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Second Language Acquisition
Five hypotheses about second language acquisition
1.The acquisition-learning distinction
2.The input hypothesis
3.The monitor hypothesis
4.The affective Filter hypothesis
5.The natural order hypothesis
1)Acquisition vs. Learning
The American SLA scholar
Stephen Krashen makes the
distinction between acquisition
and learning. Krashen holds that
language acquisition is a
subconscious process to acquire
a language in natural settings,
while language learning is a
conscious process to obtain a
language in school settings.
Children obtain their mother
tongue not through conscious
learning, but the second
language, though it can be
a c q u i r e d i n a p p r o p r ia t e
linguistic context, is usually
o b t a in e d i n n o n - n a tu ra l
environment through formal
instruction and conscious
l e a r n i n g .
Tough Movement rule
Move the infinitive after the “tough”
words to the position immediately before
the subject.
John is easy to please.
John is eager to please.
To please John is easy.
We walked across
the field, carrying
heavy equipment.
Across the field,
we walked，
carrying heavy
equipment.
They didn’t walk across the field, carrying
heavy equipment.
Across the field, they didn’t walk,
carrying heavy equipment.
在否定句中，
across引导的方
向或目标附加
状语往往是否
定的焦点，通
常不跳出否定
结构范围之外。
In learning, specific grammatical
rules are taught to the students.
在 否 定 句 中 ，
towards引导的方向
或目标附加状语往
往是否定的焦点,通
常都不跳出否定结
构 范 围 之 外 。
The soldiers didn’t march
towards the fort.
*Towards the fort,
the soldiers didn’t march.
Go
在英语中go经常带起
一个方向或目标附加
状语和一个来源附加
状语,如:
He went to America from Japan.
当方向或目标附加状语与来源附加
状语同时出现时,其中的来源附加状
语可以移至句首,如:
From Japan, he
went to America.
但是在方向或目标
附加状语和来源附
加状语同时出现时,
其中的方向或目标
附加状语不可以移
至句首,如:
*To America, he went
from Japan.
A rule can be learned before it is
internalized (i.e., acquired), but
having learned a rule does not
necessarily mean the acquisition of it.
For example, a learner may have learned a
grammatical rule, but when he uses that rule in
communication, he may make mistakes.
Acquisition and learning
are two different
processes. The former
helps the development of
language ability while
the latter contributes to
the development of
knowledge of language.
2. THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
How do we move from stage i,
where i represents current competence,
to i + 1, the next level in
second language acquisition?
The input hypothesis makes the
following claim: a necessary (but
not sufficient) condition to move
from stage i to stage i + 1 is that the
acquirer understand input that contains i
+ 1, where "understand" means that the
acquirer is focussed on the meaning and
not the form of the message.
We acquire, in other words, only when we
understand language that contains structure
that is "a little beyond" where we are now.
How can we understand
language that contains
structures that we have
not yet acquired?
The answer to this apparent paradox is that
we use more than our linguistic
competence to help us understand. We also
use context, our knowledge of the world,
our extra-linguistic information to help us
understand language directed at us.
1.Context Clue 1: definition
Sometimes a writer knows that a
word is unfamiliar or strange to
many readers. To make the word
easier to understand, the writer may
include a definition of the word in a
sentence.
A.
All other birthdays are called sing il
( born day). The sixty-first birthday is
called huan gup (beginning of new life.)
B. The harbor is protected by a jetty---a
wall built out into the water.
C. Jane is indecisive, that is ,she can’t make
up her mind.
Context Clue 2: Restatement
More often, you may find a restatement,
which tells you almost as much as a
definition.
A. He had a wan look. He was so pale and
weak that we thought he was ill.
B. I am a resolute man. Once I set up a
goal, I won’t give it up easily.
Context Clue 3: General knowledge
More often than not, the meaning of many
words can be readily guessed if you use
your own experience or general knowledge
of the subject.
A. The door was so low that I hit my head
on the lintel.
B. Mark got on the motorbike, I sat
behind him on the pillion, and we
roared off into the night.
C. We have found that no one in the
freshman class can add, multiply, subtract
or divide simple sums…, Therefore, we are
setting up a special class for those pupils
who have arithmetic problems.
Context Clue 4: Related information
Sometimes you can make an
intellig ent guess of the
meaning of some new words
or expressions if you put
together related information
from the surrounding text.
A. She went to school for 12
years and she can’t write a
sentence?”
