Components of Second Language Acquisition

Components of Second Language Acquisition
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Introduction
Language, what an important word. Everyone involved in any language teaching process can clearly understand the importance of comprehending the way this word impacts our lives. Language is essentially a means of communication among the members of a society. In the expression of culture, language is a fundamental aspect. ... For instance, writing, a relatively recent invention, has a great importance for a language whereby it plays an important role in the preservation of language realities. Language is the method of expressing ideas and emotions in the form of signs and symbols. These signs and symbols are used to encode and decode the information. There are many languages spoken in the world. The first language learned by a baby is his or her mother tongue. It is the language, which he or she listens to from his or her birth. Any other language learned or acquired is known as the second language.
English Program Types
To talk about second language acquisition invites a lot of discussions and theories, therefore we must first understand the differences between bilingual and language program types. Why? Well for starters we want to use the right program for our school.
We’ve all heard about Immersion and or Structured Immersion, Dual Language or Bilingual Instruction and at the end we ask the same the question: are they the same?
There are so many different programs in education. Language education is no stranger to a multitude of confusing program titles and names. Here is a handy chart that will help you understand the type, program, and description for each language instruction programs for Mexico.



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Two-Way:Also known as dual language or bilingual immersion, a two-way bilingual education program employs two teachers in a single classroom. Instruction in the subject is given in both English and another language at the same time. It is believed this type of bilingual education program can be effective in teaching English to non-English-speaking students.
Total Immersion: English spoken all the timeImmersion refers to a type of bilingual education program wherein non-English-speaking students spend the entire day learning subjects taught in English. Teachers may attempt to simplify the language for these students if needed. Immersion might also refer to the practice of English-speaking students being taught another language.
Transitional: In a transitional bilingual education program, children not fluent in English are taught some subjects in their native language.
Other subjects are taught in English. Bilingual education was originally intended to be only a transitional program, but in some cases students remain in this program for an extended period of time.
English as a Second Language (ESL) Program: English as a Second Language (ESL) is a bilingual education program that places students in specific classes that teach them to speak and write English. These students may take classes in other subjects, but the majority of their day is spent in ESL classes. Some programs have students attend only ESL classes for a certain period of time, possibly for up to one year, before beginning in academics.
What’s with all the acronyms in English teaching?
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Ever wondered what all that terminology in English teaching mean? Even those of us who are within the teaching profession may not be clear on the difference between the acronyms that have surfaced to describe our jobs. When you hear about profession of teaching English to speakers of other languages, it’s referred to as “ESL.” A lot of other acronyms also do come to mind (e.g., EFL, ESOL, and ELL) that are essentially getting at the same thing, but they’re used with the intention of providing more distinction between the different learning environments.
The same letters are used for the job and for the courses different ones use different letters.Here’s a description:
ESL: English as a Second Language is learning English in a country where English is dominantly spoken or where English is the official language. For example, students from non-native English-speaking countries who come to the U.S. and Canada for an extended period of time learn English as a Second Language. They acquire English as a means to communicate in the dominant language spoken in the community where they reside.
EFL: English as a Foreign Language is learning English in a non-English- speaking country. For example, students in China who are learning English are considered EFL students because English is not the official language of the country. But if those same students were in the U.S. learning English, they would be considered ESL students.
ESOL: English to Speakers of Other Languages applies to both ESL and EFL contexts. One reason why this term was created is because some individuals argue that when students are learning English in a native English-speaking country (ESL), these students are not
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necessarily learning a second language. It could, in fact, be a student’s third or even fourth language. English as a Second Language, then, is limiting and not fully comprehensive in its description.
ELL: The term English Language Learners is commonly used in K-12 environments. It has been brought to my attention, however, that some school districts prefer to use the term ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) to describe their student population. This could simply be a preference issue.
ESP: English for Special Purposes includes students who are learning English in context of a certain field, profession, or topic. For example, when I was teaching legal English in China, I was teaching English in context of law. These students were learning English in preparation for studying law through an American university where the professors were all native English speakers.
Regarding teaching
ELT – English Language Teaching
TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and encompasses what used to be called TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language).
Basically, all the above mean that you teach English to students who have a different first language. It doesn’t matter whether these students are in an English
speaking country, in their home country or somewhere else, it’s the same thing. Somehow, you help students to improve their ability to communicate in and understand English.
What makes this all more confusing, is that the teacher training course providers use the same acronyms for their courses. In fact, TESOL is used for courses and as the name of one of the professional bodies. Generally, it’s just a generic term to mean teaching English.
