Misconceptions About the Second Language Acquisition Process

Author(s):  
Janette K. Klingner ◽  
Estella Almanza de Schonewise ◽  
Carmen de Onís ◽  
Laura Méndez Barletta
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaopeng Li ◽  
Lianrui Yang

The present study aims to investigate the general characteristics of topicprominent typological interlanguage development of Chinese learners of English in terms of acquiring subject-prominent English structures from a discourse perspective. Topic structures mainly appear in Chinese discourse in the form of topic chains (Wang, 2002; 2004). The research target are the topic chain, which is the main topic-prominent structure in Chinese discourse, and zero anaphora, which is the most common topic anaphora in the topic chain. Two important findings emerged from the present study. First, the characteristics of Chinese topic chains are transferrable to the interlanguage of Chinese EFL learners, thus resulting in overgeneralization of the zero anaphora. Second, the interlanguage discourse of Chinese EFL learners reflects a change of the second language acquisition process from topic-prominence to subject-prominence, thus lending support to the discourse transfer hypothesis.


1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia White

Arguments for universal grammar (DO) in generative theory are based on the so called "logical problem of language acquisition." The nature of the problem becomes apparent when we consider the end product of the acquisition process and compare this to the input data, which do not seem sufficiently rich or precise to allow the learner to work out all the complexities of the adult grammar, unless one assumes the availability of certain innate principles (DO). In this paper, I will suggest that this orientation is also useful when one comes to consider second language acquisition. If we focus on the successful second language (L2) learner, it would appear that he or she will also achieve complex knowledge of the L2 which goes well beyond the input. This suggests that DO might have a role to play in L2 acquisition as well, and raises the question of whether the way that DO has operated in the Ll has any effects in L2 acquisition. I will briefly look at current L2 research that presupposes a DO framework, as well as suggesting some directions for further research.


1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazue Kanno

This article proposes that L2 learners differ from native speakers with respect to two benchmarks–the extent to which native-like success on one principle of UG predicts comparable success on other principles (lateral consistency), and the extent to which this level of success is stable over time (longitudinal). Results of two experimental studies on the acquisition of Japanese as a second language show that L2 learners exhibit neither lateral nor longitudinal consistency with respect to UG, at least in the early stages of the acquisition process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Heather M. Austin

Analyzing the errors of students’ learner language (interlanguage) can help language instructors to not only betterunderstand why the errors may be occurring, but also provide them with insight on how to better guide learners intheir L2 learning. In this paper, the learner language of two Turkish students of English was analyzed regarding thethird person singular –s inflection and interaction strategies. The author met with each student three times and speechdata was collected during these meetings. An error and interlanguage analysis was then conducted. Reflecting onthese types of analyses can be a very enlightening process in a teacher’s continuing education. Various implicationsarise, such as more objectivity in approaching student errors, creating better learning opportunities in the classroom,as well as having a better indication of where students are at in their own second language acquisition process.


1985 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Chaudron

Models of the second language acquisition process have not specifically elaborated on the nature of the learner's perception and processing of target language input, a process known as intake. They have typically failed to specify the mechanisms or variables involved in the intake process or to distinguish between the stages of processing input from perception, to comprehension, to assimilation into an interlanguage grammar. Research and theoretical models from L1 psycholinguistic literature have been neglected. Recent L1 and L2 research on language processing are compared, and experimental methods for eliciting data to confirm them are discussed.


1995 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhonda Oliver

This paper reports on a study that examines the pattern of interaction in child native speaker (NS)–nonnative speaker (NNS) conversation to determine if the NSs provide negative feedback to their NNS conversational partners. It appears that just as children are able to modify their input for their less linguistically proficient conversational partners in first language acquisition (Snow, 1977), so too are children able to modify their interactions for NNS peers in the second language acquisition process and, in doing so, provide negative feedback. Two forms of NS modification were identified in this study as providing reactive and implicit negative feedback to the NNS. These were (a) negotiation strategies, including repetition, clarification requests, and comprehension checks, and (b) recasts. The results indicated that NSs respond differentially to the grammaticality and ambiguity of their NNS peers' conversational contributions. Furthermore, NS responses (negotiate, recast, or ignore) appeared to be triggered by the type and complexity of NNS errors, although it was more likely overall that negative feedback would be used rather than the error ignored. Additionally, evidence suggested that negative feedback was incorporated by the NNSs into their interlanguage systems. This indicates that not only does negative evidence exist for child second language learners in these types of conversations, but that it is also usable and used by them in the language acquisition process.


Author(s):  
Ruth Murias Román

The purpose of this study is to determine, classify and compare the diverse emblematic gestures characteristic of Turkish culture for use in the Turkish as a foreign language class. In order to determine the specific gestures used and recognised in Turkish society, a questionnaire was administered to 54 informants. The findings of the research revealed that there are emblematic gestures covering the 151 most common communicative functions of the language, of which nine are potentially unique to Turkish culture.  Afterwards, with the aim of determining if there are gestures characteristic of Turkish culture, that is, empty gestures, we compare them with Spanish, Brazilian and Russian gestures. The resulting glossary of these gestures demonstrates the necessity of including non-verbal communication issues during the acquisition process of Turkish as a foreign language.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. p109
Author(s):  
Lili Wang

In the past 20 years, there is a shifting trend in the second language acquisition (SLA) field departing from the traditional “logical science” (Zuengler & Miller, 2006) to a context-oriented perspective for its robust power in exploring social factors beyond individual internal cognition in L2 processing research. While context-oriented researchers claim the formal linguistic-focused research decontextualizes L2 learning from its environment and thus is problematic to comprehensively explain the L2 acquisition process, some scholars taking formal linguistic perspectives resist such critique and contend that social conditions are neither sufficient nor “necessary for scientific discovery” (Zuengler & Miller, 2006, p. 15). Within this paper, I will interrogate what differentiates the cognitive paradigm from L2 socialization paradigm in terms of second language acquisition.


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