Timken said.
“They made an illiterate out
of my daughter!”
B. Just before the exam Carl’s hands
shook and sweated so much that he could
not hold a pen. His heart beat fast and his
stomach ached, even though he knew
the subject very well. He really
had a strange phobia about
taking tests.
Context Clue 5: Examples
Examples can also give you some clues or
hints to the meanings of unfamiliar words.
A. Select any of these periodicals: Time
magazine, Newsweek, Reader’s digest, etc.
B. She is studying glaucoma and other
diseases of the eye.
Context Clue 6: Comparison
When we compare things, we see how they
are like each other. So comparisons in
writing can give you clues to the
meanings of unfamiliar words.
A. The snow was falling. Big flakes drifted
with the wind like feathers.
B. The hot-air balloon took off. It was as
buoyant in the air as a cork（软木塞） in
water.
Context Clue 7: Contrast
The use a contrast can give you a hint to
the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
A. Jane was talking
with others while
John remained
reticent all the time.
B. Most of us agreed;
however, Bill dissented.
C. Peter was not frugal
since he spent money so
freely.
The input hypothesis runs counter to our
usual pedagogical approach in second and
foreign language teaching. As Hatch (1978a)
has pointed out, our assumption has been
that we first learn structures, then practice
using them in communication, and this is
how fluency develops.
The input hypothesis says
the opposite. It says we
acquire by "going for
meaning" first, and as a
result, we acquire structure!
We may thus state parts (1) and (2) of the
input hypothesis as follows:
(1) The input hypothesis relates to
acquisition, not learning.
(2) We acquire by understanding
language that contains structure a
bit beyond our current level of
competence (i + 1). This is done
with the help of context or extralinguistic information.
A third part of the input hypothesis says that
input must contain i+ 1 to be useful for
language acquisition, but it need not contain
only i + 1. It says that if the acquirer
understands the input, and there is enough of it,
i + 1 will automatically be provided.
In other words, if communication is
successful, i + 1 is provided. This implies
that the best input should not even attempt
to deliberately aim at i + 1. We are all
familiar with syllabi that try to deliberately
cover i + 1.
There is a "structure of the day", and usually
both teacher and student feel that the aim of
the lesson is to teach or practice a specific
grammatical item or structure.
Once this structure is "mastered",
the syllabus proceeds to the next
one. This part of the input
hypothesis implies that such a
deliberate attempt to provide i + 1
is not necessary. It may
even be harmful.
Thus, part (3) of the input hypothesis is:
(3)
When
communication
is
successful, when the input
is understood and there is
enough of it, i + 1 will
be provided automatically.
The final part of the input hypothesis states that
speaking fluency cannot be taught directly.
Rather, it "emerges" over time, on its own.
The best way, and perhaps the only way, to
teach speaking, according to this view, is
simply to provide comprehensible input.
Early speech, moreover, is typically not
grammatically accurate. Accuracy
develops over time as the acquirer hears
and understands more input.
Part (4) of the input hypothesis is thus:
(4) Production ability emerges. It is not
taught directly.
Evidence supporting the hypothesis
(i) First language acquisition in
children. The input hypothesis is
very consistent with what is
known about "caretaker speech",
the modifications that parents
and others make when talking to
young children.
The most interesting and perhaps the
most important characteristic of
caretaker speech for us is that it is not a
deliberate attempt to teach language.
Rather, caretaker speech is modified in
order to aid comprehension. Caretakers
talk "simpler" in an effort to make
themselves understood by the child.
A second characteristic of interest to us
here is the finding that caretaker speech,
while it is syntactically simpler than
adult sentence, is not "finely-tuned".
In other words, caretaker
speech is not precisely
adjusted to the level of each
child, but tends to get more
complex as the child
progresses.
caretakers are not taking aim
exactly at i + 1. The input they
provide for children includes i +
1, but also includes many
structures that have already
been acquired, plus some that
have not (i + 2, i + 3, etc.) and
that the child may not be ready
for yet.
In other words, caretakers do not
provide a grammatically based
syllabus!
A third characteristic of
caretaker speech that concerns us is known
as the "here and now" principle. It is
well established that caretakers talk
mostly about what the child can perceive,
what is in the immediate
environment.
Discourse with children is far more likely to
deal with what is in the room and
happening now ("See the ball?") than what
is not in the room and not current.
While there is no direct evidence
showing that caretaker speech is
indeed
more
effective
than
unmodified input, the input
hypothesis predicts
that caretaker
speech will be very
useful for the child.
