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Second Lang Acquisition Position Statement (how do we learn 1st and 2nd lang?) [3]
This is a TESL graduate course paper. There is no neatly stated prompt, but it's a culmination of all we've read and written and discussed.
- Demonstrate a coherent understanding of the second language learner and the language acquisition process that will inform their reasoning and practice as language teachers.
- Demonstrate awareness of the individual and contextual factors that influence second language acquisition.
- Articulate a well-grounded conception of the nature of second language proficiency.
- Interact with Christi<
an views of language learners and the nature of language.
The paper should demonstrate your competence in terms of understanding the nature of language, the language learning process, and the effect of individual and contextual variables-corresponding to the first four course learning outcomes. It will be evaluated accordingly. You need not adhere to a "preferred" position, but your position should be well-grounded.The nature of human language is just that - utterly natural and as expected as our tendency to walk or use opposible thumbs. As natural and common as language is, however, researchers still have only theories to explain why and how language acquisition happens.
FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORIES
There are four major schools of thought when it comes to FLA. There is the Behaviorist perspective which says that operant conditioning, where the environment provides stimuli that elicits a response which is then positively or negatively reinforced, shapes behavior that results in successful language acquisition. The Social Interactionist model proposes that language primarily develops from supportive social interaction which enables children's linguistic and cognitive growth to coincide thereby promoting advancement within a metaphorical development zone. The Connectionist model argues that language acquisition is explained by the learning one would expect of a child who is exposed to copious amounts of aural and visual language, and that this learning is primarily through making connections between words/phrases and situations.
Finally, the Innatist theory claims that children are innately programmed to acquire whatever language in which they are immersed because language and its acquisition is essentially a biological function. This theory differs from the Connectionist view because acquisition is believed to be facilitated by an underlying universal language structure, or Universal Grammar (UG), which is itself embedded in a special mental processing unit called the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), unique to homo sapiens. An example of the universality of the LAD is that infants from all over the world are able to distinguish between the sounds of any human language, whether or not those sounds exist in their parents' language (Video, ). This inherent characteristic possessed by humans at birth attests to God's desire that no matter where a child is, he or she is meant to not only communicate, but mature in speech and abilities of expression, bonding on deep emotional and spiritual planes with other humans and Him.
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORIES
An assumption frequently held about learning a second language is its limited feasibility by adults. The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) states that all animals are genetically programmed to acquire certain abilities at certain life stages. This would mean that human language, particularly a second language, would be extremely difficult if not impossible to learn to typical competencies if learning began after puberty. The CPH is often associated with the Innatist theory, but just as with the FLA theories, not everyone agrees that CPH has much of an effect on SLA. Some researchers have found that it only impedes accent or syntax (Slavoff & Johnson, 1995), and some see no evidence of it at all (Scovel, 2000).
Interestingly, there also happen to be four prevailing SLA schools of thought with strong similarities to either of the FLA theories. These include the Cognitivist perspective, where general theories of learning and psychology lead to L2 acquisition. Sociocultural theories rely on the interdependence of speaking and thinking, so learning happens when the 2LL interacts with higher level target language in a supportive environment. Behaviorism contributes much of SLA to mimicry and memorization, so language production is treated like a habit. The Innatist perspective still relies on UG to some degree because 2LLs tend to learn more about the L2 than the amount of input available, yet since the learner may have passed the Critical Period, other matured, overt cognitive forces (ie. metalinguistic or literary knowledge) take over (Lightbrown & Spada, 2006).
INDIVIDUAL LEARNER VARIABLES IN SLA
While SLA theories can be grouped into neat comprehensible categories, the individual learner is a complex, multifaceted being in whom numerous linguistic, cognitive and emotional factors play a part in SLA.
Another popular assumption about learning a second (or third or fourth) language is that the first language (L1) will influence the following languages. This is called the Native Language Effect and it is assumed that the effect will be negative. While second language learners do try to use what they already know, they only use interlingual transfer when there is similarity between the two languages, which may need to be pointed out by the instructor, and their application of the L1 to L2 is not completely random. The resulting Interlanguage is a systematic language unique to each individual and develops as he or she negotiates an understanding of the second language. Interlanguage can defy what language instructors believe the student should produce and tactful corrective feedback is appropriate, but this stage of acquisition should also be treated as a natural, valid stage towards that learner's goal.
