THEORY OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION based on R.Ellis book

1.    Introduction : Describing and explaining L2 acquisition

Many people think that they have to learn a second language, not just as pleasing time, but often as means of obtaining an education or securing employment. In learning second language some people find some problems in mastering it.

Teachers or instructors of second language (l2) have responsibility to help their students in mastering L2. It is important for teachers and learners to understand how second language acquired and learnt and what factors can determine the successful of learners.

L2 acquisition can be defined as the way in which people learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside of a classroom, and second language acquisition (SLA) as the study of this. It seems that Second language acquisition (SLA) try to describe how L2 are learnt naturally or artificially and explain what factors can determine it.

To understand how learners acquire an L2, an SLA researcher may ask learners who have been successful in learning a L2. The researcher can ask them how they do, observes how their language change from time to time, and watches how their overall ability to communicate develop or how they become more fluent in their use of an L2. Their language acquisition can be described by looking at their pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

The language of L2 learner may vary because it is developed by different individual from different background. It is influenced by some factors. There are two factors can influence L2 acquisition, internal factors and external factors. Internal factors relate to cognitive mechanisms which enable them to extract information about the L2 from the input such as aptitude, attitude, interest, motivation and personality. External factors relate to factors outside of individual which give him/her opportunity to acquire input of language and practice it such as social condition.

There are some interesting issues in describing and explain L2 acquisition. What is need to described, what it means to say that a learner has acquired a feature of target language, and whether learners have acquired a particular feature?

2.    The nature of learner language

To describe learner language, we may focus on learners’ errors, developing procedures for identifying, describing, explaining, and evaluating, then exploring the regulation of L2 acquisition.

a.       Errors and error analysis

The following step may follow to analyze learners’ errors

1)      Identifying error

To identifying error, the researchers need to compare the sentences learners produce with what seem to be normal or correct sentences in the target language. In identifying errors, we need to distinguish errors and mistakes that the learners have in their language (sentences). It is identified as errors when learners have no knowledge about what is correct, and it is mistake or an accidental slip when learners have knowledge about what is correct. We know it by looking at learners’ consistently in their performance. For instance, when learners are trying to express their feeling or thought in past tense. If they use verb in past form in one part and not in others, it is categorized as a mistake, but when they consistently use present form, it is categorized as errors.

2)       Describing errors

Once all errors have been identified, they can be described and classified into types. Errors can be classified according to grammar categories such as errors in verbs, errors in nouns, pronouns, etc. errors also can be identified by looking at the learners utterances. The learners’ utterances may differ from reconstructed target-language utterances caused by some factors such omission, misinformation, misordering, and inference.

3)      Explaining errors

In explaining error, we need to know why learners make error. Errors can have different sources of sentence

4)      Error evaluation

Some errors known as global errors violate the overall structure and others known as local errors, affect only a single constituent in sentences (for example, the verb) and are, perhaps, less likely to  create any processing problem.

b.      Development patterns

There are the regularities of L2 acquisition. Acquisition follows a definite order. The order of acquisition describes the process of how language features acquire and how accurately these features are used by learners. The researchers of SLA found evident that learners regularly master some grammatical features before others. Most of the learners they have studied perform progressive –ing, auxiliary be, and plural –s most accurately, suggesting that they acquired these features first. Articles and irregular past come next. The most difficult structures are regular past and third person –s.