First, it is, or aims to be,
comprehensible. The "here and
now" feature provides extralinguistic support (context) that
helps the child understand the
utterances containing i + 1.
The child does not acquire grammar first
and then use it in understanding. The
child understands first, and this helps him
acquire language.
As discussed earlier, roughlytuned caretaker speech covers the
child's i + 1, but does not focus on
i+ 1 exclusively. Rough-tuning
has the following advantages in
child first language acquisition:
1. It ensures that i + 1 is covered, with
no guesswork as to just what i + 1 is
for each child. On the other hand,
deliberate aim at i + 1 might miss!
2. Roughly-tuned input will provide i +
1 for more than one child at a time, as
long as they understand what is said.
Finely-tuned input, even if accurate (i.e.
even if it "hits" ( + 7), will only benefit
the child whose i + 1 is exactly the same
as what is emphasized in the input.
The input hypothesis predicts that roughly
tuned input will be very useful for the
second language acquirer, just as caretaker
speech is posited to be useful for the child.
The input hypothesis also predicts that
natural, communicative, roughlytuned, comprehensible input has some
real advantages over finely-tuned
input that aims directly at i +1, in
other words, classroom exercises that
aim to teach the structure of the day.
Most important, the input hypothesis
predicts that the classroom may be an
excellent place for second language
acquisition, at least up to the
"intermediate" level.
For beginners, the classroom can
be much better than the outside
world, since the outside usually
provides the beginner with
very little comprehensible
input, especially for
older acquirers .
In the classroom, we can provide an
hour a day of comprehensible input,
which is probably much better than the
outside can do for the beginner.
3.The monitor hypothesis
Conscious learning is available only as a
"Monitor", which can alter the output of the
acquired system before or after the utterance
is actually spoken or written. It is the
acquired system which initiates normal,
fluent speech utterances.
Learned competence
(the monitor)
Acquired
competence
Output
"Monitor" can alter the output of the acquired
system before or after the utterance is actually
spoken or written. It is the acquired system which
initiates normal, fluent speech utterances.
The Monitor hypothesis implies that formal
rules, or conscious learning, play only a
limited role in second language performance.
Second language performers can use
conscious rules only when three conditions are
met.
(i) Time. In order to think about and use
conscious rules effectively, a second
language performer needs to have sufficient
time. For most people,
normal conversation does
not allow enough
time to think about and
use rules.
The over-use of rules in
conversation can lead to trouble,
i.e. a hesitant style of talking and
inattention to what the
conversational partner is saying.
(ii) Focus on form. To use the Monitor
effectively, time is not enough. The
performer must also be focussed on form,
or thinking about correctness . Even when
we have time, we may be so involved in
what we are saying
that we do not attend
to how we are saying
it.
(iii) Know the rule. This may be a very
formidable requirement. Linguistics has
taught us that the structure of language is
extremely complex, and they claim to
have described only a fragment of the
best known languages.
We can be sure that our students are
exposed only to a small part of the
total grammar of the language, and we
know that even the best students do not
learn every rule they are exposed to.
All the rules of English
Subset of English described
by formal linguists
Applied linguists’ knowledge
Best teachers’ knowledge
Rules taught
Rules actually
learned by students
Rules used in performance
They treated me very badly.
They very badly treated me.
Badly常作方式附加状语使用。方式
附加状语通常是信息的中心。如果方
式附加状语是动词的必具性状语，它
就只能处于句末的位置.
They were badly treated.
They were treated badly.
在被动语态中，badly既可以紧放在
过去分词之前，也可以紧放在过去
分词之后.
He had for twenty years lived in poverty.
She had in poverty lived for twenty years.
They live frugally.
They frugally live.
在现在完成体和过去完成体中，
我们可以在第一个助动词之后插
入一个延续性时间状语，但是方
式状语一般紧跟在live之后。
probably:
通常位于作功能词的助动词和主
要动词之间，或紧位于主要动词
之前,如：
She probably believed his story.
She would probably believe that story.
?
They probably can find their way
home.
但是在否定句中,它往往位于被否定的
助动词或情态动词之前，如：
She probably never would have
believed his story.
They probably can’t finish the task in
time.
He probably isn’t a teacher.
They can’t probably finish the task in
time.
值得注意的是，除be动词外，
probably不能紧跟在主要动词之后
，如：
She believed probably his story.
