SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Archibald, 2011

SLA: multidisciplinary field

1. Linguistics – gives us an accurate description of what people are trying to learn (L2) and what we already know (L1)

1. Psychology – privides us with the learning theory to account for how people acquire knowledge.

1. L1 Acquisition – offers findings that can be applied to SLA.

Main question in SLA

Second question in SLA

Factors to consider in L2 Acquisition The L1 – second language learner production

always resembles their L1 in one way or another. (TRANSFER).

The INTERLANGUAGE – contains features of the L1 as well as the L2.

The FINAL STATE – what is to be acquired (Communicatice competence).

VARIATION in performance – competence (linguistic knowledge the learner has) vs. performance (actual language used by the learner)

Communicative competence

Variation: Example

I didn’t like that movie so I told her I no want to go there.

QUESTIONS:

Why is there such variation?Has this learner acquired the English negation or not?

Variation: some explanations

When learners are only focusing on the form of the L2 utterance, they may be able to produce it accurately.

HOWEVER, When there are other factors such as

communicating a complex thought, errors may occur

A matter of PROCESSING? Need to shift processing from controlled to

automatic (because of fixed processing capacity in humans).

Interlanguage Grammars

General question:What is the structure of an interlanguage?

Investigate the mental representations of interlanguage grammars within the different domains of linguistic theory.

L2 phonology

The L2 learner will have to learn to perceive and produce some new sounds when learning an L2.

Segmental phonology

Prosodic phonology

L2 Phonology: Question

Why are some sounds easier to acquire than others in an L2?

What is the role of the L1?

The role ofMarkedness – The Markedness

Differential Hypothesis.

Investigates L2 acquisition by comparing the relative markedness in the L1 and the L2.

L2 Syntax

Two facets of syntactic structure that L2 learners must acquire: the null subject parameter and verb movement.

THE NULL SUBJECT PARAMETER Languages with overt subjects vs. languages

in which the subject can be omitted. Languages with null subjects also:

Allow declarative sentences with flexible word order

Speakers of null subject languages are more likely to permit that trace sequences).

L2 Syntax

VERB MOVEMENT

Some languages do not allow verb movement, while others do.

For example,English does not allow it, but French does.

L2 Morphology

Is the developmental sequence in L2 learning the same as it is in L1 learning?

Developmental Order in L1

Developmental Order in L2

Factors affecting SLA Does the onset age of L2 acquisition cause different

levels of final proficiency?

Is there an optimal time or a “critical period” to acquire an L2?

Discussion focuses in the area of phonology Fairly certain predictions:

People who start learning the L2 before the age of 7, will have native like L2 speech.

People who start learning after the age of 14 or 15 will have non-native speech.

It is much more difficult to predict knowledge or ability in the area of syntax, sociolinguistics, etc.

Individual differences

Question asked: if learners have a particular quality “x”, does this make them better second language acquirers?

Three main points that need to be well explained:

1. How doe we define “x”?2. What does it mean to be a “better” acquirer?3. What aspect of communicative competence

are we referring to?

Affective factors: motivation

Will a person that is more motivated be more successful at acquiring an L2?

Two types of motivation: INSTRUMENTAL (having a specific goal or reason

to learn the L2). INTEGRATIVE (wanting to learn more about a

culture or to fit in better).

Some findings:The degree of integrative motivation, correlates

with the degree of success in learning a target language.

Cognitive factors

The mechanics of how an individual learns something new.

Contrast between field dependence and field independence.

Some SLA conclusions: field-independent learners do better on tests that

focus on analytic tasks such as providing the correct grammatical form in a given sentence.

Field-dependent learners do better in tasks that involve synthesizing their knowledge. (better communicative commpetence – more concerned with getting the message across than with the correctness)

The l2 classroom

Three relevant characteristics of a second language classroom:

Modified input (teacher talk)Modified interaction (recast)Focus on form (instructions about the

language and explicit correction).

Bilingual education

Minority language maintenance programs

French immersion