire another language fully.
✓ Our capacity to openness for accepting new sound loss after critical period, and we are overtaken by sounds of our L1.
✓ We might note that the dominance of the first language is particularly strong in terms of pronunciation.
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45. 2-Early teenagers are effective in second
language learning.
• It demonstrates that students in early teens are quick and more
effective in learning L2.
• It may be that effective learning needs a combination of factors, even
with a trace of accents.
• The optimum learning maybe during the year of 10 to 16. When the
flexibility of our inherent capacity for language has not been
completely lost, and the maturation of cognitive skill allows more
effective analyzes of the regular feature of the second language being
learned.
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46. Kashma Sardar Ali 46

47. • 2. Sex
➢Although the study of gender as a variable in language learning is still at an early stage ,
studies of individual language learner differences related to sex (biological) or gender (socially
constructed) have shown that females tend to show greater integrative motivation and more
positive attitudes to L2, and use a wider range of learning strategies, particularly social
strategies .
➢ (Larsen-Freeman & Long , 2000) believed that in the process of first language acquisition
female excel male, at least at the early stage. it was generally believed that male and female
are born with different linguistic advantages, such as, female learn to speak earlier than male,
and female learn a foreign language faster and better than male, etc.
➢ Studies of actual results suggest females are typically superior to males in nearly all aspects
of language learning, except listening vocabulary (Boyle, 1987).
➢Kimura (1992, as cited in Saville-Troike, 2006)), reports that higher levels of articulatory and
motor ability have been associated in women with higher levels of estrogen level during the
menstrual cycle.
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48. 3-Aptitude:
Saville-Troike (2006) suggests that assumption that there is a talent which is specific to language learning has been widely held for many years. Many
language aptitude tests like TOEFL, IELTS have been used for a long period to test the aptitude of a second language learner of English. Carroll (1963),
who along with Sapon created the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) which was designed to predict success foreign language learning,
provides us with the following four types of abilities that constitute aptitude
+aptitude can only predict success in second language acquisition; it cannot explain the reasons behind it. (Skehan, 1989)
1-Phonemic coding ability :
discriminates and encodes foreign
sounds.
2-inductive language ability :
infers or induces rules from
samples
3-Grammatical sensitivity :
recognizes functions of words
in sentences.
4-Associative memory capacity:
makes and recalls associations
between words and phrases in
L1 and L2

49. ▪ 4. Motivation
▪ (Saville-Troike 2006) claims that motivation is the second strongest predictor (after aptitude) of second language success. She further
argues that motivation largely determines the level of effort that learners expend at various stages in their L2 development, often a key to
ultimate level of proficiency.
▪ According to Gardner (1985) Motivation = effort + desire to achieve goal + attitudes.
▪ According to Gardner and Lambert (1972) the following two types of motivation exist:
I. Integrative: found in individuals who are interested in the second language in order to integrate with and become a part of a target
community/ culture; (here the learner wants to resemble and behave like the target community).
II. Instrumental: found in individuals who want to get learn a second language with the objective of getting benefits from the second
language skill. Objectives, such as business advancement, increase in professional status, educational goals etc. motivate an individual to
learn a second language in this case
▪ Both the types of motivations have different roles to play. Both can lead to success. According to Saville-Troike (2006) the relative effect
of one or the other is dependent on complex personal and social factors. L2 learning by a member of the dominant group in a society may
benefit more from integrative motivation, and L2 learning by a subordinate group member may be more influenced by instrumental
motivation. In most of the motivation research, the relationship between motivation and second language achievement has been shown as
a strong one. But whether the achievement drives motivation or motivation drives achievement is yet to be tested.
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50. Kashma Sardar Ali 50

51. Bilingualism, motivation and language identity
• Who is a bilingual? Definitions of bilingualism
• Bilingual Someone who is able to use two languages.
• Bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA), or bilingual acquisition (simultaneous acquisition of two languages from
birth or shortly thereafter.
• There have been a number of perspectives on bilingualism over the years, and, as a consequence, differences in
how to define “a bilingual.”
• Leonard Bloomfield, a renowned American structuralist linguist working in the early part of the last century,
considered a bilingual to be someone with “native-like control of two languages” (1933, p. 56)
• The Swedish linguist, Bertil Malmberg (1977, pp. 134–135), described a bilingual as an individual who, in addition
to his mother tongue, has acquired from childhood onwards or from an early age a second language by natural means
(in principle not by formal instruction), so that he has become a fully competent member of the other linguistic
community within the sphere, the occupational or social group, to which he naturally belongs.
• For the sociolinguist Einar Haugen (1953, p. 7) bilingualism is: “the point where a speaker can first produce complete
meaningful utterances in the other language.”
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52. Bilingualism
For the Canadian sociolinguist William Mackey (1962, p. 52), bilingualism is: “the alternate use of two or more languages by the
same individual.”
Uriel Weinreich (1953) defined bilingualism as “the practice of alternately using two languages.”
In more recent times, the sociolinguist Li Wei (2007, p. 7) described a bilingual as: “someone with the possession of two languages.”
