SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

1.

What's the comic about?

A man arrives to a foreign region, thus, the language and the culture are unfamiliar to him.
As soon as he gets off the train, a man addresses to him in a polite way and raises his hat,
gesture that may mean hello to the traveller. He associates the phrase with the gesture as a
greeting and answers back to that message in the same way during the whole strip. When he
finally reaches the hotel, he sees an angry employee shouting the same words in a completely
different context. The employee confuses the tourist who is now disappointed as he thinks he
had misinterpreted the utterance.
The conflict relies on the fact that the foreigner does not understand the spoken language. He
misinterpreted the message as meaning was incorrectly established from the beginning. There
was no negotiation of meaning at all. The man could have asked questions to clarify the
information, but he didnt. He just assumed the meaning of the gesture as part of his own
culture.
2.
What is the connection between the story, negotiation of meanings and communicative
competence?
First at all we have to remember that communicative competence is the ability to use the
language correctly and appropriately to accomplish communication goals. The desired
outcome of the language learning process is the ability to communicate competently, not the
ability to use the language exactly as a native speaker does.
Communicative competence is made up of different competence areas such as: linguistic,
sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic.So, (Joconda Hallo Vargas 18/10) when we negotiate
meaning we are also developing our communicative competence. We learn how and when to
use the utterances appropriately, considering not only the linguistic knowledge but the social
factor as well.
When we talk about these two concepts we must contextualize the language. In the comic, a
man arrives to a new place, a place with different customs, culture and language. For
contextualizing and communicating, we need to know aspects related to that context and
background (negotiation) in order to avoid any misunderstandings.
Dell Hymes argues that speakers of a language have to have more than grammatical
competence in order to be able communicate effectively in a language; they also need to know
how language is used by members of a speech community to accomplish their purposes and in
the comic we can see clearly that the man never tried to know or negotiate the language used
in the new place he was visiting (Joconda Hallo Vargas 18/10)
Negotiation is necessary between the two people to be able to communicate effectively. We
could say that the man in the comic is not communicative competent because he was not able
to communicate properly as he just assumed the meaning of that word instead of
negotiating it with the people from that foreign culture.
3.
Recognizing the importance of negotiation of meanings in SLA, does it always help in
an EFL context? Why? Why not?
By negotiating meaning in communicative activities, students obtain comprehensible input
which is seen as fundamental to second language acquisition. According to Stevens in the

"Epos: revista de filologa" the findings of SLA modified interaction research suggest the
classroom must thus be structured to provide a context whereby learners negotiate meaning.
As teachers we need to encourage our students to negotiate meaning in real life situations so
they can develop their communicative competence. Communicative competence is the ability
to communicate successfully in any situation and it is limited when learners are deprived of
all the authentic input, so it is very important to teach our students the strategies to check
meaning, clarify, paraphrase, etc. Studies report how negotiation of meaning an exchange
between a speaker and listener to solve a comprehension problem - affects what learners
produce (Ellis, 1999; Pica, 2003)
It is very useful that we as teachers and students may want to keep in mind the importance of
negotiating meaning because learners should be able to make themselves understood, using
their current proficiency to the fullest. They should try to avoid confusion in the message; to
avoid offending communication partners (due to socially inappropriate style); and to use
strategies for recognizing and managing communication breakdowns. (Joconda Hallo Vargas
18/10)
Some activities that can be used in the classroom to negotiate meaning are information gap,
sport the differences, puzzles, among others. Students develop their communicative
competence as they go through a process in which they necessarily need to exchange
information and thus they receive comprehensible input. Long (1981) argues that the input
derived from negotiated work when the learners encounter communication problems points
the way to SLA. Comprehensible input, generate comprehensible output, both of which are
crucial to second language acquisition
4. Is it necessary to be an effective communicator or a competent one, these days, in this
global world? Bear the comic strip in mind.
Globalization has meant a new change in the way we all communicate. We cannot longer
talk about borders or distances between countries as we live in a multicultural world.
Therefore, the success for todays globalized world remains in the need for an effective and
intercultural communication. Language should not be longer an obstacle or barrier to interact
with people from all over the world.
A foreigner can successfully communicate using the foreign language, but there are certain
meanings he/she can only negotiate by being in contact with the culture of the language
he/she is learning. This is what Quinos story is about. Maria Fernanda Jaime (10/18)
Communicative competence is dependent on the context in which the interaction takes place
(Cody and McLaughlin, 1985; Applegate and Leichty, 1984; Rubin, 1985). Communication
which is successful with one group in one situation may not be perceived as competent with a
different group in another situation.
We need to provide our students with meaningful real life situations in which they can
successfully use the language to accomplish communicative goals in any context they
encounter.
Now in this global world is better to be a competent communicator because it means sort of
like cooking and knowing what vegetables to use and which way to cook them, not only serve
something to eat......(Joconda Hallo Vargas 18/10)