The Study Of Language 4th Edition - Chapter 14

1. SECOND
LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
Chapter 14 – study of the
language
George YULE
LINGUISTICS
Carlos Lara

2. Second language learning
 A distinction is sometimes made between
learning in a “foreign language” setting (learning
a language that is not generally spoken in the
surrounding community) and a “second
language”
 acquisition: the gradual development of ability in
a first or second language by using it naturally in
communicative situations
 learning: the conscious process of accumulating
knowledge, in contrast to acquisition.
Second Language Acquisition
Acquisition and learning

3.  For most people, the experience with an L2 is
fundamentally different from their L1 experience
and it is hardly conducive to acquisition.
 Joseph Conrad whose English speech retained
the strong Polish accent of his L1.
 the critical period for language acquisition has
passed
 Against this view, it has been demonstrated that
students in their early teens are quicker and more
effective L2 learners in the classroom than, for
example, seven-year-olds.
Acquisition barriers
Second Language Acquisition

4. Affective factors
 Teenagers are typically much more self-conscious
than younger children.
 If this self-consciousness is accompanied by a
lack of empathy with the other culture (for
example, feeling no identification with its speakers
or their customs)
 This type of emotional reaction, or “affect,” may
also be caused by dull textbooks, unpleasant
classroom surroundings or an exhausting schedule
of study and/or work.
Second Language Acquisition

5. Focus on method
 the need for instruction in other languages has led to a
variety of educational approaches and methods
aimed at fostering L2 learning.
 William Caxton used his newly established printing press
to produce a book of Right good lernyng for to lerne
shortly frenssh and englyssh.
 The grammar-translation method
 The direct method
 The audio-lingual method
 Suggestopedia
 The silent way
 Total physical response
 The natural approach
 The communicative approach
Second Language Acquisition

6. The grammar–translation
method
 Vocabulary lists and sets of grammar rules are used to
define the target of learning, memorization is
encouraged and written language rather than spoken
language is emphasized.
 Learner groups work on translating different sections of
a text, and then regroup to connect together their
parts into a full text, with suitable connecting
language.
 Learners bring in examples of L1 language (in their
own country) or L2 (in another country) for discussion
and translation. Signs can be particularly interesting.
This can also be done by sharing material via group e-
mails.
 Learners bring in short texts/proverbs/poems and
present them to the class, explaining why they like
them. These are then used for translation.
Second Language Acquisition

7. The audiolingual
method
 It involved a systematic presentation of the
structures of the L2, moving from the simple to the
more complex, in the form of drills that the
student had to repeat.
 They are partially a reaction against the
artificiality of “pattern-practice” and also against
the belief that consciously learning the grammar
rules of a language will necessarily result in an
ability to use the language.
Second Language Acquisition
Communicative approaches

8. Focus on the learner
 Just as children acquiring their L1 produce certain
types of ungrammatical forms at times, so we might
expect the L2 learner to produce similar forms at
certain stages
 means using sounds, expressions or structures from the
L1 when performing in the L2.
 If the L1 and L2 have similar features (e.g. marking
plural on the ends of nouns), then the learner may be
able to benefit from the positive transfer of L1
knowledge to the L2.
negative transfer the use of a feature from the L1 (that is
really different from the L2) while performing in the L2, in
contrast to positive transfer
Transfer
Second Language Acquisition

9. Interlanguage
 the interim system of L2 learners, which has some
features of the L1and L2 plus some that are
independent of the L1 and the L2.
 fossilization: the process whereby an
interlanguage, containing many non-L2 features,
stops developing toward more accurate forms of
the L2.
 Discovering just what count as the appropriate
conditions for successful L2 learning is an ongoing
area of investigation.
Second Language Acquisition

10. Input and output
 describe the language that the learner is exposed
to.
 Input can be made comprehensible by being
simpler in structure and vocabulary, as in the
variety of speech called foreigner talk.
 negotiated input: L2 material that an acquirer/
learner is exposed to when active attention I1
drawn to that material during interaction in the L2
Second Language Acquisition

11. Output
 The opportunity to produce comprehensible
output in meaningful interaction seems to be
another important element in the learner’s
development of.
 the results of such task-based learning provide
overwhelming evidence of more and better L2
use by learners. The goal of such activities is not
that the learners will know more about the L2, but
that they will develop communicative
competence in the L2.
Second Language Acquisition

12. Communicative
competence
 can be defined as the general ability to use language
accurately, appropriately, and flexibly.
 The first component is grammatical compe- tence,
which involves the accurate use of words and
structures. Concentration on grammatical
competence only, however, will not provide the
learner with the ability to interpret or produce L2
expressions appropriately.
 socio-linguistic competence. It enables the learner to
know when to say Can I have some water? versus Give
me some water! according to the social context.