• Types of bilingual
Early bilingual someone who has acquired two languages early in childhood (also, ascribed bilingual)
Balanced bilingual someone whose mastery of two languages is roughly equivalent (also, ambilingual, equilingual, symmetrical)
Dominant bilingual someone with greater proficiency in one of his or her languages and uses it significantly more than the other
language(s)
Late bilingual someone who has become a bilingual later than childhood (achieved bilingual)
Maximal bilingual someone with near native control of two or more languages.
Minimal bilingual someone with only a few words and phrases in a second language.
Productive bilingual someone who not only understands but also speaks and possibly writes in two or more languages.
Receptive bilingual someone who understands a second language, in either its spoken or its written form, or both, but does not
necessarily speak or write it
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53. Ultimately, views of who is a bilingual or what constitutes bilingualism will vary,
since there are a number of important dimensions that affect that decision. Some
of these considerations are summarized by Mackey (1962, p. 52):
bilingualism is a relative concept, it involves the question of degree. How well does the individual know the language he
uses? In other words, how bilingual is he? Second, it involves the question of function. What does he use his languages for?
Third, it includes the question of alternation. To what extent does he alternate between his languages? How does he change
from one language to the other, and under what conditions? Fourth, it includes the question of interference. How well does
the bilingual keep his languages apart? To what extent does he fuse them together? How does one of his languages influence
his use of the other?
* bilingual development
Children exposed to two languages in their environment from birth or shortly thereafter is a relatively common occurrence
in homes and societies across the world.
code-switching
Using words or phrases from one language while speaking in the other language, occurs more often in the speech of some
individuals in the bilingual’s environment than in that of others.
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54. One important factor in language development is of course language exposure. In research with monolingual English-
speaking children, input exposure has been found to have a strong effect on children’s word production
Since bilingual children rarely have equal exposure to both languages, it is likely that their vocabularies will be larger in
one of their languages. In fact, bilingual children have been found to have smaller vocabularies in each of their
languages compared to monolingual peers (e.g., Marchman, Fernald, & Hurtado, 2010).
However, when words from both language vocabularies are added together in a measure of total vocabulary, a different
portrait emerges.
Bilingual children go through similar stages and the sizes of their vocabularies is generally similar to that of
monolinguals, at least for the dominant language of the bilingual child.
Bilinguals are not able to “switch off ” one of their languages entirely: each remains available under various
circumstances.
Young bilingual children may occasionally insert linguistic units from one language when they are speaking their other
language.
Mixed utterances have been defined as the use of words or morphemes from both the bilingual child’s languages when
producing utterances
The fact that individuals have two linguistic systems provides a unique window into the issue of the relation between
language and mental processes since two linguistic systems allow access to a single mind, or cognitive system.
We can refer to Cook’s (1995) use of the term “multi-competence” to refer to the L2 learner and bilingual’s situation,
and by so doing emphasize the fact that it is appropriate to consider the bilingual as having multiple abilities.
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55. Motivation
Motivation is an act of stimulating the interest of somebody to do something.
Motivation = effort + desire to achieve goal + attitudes (Gardner, 1985)
“ The drive or energy directed towards a ‘goal’, and drive itself is referred to
as ‘what makes us act’ by Hull and McDonough (1986:144).
Williams and Burden (1997:120) define motivation as :
“a state of cognitive and emotional arousal, which, leads to a conscious decision to act, and
which gives rise to a period of sustained intellectual and/or physical effort to attain a previously
set goal (or goals)”
In terms of Second/Foreign language learning Gardner (1985:10-11)defines motivation as:
“… . the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus
favourable attitudes towards learning the language. When the desire to achieve the goal and
favourable attitudes towards the goal is linked with the effort or the drive, then we have a
motivated organism”.
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56. • Integrative motivation
• Integrative means mixing, joining, getting closer, getting together, and becoming a part of. So, integrative motivation means a desire to
identify oneself with the L2 community.
• The learner is interested in other cultural groups and wants to make contacts with speakers of other languages or wants to be fully a member
of the target language community
• According to Gardner’s socio-educational model, “an integrative orientation involves an interest in learning an L2 because of a sincere and
personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other language group”.
• A learner who wishes to identify with another ethnolinguistic group will be called integratively motivated.
instrumental motivation
• In contrast to integrative motivation,
• Gardner and Lambert presented the concept of instrumental motivation: a learner is said to be instrumentally motivated when he learns an
L2 for practical purposes, such as promoting his career, improving his social status, or passing an exam.
• Learners with an instrumental reason for learning an L2 can be successful but the effects may cease as soon as the rewards stop.
• Resultative Motivation
• The resultative Hypothesis claims that learners who do well are more likely to develop motivational intensity and to be active in the
classroom.
• Gardner, suggest that ‘while greater motivation and attitudes lead to better learning, the converse is not true’
• A high level of motivation does stimulate learning.
• Conversely, a vicious circle of low motivation= low achievement= lower motivation can develop.
