LECTURE 1

GETTING THE JARGON RIGHT

This lecture introduces to you the key issues in Second language learning. It also explains the
basic questions that need to be addressed in second language learning. Acquiring a second
language is being bilingual or multilingual, and this encompasses the whole person as he/she
struggles to reach beyond the confines of L1 into a new language. What we call a new language
includes an interplay of such aspects as a new culture and a new way of thinking, feeling, and
acting. The commitment to successful L2 learning demands total involvement, a total physical,
intellectual, and emotional response. The demand of a second language also includes the fact that
it has to be put to use and ‘received’ beyond the confines of the classroom.

Basic Questions that Need to be Addressed in L2 Learning

1.1 Is it Learning or Acquisition?

Some scholars have tended to water down the difference between learning and acquisition; some
have even gone further to treat them as synonyms. However, the terms, though closely related,
are also distinct.

According to Krashen (1990),

 There are two independent systems of second language performance: the acquired system
and the learned system. The 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is the product of a
subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire
their first language. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language (i.e., natural
communication) in which speakers are concentrated not in the form of their utterances
but in the communicative act. Conversely, the 'learned system' or 'learning' is the result of
formal instruction, and it encompasses a conscious process that results in conscious
knowledge 'about' the language, such as knowledge of grammar rules. According to
Krashen (Ibid), 'learning' is less important than 'acquisition'. However, he does not
explain why he views learning as less important.
 People who are acquiring the language (aka acquirers) need not have a conscious
awareness of the "rules" they possess and may self-correct only based on a "feel" for
grammaticality. As for conscious language learning, it is helped a great deal by error
correction and the presentation of explicit rules.
 Error correction helps the learner come to the correct mental representation of the
linguistic generalization. Nonetheless, no invariant order of learning is claimed, although
syllabi implicitly claim that learners proceed from simple to complex, a sequence that
may not be identical to the acquisition sequence.

 Among five popular hypotheses is the monitor hypothesis, the central tenet of which is
that conscious learning is available to the performer only as a Monitor.
In a nutshell, Krashen posits that utterances are initiated by the acquired system; i.e. our fluency
in production is based on what we have ‘picked up’ through active communication. Our formal
knowledge of the second language, our conscious learning, may be used to alter the output of the
acquired system, sometimes before and sometimes after the utterance is produced.
 Lawler and Selinker (1971) proposed that for rule internalization, one can postulate two distinct
types of cognitive structures:
 those mechanisms that guide 'automatic' language performance... that is, performance...
where speed and spontaneity are crucial and the learner has no time to consciously apply
linguistic mechanisms... and
 those mechanisms that guide puzzle- or problem-solving performance... (p.35).

Vivian Cook (2017) summarizes the acquisition-learning distinction in this way:

Acquisition Learning
implicit, subconscious explicit, conscious
informal situations formal situations
uses grammatical 'feel' uses grammatical rules
depends on attitude depends on aptitude
stable order of acquisition simple to complex order of learning

Alan Rogers (2003), drawing especially on the work of those who focus on learning rather than
acquisition of language, sets out two contrasting approaches: task-conscious or acquisition
learning and learning-conscious or formalized learning.

a. Task-conscious or Acquisition Learning. which is seen as going on all the time. It is

'concrete, immediate and confined to a specific activity; it is not concerned with general
principles' (Rogers 2003: 18). Some have referred to this kind of learning as
unconscious or implicit. Rogers (2003: 21), however, suggests that it might be better to
speak of it as having a consciousness of the task. In other words, whilst the learner may
not be conscious of learning, they are usually aware of the specific task in hand.

b. Learning-Conscious or Formalized Learning, which arises from the process of

facilitating learning. It is 'educative learning' rather than the accumulation of experience.
To this extent, there is a consciousness of learning - people are aware that the task they
are engaged in entails learning. It involves guided episodes of learning.

When approached in this way, it becomes clear that these contrasting ways of learning can
appear in the same context. Both are present in schools. Both are present in families. It is
possible to think of the mix of acquisition and formalized learning as forming a continuum.

1.2 Scope of SLA

Brown (1997) adds a number of questions or issues which are summarized here.
 WHO? Who are the learners? Where do they come from? What is their native language?
What are their levels of education? What are their socio-economic levels? Who are their
parents? What are their intellectual capacities? What sort of personalities do they have?
 These questions, if addressed carefully, focus on crucial variables affecting both the
learner’s success in acquiring a second language and the teachers’ capacity to enable the
learner to achieve that acquisition.

 WHAT? What is it that the learner must learn and the teacher must teach? What is
communication? What is language? What does it mean for one to say someone knows
how to use a language? How can both the first and second language be described
adequately? What are the linguistic differences between the first and the second
language?
These questions are fundamental to the discipline of linguistics. The language teacher
should understand the system and functioning of the second language and the differences
between the first and second language of the learner. It is not sufficient for a language
teacher to speak and comprehend a language; he/she should be able to consciously
understand and explain the system of that language.

 HOW? How does learning take place? How can a person ensure success in language
learning? What cognitive processes are utilized in second language learning? What kinds
of strategies and styles does the learner use? What is the optimal interrelationship of
cognitive, affective, and physical domains for successful language learning?

