CHAPTER 1Description and Explaining L2 Acquisition

Source: Rod Ellis 2003 Second Language Acquisition

Name : Sekar Katon Wijayanti

NIM : 2201410125

DEFINITION

Second → immediately after the first and before any others. (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

In this context second can refer to any language that is learned subsequent to the mother tongue.

Language→ a system of communication consisting of sounds, words and grammar, or the system of communication used by the people of a particular country or profession. (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

Acquisition→ the process of getting something. (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

Second Language Acquisition can be defined as the way in which people learn a language other

than their mother tongue, inside or outside of a classroom

GOALS

The description of L2 acquisition proceeds

Explanation; identifying the external and internal factors that account for why learners acquire an L2 in the way they do.

EXTERNAL FACTORS

The social milieu in which learning takes

place. Social conditions influence the

oppurtunities that learners have to hear and

speak the language and the attitudes that they

develop towards it.

The input that learners receive, that is, the

samples of languag eto which a learner is

exposed.

A CASE STUDIES

A case study is a detailed study of a learner’s

acquisition of an L2. it is tipically longitudinal, involving

the collection of samples of the learner’s speech or

writing over period of time, sometimes years.

The Two Cases Studies

The case of an adult learners

( Wes, 33 years old, native of Japan)

Over 3 years live in Hawaii:Small number of grammatical features.Could already use some features with

native-like accuracy.Very few verbsFar short native accuracy three years later.

J, 10 year-old, Portuguese R, 11 years-old, Pakistan

AdventurousConfident learnersWilling to communicate in English

Speaking (unable to write) Punjabi as his native languageLacked confidenceUsing his native language extensivelyRelying his elder sister to help him communicate in English

Both of them were learnin g English in a language unit in London.( J spent about 12 months, R spent two whole school years in the unit.

A case study of child learners

By the end of study both learners ability had grown considerably.

These case study show us that: They raise a number of important

methodological issues relating to ho L2 acquisition should be studied.

They raise issues relating to the description of learner language.

They point to some of the problems researchers experience in trying to explain L2 acquisition.

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

The typical of SLA

What it means to say that a learner has

‘acquired’ a feature of the target

language. Scmidth, like many other

researchers defines ‘acquisition’ in

terms of whether the learner manifests

pattern of language. It might be the

learners know with they can do

There is another problem in determining whether learners have ‘acquired’ a particular issue.The learners made considerably use of fixed expressions or formulas. Learners may manifest target-like use of a feature in a formula without having acquired the ability to use the feature productively.

A problem in trying to measure whether ‘acquisition’ has taken place concerns learners’ overuse of linguistic forms.

ISSUES IN THE DESCRIPTION OF LEARNER LANGUAGE

The learners make errors of different kinds. Such as: failed to use grammatical features at all and used others incorrectly, made sociolinguistic errors.

The learners acquire a large number of formulaic chunks, which they use to perform communicative functions that are important to them and which contribute to the fluency of their unplanned speech

The role that the formula play, not just in enhancing learners’ performance but also in their acquisition in L2

The most important issues raised by the case studies is whether learners acquire the language systematically.

ISSUES IN THE EXPLANATION OF L2 ACQUISITION

L2 acquisition involves different kinds of learning. Learners internalize chunks of language structure and they acquire rules.

Learners must engage in both item learning and system learning.

An explanation of L2 acquisition must account for both item and system learning and how it interrelate.

The learners follow a particular development pattern because their mental faculties are structured in such a way that is the way they have to learn.

None of the learners in the two case of study reached a high-level of performance

The learners did not wish to belong to the community of native speakers they ad contact with and, therefore kept a linguistic ‘distance’ between themselves and them.

They are able to satisfy their

communicative needs, after all it is not

necessary to learn full grammar

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