Introduction describing and explaining second language acquisition Rod

Introduction: describing and explaining second language acquisition Rod Ellies 2003 Chapter 1 Second Language Acquisition pp 1 -14 Winda Putri Saraswati 2201410076

What is second language acquisition? Second language can be defined as the way in which people learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside a classroom, and ‘Second Language Acquisition’ (SLA) as the study of this.

The Goal of SLA One of the goal of SLA is the description of second language acquisition. Another is explanation; identifying the external and internal factor that account for why learner acquire an second language in the way they do. The goal of SLA are to describe how second language acquisition proceed and to explain this process and why some learners seem to be better at it than other.

Two Case Studies A case study of an adult learner A case study of two child learners

A case study of an adult learner Richard Schmidt, a researcher at University of Hawaii, studied Wes’s language over three year period. Schmidt, was interested in how Wes’s knowledge of English grammar developed. 1. Wes had learned to use the grammatical feature with the same level of accuracy as native speaker 2. There were very few verbs which Wes used in both the simple form and the progressive form

A case study of two child learners Both learners were learning English in a language unit in London. The two learner appeared to develop in much the same way. Initially, their request were verbless. A little later both learner began to use imperative verb in their language. By the end of the study, therefore, the two learners’ ability to use request had grown considerably.

Methodological Issues 1. 2. 3. One issue has to do with what it is that needs to be described. A learner has ‘acquired’ a feature of the target language Determining whether learners have ‘acquired’ a particular feature Trying to measure whether ‘acquisition’ has taken place concern learners’ overuse of linguistic form

A learner has ‘acquired’ a feature of the target language Schmidt, defines ‘acquisition =‘ in term of whether the learner manifests patterns of language use that are more or less the same as native speakers of the target language. For example, Wes might be said to know how to make plurals even though he does not always add an –s to a plural noun.

Determining whether learners have ‘acquired’ a particular feature Learner may manifest target like use of feature in a formula without having acquired the ability to use feature productively. For example both the children acquired the pattern “Can I have a____? ”

Trying to measure whether ‘acquisition’ has taken place concern learners’ overuse of linguistic form Wes knew when to use the present progressive correctly but he also showed that Wes used this form in context that did not required it. In other word, Wes used the form of the present progressive with the wrong function.

Issues in the description of learner language 1. 2. 3. One finding is that learners make error of different kinds Learners acquire a large number of formulaic chunks Whether learners acquire the language systematically

One finding is that learners make error of different kinds Wes failed to use some grammatical feature at all and used others incorrectly. These are errors of omission and overuse. The children made sociolinguistic errors. They failed to use requests in a socially appropriate manner.

Learners acquire a large number of formulaic chunks They use to perform communicative function that are important to them and which contribute to the fluency of the unplanned speech

Whether learners acquire the language systematically Feature like progressive –ing and auxilary be were used accurately, while the feature like past regular and possessive –s were used inaccurately.

Issues in the explanation of second language acquisition Learners must engage in both item learning and system learning. An explanation of second language acquisition must account for both item and system learning and how two interrelate. None of the three learners in the two case study reached a native speaker level performance.

Issues in the explanation of second language acquisition These case studies, then, illuminate the kinds of issues that preoccupy SLA. These issues will figure in subsequent chapter.