Second Language Acquisition (Unit 14), Apuntes de Lingüística

¡Descarga Second Language Acquisition (Unit 14) y más Apuntes en PDF de Lingüística solo en Docsity! UNIT 14: SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION/LEARNING 
! —SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING: the expression second language learning is used to describe when someone tris to study a foreign language (learning a language that is not generally spoken in the surrounding community) or a second language (learning a language that is spoken in the surrounding community). ! —Acquisition and learning: the term acquisition is used to refer to the gradual development of ability in a language by using it naturally in communicative situations with others who know the language. Acquisition normally takes place without a teacher. The term learning applies to a more conscious process of accumulating knowledge of the features of a language, typically with teachers. Activities associated with learning have a tendency to result in more knowledge “about” the language than fluency in actually using the language. ! —Acquisition barriers: for most people, the experience with an L2 (language 2) is different from their L1 experience. They usually encounter the L2 during their teenage or adult years, in a few hours each week, with a lot of othter things going on. Despite this, there are som individuals who seem to be able to overcome the difficulties and develop an ability to use the L2 quite effectively, though not usually sounding like a native speaker. Even highly fluent and proficient adult learners are likely to be perceived as having an “accent” of some kind. ! —The age factor: after the critial period for language acquisition has passed, it becomes very difficult to acquire another language fully. It has been demonstrated that students in their early teens are quicker and more effective L2 learners tan seven-year-olds. It may be that the effective learning of an L2 requise a combination of factors. ! —Affective factors: teenagers are usually much more self-conscious than younger children. If there is a strong element of embarrassment in attempting to produce the different sounds of another language, then it may affect their acquisition progress. This type of emotional reaction may also be caused by dull textbooks, exhausting schedule, etc. All these negative feelings or experiences are affective factors that can create a barrier to acquisition. Children are generally less affected by affective factors. ! —FOCUS ON TEACHING METHOD. ! —The grammar-translation method: the most traditional approach is to treat L2 learning in the same way as any other subject. Vocabulary lists and sets of grammar rules are used to define the target of learning and written language rather than spoken language is emphasized. This method is described as the grammar-translation method. This often leaves students quite ignorant of how the language might be used in everyday conversation. ! —The audiolingual method: a very different approach, emphasizing the spoken language is called the audiolingual method. Much of this practice involved hours spent in a language laboratory repeating oral drills. Critics have pointed out that isolated practice bears no resemblance to the natural of actual spoken language use. ! —Communicative approaches: communicative approaches are all based on a belief that the functions of language should be emphasized rather than the forms of language. Classroom lessons are normally organized around concepts such as “asking for things” in different social settings, rather than “the forms of the past tense” in different sentences. ! 1 —FOCUS ON THE LEARNER: traditionally, “errors” were regarded negatively and they had to be avoided. But an “error” is not something that is a problem for a student’s progress, it is probably a clue to the learning progress being made by the student as he or she tries out ways of communicating in the new language. Just as children acquiring their L1 produce certain types of ungrammatical forms at times, we might expect the L2 learner to produce similar forms at certain stages. ! —Transfer: this means using sounds, expressions or structures from the L1 when performing in the L2. For example, a Spanish (L1) speaker who says take it from the side inferior may be trying to use the Spanish adjective inferior (lower in English) and placing it after the noun, as is typical in Spanish constructions. If the L1 and L2 have similar features (marking plurals on the end of the nouns), then the learner may be able to benefit from the positive transfer. On the other hand, transferring an L1 feature that is really different from the L2 (putting the adjective after the noun) results in negative transfer and it may make the L2 expression difficult to understand. ! —Interlanguage: the Spanish L1 speaker who says in English She name is Mary is producing a form that is not used by adult speaker of English, does not occut in English L1 acquisition by children, and is not based on a structure in Spanish. This system is called an interlanguage. If some learners seem not to be progressing any further, their interlanguage is said to have “fossilized”. However, an interlanguage is not designed to fossilize; it will naturally develop and become more effective. ! —Motivation: the motivation to learn is important. Many learners have an instrumental motivation. That is, they want to learn the L2 in order to achieve some other goal, but they are not really planning on engaging in much social interaction using the L2. In contrast, those learners with an integrative motivation want to learn the L2 for social purposes. ! —Input and output: the term input is used to describe the language that the learner is exposed to. That input has to be comprenhensible, because we can’t process what we don’t understand. Input can be made comprenhensible by being simpler in structure and vocabulary, as in the variety of speech called foreigner talk. Native speakers of English may try to ask an international student How are you getting on in your studies?, but, if not understood, may switch to English class, you like it? Negotiated input is L2 material that the learner can acquire in interaction through requests for clarification while active attention is being focused on that is said. The opportunity to produce comprehensible output in meaningful interaction seems to be another important element in the learner’s development of L2 ability. ! —Task-based learning: one solution has been to create different types of tasks and activities in which learners have to interact with each other, usually in small groups or pairs, to exchange information. Learners will learn from each other’s “mistakes”. This is called task-based learning. ! —COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE: communicative competence can be defined as the general ability to use language accurately. The first component is grammatical competence, which involves the accurate use of words and structures. The ability to use appropiate language is the second component, called sociolinguistic competence. It enables the learner to know what they have to say according to the social context. The third component is called strategic competence. This is the ability to organize a message effectively and to compensate for any difficulties. In L2 use, learners inevitably experience moments when there is a gasp between communicative intent and their ability to express that intent. Some learners may just stop talking, whereas others will try to express themselves using a communication strategy. ! —APPLIED LINGUISTICS: to investigate the complex nature of second language learning, we have to appeal to ideas not only from linguistic analysis, but from other fields such as education, sociology, etc. This scale is often 2