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Acronyms for Courses
If you want to be an English teacher, it’s a very good idea to get yourself some training. There are many different qualifications out there to choose from, with a multitude of acronyms. This is where it gets really confusing
CELTA – Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults
This is the most well-known of the teaching qualifications, and the longest running. It’s run by Cambridge University, who also run many of the international English language exams for students and who have a huge English language teaching publishing arm. You don’t need any experience to do it and it includes both taught input and practical classroom experience with real students. You can do the CELTA all over the world, both full-time and part-time, and there is now a course which can be partly
done online.
TESOL – Teaching English to speakers of other languages (as above!)
The only real CELTA equivalent is the Trinity
TESOL certificate, run by Trinity College, London. Again,
you don’t need any experience to do this, and it includes
taught input and practical classroom experience. You can
do this course all over the world as well, although it is
less widespread that the CELTA.The CELTA and the Trinity are accepted worldwide and by the big English language teaching companies such as the British Council and International House.
However, a lot of other companies also use the name TESOL to describe their certificate. This name alone does not guarantee quality or acceptability. If you are looking at a non- Trinity TESOL, you need to check out the course and the organization carefully.
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Find out who accredits the course and if it is a genuine accreditation organization. Check out if your teaching practice is with real students or teaching your classmates. Google it and see if any reviews or positive and negative stories come up from past teachers.
TEFL is also a term used by many companies to describe their certificates. As with TESOL, it doesn’t guarantee anything. It’s just four letters.
CELTYL – Cambridge English Language Teaching to Young Learners
This is an extension course to the CELTA course, specialising in teaching children. I’m not sure that your initial teaching qualification needs to be an actual CELTA to take it, but you do need some kind of teacher training qualification. This course seems to have stopped now.
TYLEC – Trinity Young Learners Extension Certificate
This is the Trinity version of the course above, again an extension of an initial teacher training course specialising in teaching children.
Delta – This used to stand for Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults, but they have dropped the capital letters to make it just a name. This is because you can now do a Delta if you teach children.
DipTESOL – Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language
These are Diploma level qualifications, designed for experienced teachers of English who want to develop their knowledge and skills. The Delta is run by Cambridge University, and the DipTESOL by Trinity College, London. These are longer courses – about three months if you do it intensively or up to three years if you do it while working. You need a minimum of two years experience to take one, and it’s recommended that you have more.
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Kris has the Delta and Kate has the DipTESOL, so if you want more information about them both, send us a message.
Exam Acronyms
IELTS – International English Language Testing System
The exam that students take if they want to study or work in an English-speaking country. Co-owned by the British Council, IDP Australia and Cambridge English, it is very common for students wanting to go to the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well
as international universities in other countries. It’s one of only two exams that is now accepted for a UK visa. It tests four skills – listening, reading, speaking and writing. There are two types: Academic, for study abroad, and General, for work. They only differ in the reading and writing components.
There is also IELTS Life Skills now, which is an exam for migration and visas. It’s designed to test students
at lower levels.
TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language
Exam for students wanting to study in the USA. Again, tests the four skills. TOEIC – Test of English for International communication.
Another American test, this one aimed at people working
in English.
Cambridge Exams
Cambridge University has a suite of exams to test students English levels. They are
probably the most popular apart from IELTS and TOEFL.
You can get jobs preparing students for them all over the world.
FCE – First Certificate in English. Upper Intermediate (B2) level test.
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CAE – Cambridge Advanced English. As it says on the tin, an advanced level test. CPE – Cambridge Proficiency in English.The highest level of English there is.
KET and PET – Key English Test and Preliminary English Test.Lower level English tests, PET is A2 (pre-intermediate) and KET is B1 (intermediate)
PTE – Pearson Test of English
Not to be confused with PET, Pearson publishing company also have a suite of English tests.There are many more English language tests, but these are the ones you will see
most frequently.
CEFR – Common European Framework of Reference
Another acronym you will see related to English levels. This is the European measurement of language levels, using a set of ‘Can do’ statements. The levels are A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2, with A1 being the lowest level and C2 the highest. Course books, exams and sometimes English classes use these letters to describe student levels.
Teaching Acronyms
Finally here’s a round-up of some of the other acronyms you might read about in English teaching. It’s by no means exhaustive.
EAP – English for Academic Purposes
Teaching the English students need at English-speaking universities. This usually involves a lot of writing, listening to lectures and academic reading.
YL – Young Learners. Students aged from around 2, to about 16 years old. ELF – English as a Lingua Franca
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Most conversations in English as likely to take place between two non- native speakers, rather than a native and a non-native, so ELF focuses on what they would need to communicate effectively.
CLIL – Content and Language Integrated Learning
Teaching English through other subjects, such as science, maths and history.
PPP – Presentation, Practice, Production. The most widely known teaching
‘method’, where you present new language to students, give them opportunities to practice it and then they use it in a real communicative situation.
TBL – Task Based Learning
Another method, where you give students a task to do in English, monitor
how well they do it and then give them feedback and language work
based on what they found difficult to do.
