1. Second Language Acquisition Prof. Abdulrahman Alabdan

2. History of SLA Field  It is relatively new field.  It expanded in the last 40-45 years.  There was interest in language teaching and learning before that.

3. Scope of SLA Field The field of SLA is concerned with……  How L2 is learned.  How L2 learners create a new language system with limited exposure to the L2.  What is learned and what is not ?  Why most L2 learners do not achieve the same degree of proficiency as they do in their L1.  Why some L2 learner achieve native-like proficiency in more than one language  The nature of hypotheses L2 learners come with about the rules of the L2.  Factors affecting SLA ( age, motivation,..

4. One of the Reasons for understanding how second languages are learned and what is not learned I) Linguistics: The study of how second languages are learned is part of the study of language and language behaviour. Theories of language are concerned with human language knowledge. linguistic principles reflect the possibilities of human language creation and the limits of human language variation. This scope of inquiry does not only includes L1 acquisition but second languages acquisition.

5. Definitions of important terms in SLA Native Language (NL): the first language that a child learns. It is also known as the primary language, the mother tongue, or the L1 (first language). Target Language (TL): the language being learned. Second Language Acquisition (SLA): the process of learning another language after the native language has been learned. The important aspect is that SLA refers to the learning of a normative language after the learning of the native language. Foreign Language Learning (FL) : the learning of a normative language in the environment of one's native language (e.g., Saudi Arabia) This is most commonly done within the context of the classroom.

6. What is being acquired?  Phonology: the sound system  Syntax  Morphology & the lexicon  Semantics  Pragmatics

7. Phonology: the sound system  Sound inventory: Knowledge of the sound system (phonology) of the native language entails knowing what sounds are possible in English [p] [b] and what sounds are not possible in the language ( (خ)(ع  Phonotactics Sound combinations: (in Greek phone = voice and tactic = course) is a branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes. Phonotactics defines permissible syllable structure, consonants, and vowel sequences by means of phonotactical constraints. bubu boggle *vlurk  Phonological knowledge also involves knowing what happens to words in fast speech as opposed to more carefully articulated speech. Did you hear the story about ….? Didja hear the story about ….?  Phonological knowledge also involves knowing what are possible combinations of sounds and what sounds are found in what parts of words. We know, for example, that in English, while [b] and [n] are both sounds of English, they cannot form a "blend“ in the way that [b] and [r] can: *bnick vs. brain

8. Syntax (grammar)  There are two kinds of grammar (a) Prescriptive grammar : rules that are generally taught in school, often without regard to the way native speakers of a language actually use language. ( e.g.,"Don't end a sentence with a preposition “ ) (b) Descriptive grammar : Describing languages as they are actually used.  When talking about knowledge of syntax, we are referring to descriptive grammars.  Native speakers of a language know which are possible sentences of their language and which are not.  English right and wrong word order in a sentence  The big book is on the brown table. vs. *The book big brown table the on is.  They also know what grammatical patterns are equivalent to what and when to use different. Tom met Mary >>> Mary was met by Tom. Whom did Mary meet ? >>> She met Tom >>> *He was met by her

9.  Language is rule-governed : knowing a language entails knowing a set of rules with which the speaker can produce and comprehend an infinite set of sentences The man driving the green car ran across the street to kill the tiger that had just escaped from the zoo. Syntax is complex, often abstract and in many instances difficult to describe. The teacher stared the class. The class stared John is eager to please.... John is difficult to please..... Rocks have diarrhea النافذة كبيرة الباب وسع

10. Morphology and the lexicon Morphology is the study of word formation. Word Formation : Un+happy consists of 2 parts un+ happy called morphemes. Morpheme: the minimal unit of meaning. Classes of Morpheme : 1)Bound morpheme : can never be a word by itself (e.g.,un of happy) 2)free morpheme: a word in and of itself, e.g., man,, book)

11. Semantics  Semantics : the study of meaning  Referential meaning :That aspect of meaning that can be expressed in terms of a referent; objective, cognitive,…  Knowledge of the semantics entails knowledge of the reference of words. ( e.g. a table refers to an object with a flat top and either three or four legs ).  Fuzzy nature of meaning :  Nnative speakers of English have to be able to distinguish between the meaning of the bank of a river and the bank of Scotland.  The limits of a word are not always clear for some. a cup vs. a glass  Structural aspects of meaning  They also know that the way they combine elements in sentences affects their meaning. The mouse saw the cat The cat saw the mouse

12. Pragmatics  Pragmatics : A subfield of linguistics developed in the late 1970s, pragmatics studies the knowledge of how to use the language in social interactions  An implicature : Something meant, implied, or suggested distinct from what is said. Implicatures can be part of sentence meaning or dependent on conversational context. Conversational implicatures have become one of the principal subjects of pragmatics  Alan: Are you going to Paul's party? Barb: I have to work.  "Mary had a baby and got married“.This sentence strongly suggests that Mary had the baby before the wedding, but the sentence would still be strictly true if Mary had her baby after she got married.  Further, if we add the qualification "— not necessarily in that order" to the original sentence, then the implicature is cancelled even though the meaning of the original sentence is not altered.

13. RELATED DISCIPLINES  Linguistics  psycholinguistics : or psychology of language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend and produce language. Modern research makes use of biology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and information theory to study how the brain processes language. neurolinguistics has become a field in its own right.psychologicalneurobiologicalhumans languagebiology neurosciencecognitive scienceinformation theoryneurolinguistics  Cross-cultural communication (also referred to as intercultural communication) is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. intercultural communicationculturalcommunicate

14.  Language planning/language policy A deliberate effort to influence the function, structure, or acquisition of a language or language variety within a speech community. The goals of language planning differ depending on the nation or organization, but generally include making planning decisions and possibly changes for the benefit of communication. Planning can also lead to other social changes such as language shift or assimilation, thereby providing another motivation to plan the structure, function and acquisition of languages.

15. The nature of normative speaker knowledge  Knowing a second language well means knowing information similar to that of a native speaker of a language.  The basic assumption in SLA research is that learners create a language system, known as an interlanguage (IL).  What is Interlanguage? “It is not a deficit system- a language filled with random errors- but a system of its own with its own structure. This system consists of numerous elements including elements from the NL, the TL and also elements in the IL that do not have their origin in either the NL or the TL”  These latter are called new forms and are the empirical essence of interlanguage.The learners themselves impose structure on the available linguistic data and formulate an internalized system (IL).  Central to the concept of interlanguage is the concept of fossilization,  Fossilization : “ It is when certain linguistic form, feature, rule, and so forth become permanently established ( fossilized ) in the interlanguage of a L2 learner in a form that is deviant from the target-language norm and that continues to appear in performance regardless of further exposure to the target language."