He is probably a teacher.

good likelihood strong likelihood high likelihood

good probability strong probability high probability


good possibility strong possibility high possibility
good chance

strong chance
high chance
Mary is very (really, quite)
able.
Mary is a very (really, quite)
able student.


*Mary is perfectly (well,
totally) able.
*Mary is a perfectly (well,
totally) able student.
When “able” is used
predicatively, or when it is used
as a modifier of another noun,
it can be collocated with “very,
really, quite”, not the words
“ p e r f e c t l y, w e l l , t o t a l l y ” .

Mary is very able to give the lecture.
Mary is really (quite, perfectly, well,
totally) able to give the lecture.
In the pattern,“be able to do sth.”, it can
not be collocated with “very”. It can,
however, collocate with the words
“really, quite, perfectly, well, totally”.
In her anger, she absolutely screamed at him.

In her anger, she absolutely spoke to him.
absolutely作为强调语修饰动词时在它的语
义特征中常要求它的谓体具有某种“夸张”
的语义特征。
Girl
boy
woman
flower
pretty garden
colour
village
etc.
boy
man
car
vessel
handsome overcoat
airliner
typewriter
etc.
超音位特征对语义搭配的影响在英语
中是司空见惯的。例如：
He is a French teacher.
孤立地来看French teacher，我们很
难判别French在与teacher搭配时是什
么意思。
但是在特定超音位的语境中，当我们赋
予French一个主重音，Teacher一个次
重音，这时，He is a French teacher
就有了明确的意义，即：他是一位法语
教师。
A ˊFrench ,teacher teaches French.
如果我们赋予French一个次重音，
teacher一个主重音，这时He is a
French teacher中的French表示法
国国籍：
A ,French ˊteacher is French.
Old, new, pure, wrong在与名词搭配
时有时并不直接描绘名词所表示的
对象，常常是在转意的基础上与名
词构成语义关联。在语音上，重音
常常落在形容词上，试比较：
my ˊold ,friend (old: long known or long
familiar) 不可以转换成 :
*My friend is old.
my ˊnew ,friend 不可以转换成 :
*My friend is new.
a ˊpure ,scientist 不可以转换成 :
* The scientist is pure.
theˊwrong ,applicant 不可以转换成:
*The applicant is wrong.
英语允许worth与while之间插入一个物
主代词，事实上很多字典把worth one’s
while作为一种搭配被固定了下来，但
是并不是所有的物主代词或名词所有格
形式都可以自然处于one’s这一空位。
换句话说，由于one’s语言语境的存在使
得worth与while的共现产生了度的差异。
在worth one’s while这一搭配中，your是
连接worth和while最常见、最自然的成
分，而普通名词或专有名词的所有格形
式是最不可接受的，如：
* It’s worth Brian’s while to learn a
second language.
*It’s worth a rich man’s while to help
the poor.
除了名词的所有格以外，不定代词的
所有格形式也不可以占据one’s空位。
以下例句是不可接受的：
*Is it worth anybody’s while to take up
a challenging job?
就物主代词而言，处于one’s空位可
接受性最低的是my, 对于以英语为母
语的人来说，他们更倾向于把worth
your while作为自然的搭配，尽管his
的使用频率比其它物主代词要高，但
低于your。
Acceptable
your his their
unacceptable
my anybody’s John’s
(i) Monitor Over-users. These are people who
attempt to Monitor all the time, performers
who are constantly checking their output with
their conscious knowledge of the second
language. As a result, such performers may
speak hesitantly, often self-correct in the
middle of utterances, and are so concerned
with correctness that they cannot speak with
any real fluency.
There may be two different causes for
over-use of the grammar. Over-use may
first of all derive from the performer's
history of exposure to the second language.
Many people, victims of grammar-only
type of instruction, have simply not had
the chance to acquire much of the second
language, and may have no choice but to
be dependent on learning.
Another type may be related to personality.
These over-users have had a chance to acquire,
and may actually have acquired a great deal of
the second language. They simply do not trust
this acquired competence and only feel secure
when they refer to their Monitor "just to be
sure".
(ii) Monitor under-users. These are performers
who have not learned, or if they have learned,
prefer not to use their conscious knowledge,
even when conditions allow it.
Under-users are typically uninfluenced by
error correction, can self-correct only by using
a "feel" for correctness (e.g. "it sounds right"),
and rely completely on the acquired system.
