Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is defined as the process by which people learn a language other than their L1, involving both conscious learning and subconscious acquisition. This process is influenced by a complex interplay of factors categorized as internal (learner-related) and external (context-related).

 Internal Factors

Internal factors are characteristics related to the learner. Key internal factors influencing SLA include:

  • Age: Younger learners often achieve native-like fluency, although adults may initially learn faster before experiencing a plateau.

 

  • Aptitude: Ability; memory; talent.

 

  • Motivation: The goal orientation and persistence of the learner shape their engagement. An important type is Integrative Motivation, defined as the learner’s desire to connect with or integrate into the target community.

 

  • Attitudes: The attitudes of the learner towards the target language and its speakers are critical affective variables.

 

  • Learning styles: These are characteristics that help inform instruction.

External Factors

External factors are characteristics related to the learning environment or context. Key external factors influencing SLA include:

  • Learning context: This refers to whether acquisition happens in a formal classroom setting or through naturalistic immersion.

 

  • Instruction: Conscious learning occurs through instruction, study, and practice. However, there are limits on instruction's direct effects on acquisition, as it has not been shown to cause learners to skip developmental sequences.

 

  • Input: Rich, meaningful exposure to the L2 accelerates learning progress. Input is defined as the language the learner hears or reads and attends to for its meaning.

 

  • Opportunities for communication: SLA also involves subconscious acquisition through interaction and communication. The Social Environment (the status of L1 and L2 in society) affects motivation and opportunity for communication.

Individual Differences

  1. Personality: Openness and anxiety levels shape a learner's engagement and persistence.
  2. Emotions: Affective factors, such as anxiety, are linked to learning outcomes.
  3. Strategies: Learners utilize specialized repertoires of learning approaches. Research suggests that more proficient learners employ different strategies than those who are less proficient.
  4. Cognitive styles:Wholist-Analytic: This dimension reflects how individuals organize and structure information. Wholists tend to see the big picture, while analytics focus on details and components.
    Verbal-Imagery: This dimension describes how individuals represent information in memory. Verbalisers think in words, while imagers think in pictures.
    Field Dependence-Independence: This style refers to how individuals perceive and interpret information in relation to their environment. Field-dependent individuals may rely more on external cues, while field-independent individuals focus on specific details, often disregarding the context.
    Reflectivity-Impulsivity: Reflective individuals tend to analyze situations carefully before making decisions, while impulsive individuals may act quickly without thorough consideration.

Interlanguage and Error Analysis

Definition of interlanguage (Selinker).

The term interlanguage (IL) was coined by Larry Selinker (1972). Interlanguage refers to the learner’s language system, which is systematic and rule-governed. It is a linguistic system in its own right, worthy of description. Interlanguage theory marked a shift away from simply viewing learner language as a defective version of the target language.

Errors as evidence of learning.

(Corder, 1967) involves systematically identifying and explaining actual learner errors to understand the acquisition processes. Errors demonstrate learning because they result from learners formulating and testing internal hypotheses.

Errors can be caused by Language Transfer (both positive and negative transfer from L1 structures) and can be also result from Overgeneralization (applying L2 rules too broadly). Another is Fossilization, this describes persistent errors that resist correction despite continued practice and exposure.

 READ THE FOLLOWING TEXT AND WRITE THE ERRORS IN THE BUTTOM:

code: 5199 9701

Last weekend I go to visit my cousins in the city. I am very exciting because I don’t see them since many months. When I arrive to the bus station, my cousin tell me that we need walk to his house because the taxi is too much expensive. We walk like twenty minutes and I am getting very tired, but he say me that is close.

When we arrive, his mother make a big lunch for us. She cook pasta and chicken, and it smell very good. I help her to put the table, but she tell me “don’t worry, I do it”, but I want help because I feel good doing something. After eat, we decide to play videogames, but the control don’t work and we need go to buy batteries.