CHAPTER
ONE
WEEK 1
What is Second Language Acquisition
(SLA)?
SLA studies how people learn languages
beyond their native tongue.
It examines how learners develop language
systems with limited exposure, why
some reach near-native levels, and why
others don’t.
Questions SLA explores: Are learner rules
like those of native languages? Do they
differ by context?
SLA connects to linguistics, psychology,
sociology, and education.
How is SLA related to language
teaching?
SLA is not the same as language
pedagogy, but the two overlap.
Explanation: SLA research informs
teaching methods but focuses on the
learning process, NOT classroom
techniques.
Example: Moving beyond grammar
drills toward communication-focused
teaching. Teachers’ expectations about
learning outcomes depend on SLA
insights.
GRAMMAR DRILLS =
traditional teaching methods
where students memorize
rules and practice them
mechanically (e.g., translating
sentences, repeating grammar
patterns).
Example: A teacher makes
students repeat the correct
past tense form of GO →
WENT in class until they can
say it perfectly.
Research in Second Language
Acquisition (SLA) shows that
language learning is more than
memorizing rules; learners need to
use the language to express real
ideas and needs.
Communication-focused teaching
= teaching students to actually use
the language in meaningful
conversations, not just perform drills.
So, teachers with SLA insights
understand that mistakes after
drills are normal and learning
Why is SLA important beyond teaching?
SLA informs multiple areas beyond
language classes.
It affects how we view language
learning in relation to culture,
communication, and society.
Cross-cultural communication:
Stereotypes about rudeness may stem
from language differences, not
personality.
Language policy: Decisions on bilingual
education require understanding how
Key Definitions in
SLA
📌 NL / L1 (Native Language)
•First language learned (mother tongue).
🎯 TL (Target Language)
•Language being learned.
🌍 SLA / L2 (Second Language Acquisition)
•Learning a nonnative language after L1.
•Includes 2nd, 3rd, or more languages.
•Happens in classrooms or natural settings.
🏫 Foreign Language Learning (FLL)
•Learning in an environment where the language is
not spoken daily.
(e.g., English in France)
Second Language Learning (SLL)
•Learning in an environment where the language is
spoken.
(e.g., English in the UK)
Learners / L2ers
•People learning a second/foreign language.
📖 L2 Acquisition
Same as SLA → both the process & the field.
The Nature of Language
🧠 Language ≠ just grammar
•Knowledge is largely unconscious.
•Children use complex forms (e.g., relative
clauses) without knowing rules.
👶 Natural Acquisition
•All humans with normal exposure acquire
language in early childhood.
👥 Society’s Role
•Social interaction shapes language use and
development.
📚 Key Components of Language
•🔤 Semantics → meaning
•💬 Pragmatics → context & use
• Syntax → sentence structure
•🧩 Morphology → word forms
•📖 Lexicon → vocabulary
•🔊 Phonology → sounds
Semantics (Meaning)
•Semantics = study of meaning
•Ungrammatical sentences can still be meaningful:
• That woman beautiful is my mother.
•Grammatical sentences can be meaningless:
• That bachelor is married.
•Learners must know:
• Word reference (e.g., table, leaf)
• Homonyms (leaf of a tree vs. table leaf)
• Word boundaries (cup vs. glass)
•Syntax & meaning interact:
• The man bit the dog ≠ The dog bit the man.
Activity: Error Spotting
• That woman beautiful is
my mother.
• That bachelor is married. ungrammatical ≠
• Which are grammatically meaningless
wrong but meaningful?
Which are grammatically
correct but semantically
odd?
Pragmatics (Context & Use)
•Pragmatics = how language is used in
context
•Example: “Is Samuel there?” → Request to talk
to Samuel, not just a yes/no question.
•Meaning depends on real-life function:
• Child: “raspberry and vanilla cone” = order
of scoops.
• Shopkeeper: “vanilla and raspberry cone”
= same product.
•Native speakers know how context changes
interpretation.
• How meaning depends
on context;
• Requests vs. questions;
• Word order & real-
world meaning.
• Activity: Role-Play Scenarios
• Example 1: Phone call – “Is Samuel
there?” (students act out correct
responses).
• Example 2: Ice cream shop –
“raspberry and vanilla” vs. “vanilla
and raspberry.”