(iii) The optimal Monitor user. Our
pedagogical goal is to produce
optimal users, performers who use
the Monitor when it is appropriate
and when it does not interfere with
communication.
Many optimal users will not use
grammar in ordinary conversation,
where it might interfere. In writing, and
in planned speech, however, when there
is time, optimal users will typically
make whatever corrections they can to
raise the accuracy of their output.
5 THE AFFECTIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS
The Affective Filter hypothesis states how
affective factors relate to the second language
acquisition process.
Research over the last decade has
confirmed that a variety of affective
variables relate to success in second
language acquisition:
(1) Motivation. Performers with high
motivation generally do better in second
language acquisition (usually, but not
always, "integrative").
(2) Self-confidence. Performers with
self-confidence and a good self-image
tend to do better in second language
acquisition.
(3) Anxiety.
Low anxiety appears to be
conducive to second language acquisition,
whether measured as personal or classroom
anxiety.
Acquirers vary with respect to the strength or
level of their Affective Filters. Those whose
attitudes are not optimal for second language
acquisition will not only tend to seek less input,
but they will also have a high or strong
Affective Filter --- even if they understand the
message, the input will not reach that part of
the brain responsible for language acquisition,
or the language acquisition device.
Those with attitudes more conducive to
second language acquisition will not only
seek and obtain more input, they will also
have a lower or weaker filter. They will be
more open to the input.
Filter
Input
Language
Acquisition
Device
Acquired
competence
The “affective filter” acts to prevent input from being
used for language acquisition. Acquirers with optimal
attitudes are hypothesized to have low affective
filters.Classrooms that encourage low filters are those
that promote low anxiety among students, that keep
students “off the defensive.”
The filter hypothesis explains why it is
possible for an acquirer to obtain a great
deal of comprehensible input, and yet
stop short (and sometimes well short) of
the native speaker level or "fossilize".
When this occurs, it is due to the
affective filter.
5. The Natural Order hypothesis
Acquirers of a given language tend to
acquire certain grammatical structures early,
and others later. In other words, the
acquisition of grammatical structures
proceeds in a predictable order.
English is perhaps the most studied language
as far as the natural order hypothesis is
concerned, and of all structures of English,
morphology is the most studied.
Brown reported that children acquiring
English as a first language tended to
acquire certain grammatical morphemes,
or functions words, earlier than others.
For example, the progressive marker ing and the plural marker/s/ were
among the first morphemes acquired,
while the third person singular
marker/s/ and the possessive /s/ were
typically acquired much later.
-Ing (progressive)
Plural
Copular ( “to be”)
Auxiliary (progressive, as in “he is going”)
Article(a, the)
Irregular Past
Regular Past
III Singular -s
Possessive -s
Other Theories about Language Learning
The critical period
for language acquisition
The critical period hypothesis, advanced by
neurobiologist Eric Lenneberg, refers to a
period in one' s life extending from about
age two to puberty, during which the human
brain is most ready to acquire a particular
language
without
formal
classroom
instruction.
The critical period for first language
acquisition coincides with the period
of brain lateralization.
Brain lateralization is the
localization of cognitive and
perceptual functions in a
particular hemisphere of the
brain. Lateralization process is
gradual and maturational. It
seems to be human-specific.
Both hemispheres are involved in
important mental functions, with the
differences only in the way in which
incoming stimuli are treated. They are
dependent on and complementary to
each other, for example:
Left hemisphere
language and speech
analytic reasoning
temporal ordering
Right hemisphere
perception of
nonlinguistic sounds
holistic reasoning
visual and spatial skills
Left hemisphere
reading and writing
calculation
associative thought
Right hemisphere
recognition of patterns
recognition of musical
melodies
Two observations support Lenneberg’s
critical period hypothesis: one is that
before the lateralization is completed, a
child with the left hemisphere damage can
acquire linguistic skills by shifting the
language centers to the right hemisphere
b e c a u s e o f c e r e b r a l p l a s t i c i t y.
The other is that those beyond the
critical period are poorer second
language learners than a child.
1.First language acquisition
Children may show individual
differences in the acquisition of their
mother tongues, but all normal
children, brought up with appropriate
mother tongue input in appropriate
linguistic context, can successfully
acquire their mother tongues and the
stages they experience in the mother
tongue acquisition are similar.
Language acquisition is primarily the
acquisition of the grammatical system.
