Second Language Acquisition

Master in Teaching and Learning English as a

Foreign/Second Language
2020-2021

Anca Daniela Frumuselu, PhD

ancadaniela.frumuselu@urv.cat
 Outline
Individual differences in SLL
 Intelligence
 Aptitude
 Learning styles
 Personality factors
 Motivation and attitudes
 Anxiety in SLA classroom
 Identity and ethnic group affiliation
 Learner beliefs
 Age of acquisition and critical period

New factors that influence SLA

 Immersion
 New technologies (e.g. CALL, mobile learning, game-based learning,
virtual learning environments, etc)
 Subtitling, dubbing and audio description
 Individual differences in SLL

 Why are children successful in acquiring their L1 and not

that successful in learning the L2?
 Why does the experience of second language learners vary
greatly?

 Due to several factors:

 Intelligence
 Aptitude
 Personality
 Motivation
 Learner preferences & beliefs
 Age at which learning begins
Which characteristics seem to you most likely to be associated
with success in SLA in the classroom? Which do you think are
less important?
 Individual differences in SLL
 Intelligence  traditionally associated to performance on IQ
tests
 IQ scores > predict success in SLL > reading, grammar,
vocabulary, but not oral production skills.
 Intelligence - may be a strong factor when it comes to
learning which involves language analysis and rule learning,
but it may play a less important role in classroom where the
instruction focuses more on communication and interaction
(Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 57).
 In recent years: many educators have been influenced by
Gardner’s (1993) proposal that individuals have multiple
intelligences:
 Verbal/linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial/visual,
bodily-kinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal,
interpersonal and naturalistic.
 Individual differences in SLL
 Aptitude- specific ability thought to predict success in
language learning
 Caroll (1991)-’the ability to learn quickly’
 The ‘aptitude factor’ has been investigated by researchers
interested in developing tests which can be used to predict
whether individuals will be efficient learners of a foreign
language in a classroom setting.
 Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT)
 Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB)
 They measure the ability to:
 Identify and memorize new sounds
 Understand the function of particular words in sentences
 Figure out grammatical rules from language samples
 Remember new words
 Shortcoming: these studies were conducted when SLT- based
on translation and audiolingual methods
 Individual differences in SLL
 Learning styles used to describe an individual’s natural,
habitual, and preferred way of absorbing and retaining new
information and skills (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 59).

 There are three perceptually-based learning styles:

 visual
 aural
 kinaesthetic

 There are two cognitive learning styles:

 Field independent  tend to separate details from the
general background
 Field dependent  tend to see things more holistically
Cognitive Learning Styles
 Individual differences in SLL
 Personality traits- extroversion / introversion, inhibition,
learner anxiety, self-esteem, empathy, dominance,
talkativeness, and responsiveness have been studied.
 Introversion / extroversion: Despite the topic, many
successful language learners do not get high scores on
measures of extroversion.
 Inhibition discourages risk-taking (necessary for progress in
language learning).
 Learner anxiety (feelings of worry, nervousness and stress)
interferes with the learning process.
 Certain amount of ‘tension’- term introduced by Spielaman &
Radnofsky (2001)can have positive effect and even
facilitate learning.
 The available research does not show a single clearly-defined
relationship between personality traits and SLA.
 Difficulties in investigating personality characteristics in
terms of identification and measurement.
 Individual differences in SLL
 Motivation and attitudes

 Motivation in SLA has been defined in terms of two factors:

 learners’ communicative needs
 their attitudes towards the second language community.

 Gardner & Lambert (1972) coined the terms:

