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SLA Lecture 1

This document provides an overview of a course on second language acquisition (SLA). It introduces the course description, outlines the lectures, and discusses assessment. Key topics covered include differences between first and second language acquisition, theoretical perspectives on SLA, and the relevance of SLA research to language teaching.

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Alaa Moftah Abdulrahman
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49 views

SLA Lecture 1

This document provides an overview of a course on second language acquisition (SLA). It introduces the course description, outlines the lectures, and discusses assessment. Key topics covered include differences between first and second language acquisition, theoretical perspectives on SLA, and the relevance of SLA research to language teaching.

Uploaded by

Alaa Moftah Abdulrahman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SLA Course Lecture 1

Aims of the Presentation


1-introduce the course description
2-introduce the main terms and concepts of
SLA
3-discuss the differences between L1 & L2
Course Description
 Course Title: Second Language Acquisition
(SLA)

 Objectives:
At the end of the course, a student should
have gained an in-depth understanding of
issues on second language acquisition and
have developed skills of analysis and
argumentation.
Course Outline
 Lecture 1: Introduction & First Language
Acquisition
 Lecture 2: Language Learning Contexts
 Lecture 3: Theoretical Perspectives: past &
Present
 Lecture 4: Teaching Approaches & Instructional
Issues
 Lecture 5: Second Language Development
 Lecture 6: The Age Factor
 Lecture 7: MID-TERM EXAM
Course Outline
 Lecture 8: Individual Differences
 Lecture 9: Bilingualism
 Lecture 10: Foreign Language Aptitude
 Lecture 11: Motivation
 Lecture 12: Social Dimension of L2 Learning
 Lecture 13: Cognition
 Lecture 14: Final Exam
Course Assessment

 Mid-Term
 1-Participation ( during live sessions/contributions
through the Google classroom discussion board) 20
1- Written exam: 20

 Final Exam

1- Written Exam = 60 ( Marks


Reference Books

 Introducing Second Language Acquisition: Perspectives & Practices


by Kristen M. Hummel (2014)- Wiley Blackwell (Course Book
 Understanding Second Language Acquisition by Lourdes Ortega
2009 –Routledge
 Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning by
Stephen Krashen, 1981-Pergamon Press Inc.
 Principles and Practices in Second Language Acquisition by Stephen
Krashen, 1982 -Pergamon Press Inc
Teaching Approach

 Let us Negotiate it !
Think ,,,, Reflect ,,,,apply

 How relevant is SLA research to L2


teaching?
Literature
 Teachers: Little-to-no use, difficult to
access/understand, enjoy, believe, adapt-
adopt…

 Researchers: “Apply with Caution”


(Hatch, E. (1978) , Clarke (1994), Han (2007), R. Ellis (2010)

Contrastive Analysis, Error Analysis, Performance Analysis


Questions to address…
 Is SLA like FLA?
 Does the first language help or get in the way of second
language learning?

 If knowledge and capabilities for competent language use are


already available to L2 learners through the mother tongue
and other languages they may know ,how do they affect the
development of the new language? ( Ortega, 2009: 31)

 Do innate capacities play an important role in SLA?

 Why do we make mistakes in a second language? (transfer


/crosslinguistic influence-interference)
Research…

 “ neither the linguistic knowledge nor the linguistic


behaviour of L2 learners is slavishly determined by externally
catalogued L1-L2 differences”. (Ortega, 2009: 31-32)

 ‘Crucial Similarity Measure’, (Heinning Wode, 1976)


 ‘Transfer to somewhere’ (Roger Anderson,1983)

 ‘ a better understanding of the forces that shape cross


linguistic influence rests not with external language
comparisons but with learners psychological perceptions of
those L1-L2 similarities or differences” (Ortega, 2009: 33)
 ‘ interlingual identification’ ( Terence Odlin, 2003)
Second Language acquisition….

 Similar to FLA

 Meaningful Interaction

 Focus on Form or Message?


Question ????