The grammatical features also manifest clear development sequences, involving stages that reflect unique ’rules’ not evident in the input to which learners are exposed. Learners seem to be actively involved in shaping how they acquire an L2. For instance: when they learn verb. First they learn present verb such as eat, then they learn regular verb in past and past perfect, they will change eat into past verb “eated” (overgeneralization). They will produce correct “ate” after they learn irregular past.

c.       Variability

Learner language is systematic.  We may be able to explain, and even to predict when learners use one form and when another. Learners vary in the use of L2 according to: Linguistic context, situational context, and psycholinguistic context: whether learners have opportunity to plan their production

3.    Interlanguage

Interlanguange refers to the systematic development of learner language reflect a mental systematic development of learner language reflects a mental system of L2 knowledge. The theories of interlanguage are influenced by behaviorist learning theory and mentalist theory.

a.       Behaviorist learning theory

Learning is like any other kind of learning involving habit formation. A habit is a stimulus-response connection. Learners will actively involve in learning process when they have the opportunity to practice making the correct response to a given stimulus. They tend to imitate models of the correct form (stimuli) and receive positive reinforcement if they are correct and negative if incorrect.

b.      A mentalist theory of language learning

According to mentalist theory only human beings are capable of learning language because Human mind is equipped with a faculty of learning language (Language acquisition device LAD). This faculty is the primary determinant of language acquisition. Input is needed, but only to trigger the operation of LAD.

            Interlanguage can be described as the language which is produce by L2 learners. American linguist Larry Selinker, stated that learners construct a linguistic system, that draws, in part on the learners’ L1 but is also different from it and also from the target language. We can say that L2 learners have a unique linguistic system. It is caused by some factors from the outside (through the input ) which are related to elements from mentalist theory of linguistics (for example, the nation of LAD; and elements from cognitive psychology) , and from outside which are related to elements from behaviorist theories (for example the input or stimuli, conditions when language take place),

The concept of interlanguage involves the following premises about L2 acquisition

1)      Interlanguage is a unique system

2)      Learner’s grammar is transitional. Learners change their grammar from one time to another by adding rules, deleting rules, and restructuring rules the whole system resulting INTERLANGUAGE CONTINUUM.

3)      Variable rules.  Competing rules vs. homogenous àVariablity reflects the mistakes learners make whn trying to use their knowledge to communicate.

4)      Learners employ various learning strategies to develop their interlanguages.

5)      Learner’s grammar is likely to fossilize. Only about 5% learners go on to develop the same mental grammar as native speaker.. Majority stop some way short. The prevalence of BACKSLIDING (i.e. the production of errors representing an early stage of dvelopment) is typical of fossilized learners. Fossilization does not occur in L1 acquisition and thus unique to L2 grammars.

A Computational Model of SLA

Input à intake à L2 knowledge à output

The learner is exposed to input, which is processed into two stages. First, parts of it are attended to and taken into short-term memory. These are referred to as intake. Second some intake is stored into long-term memory as L2 knowledge. The process responsible for creating intake and L2 knowledge occur within the “ black box’ of learner’s mind where the learner’s interlanguage constructed. Finally, L2 knowledge is used by learner to produce spoken and written output (I;e we have called learner language).

4.    Social aspect of interlanguage

Social aspects play an important role in interlanguange development. There are three different approaches to incorporate social factors on the study of L2 acquisition: Different style which learners called upon under different conditions of language use, the acculturation model of L2 acquisition, and social identity and investment in L2 learning.

a.       Interlanguage as a stylistic continuum

Elaine Tarone argues that learners develop a capability the L2 and this underlies ‘all regular language behavior’. Thus, the learners are able to attend to their choice of linguistics form, as when they feel they need to be correct, and they are able to make choice of linguistic form spontaneously, as likely in free conversation. It seems that interlanguage is a stylistic continuum. The continuum is the careful style and vernacular style.

Idea of stylistic variation also came from Howard Gile. He argues that when people interact with each other they either try to make their speech similar to that of their addressee in order to emphasize social cohesiveness (a process of convergence) or to make it different in order to emphasize their social distinctiveness ( a process of divergence). It has been suggested that L2 acquisition involves Convergence à levels of proficiency ensue; divergence à less learning takes place. Thus, social factors influence interlanguage development via attitudes.