13.  The third component is called strategic
competence. This is the ability to organize a
message effectively and to compensate, via
strategies, for any difficulties.
 whereas others will try to express themselves using
a communication strategy.
 good idea). For example, a Dutch L1 speaker
wanted to refer to een hoefijzer in English, but
didn’t know the English word.

14. Applied
linguistics
 In attempting to investigate the complex nature
of L2 learning, we have to appeal to ideas not
only from linguistic analysis, but from other fields
such as communication studies, education,
psychology and sociology.
 it represents an attempt to deal with a large
range of practical issues involving language (not
only L2 learning), applied linguistics has created
connections with fields as diverse as
anthropology, neurolinguistics, social psychology
and sign language studies

15. Study questions
 1 What do you think “the Joseph Conrad
phenomenon” refers to?
The ability of an adult L2 learner to master aspects
of the written language, but to speak with a
distinct L1 accent, as exemplified by the writer
Joseph Conrad.
 2 Why do we say that mathematics is learned,
not acquired?
Mathematics is learned through a conscious
process of accumulating knowledge, typically in
an institutional setting. It is not acquired, because
ability doesn’t gradually develop without
conscious effort, as in the development of an L1
by young children.

16.  3 What are four typical barriers to acquiring an L2 as an
adult compared to L1 acquisition as a child?
-Insufficient focus on the process (adults have a lot of
other things to do and think about, unlike very young
children).
-insufficient incentive (adults already know a language
and can use it for their communicative needs)
-the “critical period” for language acquisition has passed
-affective factors, such as self-consciousness
 4 What is the difference between positive and negative
transfer?
Positive transfer is when the learner tries to use knowledge
about a feature of the L1 that is similar to the L2. Negative
transfer is when the learner tries to use an L1 feature that
is really different from the L2.

17.  5 What happens when an interlanguage fossilizes?
An interlanguage fossilizes when it contains many
forms that do not match the target language and
no further progress is being made.
 6 What are the three components of
communicative competence?
Grammatical, sociolinguistic and strategic
competence.

18. TASKS
 A What is the difference between “input” and
“intake” in L2 learning?
The term “input” is used for language data that the
learner is exposed to. However, input is only what is
available, not what receives attention, and hence
can only be treated as potential data that a learner
might use.
That is, there must be some active processing of part
of the language data by learners in order to “take
in” specific features of the data. It is this processing
that changes input to intake. In an analogy made
by Sharwood-Smith, “input is the goods that are
presented to the customer ... intake is what is
actually bought and taken away from the shop”

19.  B What arguments are presented in support of “the
output hypothesis” in L2 studies?
The output hypothesis
Swain (2005) has argued that it is when they are
producing language (output) that learners become
much more likely to develop certain skills in the L2.
When learners try to produce utterances in the L2,
they are more likely to notice gaps in their
knowledge and realize what it is they need to know,
making them more active learners. In many ways,
the need to produce language creates a stronger
motivation to learn ways of accomplishing accurate
production. It is only through output, for example,
that learners can develop more fluency in using the
L2.

20.  C What is meant by a “stylistic continuum” in the study
of interlanguage?
The stylistic continuum The idea of a stylistic continuum
in interlanguage comes from the work of Elaine Tarone.
She noted that there was a lot of variability in the way
learners used their L2, sometimes having more accurate
pronunciation and grammar than at other times.
 D What is contrastive analysis and how might it help us
understand the following types of L2 errors in English
produced by students whose L1 is Spanish?
(a) He must wear the tie black.
(b) My study is modernes languages.
(c) He no understand you.
(d) It was the same size as a ball of golf.
(e) We stayed at home because was raining.
(f) I eat usually eggs for breakfast.