 WHEN? When does second language learning take place? One of the key issues in L2
research is the differential success of children and adults in learning an L2. Common
observations reveal that children are better acquirers than adults? Is that true? If yes, why
does the age of learning make a difference? How is an L2 learned by pre-school children
still very much involved in the acquisition of their L1? Or by pre-adolescents who have
virtually mastered their first language and are now embarking on the second? Or by
teenagers with the insecurities and ego identification dynamics involved in that period of
life? Or adults who are affectively and cognitively mature? Other when questions centre
on the amount of time spent in the activity of learning the second language: Is the learner
exposed to 3 or 5 or 10 hours a week in the classroom? Or a -7-hour day in an immersion
programme? Or 24 hours a day totally submerged in the culture?

 WHERE? Are the learners trying to acquire the second language within the cultural and
linguistic milieu of the second language-i.e.in a second language situation in the technical
sense of the term? Or are they focusing on a “foreign” language context in which the
second language is heard and spoken only in artificial environment, such as the modern
language classroom in a university or high school. How might the socio-political
conditions of a particular country affect the outcome of a learner’s mastery of the
language? How do general intercultural contrasts and similarities affect the learning
process?

 f) WHY? Why the learners attempting to acquire the second language? What are their
purposes? Are they motivated by the achievement of a successful career? By passing a
foreign language requirement? Or by wishing to identify closely with the culture and
people of the target language?
The relation of second language acquisition [SLA], Instructed Second Language
Acquisition [ISLA], and Language Teaching [LT] from the lens of second language tense-
aspect

1.3 Rationale for Studying SLA/SLL

The following are some of the reasons we need to learn about SLA/SLA:
a) Linguistics: The study of how second languages are acquired or learned is part of the
bigger picture of the study of language as human behavior or cognition. A major thrust of
SLA research is the determination of linguistic constraints on the formation of second
language grammars.
b) Language Pedagogy: In training language teachers, it has been imperative to have a
course in SLA/SLL, the reasons being that if one is to develop language teaching
methodologies, there has to be a firm basis for those methodologies in language learning.
It would not be pedagogically correct to base language teaching methodologies on
something other than an understanding of how language learning does or does not take
place.
c) Cross-cultural Communication: In interactions with speakers of another language/culture,
we often produce stereo-typed reactions, e.g, making judgments about other people based
on their language. Many of the judgments we make are not justified since many of the
speech patterns that non-native speakers use reflect their non-nativeness rather than
characteristics of their personality. Thus, understanding SLA and how non-natives speak
allows us to separate issues in cross-cultural communication involving nonnative speech
from stereotypes.
 d) Language Policy and Language Planning: Many issues on language policy are dependent
on knowledge of how second languages are learned. National language programmes often
evolve decision-making that is dependent on i) information about second language
learning, ii) the kinds of instruction that can be brought to bear on issues of acquisition,
and iii) the realities and expectations that we can have of such programmes.

1.4 The Eclecticism of SLA

The study of SLA impacts on and draws from many other areas, notably Linguistics,
Psychology, Psycholinguistics, Sociology, Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Conversational
Analysis, Education, etc. Examples:
 Linguistics: SLA research utilizes linguistic principles to understand the structures of
languages and how learners acquire grammatical rules, vocabulary, and phonology.
 Psychology: Psychological theories, such as cognitive psychology, social psychology,
and affective psychology, help explain how learners process language input, develop
language abilities, and experience the emotional aspects of language learning.
 Sociology: Sociolinguistic factors, such as the social context of language learning,
language attitudes, and the role of language in identity formation, are examined to
understand how social factors influence SLA.
 Education: Educational theories and practices are used to develop effective teaching
methods, design learning materials, and assess language proficiency.
 Neurolinguistics: This field explores the neural mechanisms underlying language
processing and how the brain is involved in language acquisition.

By incorporating insights from multiple disciplines, SLA research provides a more

comprehensive and nuanced understanding of how people learn second languages, including the
individual differences in learning styles, motivations, and the impact of various factors on
language acquisition. In that regard, SLA is said to be a truly interdisciplinary field.

A closely argued and detailed case of the interdisciplinarity of SLA/SLL was developed by
Spolsky (1980), who argued that Linguistics alone was inadequate as a basis for language
teaching and that even psychology and linguistics together were not sufficient. His more
‘exhaustive’ view is summarized in the following figure:

Theory of Language Theory of Learning

General Linguistics

Theory of Language Learning Psycholinguistics

Language description
Theory of Language use Sociolinguistics

Second Language Pedagogy

 Educational Linguistics

From Spolsky’s model, language teaching (or L2 pedagogy) has three sources: a) Language
description, b) theory of language learning, and c) theory of language use. A theory of language
learning, in turn, derives from the theory of language and the theory of learning. Language
description must also be founded on a theory of language. The disciplines that provide the
necessary theoretical foundations and data underlying language teaching are Psychology for a
theory of teaching, psycholinguistics for a theory of language learning, general linguistics for a
theory of language and language descriptions, and sociolinguistics for a theory of language use
in society. These four disciplines come together in dealing with the problem of language
education and thus constitute a problem-oriented discipline which Spolsky calls educational
linguistics, and other scholars have called applied linguistics.