First, no one can store all the words
and expressions in his mind. A child
usually constructs his grammatical
rules by listening to the linguistic input
that surrounds him and speaks
according to his own constructed
grammar.
Without these productive rules, a
language user would be unable to
produce and understood an unlimited
number of sentences which he has
never heard or used before.
Language acquisition is mainly the
acquisition of grammatical rules. This
does not mean that it is the acquisition of
each specific rule. What a child has
acquired is a limited number of highly
abstract and general principles, ignoring
the irregular cases.
For example, a child may add “-s ”
to the end of a noun to form the
plural form, whether the noun is
regular or irregular. Therefore, the
mistakes that a child makes are
systematic and predictable.
The role of input and interaction
Human genetically programmed capacity
for language is not a sufficient condition
for language acquisition. Successful
language acquisition requires appropriate
linguistic context in which a child can
interact with others linguistically.
Otherwise, language acquisition can be
severely hampered.
Caretaker speech is a modified speech
usually for communication with children.
Children with little or no exposure to
caretaker speech do not necessarily acquire
their mother tongues more slowly than
children with much exposure to caretaker
speech.
It means the exposure to caretaker speech
is not an essential condition for language
acquisition. However, caretaker speech
can help establish the relation between
linguistic forms and their meanings,
facilitate the comprehension of language
and make the acquisition of vocabulary
and structures easier.
The role of instruction
Language acquisition for normal children
requires little conscious instruction or
classroom teaching. In natural settings,
parents rarely correct young children’s
grammatical mistakes in their communication.
Even if they do so, their efforts very often
seem to achieve little effect. For example:
Child: I taked a cookie.
Parent: Oh, you mean you took a
cookie.
Child: Yes, that's right, I taked it.
Therefore, conscious instruction to a
normal child plays a minor role at best, if
any.
The role of correction and reinforcement
Behaviourists believe that a child's verbal
behavior
was
conditioned
through
association between a stimulus and the
response. Correct verbal behaviour gets
positively reinforced and incorrect verbal
behaviour gets corrected.
In this way, a child gradually forms the
behaviour of using the language correctly.
But modern research has shown that
correction and reinforcement only play a
minor role in the first language acquisition,
for example:
Child: Nobody don't like me.
Mother: No, say "Nobody likes me."
Child: Nobody don' t like me.
[ This type of exchange is repeated eight
times. ]
Mother: No, now listen carefully; say
"Nobody likes me."
Child: Oh! Nobody don't LIKES me.
Generally speaking, correction and
reinforcement from the parents occur
in children’s pronunciation and
reporting of truthfulness of utterances.
The role of imitation
Imitation only plays a minor role in the
first language acquisition. Children
actively discover and construct their
personal linguistic rules from
the linguistic input they
have received.
If children’s first language acquisition
involved the passive imitation on the
part of children, then many linguistic
mistakes children have made would not
be satisfactorily explained because the
mistakes they make are not usually
heard in the adult speech forms.
For example, children are
often heard to say my
foots instead of my feet,
goed instead of went and
maked instead of made.
In addition, children who can not speak
because of some other neurological or
physiological defects can learn a
language.
Children do not imitate blindly. They
make selective use of imitation ， for
example, in learning vocabulary.
Imitation does not play a key role in the
first language acquisition.
Second language acquisition
Second language acquisition （SLA）
studies the similarities and differences
in the first language acquisition and the
second language acquisition, the causes
of the difficulties in the second
language acquisition and the methods
which facilitate second language
acquisition.
The role of input
Second language acquisition requires
that SL learners expose themselves to an
adequate amount of input with which
they can interact. The appropriate input
is therefore one of the conditions for the
success in the second language
acquisition. But scholars disagree among
themselves on what constitutes the
optimum input.
Some scholars believe that only when
the second language learners have
access to comprehensible linguistic
input can second language acquisition
occurs.
Others believe that linguistic input is
not linguistic intake. Intake is the input
that is assimilated and fed into the
interlanguage system. The factors that
decide on the success in second
language acquisition should include not
only interaction, but also intake.
The role of formal instruction
No agreement has been reached on
the effect of formal instruction on
second language acquisition, but
research findings have, in general,
proved that formal instruction
contributes to SLA.
Formal instruction usually does not
change the natural route of SLA, but by
providing comprehensible input and
intake-type environment, it can speed
up SLA.
Formal instruction contributes to
the improvement of students’
writing ability, planned speech and
career-oriented examination. In a
long run, it helps the students’ oral
communicative proficiency.
