Second language learning:

we can learn better at two or three years of age than at thirteen or thirty

That is, Japanese students in an English class in Japan are learning English as a foreign
language (EFL) and, if those same students were in an English class in the USA, they
would be learning English as a second language (ESL). In either case, they are simply
trying to learn another language, so the expression second language learning is used
more generally to describe both situations.

Acquisition and learning

The term acquisition is used to refer to the gradual development of ability in a language
by using it naturally in communicative situations with others who know the language.
Acquisition normally takes place without a teacher.

The term learning, however, applies to a more conscious process of accumulating

knowledge of the features of a language, such as pronunciation, vocabulary and
grammar, typically in an institu- tional setting, with teachers. (Mathematics, for example,
is learned, not acquired.)

Acquisition barriers

They usually encounter the L2 during their teenage or adult years, in a few hours each
week of school time with a lot of other things going on (young children have little else to
do).

Despite the fact that insufficient time, focus and incentive undermine many L2 learning
attempts, there are some individuals who seem to be able to overcome the difficulties
and develop an ability to use the L2 quite effectively, though not usually sounding like a
native speaker.

However, even in ideal acquisition situations, very few adults seem to reach native-like
proficiency in using an L2. There are individuals who can achieve great expertise in the
written language, but not the spoken language. One example is Joseph Conrad (1857–
1924)

The age factor

after the critical period for language acquisition has passed, around the time of puberty,
it becomes very difficult to acquire another language fully

Against this view, it has been demonstrated that students in their early teens are quicker
and more effective L2 learners in the classroom than, for example, seven-year- olds. It
may be, of course, that the effective learning of an L2 (even with a trace of an accent)
requires a combination of factors. The optimum age for learning may be during the years
from about ten to sixteen

Affective factors

All these negative feelings or experiences are affective factors that can create a barrier to
acquisition. Basically, if we are stressed, uncomfortable, self-conscious or unmoti- vated,
we are unlikely to learn very much. In contrast, learners who have other personality
traits, such as self-confidence, low anxiety and a positive self-image, seem better able to
overcome difficulties encountered in the learning space.

Focus on teaching method

The grammar–translation method

Vocabulary lists and sets of grammar rules are used to define the target of learning,
memorization is encouraged, and written language rather than spoken language is
emphasized.

The audiolingual method

It involved a systematic presentation of the structures of the L2, moving from the simple
to the more complex, in the form of drills that the student had to repeat. This approach,
called the audiolingual method, was strongly influenced by a belief that the fluent use of
a language was essentially a set of “habits” that could be developed with a lot of
practice. Much of this practice involved hours spent in a language laboratory repeating
oral drills.

Communicative approaches

They are partially a reaction against the artificiality of “pattern-practice” and also against
the belief that consciously learning the grammar rules of a language will result in an
ability to use the language.

belief that the functions of language (what it is used for) should be emphasized rather
than the forms of the language (correct grammatical or phono- logical structures).
Classroom lessons are likely to be organized around concepts such as “asking for things”
in different social settings, rather than “the forms of the past tense” in different
sentences.

Focus on the learner

Errors are not things that should be corrected immidiatly

Errors shows that they are making progress

Transfer

Transfer means using sounds, expressions or structures from the L1 when performing in
the L2.

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.

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.

negative transfer (sometimes called “interference”)

Interlanguage

in-between system used in the L2 acquisition process that certainly contains aspects of
the L1 and L2, but which is an inherently variable system with rules of its own. This
system is called an interlanguage and it is now considered to be the basis of all L2
production.
If some learners develop a fairly fixed repertoire of L2 expressions, containing many
forms that do not match the target language, and seem not to be progressing any
further, their interlanguage is said to have “fossilized.”

Repetition of the false way

Motivation

Many learners have an instrumental motivation. That is, they want to learn the L2 in
order to achieve some other goal, such as completing a school graduation requirement or
being able to read scientific publications, but they are not really planning on engaging in
much social interaction using the L2.

integrative motivation want to learn the L2 for social purposes, in order to take part in the
social life of a community using that language and to become an accepted member of
that community.

Input and output

The term input is used, as in L1 acquisition to describe the language that the learner is
exposed to. To be beneficial for L2 learning, that input has to be comprehensible,
because we can’t process what we don’t understand. Input can be made comprehensible
by being simpler in structure and vocabulary, as in the variety of speech called foreigner
talk.

Native speakers of English may try to ask an inter- national student How are you getting
on in your studies?, but, if not understood, may switch to English class, you like it?

Negotiated input is L2 material that the learner can acquire in interaction through
requests for clarification while active attention is being focused on what is said.

input (hearing the L2) and producing output (speaking the L2)

Task-based learning

The assumption in using tasks such as “describe a way to get from A to B so that your
partner can draw the route on a map” or “plan a shopping trip with your partner by
making a shopping list” is that students will improve their ability, especially their fluency,
by using the L2 in an activity that focuses on getting meaning across and has a clear goal

The goal of such activities is not that the learners will know more about the L2, but that
they will develop communicative competence in the L2.

Communicative competence

Communicative competence can be defined as the general ability to use language

accurately, appropriately and flexibly. The first component is grammatical compe- tence,
which involves the accurate use of words and structures. Concentration on grammatical
competence only, however, will not provide the learner with the ability to interpret or
produce L2 expressions appropriately.

The ability to use appropriate language is the second component, called sociolinguistic
competence. It enables the learner to know when to say Can I have some water? versus
Give me some water! according to the social context.
The third component is called strategic competence. This is the ability to organ- ize a
message effectively and to compensate, via strategies, for any difficulties. In L2 use,
learners inevitably experience moments when there is a gap between communi- cative
intent and their ability to express that intent. Some learners may just stop talking (bad
idea), whereas others will try to express themselves using a communication strategy
(good idea).