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57. • Motivation as intrinsic interest
It was developed as an alternative to goal-directed theories of motivation that emphasize the role of intrinsic rewards and punishments.
Crookes and Schmidt (1989:16) observe that ‘it is probably fair to say that teachers would describe a student as motivated if he becomes
productively engaged on learning tasks, and sustains that engagement, without the need for encouragement or direction’. Teachers see it as
their job to motivate students by engaging their interest in classroom activities.
Crookes and Schmidt (1989) try to make sure that the learning tasks pose a reasonable challenge to the students--- neither too difficult nor
too easy.
Motivation is the feeling nurtured primarily by the classroom teacher in the learning situation. The enhancement of motivation occurs when
the teacher closes the classroom door, greets his students with a warm, welcoming smile, and proceeds to interact with various individuals by
making comments or asking questions that indicate personal concern.
Language identity
Language is a way of communicating thoughts and feelings. Language can unite people, language can divide people. it can also constitute a
means of asserting one’s identity or one’s distinctiveness from others. A common language may be the ideal vehicle to express the unique
character of a social group.
According to Joanna Thorn borrow “Identity, whether, on an individual, social or interactional level is something that we are constantly
building and negotiating throughout our lives and through our interaction with each other”
McNamara, Hansen and Liu (as cited in Norton, 2013) defined the term identity as the attempt people make to understand their relationship
to the world, how that relationship is built across time and space, and how people see their possibilities for the future.
Stockton (2015) also stated in his study that the word ‘identity’ can be explained by the following terms: cultural, linguistic, ethnic, social,
racial, gender, academic or literate, national, and class. However, if it was used without those qualifications it could be called ‘unspecified’.
Furthermore, Norton (1997) in his article agreed with West (1992) on that identity relates to tendency for recognition, the willingness to
affiliation, and the desire for security and safety.
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58. • Kinds of identity
• There are four kinds of identity which are as follows:
• Master identity is relatively stable and unchanging such as; gender, ethnicity, age, national and regional origins.
• Interactional identity refers to roles that people take on in a communicative content with specific other people.
• Personal identity is the logical way in which people talk and behave with each other.
• Relational identity refers to the kind of relationship that a person enacts. It may be with a particular conversational partner or in a specific
situation; it negotiates from moment to moment and is highly variable.
• Zimmerman (as cited in Antaki & Widdicombe, 1998, p.90) identified three different kinds of identity
• in his talk:
• Situated identity: explicitly used in a particular context of communication such as doctor versus patient or teacher versus student identity.
When the speaker is situated in a formal context he might change his accent in such a way that he could be judged as an educated person.
• Discourse identity: participants position themselves to specific discourse roles in the moment by moment of the interaction such as
indicator, listener, questioner and challenger.
• Transportable identity: which is either explicit or implicit and can be used during the interaction for the particular reason. For example,
during a lecture or a lesson a teacher might refer to the fact that she is also a mother of two or an avid science fiction fan.
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59. According to Giles and Coupland (as cited in Jenkins, 2000) there are two different views
regarding identity:
First, language learners either accommodate their speech to that of the interlocutor in order to
both be liked and understood; second, language learners proclaim themselves members of the
interlocutors' communities. These views are also called nativeness principles, in which second
language learners gain access to material resources, such as wealth, and symbolic ones, such
as friendship, through convergence.
The second view is called “Divergence phenomenon” in which the language learners try to
distance their speech from that of the interlocutor in order to keep their own in-group identity
intact and stay loyal to their speech communities.
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60. Identity and SLA research findings
Norton (2001) created the term ‘imagined community’ and used it in SLA theory. He explained its relationship in this way:
when students learn a language, they will think about their future, learners imagine who they might be and who their
communities might be. Such imagined communities may even have a strong reality. Thus, this kind of view can have a
great impact on their investment in learning a language. Students only invest when they see an opportunity for personal
profit.
Norton (2006) suggested that “there are five common beliefs about identity, underlying most
identity-focused SLA research” :
1. Identity is dynamic and constantly changing across time and place,
2. Identity is “complex, contradictory and multifaceted”,
3. Language is both a product of and a tool for identity construction,
4. Identity can only be understood in the context of relationships and power,
5. Much identity-focused SLA research makes connections to classroom practice.
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61. Linguistic identity: refers to a person’s identification as a speaker of one or more languages.
Social identity: how we talk, dress and behave is an important way of displaying who we are.
There is often a particularly strong link between language and a sense of belonging to a national group, a sense of
national identity. In ‘simple’ cases, there is one ‘national language’ which is spoken by everyone with the same national identity.
Cultural identity: is the identity or feeling of belonging to a particular religion, social class, locality, or any kind of social group that
has its own culture.
Culture includes; language, dress, laws, customs, rituals, norms, and rules and regulations.
Conclusion:
The relationship between language and identity will always involve a complex mix of individual, social and political factors that
work to construct people as belonging to a social group, or to exclude them from it.
Identity is something we are constantly building and negotiating all our lives through our interaction with others.
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