Transfer and interference
Language transfer refers to the
phenomenon
in
which
learners
consciously or subconsciously use their
first language knowledge in learning a
second language. Positive transfer occurs
when an LI pattern is identical with, or
similar to, a target-language pattern.
N e g a t i v e t r a n s f e r, a l s o c a l l e d
interference, occurs when an LI pattern
is different from the counterpart pattern
of the target language and the language
learners still use their mother tongue
knowledge to learn the target language.
Contrastive Analysis is usually the
analysis of similarities and differences
between the mother tongue and the
target language to predict the main
causes of the difficulties in the target
language learning so that measures can
be taken to overcome these difficulties.
Contrastive linguists believe that
positive transfer helps second
language learning, while the
negative transfer, the cause of
mistakes, interferes with the second
language learning. Therefore the
second language learning process is
a process o f overcoming the
differences between the mother
tongue and the target language.
Empirical observations do not support the
Contrastive Analysis hypothesis. It is
discovered that most mistakes that students
make do not result from the mother tongue
interference, but from the learners’ active
experiment with and construction of their
target language rules. These mistakes are
systematic to a large extent.
The research into the mistakes made by the
second language learners has brought
about the change in the attitude to the
mistakes made in the second language
acquisition.
The
second
language
acquisition is no longer regarded as a
process of overcoming the old language
habits and forming new ones, but a process
of constantly constructing and modifying
communicative rules.
4. 4 Inter-language and fossilization
Interlanguage is a variety formed in the
transition of learners’ linguistic forms from
their mother tongue to the target language. It
is different from the mother tongue and the
target language as well. It is the result of the
learners’ use of their creatively-constructed
linguistic rules to communicate in the
process of second language learning.
Therefore, it is systematic.
Interlanguage,
as
the
interim
knowledge of the target language,
represents the learner' s transitional
competence approximating the target
language competence. Interlanguage is,
very often, a product of L2 training,
mother
tongue
interference,
overgeneralization of the target
language rules, and communicative
strategies of the learner.
Fossilization occurs when learners’
linguistic forms stop approximating
the target system and learners,
therefore, fail to achieve native-like
competence in the target language.
Because of fossilization, linguistic
rules, which are different from those
o f th e t a rg e t l a n g u a g e c a n b e
internalized in the mind of the target
language learners. Both internal and
external factors contribute to a
learner's fossilized language, yet the
exact causes of fossilization and the
ways to prevent it are not fully known.
Learner Factors
The optimum age for second language
acquisition
Although there is a critical period in language
learning, it does not mean the younger the
learner is, the better he is at learning a second
language. The optimum age for SLA is early
teenage. The cognitive abilities of the early
teenagers have been considerably developed,
but their brains are still plastic enough,
because their brain lateralization has not been
completed.
Motivation
Motivation can be divided into instrumental
motivation and integrative motivation.
Instrumental motivation occurs when SL
learners learn a second language as an
instrument for, say, obtaining a better job.
Integrative motivation is social, which
occurs when SL learners learn a second
language in order to integrate themselves
into the target language culture or become
members of the target language community.
Generally speaking, if the target
language functions as a foreign
language, the learner is likely to benefit
from an integrative motivation; if the
target language functions as a second
language , an instrumental motivation is
more effective.
Acculturation
Acculturation is the
process
of
SL
learners adapting to
the target language
culture.
One of the hypotheses is that if SL
learners actively make contact with
and adapt to the culture of the target
language community, they are more
likely to succeed in second language
acquisition.
The degree to which a learner
acculturates to the target language
group and the degree to which a learner
keeps social and psychological
distances from the target language
culture determine the amount of contact
he makes with the target language and
therefore affect his degree of success in
his second language acquisition.
Personality
Learners’ personalities can be divided into
extrovert
personality
and
introvert
personality. One hypothesis is that learners
with the outgoing personality get more
opportunities to interact with the target
language speakers and have more access to
the linguistic input and more chances to
practise, therefore, they are more likely to
succeed in second language acquisition
than the learners with introvert personality.
But research discoveries have found
there is no significant relationship
between extroverted personality and
overall proficiency in a second language,
though outgoing learners are more
likely to achieve better oral fluency.
In general, an ideal second language
learner is an early teenager, who has
clearly set motivation, adapts
himself to different learning
situations, seizes every chance to
use the target language to
communicate, and wants to
integrate himself into the target
language culture.