 Instrumental motivation language learning for immediate
and practical goals
 Integrative motivation  language learning for personal
growth and cultural enrichment
 These types of motivation are related to success in SLL, but
the distinction is not always clear, as it depends on the
learning environment
 Individual differences in SLL
 Motivation and attitudes
 Dörnyei (2001a) process-oriented model of motivation that
consists of three phases:
 ‘choice motivation’ getting started and setting goals
 ‘executive motivation’  carrying out the necessary tasks to
maintain motivation
 ‘motivation retrospection’ students’ appraisal of and
reaction to their performance
 E.g. A student is interested in Japanese manga films and he decides
to take an online Japanese course for beginners. After a few weeks,
he gets frustrated because the writing and the grammar is too
difficult, so he drops out. A few weeks later, he gets an invitation to
go to a manga film festival, so he decides to enroll in a face-to-face
course with a more communicative approach. In just a few weeks, he
develops some basic Japanese conversational skills and a feeling of
accomplishment, so he decides to book a trip to Japan for the
summer. When he comes back from his trip, he decides to continue
with the course, due to a very positive experience and satisfaction.
 Individual differences in SLL
 Motivation in the classroom
 In a teacher’s mind, motivated students are usually those
who participate actively in class, express interest in the
subject-matter, and study a great deal.
 If we can make our classrooms places where students enjoy
coming, we can make a positive contribution to students’
motivation to learn.
 Crookes & Schmidt (1991) point out 3 pedagogical practices
that could increase motivation:
 1. Motivating students into the lesson opening stages of the
lesson
 2. Varying the activities, tasks, and materials.
 3. Using co-operative rather than competitive goals
students work together in order to complete a task or solve a
problem (e.g. TBL)  self-confidence of students, including
weaker ones.
 Individual differences in SLL
 Identity and ethnic group affiliation
 Social factors can affect motivation, attitudes, and language
learning success, such as the social dynamic or power
relationship between the languages.
 E.g. members of a minority group learning the language may
have different attitudes and motivation from those of majority
group members learning a minority language.
 Both children and adults are sensitive to social dynamics and
power relationships.
 Social situations of power imbalance  reluctance to speak
and limitations of opportunities to practice the target
language
 Complex relationship between feelings of ethnic affiliation and
second language learners’ mastery of pronunciation
 High degree of accuracy in pronouncing the SL  less loyal to
their ethnic group
 Individual differences in SLL
 Learner beliefs
 Second language learners have strong beliefs and opinions
about how their instruction should be delivered.
 These beliefs are usually based on previous learning
experiences and the assumption (right or wrong) that a
particular type of instruction is the best way for them to
learn.
 Learner beliefs can be strong mediating factors in their
experience in the classroom.
 E.g. Yorio (1986) in a survey of adult international students in
a communicative ESL program high levels of
dissatisfaction absence of attention to language forms,
corrective feedback or teacher-centred instruction
 Teachers can use this information to help learners expend
their repertoire of learning strategies and thus develop
greater flexibility in their ways of approaching language
learning (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 67).
 Individual differences in SLL
 Age of acquisition
 The relationship between a learners’ age and his or her
potential for success in second language acquisition is the
subject of much lively debate.
 Learning a second language: as a child or as an adult?
 Main differences:
 1. Critical period  language learning which occurs after the
end of the CP may not be based on the innate biological
structures believed to contribute to FLA or SLA in early
childhood. Older learners depend on more general learning
abilities.
 2. Learning conditions  young learners in informal language
learning environments usually have more time to devote to
learning language, but older learners are believed to be more
efficient than younger learners due to their metalinguistic
knowledge, memory strategies, problem-solving skills
 Individual differences in SLL
 Age of acquisition
 Does this mean that there is not a critical period for SLA?
 The relationship between age of acquisition and SL
development  investigated learners’ pronunciation
 Older learners ‘foreign accent’
 What about other linguistic features, such syntax and
morphology?
 Patkowski (1980) SL learners who started before the age of
15 could achieve full, native-like mastery of the language
 Research studies have shown that native-like mastery of the
spoken language is difficult to attain by older learners.
Surprisingly, even the ability to distinguish between
grammatical and ungrammatical sentences in a SL appears to
be affected by the age factor.
 Adolescents and adults learn faster than children in the first
months of exposure to the language (Snow & Hoefnagel-
Höhle, 1978)
 Individual differences in SLL

 Age of acquisition
 At what age should second language instruction begin?
 General belief ‘younger is better’
 What are the goals of an instructional programme and the
context in which it occurs?
 Older learners may speak with an accent because they want
to be identified with their first language cultural group
 Adults do not get the same quantity and quality of language
input that children receive in school and play settings
 The objective  native-like mastery of the target language
learners should be surrounded by the language as early as
possible
 Extensive exposure to L2loss or incomplete development of
L1
 Individual differences in SLL
 Age of acquisition
 The goal basic communicative ability for all students in a
school setting, (assuming that the child’s native language
will remain the primary language) more efficient to begin
second language teaching later.
 When learners receive only a few hours of instruction per
week, learners who start later (9-10 years old) often catch
up with those who began earlier.

