DELTA

L2 ACQUISITION

130

1. Introduction. Powerpoint 1. How is a child acquiring L1 and an adult

learning L2 different in terms of personal characteristics and learning
conditions (w/b)? Get some ideas.
2. Give list of questions p.31 Spada & Lightbown. Discuss in pairs what
refers to adults/children. Feedback: completely distinct.
3. Handout p.33 Spada and L. Discuss and fill in: + = present, - =
absent, ? = sometimes present/absent/not sure. Feedback: general
conclusions.
4. Powerpoint 2. So, the situation of a second language learning adult is
completely different to a child L1 learner. However, most theories of L2
Acquisition are closely related to those of children acquiring L1!! i.e.
based on the learners innate characteristics, the role of the
environment or an integration of the learners characteristics and the
environment. Activity. Main theories of L1 acquisition on Powerpoint
plus Krashens ideas which were postulated for L2 learning. Trainees
discuss the relevance of each to SLA one by one.:
Behaviourism
Innatism
Interactionist position
Critical age hypothesis
Krashens monitor model for SLA (1982)
- acquisition-learning hypothesis
- monitor hypothesis
- natural order hypothesis
- input hypothesis
- affective filter hypothesis
Then see answer sheet
5. Factors affecting SLA. Start list on w/b or interactive w/b and elicit
more:

Intelligence
Aptitude
Personality
Motivation & attitude
Learner styles and beliefs
Age
Sex

Activity. Individually, from your intuition, order in terms of importance

group if you like.
Problems: two main problems in studying these characteristics:

You cant study them in isolation

Cant show cause-effect e.g. a learner with very high motivation
is learning v. quickly BUT doesnt mean one is because of the
other much more complex e.g. faster learning increases
motivation and other factors are involved.
A little alcohol can improve your pronunciation!!

6. IF TIME, Characteristics of a good language learner. Activity p.50.

7. Read final summary p. 68-9.

DELTA:

How are these theories relevant for SLA?

The theory
Behaviourism

L
Innatism
A

Interactionist position

Critical age/period hypothesis

S
L

Acquisition-learning hypothesis

Monitor hypothesis
Natural order hypothesis

A
Input hypothesis (L+1)
Affective filter hypothesis

Comment
Adult learners have L1 habits which
may interfere with SLA. However, L2
errors are not all transfer errors lots
are similar to early learner errors
(developmental errors.
Good evidence for critical age theory,
but L2 learners do still learn rules.
Some UG? Changed UG?
L2 learners need modified input in
interaction with partner negotiation
of meaning. This is how input could
become intake.
Does clearly seem to affect adult SLA,
especially in terms of pronunciation
and accuracy.
Many disagree with Krashens zero
interface premise, as conscious
learning can clearly become part of
interlanguage.
Some adults are better at selfmonitoring and thus more successful
SLA.
Evidence suggests that SLA follows a
similar natural order to FLA,
irrespective of the order of input.
Seems to be of great importance.
This clearly affects SLA and not FLA
(except in certain extreme cases).

Two recent psychological theories for SLA are:

An Information Processing model of SLA: the idea here is that we can only process
a certain amount of information at one time. First, learners will e.g. concentrate on
the main elements in a message only. However, gradually, as certain elements
become automatic, this frees up processing space to pay attention to finer details
of morphology etc leading to greater accuracy. These in turn become automatic. In
this way, knowledge systems are built up.
One theorist emphasised the role of noticing in SLA Richard Schmidt, who claimed
that everything we come to know about language was first noticed consciously (the
opposite of Krashen!).
Connectionism: connectionists (both for FLA and SLA) see no need to hypothesise the
existence of a concrete neurological centre for language learning. Connectionists also
dispute the existence of an innate language learning capacity what is innate, they
say, is the ability to learn. They argue that learners build up knowledge of language
simply through exposure to thousands of instances of linguistic features, which
gradually form neurological connections which are triggered on encountering that

instance of language. On each encounter, the connection becomes stronger until

finally connections are more or less permanent and language is acquired. Also,
instances of language items in the same situation trigger connections between these
items. Thus, innatists believe that language input triggers innate knowledge, but
connectionists believe that input is the only source of language knowledge.
Some basic experiments show that computers can build up such systems with
vocabulary and simple morphemes however, even the innatists agree that such
areas may well be learned through memorisation and simple generalisation. There is
no evidence that such a hypothesis would hold true for more complex language
systems.
Conclusions:
Our present means of investigating SLA are very basic indeed:
-

computers learning languages (at a level of lexis and simple morphemes)

adults learning invented languages
study of developmental errors in SLA

So, overall, its a puzzle until neurological research is more developed.

The other area, of course, which adds difficulties is the number and complexity of
factors which affect adult SLA, such as motivation, personality, and the like.

DELTA:

Factors affecting second language acquisition (SLA)

Look at the following list of factors affecting SLA:

intelligence
aptitude
personality
motivation & attitude
learner styles and beliefs
age
sex
Clearly, there are 3 main difficulties in studying the effects of these factors:
1. You cant study them in isolation.
2. You cant demonstrate cause-effect e.g. a learner with high motivation might
learn quickly, but this does not mean one is the cause of the other. Its more
complex e.g. faster learning increases motivation, too!
3. How to accurately measure language proficiency in a standardised way.
Most studies so far have consisted of questionnaires combined with proficiency tests,
which is not wholly scientific.
Task. Despite the above, work in groups and try to agree on the three most
important factors. Then look at the notes on the answer sheet.

DELTA:

Factors affecting second language acquisition (SLA) (ANSWERS)

* for much more detail, see Spada and Lightbown (1999: 52-68)
Factor
Intelligence

Comment
Firstly, what is intelligence? Its very difficult to pinpoint
empirically. Evidence is inconclusive.

Aptitude

Some evidence of importance.

Personality

Some evidence suggests extroverts are better language

learners, but some doesnt! Conflicting results again.

Motivation & attitude

Clearly an important factor, but how?

Learner styles & beliefs

Little research and not at all conclusive.

Age

Easier to measure but the conditions of individuals are

very different. Some studies even show that older
learners are more efficient at first. The only clear
results is that younger learners are much more
successful with pronunciation.

Sex

Not conclusive

Alcohol (!)

Small doses of alcohol have been shown to improve

pronunciation. Large doses have the opposite effect, so
just how many glasses of red wine you have to find out
yourself!!