21. (a) *the tie black: English typically has adjectives before
nouns (the black tie), but in Spanish, adjectives usually
follow nouns, so *the tie black is a Spanish construction
used with English words.
(b) In English, only the noun has a plural inflection, not the
accompanying adjective (e.g. modern languages), but in
Spanish, adjectives also have plural inflections to match
their nouns, so *modernes languages is another Spanish
pattern, used with English words.
(c) In Spanish, the negative form no can be placed before
the verb, resulting in *no understand, but in English, the
negative must be attached to an auxiliary verb (He
doesn’t understand or He can’t understand). The auxiliary
verb forms and uses in English are difficult for all learners.

22. (d) In English, it is common to create noun phrases with two nouns together in
a compound, as in golf ball. Spanish expresses this relationship with a different
type of structure, as illustrated by *ball of golf. A similar problem has been
identified in the use of the Spanish possessive structure, as illustrated by the car
of my friend, in contrast to the preferred structure in English my friend’s car.
(e) In many Spanish expressions, the subject is not expressed (*was raining),
whereas every English verb must have a subject, even a meaningless one, as
in
it was raining.
(f) The word usually is an adverb and, in English, adverbs are not typically used
between a verb (eat) and its object (eggs). That restriction doesn’t exist in
Spanish, so the structure with usually between the verb and its object will not
sound strange to Spanish ears. Adverbs can be used in several different
positions in English, but just not between the verb and its object. (Usually I eat
..., I usually eat ..., ... for breakfast usually).

23.  E One feature of interlanguage grammars is the apparent existence of temporary
rules that don’t match the rules of either the L1 or the L2, as described in Gass
and Selinker (2001). The following examples are from a speaker whose L1 was
Arabic. Can you describe the rule(s) he seems to be using for the use of plural -s
in English?
(a) How many brother you have?
(b) The streets are very wide.
(c) I finish in a few day.
(d) Here is a lot of animal in the houses.
(e) Many people live in villages.
(f) There are two horses in the picture.
(g) Both my friend from my town.
(h) Seven days in a week.
This speaker uses plural -s in these examples: the streets, the houses, villages, two
horses, seven days.
He doesn’t use plural -s in these examples: How many brother, a few day, a lot of
animal, both my friend.
It seems that when there is a quantifier expression (many, a few, a lot of, both)
with the noun, the speaker doesn’t use plural -s. Mostly that results in L2 errors,
except in the phrase many people, in example (e), where the noun is already plural
and isn’t normally used with the -s inflection in the target L2.

24.  F Classroom activities in communicative language teaching create situations in which
L2 learners produce different types of communication strategies. Can you match each
type of strategy (1–6) with one of the examples (a–f)? How would you rank them from
least to most effective?
1 appeal for assistance 4 message abandonment
2 approximation 5 mime or gesture
3 circumlocution 6 sound imitation
(a) the color is dark and…the size is just asa hand…it is made of…la- leather
(talking about a glove)
(b) how do you say in English that word … we say in Spanish “bujı ´a”
(talking about a candlestick)
(c) the man he play a … you know … it makes a [whistles] like that
(talking about a small musical pipe)
(d) thefirst you…like put together and you…do the next step…I can’t…I’msorry
(talking about a plunge coffee maker)
(e) maybe is something like a rope
(talking about an electrical cord)
(f) the oval is the big one and the other part is what take to
[demonstrates holding the handle of a brush]
(talking about a Christmas tree stand)

25. Communication strategies
1(b), 2(e), 3(a), 4(d), 5(f), 6(c)
Least effective is 4(d) because communication stops. The pair
in 5(f) and 6(c) may also be ineffective sometimes because
they make the listener guess the word or concept that the
speaker has in mind. The form in 1(b) seems to be moving in
the direction of better communication because it provides a
more specific clue to what The speaker has in mind. It also
tries to make the communication collaborative. The forms in
2(e) and 3(a) represent other ways of offering more specific
information
about what the speaker has in mind. In these cases, the
speaker is taking more
responsibility for the success of the communication.