There are any number of cognitive style combinations within learners which must be acknowledged at some point in their instruction. They are defined as dichotomies, but experience shows that they should be addressed as existing on a scale. These include being right- or left-brained, an extrovert or introvert, preferring either visual or auditory information(?) or sequential or random information input, the need to analyze or memorize rules, and the degree of tolerance of ambiguity (Brown, 2000; Ehrman, 1996). Though students should be able to exploit their natural cognitive styles in a classroom setting, experimenting with other styles will enable 2LL to pick up peripheral skills and hone competencies that might have been lagging.
It goes without saying that learners are people, but what often goes without saying is how their emotional and spiritual selves impact their learning experience.
Spiritual health is at the root of emotional health, so viewing learners as spiritual beings made in God's image would mean acknowledging their histories, cultures, beliefs and personalities as valid, meaningful factors influencing their acquisition success. The role of language, itself a gift from God, is to draw people together, intellectually and spiritually (1 Corinthians 14:3), so it behooves the instructor to give 2LL the ability and chance to do this in the second language. This spiritual need to express and absorb feelings and thoughts, as the learner struggles through the emotional process of learning, further enforces the need for the instructional environment to work with the learner's Interlanguage.
Debilitating anxiety, which leads to silence or shyness, is a major problem for many adults because they are not used to the inability of competent expression. This is the opposite of facilitating anxiety, which is a nervousness that promotes focus and risk-taking. Empathy, the ability to "walk in someone else's shoes", is both an emotional and sociocultural factor for a 2LL. Empathy helps the learner build an emotional bond with the language and its native speakers which contributes not only to a greater desire to learn, but the practical skill of improved pronunciation (Guiora, 1972).
Instructors are often concerned with motivation in the classroom, but what is really at stake is motivation within the learner. Though teachers are able to manipulate students' extrinsic motivation through incentives and the economy or society through career advancement or status, intrinsic motivation, which grapples with the spiritual fulfillment language brings, is usually what will propel learners through the most trying stages of acquisition. Further, an instructor who takes the time to understand and cultivate intrinsic motivation can make a more accurate assessment of learner achievements.
Context is the circumstance within which we understand an event, and second language acquisition involves at least five overarching contexts of which instructors must be aware: Institutional, Social, Political, Linguistic and Cultural. The most significant ways that context influences language acquisition is that which cannot be easily changed by the learner: sociolinguistic and cultural contexts. Learners can move around schools and countries, thereby changing in major ways the institutional, linguistic and political atmosphere in which they study. But they cannot change the social position of the language (or the self, easily) within various institutional and political contexts, nor can they change the culture from which the language was birthed.
Sociolinguistic contexts are about understanding the power and status dynamics between and within languages and the people who speak them. A learner whose social class or L1 is perceived as "subordinate" may feel hostility towards the "dominant" language they are trying to learn, impeding acquisition (Schumann, 1986, p. 381). In this case, instructors must level the playing field by being emotionally supportive while presenting English as a tool of increased intellectual liberation and social accessibility.
Cultural contexts are especially tricky to navigate because culture, which consists of values, materials and behaviors, is embedded within the cultural artifact of language. Considering the inevitable influence of L1 on L2 acquisition, mitigating the collision of cultures within the second language learner should be of utmost importance. Cognitive (ie. tolerance of ambiguity) and, to a greater extent, emotional (ie. empathy) factors can be affected by the new L2 culture as introduced via language and instruction. While learning a new language does not necessitate acquiring a new culture, as in the case of learning purely for the sake of career advancement, culture's presence in language cannot be completely ignored by educators.
SECOND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
The current trend in second language teaching emphasizes communicative practice and so it follows that second language proficiency emphasizes communicative ability. But towards whose communicative abilities are learners supposed to aspire, and how can achievement be measured?
Abilities evolve in response to needs, and from a practical, global standpoint 2LL's communicative needs are rarely different from a native speaker's needs: they probably hope to engage in mundane tasks like buying airline tickets and giving directions and in activities like reading magazines and interviewing for jobs. Learners want to be able to communicate in the L2 at the same or very close to the cognitive level with which they communicate in the L1 (Duff, 2007), but due to the diverse linguistic repertoire we tap into as L1 speakers, teaching holistically will mean learning language features that may not immediately register as realistic or pertinent to the 2LL's current lifestyle.
