Second Language Acquisition CdL Scienze della Formazione Primaria , 4°anno A.A.2015/2016 Dott.ssa Barbara Meloni

Second Language Acquisition 1.What is SLA? Second Language Acquisition (SLA) refers both to the study of individuals and groups who are learning a language after that they learn their first one as young children, and to the process of learning that language.

Second Language Acquisition The other language is called a second language (L2). When we want to try to understand the process of second language acquisition, we also try to answer the following questions: a. How does the learner acquire this knowledge? b. Why are some learners more (or less) successful than others? Of course, there is no simple answer to these questions, because second language acquisition is a very complex process. SLA has been studied in different fields of research, from linguistics to psychology to try to find an answer to the questions above, and there is still debate about them.

Second Language Acquisition What is a second language? A second language can be defined as the official dominant language needed for education, employment, and other basic purposes. It is often acquired by minority group members or immigrants who speak another language as native speakers.

Second Language Acquisition A foreign language is a language not commonly used in the learners’ immediate social context. It could be used for future travel or other communication situations, or studied at school, but it does not have immediate or necessary practical application.

Second Language Acquisition What is a first language? It is the language acquired in childhood; it normally begins before the age of about three years. It is learned as part of growing up with people who speak it.

Second Language Acquisition Diversity in learning and learners What is learned and how it is learned in acquiring a second language is often influenced by many factors or circumstances. Learning conditions are often controlled by social, economic, and cultural factors. Psychologists make distinctions based on individual ability in L2 learning: personality factors, type of motivation and different learning strategies.

Second Language Acquisition ACTIVITIES Do you consider yourself a “good” or a “weak” L2 learner? Why do you think so? Is your level of success (or failure) a result of linguistic, psychological, linguistic or social factors (for example, the context of learning)? Can you say the same for your students/pupils? Why? Why not?

Second Language Acquisition The nature of language learning Much of our L1 acquisition was completed before we came to school. This development normally happens without any conscious effort. By the age of six months a baby has produced all of the vowel sounds and most of the consonant sounds of any language of the world.

Second Language Acquisition If young children hear and reply to two (or more) languages in their environment, the result will be a multiple L1s acquired by about three years of age (simultaneous multilingualism). The most common idea in the middle of the twentieth century was that children learn language by imitation (stimulus - response theory).

Second Language Acquisition Although they imitate sounds and words around them, many of their expressions are original and cannot be explained as imitations, because they can never have heard them before.

Second Language Acquisition Essential Youtube Videos.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqtMBS-HIEY Second Language Learning in Childhood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvXnkEuW46g How do kids learn a language?