Second Language Acquisition / Learning by Yule

There is a big question about how a learner can be as proficient in a L2 as he o she is in his o her mother tongue, there are some proposals which can help to achieve that goal.

Acquisition Barriers

Most people try learning a L2 during just a few hours a week, and then, the rest of the time use their mother tongue in all the other aspects of their life for communication, meanwhile babies has almost nothing else to do when they are acquiring a L1.

Acquisition and Learning

There is a great difference between these two words. Acquisition when used a language, means the gradual develop of a language in a natural way, which means using it in different communicative situations. Learning on its side, refers to the act of find out about a language looking for information about its grammar rules and vocabulary. If the student is exposed to develop the L2 by using it and not only accumulating knowledge about it makes a big difference in the proficiency of him in the L2.

The exposition to the L2 benefits the student though; there is one difficulty that can not resolve by all the adults. The study of grammar and vocabulary can reach the native level by the student, but sound as a native person is a goal that can be got only for a few adults’ learners of a L2.

Affective Filter

There is, also, another factor which can affect the acquisition of a language in teenagers, their self-consciousness and embarrassment when pronouncing a sound of another language could spoil their interest, even, when there is a natural ability for doing it.

 Also bad experiences about the language or dull activity books can support this refuse.

 Adults can also overcome their self-consciousness by having a little of alcohol, but after some cups their ability to pronounce rapidly desapear.

Methods

There are some methods for acquire a L2.

Grammar-translation method

It consists in memorizing the grammatical rules and a set of words as vocabulary giving more significance to the written language than the spoken one, and as a result this method lacks of speakers interaction.

Audio-lingual method

It deals with the spoken language, but not by using as a tool for communication, instead of that works in a mechanical way by the repetition of different words aiming to get “Habits” which could be developed with a lot of practice.

Communicative Approache

To know grammar not necessarily means to know how to use a language. The creation of communicative experiences in the L2 should be emphasized in functions of language (i.e. “asking for things”) rather than the forms of the language (i.e. “correct grammatical or phonological structure”).

Focus on the learner

Time ago when the acquisition of L2 was consider mechanic, in terms of teaching and learning, the method using by the Teachers was to correct every error on grammar which could appear in the student’s speech. Nowadays the errors are consider ways for developing the L2 by the learner.

Also there some errors which are transfer from our mother tongue, when we try to apply, unconsciously or consciously, its grammar to the L2 but, when our L1 has similar structures with L2 those rules could be applied, that phenomenon is called Positive transfer, but if our L1 is not similar and, anyway, we apply those structures and make mistakes that is called Negative transfer.

Interlanguage

This is a system of common errors which seem to have no connection with either L1 or L2. The errors though, are not meant to be fossilized like, for example, the errors of pronunciation which produce foreign accent.

Motivation

This is factor that can make the difference between a successful student and one who is not. The more motivated the student is, the more interested in using the L2 will be.

Input and Output

These terms refer to two different point of one thing, first “input” refers to the language that the learner is exposed to, and “output” deals with the fact, how the learner use that language on its own in communicative situations, like a conversation. The interaction produces a kind of “negotiated input” which is come L2 material that can be acquired by the learner trough requests for clarifications and focusing in what is said.

Communicative competencE

This classification is divided into three components:

Grammatical competence:   This involves the accurate use of words and  structures in the L2.

Sociolinguistics competence: It enables the learner to discriminate the social context.

Strategic competence: This is the ability to organize a message effectively and to compensate,via strategies,for any difficulties.

Applied linguistics

The intention of investigate the complex L2 acquisition; we can not be only focused on ideas of linguistic analysis, but in other fields of study like communication studies, education, psychology and sociology. This great scale of contents is called applied linguistics.