b.      the acculturation model of L2 acquisition

Schuman proposed that Pidginization in L2 acquisition is a very simple language that used by learners to contact other people. They fail to acculturate to the target language group because of unability or unwillingness to adapt to a new culture. He stated that the main reason for learners failing to acculturate is social distance. A learner’s social distance is determined by a number of factors such as the opportunity of the learner to share the same social facilities with the target language group.

c.       social identity and investment in L2 learning

Bonny Pierce argues that language learners have complex social identity that can only be understand in terms of power relations that shape social structures.  A learner’s social identity is multiple and contradictory’. Learning is successful when learners are able to summon up or construct an identity that enables them to impose their right to be heard and thus become the subject of discourse. This requires investment, something learners will only make if they believe their effort s will increase the value of their cultural capital. Learners use language to locate themselves in their community and also in L2 environment. Successful learners are those who reflect critically on how they engage with native speakers and who are prepared to challenge the accepted social order by constructing and asserting social identities of their own choice.

5.    Linguistics aspects of interlanguage

a.       Typological Universals

Linguistic facts can be used to explain and even predict acquisition.  A good example of how linguistic enquiry can shed light on interlanguage development can be found in the study of relative clauses. Learners who’s L1 includes relative clauses (such as English and Arabic) find easier to learn relative clause than learners whose L1 ( such as Chinese and Japanese) does not and they are less likely to avoid learning relative clause. It can be said that linguistic items and its rules can influence language acquisition. Learners will find easier to learn L2 if it is similar with their L1 and they will find more difficult if it are different from their L1.

There is an accessibility hierarchy in language acquisition. The hierarchy reflects the order of acquisition. It shows what structures will be easier to acquire. For example the accessibility hierarchy of relative clause can help to predict the order of acquisition of relative clauses. It is proved by the frequency with which learners make errors in relative clauses, fewest errors being apparent in relative clauses with subject pronouns and most in clauses with the object of comparative function.

b.      Universal Grammar

Chomsky argues that language is governed by a set of highly abstract principles that provide parameters which are given particular settings in different languages. A general principle of language is that it permits co-reference by means of some of reflexive.

Ex: the actress blamed herself

Emily knew the actress would blame herself

The subject, ‘actress’, is co-referential with the reflexive, ‘herself’ in the sense that both words refer to the same person. However, reflexive vary cross-linguistically. Reflexive can co-refer to subject within the same clause (local binding: as in the example above), and it can co-refer to a subject in another clause (long-distance binding). English only permits ‘local binding’, but language such as Japan permit long-distance as well as local binding. Thus Japanese version of the sentences “Emily knew the actress would blame herself” is ambiguous; because the reflexive can refer to either the actress or to Emily. It seems that linguistics information for L2 learner is very important.

c.       learnability

Chomsky has claimed that children learning their L1 must rely on innate knowledge of language because otherwise the task facing them is an impossible one.

Learners need positive evidence which provides information only about what is grammatical in the language and negative evidence is input that provides direct evidence of what is ungrammatical in a language.

d.      the critical period hypothesis

The critical period hypothesis states that there is a period during which language acquisition is easy and complete and beyond which it is difficult and typically incomplete. There is considerable evidence to support the claim that L2 learners who begin learning as adults are unable to achieve native-speaker competence in either grammar or pronunciation. Studies of immigrants in the United States show that if they arrive before puberty they go on to achieve much higher levels of grammatical proficiency than if they arrive after.

e.       Markedness

In Chomskyan linguistics, unmarked structure are those that are governed by UG and which, therefore require only minimal evidence for acquisition. Marked structures are those that lie outside UG (for example, have arisen as a result of historical accident). It has been proposed that learners are much more likely to transfer unmarked structures from their L1 than they are marked structure. For instance, a different pronunciation between English and Germany. English contrasts the sounds /t/ and /d/ word initially (tin/din), word medially (betting/bedding), and word finally (wet/wed). German however, only constraints these two sounds word initially and word medially. English learners will have no difficulty learning that the word final contrast but that German learners will experience considerable difficulty in learning to make the word final contrast in English.