Second Language Acquisition

2. Second Language Acquisition-
David Nunan
Prepared by
Vaidehi Hariyani
(Research Scholar)
Department of English,MKBU

3. Introduction
 Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research is the study of how people learn a language other
than their mother tongue.
 The goals of SLA research are to describe how second language (SL) acquisition proceeds and to
identify factors that account for the reasons why learners acquire an SL in the way they do.
 An overall comprehension of SLA research will facilitate educators’ development of appropriate
syllabi and methodologies in language classrooms.

4. Background
 SLA emerged from comparative studies of similarities and different between language. First
language and second language both are different to each other.
 These studies were conducted in the belief that a learner’s first language(L1) has an important
influence on the acquisition of a second(L2), resulting in the ‘contrastive analysis’(CA) hypothesis.
 Contrastive Hypothesis brings out two terms; Positive Transfer and Negative Transfer.

5. Positive Transfer Negative Transfer
The rules of L1 and
L2 are similar.
The rules of L1
and L2 are not
similar.

6. Product-Oriented Research
 The principal aim was to determine whether there is a ‘natural’ sequence in the order in which L2
learners acquire the grammar of the target language.
 Dulay and Burt (1973-1974)
1. Dulay and Burt have established a new term “Morpheme order” which means minimum
meaningful language unit.
2. Dulay and Burt found that listening is the first way of learning language. they have done their
research upon the children from different L1 backgrounds(Spanish and Chinese), and as a result
they found that the morpheme they have used were similar.

7.  Brown’s longitudinal case (1973)
1. Brown has done a research work upon three children who were having English as a L1. He found
fourteen (14) grammatical structures, and their way of learning and using English was similar to
their parents. As per Brown the way of learning English language is natural.
 Dulay and Burt rejected the hypothesis
 Briefly the CA hypothesis states that while the child is learning an L2. He or she will tend to use
his native language structures in his L2 speech, and where structures in his L1 and his L2 differ he
will goof.

8.  The ‘L2’ acquisition equals L1 acquisition hypothesis holds that children actively organize the L2
speech that they hear and make generalizations about its structure as children learning their L1
do.
 Therefore the goofs expected in any particular L2 production would be similar to those made by
children learning the same language as their L1.

9. Stephen Krashen(1980s) :
 In the 1980s Stephen Krashen was the best known figure in the SLA field.
 Krashen formulated a ‘controversial hypothesis’, as per him there are two mental process operating SLA:
conscious learning and subconscious learning
 Conscious learning: it focuses upon grammatical rules. It helps learners to identify the violation of rule
 Subconscious learning: it facilitating the acquisition of grammatical rules at a subconscious level
 Krashen has also argued that the basic mechanism underlying language acquisition was comprehension,
and he has given “comprehensible input hypotheses”. In this hypothesis learner understands a message in
different structure. The instructions which have given for language are input and acquisition of language is
output.

10. Process-Oriented Research
 Research reviewed above focused on the products or outcomes of acquisition.
 Long (1981) found that two way tasks stimulated significantly more modified interactions than one
way tasks.
 Long has also done research upon tasks of SLA, he has given three stages which are connected
with each other.
1. Conversational adjustment
2. Comprehensible input
3. Acquisition
 This research into modified interaction was strongly influenced by Krashen’s hypothesis that
comprehensible input was a necessary and sufficient condition for SLA, i.e that acquisition would
occur when learners understood messages in the target language.

11. Current and future trends and directions:-
 Current SLA research orientations can be captured by a single word: complexity.
 Researchers have begun to realize that there are social and interpersonal as well as psychological
dimensions to acquisition, that input and output are both important, that form and meaning are
ultimately inseparable and that acquisition is an organic rather than linear process.

12. Conclusion
 The results seem to indicate that while task variables appear to have an effect on the amount of
negotiation for meaning, there appears to be an interaction between task variables, personality
factors and interactional dynamic.
 This ongoing research underlines the complexity of the learning environment and the difficulty of
isolating psychological and linguistic factors from social and interpersonal ones.

13. Generalizations
 SLA includes an understanding, in general, of what language is, what learning is and for
classroom context, what teaching is.
 Knowledge of children’s learning the first language provides insights to understand SLA.
 There is tremendous variations among learners in acquiring language.
 The way people view themselves in communication will affect the quantity and quality of second
language learning.

14. Claims
 Adults can acquire a second language easily…!
 Practice does not make language perfect.
 Knowing a language rule does not mean one will be able to use it in an interaction.
 One cannot achieve native like command in an hour.
 Comprehension of text depends on learners ability to understand language.
 Learner already has a language available.
 Atmosphere of the learner.

15. Trajectory of Answer
 Introduction :- What is SLA?
 Difference:- L1 and L2, Learning and Acquisition.
 Background
 Positive and Negative Transfer
 Research: Product-Oriented and Process-Oriented
 Current and Future Trends and Directions
 Generalizations and claims
 Summarize