Acculturation Model:

In second-language acquisition, the Acculturation Model is a theory proposed by

John Schumann to describe the acquisition process of a second language (L2) by members of
ethnic minorities that typically include immigrants, migrant workers, or the children of such
groups. The modification of the culture of a group or an individual as a result of contact with
a different culture.

Introduction Accommodation Theory (Giles, 1973) describes how people adjust their
language and communication patterns to those of others. Since its emergence in the 70’s,
the theory has been used in the fields of social psychology and sociolinguistics.

Sociocultural theory is an emerging theory in psychology that looks at the important

contributions that society makes to individual development. This theory stresses the interaction
between developing people and the culture in which they live. Sociocultural theory also suggests that
human learning is largely a social process.

The ZPD referes to the difference between what a learner can do without
help and what he or she can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a
skilled partner. Thus, the term “proximal” refers those skills that the learner is
“close” to mastering.

Wood et al. (1976, p. 90) define scaffolding as a process "that

enables a child or novice to solve a task or achieve a goal that would be
beyond his unassisted efforts."

Self-regulation can be defined in various ways. In the most basic sense, it involves
controlling one's behavior, emotions, and thoughts in the pursuit of long-term goals. More
specifically, emotional self-regulation refers to the ability to manage disruptive emotions
and impulses.
 The term social identity approach refers to research and theory pertaining to two
intertwined, but distinct, social psychological theories. These being: social identity theory
and self-categorization theory. The social identity approach has been applied to a wide
variety of fields and continues to be very influential.

Inner speech—also known as covert speech or verbal thinking—has been implicated in

theories of cognitive development, speech monitoring, executive function, and psychopathology.
Despite a growing body of knowledge on its phenomenology, development, and function,
approaches to the scientific study of inner speech have remained diffuse and largely unintegrated.

Definition of typology - a classification according to general type, especially in

archaeology, psychology, or the social sciences, the study and interpret.

In other words, a language user needs to use the language not only correctly (based on linguistic
competence), but also appropriately (based on communicative competence). Of course, this approach
does not diminish the importance of learning the grammatical rules of a language. In fact, it is one of the
four components of communicative competence: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic
competence.

1. Linguistic competence is the knowledge of the language code, i.e. its grammar and vocabulary, and
also of the conventions of its written representation (script and orthography). The grammar
component includes the knowledge of the sounds and their pronunciation (i.e. phonetics), the rules
that govern sound interactions and patterns (i.e. phonology), the formation of words by means of
e.g. inflection and derivation (i.e. morphology), the rules that govern the combination of words and
phrases to structure sentences (i.e. syntax), and the way that meaning is conveyed through language
(i.e. semantics).
2. Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of sociocultural rules of use, i.e. knowing how to use
and respond to language appropriately. The appropriateness depends on the setting of the
communication, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating. Moreover, being
appropriate depends on knowing what the taboos of the other culture are, what politeness indices
are used in each case, what the politically correct term would be for something, how a specific
attitude (authority, friendliness, courtesy, irony etc.) is expressed etc.
3. Discourse competence is the knowledge of how to produce and comprehend oral or written texts in
the modes of speaking/writing and listening/reading respectively. It’s knowing how to combine
language structures into a cohesive and coherent oral or written text of different types. Thus,
discourse competence deals with organising words, phrases and sentences in order to create
conversations, speeches, poetry, email messages, newspaper articles etc.
4. Strategic competence is the ability to recognise and repair communication breakdowns before,
during, or after they occur. For instance, the speaker may not know a certain word, thus will plan to
either paraphrase, or ask what that word is in the target language. During the conversation,
background noise or other factors may hinder communication; thus the speaker must know how to
keep the communication channel open. If the communication was unsuccessful due to external
factors (such as interruptions), or due to the message being misunderstood, the speaker must know
how to restore communication. These strategies may be requests for repetition, clarification, slower
speech, or the usage of gestures, taking turns in conversation etc.
 Universal grammar, theory proposing that humans possess innate
faculties related to the acquisition of language. The definition of universal
grammar has evolved considerably since first it was postulated and,
moreover, since the 1940s, when it became a specific object of modern
linguistic research. It is associated with work in generative grammar, and it
is based on the idea that certain aspects of syntactic structure are
universal. Universal grammar consists of a set of atomic grammatical
categories and relations that are the building blocks of the particular
grammars of all human languages, over which syntactic structures and
constraints on those structures are defined. A universal grammar would
suggest that all languages possess the same set of categories and relations
and that in order to communicate through language, speakers
make infinite use of finite means, an idea that Wilhelm von
Humboldt suggested in the 1830s.