scholarly journals WHAT MAKES SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION COMMUNICATIVE POWER: NATURE? NURTURE? INTERACTION? OR ALL TOGETHER? PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO TESOL IN COMPARATIVE MULTILINGUAL PRACTICES

Author(s):  
Eshchanov Marat Urazaliyevich

The article discusses theories of second language acquisition within the framework of nature, nurturing, and interactionist views to language learning and reveals the results of their application to non-native multilingual people’s language acquisition experiences in communicative and meaningfully absorbing environments. The research proposes the necessary space for the discussion of practicality and authenticity of nature, nurture and interactionist theories in language learning, which can be conducted as an integral examination of second language learner efficacy. KEY WORDS: second language, acquisition, nature, nurture, interactionist, technique, authentic, skill and knowledge, experiences, environments, learn, acquire, comprehensible input and output, meaningful language acquisition, autonomous learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumayyah Qaed Alsulami

<p>In spite of Krashen’s (1985) claims that the only way to acquire a second language is through non-stressful comprehensible input, Swain (1995, 1998, 2005) and others propose that the production of language (speaking or writing), under certain circumstances, is a significant part of the second-language acquisition process. Swain also states that there are three functions of output, and one of these is the noticing or triggering function, in which through producing output, learners become aware of their linguistic knowledge. This study examines the role and effectiveness of output – in particular, the noticing function of language output – in developing the writing skills of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student from Saudi Arabia. The notice function enables the student to identify lexis and grammar problems in his writing. Data collection for the study was conducted in three stages: In Stage 1 the participant, who studies English at Latrobe Language Centre in Level 4A, wrote three paragraphs in response to illustrated questions. In Stage 2, the participant compared his original writing to model paragraph feedback tools. In Stage 3, the student rewrote his original paragraphs based on what he noticed in Stages 1 and 2. This methodology demonstrated the aspects of language that a second-language learner noticed while forming a paragraph on his own. It also illustrated what the participant noticed when he compared his writing to a model and what changes he made to his writing, as a result. It pushed the learner to create a modified output, leading to development of his writing skills in second-language acquisition.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Jawaria Samiya Siddiqui

This paper investigates the factors that facilitate/hinder Second Language Learning. The two factors that the study focuses on are age and motivation. Role of motivation in relation to age is discussed of a deviant case using Qualitative Paradigm, and the data is analyzed using Narrative Inquiry, Case Study and Retrospective Longitudinal design to find out if motivation plays any significant role in terms of achieving successful second language competence. It is a common belief that people who start young to learn a Second Language perform better than the old learners. However, the results indicate that this is not true in many cases, as this study on a deviant case shows that motivation plays a very important role in achieving successful Second Language Acquisition. If the learners are intrinsically motivated and are motivated from the beginning of their learning journey irrespective of their age then learning becomes easier.


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 98-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Wigglesworth

Language learning is a complex set of processes that largely take place in the learner's head. The extent to which learners consciously focus on specific aspects of language, the degree to which they notice particular features of language, and how this is done has been the object of considerable debate in different theoretical approaches to second language acquisition. For researchers in second language acquisition, one dilemma is how to find out what learners notice, and how, if at all, they incorporate this into their developing linguistic knowledge. Here, I discuss three approaches to researching learner cognitive processes that can be used to identify the knowledge that learners have about their second language, and obtain some insights into the cognitive processes of learners. These approaches have the potential to contribute to our understanding of how learners learn a second language, and, therefore, how this task may be facilitated. The first approach attempts to tap directly into the learner's thought through the use of think-aloud protocols, whereas the second involves having learners engage with activities that encourage them to talk aloud, thus providing insights into their thought processes. The third approach uses planning effects on task performance to investigate how learners monitor their language.


2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-142
Author(s):  
Albert Valdman

In the past century major changes in the study of language learning, and its attendant effects on language instruction, derived from the espousal of behavioral psychology by structural linguistics of the Bloomfieldian persuasion. Did not the founder of this strand of structuralism, who collaborated in the Army language manual for the teaching of Russian under the revealing pseudonym of I. M. Lisnin, declare: “Language learning is overlearning, nothing else is of any use”? Noam Chomsky's (1959) brilliant demonstration of the reductionism of the most extreme form of behaviorism—Skinner's operant conditioning (Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior, Language, 35, 26–58)—triggered the demise of the influence of behavioristic views of language acquisition. This demise was accompanied by that of the structural approach to second language teaching associated with such applied linguists as Robert Lado, although it must be acknowledged that the combination of these two theoretical strands did lead to significant changes in foreign language classrooms—for example, the abandonment of grammar translation and a shift of focus from written texts to speech. However, what applied linguists of that generation failed to do was to observe how actual second language learners in both naturalistic and instructed contexts process and reorganize linguistic input, how they intake it, and how they turn it into output in communicative interactions. It was not until the impact of Chomskian-inspired studies of first language acquisition and Pit Corder's (1967) seminal “The significance of learners' errors” (International Review of Applied Linguistics, 5, 161–170) that the second language learner came into focus and that the field of second language acquisition research began to flourish. In this connection, it is noteworthy that bringing to a wider international audience the proceedings of the Neuchâtel colloquia led by Corder served as a catalyst for the launching of SSLA.


