L2 Acquisition Flashcards
Define second language acquisition
the acquisition of a second language by people who have already acquired a first language
Define bilingual language acquisition
a simultaneous acquisition of two languages beginning in infancy
Compare language acquisition and language learning
language acquisition: the development of language ability in a natural, communicative setting, and no teachers or explicit instructions are involved during the process
language learning: the learning of language skills through a conscious process that involves explicit analysis and formal instruction of language features in an institutional setting
Compare EFL (English Foreign Language) and ESL (English Second Language)
foreign language: not generally spoken in the surrounding community
second language: commonly used in the surrounding company
Define the Unitary System Hypothesis
bilingual children initially construct one lexicon and one grammar only; they may not have the same set of words in both languages
Define the Separate Systems Hypothesis
bilingual children build a distant lexicon and grammar for each language, and are not confused; they do code-switching to accommodate the listeners
List three factors influencing L2 acquisition/learning
Age, L1 transfer, Motivation
Explain how age affects L2 acquisition/learning
there may be a critical period for L2 acquisition for people to fully acquire L2 and achieve level of “nativeness”
Explain how L1 transfer affects L2 acquisition/learning
the cross-linguistic influence from one’s L1 knowledge, including sounds, structures and expressions on L2, which can be positive transfer (if they have similar features), or negative transfer (if they are very different)
types: phonological transfer, grammatical transfer, pragmatic transfer
Explain how motivation affects L2 acquisition/learning
instrumental motivation: learn an L2 in order to achieve other practical goals, such as passing exams
integrative motivation: usually people have a sincere and personal interest in the people/culture represented by that language group and usually have social purposes
Compare Synthetic and Analytic approaches to L2 teaching
Synthetic approach: start from bottom, focuses on teaching grammatical, lexical, phonological, functional units step by step
Analytical approach: top-down, the rules/parts of the target language are not explicitly taught; learners are expected to discover and extract the rules themselves, and teacher selects topics or tasks that are relevant to the needs and interests of learners
Define grammar-translation method
students learn vocabulary, grammatical rules and translate texts from the target language into their L1; emphasis is put on written language than spoken language, and is taught in L1
Define content-based instruction
it aims to get students to communicate in the target language; grammar rules are taught on an “on-demand” basis, and texts are taken from everyday sources in real-life contexts
Define audiolingual method
believes that the target learners form a set of “habits” based on intensive oral drills
speaking and listening are the primary focus, and written form is kept from learners until they can recognise it in speech (like for example, Duolingo)
