Second Language Acquisition

Applied Linguistics
Second language
Acquisition/ Learning
The Study of Language
George Yule
Page 186-197
Topics
• What is Second Language Learning/ Acquisition
• Difference Between Acquisition and Learning
• Difference Between Second Language and Foreign Language
• Acquisition Barriers
• Affective Filters
• Language Transfer
• Interlanguage
• Intraference
• Overgeneralization
• Language Input
• Communicative Competence
What is Language Acquisition?
• The process of attaining a specific variant of human language.
• The process of learning a native or a second language.

Second Language Acquisition
The Process of Acquiring/learning a second or

foreign language is called as second Language
Acquisition
Difference Between Learning and Acquisition
Some theorists use “learning” and “acquisition” synonymously. Others

maintain a contrast between the two terms,
Learning
Acquisition
using “learning” to mean a conscious process
“Acquisition” to refer to a nonconscious
involving the study of explicit rules of language
process of rule internalization resulting from
exposure to comprehensible input when the learner’s and MONITORING one’s performance, as is
attention is on meaning rather than form, as is more often typical of classroom learning in a
common in a SECOND LANGUAGE context. FOREIGN LANGUAGE context
Still others use “acquisition” only with reference to

the learning of one’s first language.
Acquisition and learning
SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
Acquisition Barriers
There are many general factors that influence second language
learning such as age, aptitude, intelligence, cognitive style, attitudes,
motivation and personality (Ellis, 1985). The factors effecting the
second language acquisition can be divided in to two categories.
These are
1. Individual/internal factors
2. External Factors
There is also a third category of factors called effective filters, but

these factors are usually discussed in Individual/internal factors.
Affective Filters
These are also kind of individual/internal factors, but
these are called as affective filters because these are
related to personal emotions or psychology of individual
learner.
Affective factors are emotional factors which influence
learning. They can have a negative or positive effect on
learning a second language. Negative affective factors are
called affective filters.
People with high affective filter will lower their intake
whereas people with low affective filter allow more input
into their language acquisition device.
These factors may include:
Self esteem, inhibition, anxiety, empathy etc.
Transfer
Transfer” (also called “crosslinguistic influence”)
Transfer means using sounds, expressions or structures from the L1 when performing in the L2.
Positive transfer
If the L1 and L2 have similar features (e.g. marking plural on the ends of nouns), then the learner may be able to benefit
from the positive transfer of L1 knowledge to the L2.
Negative transfer
On the other hand, transferring an L1 feature that is really different from the L2 (e.g. putting the adjective after the
noun) results in negative transfer and it may make the L2 expression difficult to understand.
We should remember that negative transfer (sometimes called “interference”) is more common in the early stages of L2
learning and often decreases as the learner develops familiarity with the L2.
Language transfer – interference
Language transfer refers to the influence of the mother tongue on the learning of the foreign language.
When there are no major differences between L1 and L2, the transfer will be positive, which will make
language learning easier.
When there are differences, the learner’s L1 knowledge may interfere with learning L2, negative transfer will
occur, which is called (mother-tongue) interference.
Interference affects all levels of language, such as pronunciation, grammar, lexis, syntax and so on.
The errors arise from the mismatch between the grammatical habits of the learners’ mother tongue and the new
grammatical patterns that the learners have to acquire in the foreign language.
Although mother tongue interference is a very important cause it is not the only one.
Interlanguage
Errors were regarded as failures for a long time. Now it is accepted that errors are important because they
are the indication of the learners’ developing competence, which Selinker (1972) called ‘interlanguage’.
Interlanguage refers to the process the learner goes through from the initial stage when he knows very
little about the language getting to a final stage when he possesses almost complete fluency. It shows a
transitional stage of the learner’s development towards L2 competence.
It is a system that the learners construct at any stage in their development.

Interlanguage
Students’ errors are a very useful way of giving evidence of what they have learnt and haven’t
learnt. So instead of regarding errors negatively, as a sign of failure, teachers can see them
positively as an indication of what they still need to teach. If teachers try to prevent students from
making errors, they can never find out what the learners do not know.
Teachers need to correct some errors to help students learn the correct forms of the language. But
they don’t have to correct students all the time.
Intraference
Language learners may experience confusion when they find conflicting
patterns within the structure of the newly acquired language.
Scovel (2001) calls it intraference.
A good example is the use of the third person singular suffix, which causes
problems to a great number of learners irrespective of what their mother
tongue is.
The information about the suffixation (in simple present tense there are no
suffixes only in the third person singular) confuses the learners and it comes
from English itself.
One of the most common indication of intraference is overgeneralization.
Overgeneralization
• A process common in both first- and second-language learning,
• in which a learner extends the use of a grammatical rule of a linguistic

item beyond its accepted uses, generally by making words or
structures follow a more regular pattern.
For example, use mans instead of men for the plural of man.
Overgeneralization
Overgeneralization means that whenever learners meet a new pattern or a new rule, they
think that the pattern or rule applies to all cases without exception.
Errors are produced because the learner extends the target language rule to inappropriate
context ignoring the restrictions of the structures.
Overgeneralization results from the fact that the learner finds it easier to transfer previous
knowledge to produce a new pattern.
A good example said by a foreign language learner is the following:
She goes. “She must goes”.
Input and output
input
(in language learning) language which a learner hears or receives and from which he or she can learn.
According to Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, comprehensible input is a necessary condition for second
language acquisition.
comprehensible input: Input that is comprehensible (understanable) for the learner.
input language which contains linguistic items that are slightly beyond the learner’s present linguistic competence
OUT Put:
language produced by a language learner, either in speech or writing.
Input and output
Input and output (Continues….)
Communicative competence
Sociolinguistic competence
Strategic Competence and Communication Strategy
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Applied Linguistics

• The process of attaining a specific variant of human language.

• The process of learning a native or a second language.

The Process of Acquiring/learning a second or

Some theorists use “learning” and “acquisition” synonymously. Others

common in a SECOND LANGUAGE context. FOREIGN LANGUAGE context

Still others use “acquisition” only with reference to

There is also a third category of factors called effective filters, but

It is a system that the learners construct at any stage in their development.

• in which a learner extends the use of a grammatical rule of a linguistic

comprehensible input: Input that is comprehensible (understanable) for the learner.

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