TTT – Test, Teach, Test or Teacher Talking Time
Three letters, two meanings. We don’t make this easy, do we? Test-Teach
Test is a teaching method where you test students on a
language point, then teach what they don’t know, then test them again. teaching talking time is how much time teachers spend talking,
compared to their students. The aim is not to have this so high. Inexperienced teachers (and more experienced ones sometimes, actually), tend to talk too much and not give students time to say anything and practice communicating.
About Second Language Acquisition
Let’s begin by stating an important fact about second language acquisition: it is a long process, which includes several stages. The definition of second language acquisition and learning is learning and acquisition of a second language once the mother tongue or first language acquisition is established. Second language acquisition or SLA is the process of learning other languages in addition to the native language. For instance, a child who speaks Hindi as the mother tongue starts learning English when he starts going to school. English is learned by the process of second language acquisition. In fact, a young child can learn a second language faster than an adult can learn the same language.
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Though most scholars use the terms “language learning" and “language acquisition" interchangeably, actually these terms differ. Language learning refers to the formal learning of a language in the classroom.
On the other hand, language acquisition means acquiring the language with little or no formal training or learning. If you go to a foreign land where people speak a different language from your native language, you need to acquire that foreign language. It can be done with little formal learning of the language through your every day interaction with the native peoples in the market place, work place, parks or anywhere else. This is true for learning spoken language.
A look into Krashen’s point of view
At the end of it all, the purpose of learning a language, specifically English is to speak it. We could debate this for years, but no matter what studies show the conclusion will be the
same: students need communicate verbally not how many certifications tests can be aced by them. This is pretty much what Dr. Stephen Krashen will telll us, and he’s right. The means are important to meet the ends. “Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.”
In case you’re not familiar with Stephen Krashen’s work, here’s a little briefing. Stephen Krashen (University of Southern California) is an expert in the field of linguistics, specializing in theories of
language acquisition and development. Much of his recent research has involved the study of non- English and bilingual language acquisition. During the past 20
years, he has published well over 100 books and articles and has been invited to deliver over 300 lectures at universities throughout the United States and Canada.
In Krashen’s research of SLA we find a series of requirements when teaching a new language:
a) the teacher speaks only the target language and class time is committed to providing input for acquisition.
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b) A student requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding. The student should not try and learn a language in the usual sense, but should try and lose themselves in activities involving meaningful communication.
c) Comprehensible input' is the crucial and necessary ingredient for the acquisition of language.
d) The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are 'ready', recognizing that
improvement comes from supplying
communicative and comprehensible input,
and not from forcing and correcting
production.
In the real world, conversations with sympathetic native speakers who are willing to help the acquirer understand are very helpful.
The 5 Hypotheses
Krashen's theory of second language acquisition consists of five main hypotheses:
-the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis -the Monitor hypothesis
-the Natural Order hypothesis
-the Input hypothesis
-the Affective Filter hypothesis.
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The Acquisition-Learning distinction is the most fundamental of all the hypotheses in Krashen's theory and the most widely known among linguists and language practitioners. According to Krashen there are two independent systems of second language performance: 'the acquired system' and 'the learned system'. The 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first language.
It requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concentrated not in the form of their utterances, but in the communicative act.
The "learned system" or "learning" is the product of formal instruction and it comprises a conscious process which results in conscious knowledge 'about' the language, for example knowledge of grammar rules. According to Krashen 'learning' is less important than 'acquisition'.
The Monitor hypothesis explains the relationship between acquisition and learning and defines the influence of the latter on the former. The monitoring function is the practical result of the learned grammar. According to Krashen, the acquisition system is the utterance initiator, while the learning system performs the role of the 'monitor' or the 'editor'. The 'monitor' acts in a planning, editing and correcting function when three specific conditions are met: that is, the second language learner has sufficient time at his/ her disposal, he/she focuses on form or thinks about correctness, and he/she knows the rule.
It appears that the role of conscious learning is somewhat limited in second language performance. According to Krashen, the role of the monitor is - or should be -
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minor, being used only to correct deviations from "normal" speech and to give speech a more 'polished' appearance.
Krashen also suggests that there is individual variation among language learners with regard to 'monitor' use. He distinguishes those learners that use the 'monitor' all the time (over-users); those learners who have not learned or who prefer not to use their conscious knowledge (under-users); and those learners that use the 'monitor' appropriately (optimal users). An evaluation of the person's psychological profile can help to determine to what group they belong. Usually extroverts are under-users, while introverts and perfectionists are over-users. Lack of self-confidence is frequently related to the over-use of the "monitor".
