scholarly journals Understanding the Process of Second Language Acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Yixu Ding
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Regional Language

As the world is becoming more and more connected, the education system needs to provide each learner with an equal opportunity for success. Measures should put in place to ensure that obtaining an education is made possible for all students, including foreign students, such as English speakers in China and Chinese speakers in the United Kingdom. The biggest obstacle to making this dream a reality is that very few educators are sufficiently equipped to understand the foundational knowledge with regards to teaching learners of speaking a different language from the regional language, raising the need for target language acquisition. This paper will look into the Acculturation model of second language acquisition and Stephen Krashen's theory of second language acquisition. Since educators are increasingly being forced to teach students speaking foreign languages understanding second language acquisition is very important. Understanding the process of second language acquisition may be important to educators and enable students in second language acquisition.

Animacy hierarchy effects on the second language acquisition of attributive psych adjectives

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
JINGYU ZHANG
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Universal Properties ◽  
Language Input ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

ABSTRACTThis article argues that “animacy” in the context of attributive psych adjectives can be subcategorized into “human,” “human by metonymy,” and “animate” and that these subcategories play a role for Chinese speakers acquiring English. A study that involved an acceptability judgment test found that, in contrast to a group of native controls, the second language (L2) speakers misuse adjectival –ed for adjectival –ing with animate nouns and adjectival –ing for adjectival –ed with human by metonymy nouns, indicating that L2 speakers appeal to an “animacy hierarchy” in determining the meanings of English psych adjectives. There is no evidence in the target language input for such a hierarchy, so the results are consistent with the view that these L2 learners are drawing on universal properties of thematic organization.

scholarly journals Subjacency Violations in Second Language Acquisition: Some Evidence from Chinese Mandarin Speakers of L2 English

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Xia Dai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Mandarin Speakers

The literature review shows that many previous studies have used Subjacency to test the availability of UniversalGrammar (UG) in second language acquisition. Schachter (1989) claimed that L2 learners do not have access to UGprinciples, while Hawkins and Chan (1997) suggested that L2 learners had partial availability of UG, for they foundthere was a strong difference between the elementary L2 learners and the advanced L2 learners in judging theungrammaticality of Subjacency violations; that is, the elementary L2 learners owned the highest accuracy. Underthe hypothesis of partially availability of UG in second language acquisition, L2 learners are only able to acquire theproperties instantiated in their L1s. Although they may accept violations of universal constraints, it is only at facevalue; rather the L2 learners develop different syntactic representations from the native speakers. This study has beenundertaken as a follow-up study of Hawkins and Chan (1997), and tested on L1 Mandarin speakers of L2 English injudging the grammaticality of their Subjacency violations. The results of the Grammaticality Judgement Test showthat the accuracy of Chinese speakers in judgement increased with English proficiency and that they rejectedresumptives inside islands as a repair. Contrary to the previous findings, this study provides evidence that UG isavailable in adult second language acquisition.

World Englishes, Second Language Acquisition, and Language Contact

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajend Mesthrie
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Second Languages

Although areas of potential overlap between the fields of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and World Englishes (WE) may seem obvious, they developed historically in isolation from each other. SLA had a psycholinguistic emphasis, studying the ways in which individuals progressed towards acquisition of a target language. WE studies initially developed a sociolinguistic focus, describing varieties that arose as second languages in former British colonies. This chapter explores the way in which each field could benefit from the other. The SLA emphasis on routes of development, overgeneralization, universals of SLA, and transfer in the interlanguage has relevance to characterizing sub-varieties of WEs. Conversely, the socio-political dimension of early WE studies and the notion of macro- or group acquisition fills a gap in SLA studies which sometimes failed to acknowledge that the goal of second language learners was to become bilingual in ways that were socially meaningful within their societies.

The value of clitics in non-native Spanish

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juana M. Liceras
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Parameter Setting ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
French And English

One of the tasks of second language acquisition research is to determine the ‘linguistic’ nature of interlanguage systems. To achieve this goal it is mandatory to formulate the properties of learners' grammars in terms of the theoretical constructs proposed by linguistic theory. I have proposed elsewhere (Liceras, 1985) that, permeability, one of those properties, is related to parameter setting. In this paper, it is hypothesized that the location of a given process in the different components of the grammar may also be relevant in the determination of permeability. In the light of conflicting evidence provided by the Spanish interlanguage of French and English speakers with respect to the value of clitics in the non-native grammar, it is suggested that, due to the nature of ‘intake’, L2 learners of Spanish may locate clitics in the lexicon (as affix-like elements) or postlexically (as words in the syntax) rather than giving them a unidimensional value. I have also suggested that non-native clitics may not share all the properties that are assigned to Modern Spanish clitic pronouns.

