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…