Syntax (Sentence Structure / Grammar)
•Prescriptive grammar: school rules (e.g., no
split infinitives).
•Descriptive grammar: how language is really
used.
•Native speakers know:
• Which sentences are possible (The big book
is on the table) vs. impossible (The book big
table on is).
• Acceptability varies across
regions/generations.
•Equivalence & functions:
• Tom was hit by a car = A car hit Tom
(slight functional differences).
•Word order affects meaning:
• Yesterday Sally saw Jane vs. Yesterday
Jane saw Sally.
•Syntax allows infinite sentences:
•The woman wearing the green scarf ran
across the street to see the gorilla…
• Prescriptive vs. descriptive grammar;
• Acceptable vs. unacceptable sentences;
• Word order and meaning;
• Paraphrasing.
Activity: Sentence Sorting
A mix of sentences:
✔ The big book is on the table.
✘ The book big table the on is.
✔ Tom was hit by a car.
✔ A car hit Tom.
Sort into “acceptable” vs. “unacceptable,” then
discuss why.
Morphology & Lexicon (Word Formation
& Vocabulary)
Morphology = study of word formation.
Morpheme = smallest unit of meaning.
Un-, fore-, seen in UNFORESEEN.
Two types: Bound morpheme (un-, -ism) and
Free morpheme (book, man, table)
Words can be built step by step: establish →
disestablishmentarianism.
Lexicon knowledge:
Which words combine naturally (tall building,
not high building).
• Morphemes (free vs. bound);
• building words;
• word collocations.
Activity: Word-Building Challenge
root “form”.
Add prefixes/suffixes to create as many
words as possible:
• inform, reform, formation, informative,
reformation.
Extra: Discuss why some words sound
natural (tall building) and others don’t
(high building).
Phonology (Sound System)
Phonology = knowledge of sounds.
Native speakers know: Possible vs. impossible
sounds in their language.
English lacks the German ö in Goethe.
Changes in fast speech:
I am going to write a letter → I’m gonna wriDa
leDer.
Which sound combinations are possible:✔
brain, ✘ bnick.
Where sounds occur:[ŋ] (ping) is possible at
the end, but not at the start of English
• Knowledge of sounds;
• fast vs. careful speech;
• possible vs. impossible sound combinations.
Activity: Pronunciation & Sound Puzzle
Compare: Careful speech → I am going to write
a letter
Fast speech → I’m gonna wriDa leDer
Practice both.
Sound puzzle: Which blends are possible in
English?
brain, blue, bnick, btar.
Nonnative Speaker Knowledge
• Knowing an L2 = having
knowledge similar to a native
speaker.
• Learners build their own
interlanguage (IL).
• IL = mix of native language
(NL), target language (TL),
and unique learner-created
elements.
• IL is structured by learners,
not just copied.
Nature of Interlanguage (IL)
• IL patterns are consistent but
dynamic (always changing).
• Research seeks to answer:
• What is IL like?
• How is it formed?
• Why does it differ from native
speaker knowledge?
• Problem: Learners may hear forms
many times but still can’t produce
them like natives.
Fossilization
• Fossilization = permanent errors
in IL.
• Defined as forms/rules that become
fixed and deviate from TL norms.
• Errors continue even with more
exposure.
Stabilization & Plateaus
• Because it’s hard to prove learning has
stopped, researchers often say
“stabilization” instead of fossilization.
• IL often plateaus below TL norms.
• Fossilization/stabilization seems to happen
regardless of exposure or practice.
• Lack of long-term (longitudinal) studies
makes it hard to fully explain why learners
“get stuck.”
Quick Review Quiz 1.
What is “interlanguage” (IL)?
a) Exact copy of the native language
b) Learner’s own evolving system mixing NL, TL, and
unique elements ✅
c) A temporary grammar mistake
2. True or False:
IL patterns are both consistent and dynamic. ✅
3. What does “fossilization” mean?
b) When learning stops completel
b) When deviant forms become permanently fixed in
IL
c) When learners forget their L1
4. Why do researchers sometimes prefer
“stabilization”?→ Because it’s hard to know if
learning has truly stopped. ✅
5. What big mystery in SLA remains
unsolved?→ Why learners often “get stuck” at
a plateau below TL norms. ✅