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INTRODUCING

SECOND LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
By:
Muslikan

What is SLA?
The study of individuals
and groups who are
learning additional/
(subsequent) languages

SLA
The process of learning
additional (subsequent)
languages

Acquisition vs. Learning

Acquisition

Learning

Subconscious
process

Conscious
process

More in informal
setting

Formal setting

It runs naturally

It runs
unnaturally

Acquisition
It is used to refer to the gradual development of ability in a
language by using it naturally (subconsciously) in communicative
situations with others who know the language.

Learning
It applies to a more conscious process of accumulating

knowledge of the features, such as vocabulary and


grammar, of a language, typically in an institutional
setting. (advanced mathematics, for example, is learned,
not acquired.)

The Scope of SLA


Informal
L2 Learning
Naturalistic
Context

Formal
L2 Learning

Japanese
Picks up
English
In the playground

moves to

American
Learns
French

at

Classrooms
Mixed
L2 Learning
A mixture of
both settings

American

Learns &
Speaks
Chinese

in

Based on its function,


A Second Language is
A Second
Language

A Foreign
Language

Official/

Not widely

For

No immediate /

dominant

education /
employment /
other basic
purposes

Acquired by

minority group
members /
immigrants who
speak another
native language

used immediately

A Library
Language

For further

learning
through reading

travel / cross
cultural
communication /
curricular
requirement or
elective in schools

Used

immediately

For official

necessary
practical
application

For future

An Auxiliary
Language

functions in
political
settings / wider
communication
When printed
materials are
not published in
the learners
native language

First

language is used
in daily lives

A First Language is
First language

Native language

Mother tongue

Primary language

The distinctions are not


always clear

Languages acquired during early childhood (< 3 y.o)


& learned as part of growing up among people who
speak them.

Why are some L2 learners


more successful than others?

Image source: http://archangelsanddevas.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/in-heartfelt-joy-and-gratitude-we-wish-to-say-thank-you/

Questions for self-study (Short Review)


Match the following terms to their definitions:
1. target language
2. second language

a. It has no immediate or necessary practical


application, might be used later for travel or
be required for school

3. first language

b. the aim or goal of language learning

4. foreign language

c. an officially or socially dominant language


(not speakers L1) needed for education,
employment or other basic purposes
d. acquired during childhood

Active learning
1. List all of the languages that you can use. First classify them as
L1(s) and L2(s), and then further classify the L2(s) as second,
foreign, library, auxiliary, or for special purposes. Finally,
distinguish between the ways you learned each of the languages:
through informal exposure, formal instruction, or some combination
of these.
2. Do you think that you are (or would be) a good or a poor L2
learner? Why do you think so? Consider whether you believe that
your own relative level of success as a language learner is due
primarily to linguistic, psychological, or social factors (social may
include type of instruction, contexts of learning, or attitudes toward
the L1 and L2).,

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