Impact of an interaction-oriented Japanese course on learners

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 123-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoko Ogawa
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Japanese People ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Active Interaction

Abstract Neustupny (1988, 1991) recommended an interactive competence approach for second language acquisition that places a greater emphasis on learners’ active interaction with native speakers in real communicative situations. In order to have the opportunity to interact with native speakers in the target language, a conscious effort by the learners as well as support from the teachers and the community is essential. The third-year Japanese course at Monash University was designed to encourage and support learners to establish and maintain relationships with Japanese people as well as to utilise various other resources of the target language and culture. This paper examines the impact of this interaction-oriented course on learners in their establishment and maintenance of relationships with Japanese people, and cultural and social understanding. It is based on data collected during 1996 and 1997.

Pre-Basic Varieties

1996 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 135-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Perdue
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Useful Knowledge ◽  
Single Level ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
European Science ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Level Analysis

Three of the traditional questions in (second) language acquisition research are: 1. What is acquired, in what order? 2. How is it acquired? 3. Why is it acquired? In this paper, I concentrate on (1) and (3), proposing a description of various learners' paths towards various L2s, and examining different factors which may explain the course of acquisition. The learners were, for the most part, recorded during the European Science Foundation's study of the spontaneous (untutored) acquisition of Dutch, French, English and German (Perdue 1993); other comparable studies will also be discussed. The emphasis is placed on the beginning stages of acquisition in an attempt to demonstrate that these stages are crucial for an understanding of the whole process. It will be argued (a) that there are stages (grammars) through which all learners pass, (b) that these stages can be characterised explicitly, but (c) the description of these stages, and of the transition between them, is not reducible to a single-level analysis, and (d) distance between (source and target) language pairs partially determines the amount of useful knowledge available to the absolute beginner.

scholarly journals A Literature-Based Approach on Age Factors in Second Language Acquisition: Children, Adolescents, and Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Burhan Ozfidan ◽  
Lynn M. Burlbaw
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Instructional Methods ◽  
Age Factors ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Age Factor ◽  
Adolescents And Adults

Age is an essential factor in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), impacting the success of students and instructional methods. The purpose of this study is to examine the age factor in SLA by examining three age categories – children, adolescents and adults. In doing so, the study considers the Critical Period Hypothesis as a base of linguistic research in the area of age factor. The study disapproves the assertion of the hypothesis that all prepubescent learners are able to acquire native-like proficiency in target language pronunciation. The study analyzes common SLA beliefs, including: 1) younger learners are more successful than older learners, 2) the language learning processes of younger learners are less stressful and require less of an effort, and 3) young learners are more skillful in language learning. Adolescents and adults are considered as older learners in terms of cognitive maturity. The results of the study indicated that children learn a language easier than adolescents and adults, particularly with respect to pronunciation and morpho syntax. Adolescents are good at syntax and listening sills, while the best results for adults are for reading and writing activities. Thus, the types of brain organization at learners of different developmental stages lead to the need for a diversity of instructional methods for children, adolescents and adults.

scholarly journals THE ACCULTURATION MODEL OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: INSPECTING WEAKNESSES AND STRENGTHS

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Zaker
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Affecting Factor ◽  
Different Types ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Language Environment

Previous research has highlighted the significant impact of culture on learning a second language (L2). Accordingly, culture is now believed to be a major learning-affecting factor which, along with linguistic competence, facilitates the process of L2 learning. Some have proposed that being surrounded in the L2 environment gives one a better chance of learning an L2. Based on this premise, Schumann in 1978 proposed the acculturation/pidginization model as an environmental-oriented model that emphasizes identification with a community as the primary requirement of second language acquisition. This study attempts to take a closer look at different aspects of this theory. The taxonomy of factors which control social distance is presented along with the different types of acculturation and the stages/steps of acculturation in an L2 environment. The article concludes with a discussion on the advantages and shortcomings of the model.Keywords: acculturation, culture, pidginization, target language environment

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