 School programs should be based on realistic estimates of

how long it takes to learn a second language.
 One or two hours a week will not produce very advanced SL
speakers, no matter how young they were when they
began.
 New factors that affect SLA
 Immersion
 An approach to foreign language instruction in which the
usual curricular activities are conducted in a foreign
language.
 The new language is the medium of instruction as well as
the object of instruction.
 Immersion students acquire the necessary language skills
to understand and communicate about the subject matter
set out in the school's program of instruction.
 The term "immersion" seems to imply any class that is
taught through the medium of a second language.
However, simply teaching a content class (e.g. Maths,
Music, Science, etc.) in a foreign language is not
immersion.
 New factors that affect SLA

 Immersion

 "Generally speaking, at least 50 percent of instruction during

a given academic year must be provided through the second
language for the program to be regarded as immersion.
Programs in which one subject and language arts are taught
through the second language are generally identified as
enriched second language programs” (Genesee, 1987, p1).

 It takes more than two or three years in an immersion

program before the full benefits of immersion become
evident.
 New factors that affect SLA

 Immersion
 What are the Goals of an Immersion Program?
 Most language immersion schools have four immersion-
related goals:
 to achieve competency in the foreign language (listening,
speaking, reading, writing)
 to acquire the same L1 language arts skills as students in
non-immersion schools
 to master content area skills & concepts
 to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of other
cultures
 New factors that affect SLA

 What are the effects of Immersion Education?

 Immersion students consistently meet or exceed academic
expectations in the following areas:
 Foreign language skills: Immersion students by far outperform
students in traditional foreign language classes.
 First language skills: In the early years of L1 instruction, there
may be a delay in L1 reading and writing skills. By the end of
elementary school, however, immersion students do as well or
better than students in "first language-only" classes.
 Content areas: Immersion students achieve in academic areas
as well as students in "first language-only" programs.
 Cultural sensitivity: Immersion students are more aware of and
show positive attitudes towards other cultures.
 New factors that affect SLA
 AVT (audiovisual translation)-Subtitling in S/FLL
 In the last thirty years, extensive research has been done in
the field of audiovisual translation (AVT) and foreign/second
language acquisition (FLA/SLA)
 Subtitles  facilitate formal and incidental language learning
and foster foreign language skills (Danan, 2015, p. 45).
 Standard/interlingual (L2 audio and L1 subtitles)
 Captions/same-language/intralingual (L2 audio and L2
subtitles)
 Reversed (L1 audio and L2 subtitles)
 Closed-captions/ bimodal subtitles  subtitles for the deaf
and hard-of-hearing (SDH)
 New factors that affect SLA

 AVT (audiovisual translation)-Subtitling in S/FLL

 Why is the subtitled material beneficial for language learning?
 Subtitled television programmes a rich context for foreign
language acquisition through 3 reinforcing channels
 Visual images
 Spoken in the foreign language
 Written in the subtitles in one's own language or the target
language
 Motivation  is enhanced trough entertaining materials and
understanding of the message
 New factors that affect SLA
 AVT (audiovisual translation)-Subtitling in S/FLL
 Watching subtitled programmes may generate different types
of language acquisition.
 Word meaning
 The meaning of expressions or standard sentences and
constructions, and in which situations they can be used.
 Pronunciation of certain words and sounds may be improved
as well or even the ability to make distinction between
different accents (British vs. American).
 The ability to construct correct sentences and distinguish
between informal and colloquial connotations in spoken
language, such as slang or aristocratic (Almeida & Costa,
2014; Koolstra & Beentjes, 1999).
 References
 Unit 4

 Brown, H.D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning and

Teaching (Chapter 3,5,6,7). Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice
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 Ellis, R. (1994). Individual learner differences. In The Study
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 Garcia Mayo, M. P. & Garcia Lecumberri, M.L. (2003). Age
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 Lightbown, P & Spada, N. (2006). Individual differences in
second language learning. In How Languages are Learned
(pp.53-75). Oxford: Oxford University Press
 References
 Unit 4
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doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.05.212
 Baños, R., & Sokoli, S. (2015). Learning foreign languages with
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 Botwick, M. (2013). Immersion Education & Bilingualism.
Retrieved September 15, 2016, from
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