 Are
Error correction and explicit
teaching of rules relevant to SLA?
Literature

Error correction and explicit teaching of


rules are not relevant to language
acquisition (Brown & Hanlon, 1970; Brown,
Cazden, & Bellugi, 1973; Krashen, 1981: 1).
Questions….

 Does language acquisition take place


in a vacuum?

 What do children acquire when they


acquire a language?
Social & Cognitive ….

a sign system which bears important


relationships to both cognitive and
social aspects of their life” (Maya & Hickman
( 1986: 9) In Language Acquisition …edited by Paul Fletcher &
Michael Garman 1986)
SLA as a process is

“beginning the learning of another


language after a first language (L1)
has been acquired” ( Hummel, 2014:
1).
SLA as a field …

 it is the scholarly field of inquiry that


investigates the human capacity to learn
languages other than the first, during late
childhood, adolescence , or adulthood”
(Lourdes Ortega, 2009: 1-2).
WHY?

 Desire to learn another language…


You….
Interaction with other fields

 Multidisciplinary…
Theoretical Views……..
Nativism (nativist view)
innate, possibly genetic, contributions to any
behavior ( Language acquisition)’

Empiricism (empiricist view) …environment and


experience over innate ideas or capacities

Behaviorism: learning principles can explain most


behaviour and observable events , rather than
mental activity , are the proper objects of the
study.
Behaviorist View ….

 Child is a passive recipient subjected


to environmental influences

 Language is a verbal behaviour

 Language acquisition can be evaluated


only through observable, measurable
aspects.
Behaviorist View

 Vocabulary comprehension learnt through


‘classical conditioning’ / pairing of a
stimulus and a response

 Imitation has a an important role ,,,,seen as


‘self-reinforcing’

 Criticism ….Chomsky (1959)


Fails to explain creativity
First language vs Second Language
Acquisition

 Is learning a SL similar to learning a FL?


behaviostic view
L1 & L2 Acquisition Contrast
 Age: & Cognitive Development
 Infants are incapable of advanced reflective

thinking and planning.

 Language is an intrinsic component of the


child’s overall cognitive and social
development ….

 basic cognitive capacities increasingly


emerge
L1 & L2 Acquisition Contrast

 The cognitive prerequisites of


language mastery are more readily
available in SLA than in FLA.

 Children’searly words and phrases


influence and perhaps even shape
their perception and cognitive
development
L1 & L2 Contrast
 L2 learners have already gone through a
number of fundamental cognitive stages.
( notions of object permanence & means-
end awareness have been attained)

 L2 learners’ cognitive development allows


them ‘metalinguistic awareness’ (ability to
reflect on language as an object)
L2 learners

 L2 learners prefer learning explicit exposure


to the grammatical rules of the target
language

 Individual with an analytical approach to


learning may prefer to use logical reasoning
skills to acquire parts of the L2.
L1 & L2 Contrast

 In L1 acquisition, younger children do not


have the same metalinguistic capacity.

 They are often incapable of recognizing that


words are arbitrary labels of objects
L1 & L2

 Children develop metalinguistic skills and ability to


reflect and manipulate aspects of linguistic form
through exposure to literary skills in school

 Difference
older learner has one linguistic system to fall back
on when necessary

 Satisfying basic needs differently


L1 & L2
 Social context perspective: expectations are higher
for L2 learner than L1 learners

 Difference in the context of learning: (home-


caregivers) ….( instructional settings ,,,language
class, …..Teaching strategies and materials may
differ ,,,
 Difference: amount of exposure….( quantity &
quality ) …

 Difference: Attainment: level of fluency


L1& L2 parallels

 Exposure
 Repetition (during learning first words &

phrases)

 Using predictable language units (formulaic


sequences –expressions-phrases learnt and
used as a whole unit without analyzing into
individual units –how are you?
 More understanding than production
L2 & L1 Parallel
 Systematic manner of development
/Restructuring ( L1 reconstruct linguistic
system) L2 learners restructure their
interlanguage system/

 Overgeneralization : errors due to reliance


on information they already know
L1 & L2

 Starting by listening & speaking before


reading & writing

 Traditional teaching methods reinforce this


sequence

 Banishing written materials from beginning


language classrooms…

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