There is also, more significantly, the 2LL's very real and valid personal goals and beliefs about his or her proficiency. These goals and beliefs will inform the learning experience along with the previously mentioned variables. Society and the ESL/EFL industry assumes ESL students wish to speak like a native speaker does, but the equally widely assumed definition of a "native speaker" -- someone whose mono-linguistic competencies began forming from birth, usually English-speakers from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, etc. -- denies that possibility (Cook, 1999). If language is truly one of God's gifts to humanity, then it is much more realistic and humane to acknowledge the global varieties of communicative "native" Englishes located in the "Outer Circle" (Singapore, Nigeria, India. etc.) of World Englishes (Kachru, 1985). This will encourage the maturation of the Learner's Interlanguage into the User's Second Language.
COMPETENCIES
Once a wider swath of Englishes are embraced by a supportive learning environment, the 2LL is still in need of developing competencies that will ensure communication within the attempted contexts is successful, coherent, accurate, acceptable and effective.
Successful communication is that which achieves the intended goal, and is called Functional or Pragmatic Competence. Functional use of language entails knowing how to use one form to do either A or B, but also detect functions of forms within a context. Discourse Competence ensures coherent communication through organization, turn-taking clues and devices that hold and sustain conversation. Acceptable speech is achieved with adequate Sociolinguistic Competence, which informs the speaker's message and style and requires cultural knowledge. Strategic Competence enables a speaker to enhance and repair his or her language so that communication is attractive and effective (Robison, 2009).
Though the above competencies are needed to some degree so that the language can be accurately received by listeners while also expressing the speaker's personality, inevitably Grammatical Competence is the first feature society takes notice of when determining anyone's proficiency level. This is probably due to its quantitative measurability on tests and the assumption that if grammar is correct, then communication will be accurate enough for everything else to fall into place. Whether or not this happens, it is reasonable that instructors use grammatical competence as the scaffolding for the other competencies
THE CLASSROOM EFFECT
As with individual learners, the classroom has its own variables around which an instructor must work. Teachers must factor into lessons how much time learners spend receiving and producing the target language, the type and range of discourse and whether to focus on language form or meaning. Even the handling of errors should be considered so that students can learn from them.
Scovel (2001, p. 110) vividly illustrates the inequalities and biases contained within the second language classroom or work place compared to the nurturing environment experienced by a child learning his or her first language (or two languages simultaneously). An example of this inequity is simply L2 exposure quantity and quality. Most English as a Foreign Language students have extremely limited time exposed to English and that English exposure is often from a single source, a teacher and/or textbook. With limited time or resources in an EFL setting, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), where instruction in functional and discourse competencies ranks as high as grammar and form proficiency, is optimal. The teacher should use authentic materials and communication tasks frequently, demonstrating how real-world English fulfills learner's needs.
In terms of learning conditions, it is assumed that immersion is the best way to acquire a language, but success is still highly dependent on the individual learner variables (ie. willingness of communicate, tolerance of ambiguity) and travel is not always an option. Some adult learners only need to start with instruction, while others hit a wall with informal self-study or immersion, and direct explanation is needed. Also, learners desire or need correction and rarely do strangers and acquaintances correct, out of courtesy or unawareness. At best, people on the street might alter their speech in a way they believe will be more understandable to the English learner. Instructors provide valuable input through appropriate and meaningful corrective feedback, such as recasts which tend to be more effective for adults or elicitation requests which work best on children. Teachers are also able to use carefully modified speech that is comprehensible, but challenges students to maintain curiosity and stimulate growth (Krashen, 2003). Otherwise, if the learner does not perceive any need to make progress, his or her Interlanguage may plateau or fossilize.
Teachers serve a vital role as facilitators, helping students develop practical and specialized feedback and corrective strategies to improve. More specifically, in terms of corrective feedback in a young learner classroom, instructors' most effective role was that of a provider of direct and recognizable correction. As for direction in the adult learner's classrooms, teachers should act as mediators for student-student interaction or student-centered tasks. It appears that as the age of the learner increases, the need or demand for invasive teacher input decreases in some ways.
The key to establishing a healthy environment for second language acquisition lies in addressing the 2LL's essential needs, linguistically, socially and spiritually. Whether activities are teacher- or student-oriented, meaning- or form-based, if the students are engaged, encouraged and see the application to their lives, they will benefit from it. Instructors provide needed feedback and perform many roles in the EFL/ESL classroom. No doubt the greatest role is that of observer of the sometimes miraculous but always satisfying realization of successful second language acquisition.
