Name: Livia Rosi Siqueira

The branch of Applied Linguistics is extremely important in the English learning

environment. Language is acquired socially and it is highly necessary to investigate it in
situations of social practice. As it is a subject considered transdisciplinary, through Applied
Linguistics is possible to produce knowledge based on real situations. Analyzing students’
samplings, we can interpret the process of learning a language, the social interactions among it
and how these languages are stored in memory.

One of the terms important to describe in second language acquisition is the definition
of first, second and foreign language. First language is the native speaker language, exposed
since child birth; Second is referred to any language other than the first language that plays a
role in the community, foreign is considered a language not spoken in the country of the
speaker. Terms like first and second language can be hard to identify sometimes. A kid that
was born an American from Portuguese parents, learns to speak Portuguese at home, but
speaks English socially. Is English considered his/her first language? Second language? This is
one of the things which studies of second language acquisition tries to explain.

In language studies, we have the differentiation of acquisition and learning. According

to the Input Hypothesis, acquisition could be considered when a learner acquires the language
naturally – as we do in our nature language. This would be considered a subconscious process.
Learning, can be considered a conscious process which a student learns a language by an
instruction or self- study. The knowledge is explicit in this case.

Second language acquisition is such a broad area, and very necessary to teachers. By
understanding many of the processes responsible for language acquisition, we can manage to
help our students and create means to improve their knowledge.