The Natural Order hypothesis is based on research findings (Dulay & Burt, 1974; Fathman, 1975; Makino, 1980 cited in Krashen, 1987) which suggested that the acquisition of grammatical structures follows a 'natural order' which is predictable. For a given language, some grammatical structures tend to be acquired early while others late. This order seemed to be independent of the learners' age, L1 background, conditions of exposure, and although the agreement between individual acquirers was not always 100% in the studies, there were statistically significant similarities that reinforced the
existence of a Natural Order of language acquisition. Krashen however points out that the implication of the natural order hypothesis is not that a language program syllabus should be based on the order found in the studies. In fact, he rejects grammatical sequencing when the goal is language acquisition.
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The Input hypothesis is Krashen's attempt to explain how the learner acquires a second language – how second language acquisition takes place. The Input hypothesis is only concerned with 'acquisition', not 'learning'. According to this hypothesis, the learner improves and progresses along the 'natural order' when he/she receives second language
'input' that is one step beyond his/her current stage of linguistic competence. For example, if a learner is at a stage 'i', then acquisition takes place when he/she is exposed to 'Comprehensible Input' that belongs to level 'i + 1'. Since not all of the learners can be at the same level of linguistic competence at the same time, Krashen suggests that natural communicative input is the key to designing a syllabus, ensuring
in this way that each learner will receive some 'i + 1' input that is appropriate for his/her current stage of linguistic competence.
Finally, the fifth hypothesis, the Affective Filter hypothesis, embodies Krashen's view that a number of 'affective variables' play a facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition. These variables include: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety. Krashen claims that learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self- image, and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for success in second language acquisition. Low motivation, low self-esteem, and debilitating anxiety can combine to 'raise' the affective filter and form a 'mental block' that prevents comprehensible input from being used for acquisition. In other words, when the filter is 'up' it impedes language acquisition. On the other hand, positive affect is necessary, but not sufficient on its own, for acquisition to take place.
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And here’s an additional point of view: Both teachers and students are deceiving themselves if they believe that it is the subject matter itself, the study of grammar, that is responsible for the students" progress, but in reality their progress is coming from the medium and not the message. Any subject matter that held their interest would do just as well.
Constructive Interaction
It’s clear now that the only way we can get students to learn or increase their language level is for them to practice it as much as possible. No wonder one of the four C’s of education promotes ‘Collaboration’ as a mean for students to progress in communication and
team work. Interacting with peers when learning a new language is important. Therefore constructive interaction plays a crucial role in every ESL class. Students must not just work in teams to have a great time, they must work together using English as a tool to complete tasks. For this, all teacher must plan dynamical classes where student
interaction is part of the class daily.
Jean Piaget tells us that during a class, students have to interact with ‘an object of knowledge.” This could be a book, a phone, etc; something that provides information for them to discuss.
David Ausubel indicates that the information being studied by the students has to be ‘relevant’ and ‘meaningful’.
Lev Vygotsky sums up by telling us that all of the procedures mentioned have be worked in teams and discussed in full interaction with
each other.
When all these elements come together they form an approach called Constructive Interaction
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In Conclusion
So, what is the best way to teach a second language? There are many different things that factor into the decision about how to teach a person a second language, including the following:
•language spoken in the home
•amount of opportunity to practice the second language
•internal motivation of the learner
•reason that the second language is needed (e.g., to learn at school, to talk to a friend, or for work)
There are different ways to introduce the second language:
•by setting (e.g., English is spoken only in the school, and Spanish is spoken only in the
home)
•by topic (e.g., French is spoken only during meal time, and Spanish is spoken during school/work activities)
•by speaker (e.g., Mom will speak only in English, and Dad speaks Spanish only)
• for beginning students: pointing, handing objects, writing or drawing , standing,
walking, sitting down
• for advanced learners:provide listening and reading tasks that learners order
pictures, follow written instruction or maps.
•create activities designed to teach student to recognize the meaning in words used in
meaningful contexts
• teach students to guess at the meaning of phrases without knowing all of the words
and structure of the sentences
• comprehension should precede production in speech, as the latter should be allowed
to emerge in natural stages or progressions.
•when doing assessment only correct if mistakes interfere with communication
The ability of a person to use a second language will depend on his or her family's ability to speak more than one language. It is important for parents/caregivers to provide a strong language model. If you cannot use the language well, you should not
be teaching it.
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The difference between ´Language Learning´ and ´Language Acquisition´ is acquiring a language is simply knowing the words whereas Language learning is understanding the words and the part they play in a sentence along with structure of the sentence. In general, language acquisition is measures in terms of language proficiency which may be defined as the ability to use a language effectively and appropriately throughout the range of social, personal, school, and work situations required for daily living in a given
society.
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Sarah Young
Heidi Hyte, Reading Horizons Curriculum Director
Kate and Kris from whatkateandkrisdid.com
readingrockets.com
Crystal, David The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Krashen, Stephen D. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Prentice-Hall International, 1987.
Krashen, Stephen D. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Prentice-Hall International, 1988.
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