Second Language Acquisition

What is Second language Acquisition?

 SLA means the processes through which someone acquires one or more second or foreign language. SLA is also closely related to cognitive psychology, and education. 

•        According to Kreshan, the Acquisition of a language is naturalistic process, where as learning a language is a conscious one.

What is First language?

First language means mother tongue .Primary language that the child would learn. First language has an importance influence on the second language acquisition. First language is our identity.

What is second Language?

Second language is a foreign language. More informative, L2 can be said to be any language learned in addition to one’s mother tongue. L2 – target language.

Second language may be used as an auxiliary or associate language as a functions which are not normally performed by first language. For a vast majority of educated people living in turns and cities, English as s second language functions primarily as an interstate or international link language. Some of them also use it as an international language of knowledge, trade and industry. An important question here is, is L2 the main or associated medium of instructions at all levels or of a particular level.

 The objectives have to be formulated in the light of  what we perceive our needs for English to be in a multilingual setting, of both the national and individual levels. This is related to the following questions what are the roles of Hindi, English, regional languages, classical languages, foreign languages, and languages of the minority group in our multilingual setting? What are the topics and situational that will necessitate the use of English?

What is the kind and amount of English that the learners will need? At the national level, English must serve as our “window on the world” as the language in which nearly all contemporary knowledge of science and technology, trade and commerce, political science, economics and international relations English will be important for industrial and economic development. It will function as the “language of development”. Our scientists, technologists, engineers, doctors and economists must be able not only to have access to professional literature in English but also to contribute to it and to communicative in other counterparts in other countries. The continuation of English seems important if our science and technology, trade and commerce, are be truly international. It is hearing to not that English based-Indian bilinguals constitute the third and technical manpower in the world. “English has important functions to serve internally in addition on the world”. English may be continuing to the medium of instruction in several faculties at the college level.

These students will need a greater proficiency in the skills listening, writing and (perhaps) speaking than students being taught through other languages. At the level, English continues to be “the language of opportunity” and “the language of upward social mobility”. Any individual seeking socioeconomic advancement will find ability in English an asset. It is clear, that, the English has important functions in communication will continue to be at a premium, and teaching will have to try to import to retain minimal competence in these skills. The primary aim of teaching English as a second language at the secondary level should be to give the learners an effective mastery of the language, that is, to  help them acquire. Ability to read easily, and with understanding books in English written within a presented range of vocabulary and sentence structure and to read with good understanding easy unsimplified texts on familiars topics, fully glossed and annotated in their known language. The ability to understand a talk in English on a subject on general experience and interest, clearly spoken and restricted in vocabulary and sentence structure to the range of the syllabus, the ability to write comprehensibly in English, and without gross errors, on a familiar topic which lends itself to expression without the range of vocabulary and sentence structure that has been taught, an ability to carry on  comprehensibly a conversation in English on a topic fully within the range both of their experience and interest and well within the range of the active command postulated by the syllabus.

  

Two types of contrastive analysis:

•        Positive transfer: These studies were conducted in the belief that a learner’s first language (L1) has an important influence.

•        Negative transfer: Proponent of constructive analysis argued that where L1 and L2 rules are in conflict , errors are likely to occur that are  result of ‘interference’ between L1 and L2.

•        Researches and focuses on the developing knowledge and use of a language by children and adults who already know at least one other language.

•        About 25 years ago, a psychologist named Stephen Krashen transformed language teaching. He had been developing his ideas over a number of years, but several books he published in the 1980s received general acceptance.

Learning theory

Learning theories are conceptual Frameworks describing how information is absorbed processed and retained during learning. Learning a language, on the other hand, is a conscious process, much like what one experiences in school. New knowledge or language forms are represented consciously in the learner's mind, frequently in the form of language "rules" and "grammar" and the process often involves error correction.