2013 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Jogilė Teresa Ramonaitė

The functional approach to the interlanguage of spontaneous learners of L2 helps identify that from the very beginning without yet possessing many resources of the target language the speaker makes a systemic use of them. When acquiring a language in a natural environment the effectiveness of communication is of vital importance to the speaker because he or she must start interacting without yet having acquired many of the elements of the structure of the target language. A second language learner makes use of the cognitive resources already in possession and therefore when beginning to use the new language invokes the universal pragmatic principles for utterance organization such as word order. A very important step in L2 acquisition is the appearance of the predicate in the interlanguage of the learner because then the utterances of the speaker are constructed following also the semantic-syntactic principles. This variety of the learnerʼs interlanguage, called the basic variety, is in principle sufficient for elementary communication and the development of interlanguage in the morphological perspective for some learners fossilizes in this variety. In due time and given favourable conditions, the interlanguage of the learner can move on to the so-called post-basic variety that sees the formation of a system approaching that of the target language and the principles of utterance organization previously used are gradually replaced by syntactic principles characteristic of the specific target language. The situation of international adoption presents favourable conditions for the language acquisition of younger and also older children. The article offers examples and analysis of the linguistic behaviour of an over 11-year-old Lithuanian girl adopted to Italy. Her linguistic behaviour has been meticulously observed and recorded for a year after the adoption starting from the very first contact with the new language. The analysis shows that the structure of the target language is acquired according to the universal model proceeding from simple to more complex forms. However the situation in which the acquisition takes place determines the rapidity of L2 acquisition and a very advanced level after a year in the new country. The observed girl reaches the basic variety after having spent only a month surrounded by the new language and one month later her interlanguage demonstrates clear signs of morphological sensitivity and the interlanguage system heading towards that of the target language. After a year in the country the entire Italian verb system is in place, including the most complex parts of it. Moreover, the girl makes use of those system elements that are optional, in a way that native speakers are able to do.


2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 450-451
Author(s):  
Sufumi So

This book, as part of a series published by Erlbaum entitled Second language acquisition research: Theoretical and methodological issues, addresses the question as to how the acquisition of a nonnative language progresses through interaction in language classrooms. As the author admits (p. xiii), this is hardly a new topic in studies of SLA. The book, however, sheds some new light by introducing novel theoretical and methodological perspectives in dealing with this old topic. The author finds in Vygotskyan ideas a theoretical stance to frame her views of language, the language learner, and the language learning process. Furthermore, it focuses on the second language (L2) acquisition of Japanese by English-speaking learners, which has only recently begun attracting the attention of SLA researchers.


1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
June Gassin

This paper assumes the unified nature of language behaviour including verbal, kinesic and prosodic forms. In the light of this, it proposes that Interlanguage Theory should be expanded to include kinesic and prosodic modes of behaviour. It presents the hypothesis that the acquisition of second language kinesic and prosodic forms takes place in a similar fashion to acquisition of second language verbal forms acquisition is developmental; it is subject to mother tongue interference; it can undergo fossilization. It is further hypothesised that fossilization in kinesic and prosodic forms may have cognitive and emotional implications and may even impede the second language learner in his/her development on the verbal level.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruyun Hu

In recent years; age has being considered as the major factor in determining language learners’ successful foreign language acquisition; which is correlated to the assumption stated by Critical Period Hypothesis and Neurological Hypothesis. Most importantly; these assumptions might be concluded that that language learner can acquire foreign language better than adults do at their early age. Additionally; there is still a widespread belief held by many scholars; stating that young children are better at second language acquisition (SLA) than the later starters; such as the adolescents or adults. Therefore; whether young learners learn second language better than the older will be discussed in this article.


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigrid Behrent ◽  
Sabine Doff ◽  
Nicole Marx ◽  
Gudrun Ziegler

Our overview of current dissertation work at German universities has identified four main strands of research interest within the field of second language acquisition (SLA). The 38 Ph.D. theses reviewed here were all read between 2006 and 2009 and fall into the subject areas of: foreign language (FL) teaching in primary school, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and multilingual pedagogy, language learner autonomy, and multimedia and language learning. Research methods are mostly qualitative in nature, although method and instrument triangulation are common, and studies often involve smaller research groups. The focus of study tends to be quite practical, reflecting the need to adapt teaching curriculums and learning materials to changing learning situations and populations.


2008 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 95-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa McGarry

AbstractThe increasing recognition of the concept language ideology and the corresponding increasing use of the term have not yet been matched by applications in the field of second language acquisition. However, applications of the concept in analysis of actual classroom practices have shown it to have considerable explanatory power. Greater consideration of language ideology in SLA is necessary not only to achieve greater understanding of the role of ideology in various areas but also to show connections between these areas that may yield important generalizations and to impel the application of the concept in areas where it has been neglected by highlighting its uneven treatment.


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