CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION: DESCRIBING AND EXPLAINING L2 ACQUISITION

(Ellis (2003), Page 3-14)

What is second language acquisition?

Second refers to any language which is learnt subsequent to the mother tongue. It does
not mean only the second language, but it can refer to the third or even fourth language
we have learnt. We can conclude that whatever foreign language we learn, it means that
we are still learning a second language. L2 acquisition can be defined as the way in
which people learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside a
classroom, and SLA as the study of this.
What are the goals of SLA?

Describe: how learner language changes over time. SLA focuses on the formal
features of language that linguists have traditionally concentrated on. (Pronunciation
of an L2, the words learners use, how learner build up their vocabulary, and
grammatical structure).

Explain: identifying the internal and external factors that account for why learners
acquire an L2 in the way they do.
External factors: where learning takes place
Internal factors: why learners vary in the rate they learn an L2 and how successful they
ultimately are.
Two case studies
A case study of an adult learner
Wes was a thirty-three year-old artist. He was Japanese native speaker. He only had a
little knowledge in English. He went to the Hawaii and lived there for about three years.
A researcher at University of Hawaii, Richard Schmidt, studied Wes` language
development during those three years. Richard was interested in how Wes` knowledge
of English grammar developed. Wes had learned to use the grammatical features with
the same level as a native English speaker. However, Richard suspected that Wes not
really acquired these. For example, Wes did not have the same language of progressive
ing as a native speaker or he continued to omit s from plural nouns.
In fact, Wes still became a good communicator and a skilled conversationalist in English.
In addition, he was able to give talks about his painting and also highly skilled at
repairing communication breakdowns.
A case study of two child learners
J and R were beginners in English at the beginning of the study. J was a ten-year-old
Portuguese boy and literate in his native language. R was an eleven-year-old boy from
Pakistan speaking Punjabi as his first language. They were learning English in a language
unit in London. The two learners had little exposure to the TL outside the classroom. The
focus of this study was delivering requests.
When Ellis analyzed J`s and R`s requests, their requests were verbless. They only
mention the things they needed or even only pointed at them. A little later, they began
to use imperative verbs like give me And then they learnt to use Can I have In the
end of the study, their ability to use requests had grown considerably but still limited in a
number of respects. Their requests were very direct and simple; they only modified their
requests by adding the word please. It was really different with English native speaker
who usually perform a request with different addressees to ensure politeness.

Methodological Issues
Language is such a complex phenomenon that researchers have generally preferred to
focus on some specific aspect rather than on the whole of it.
There is another problem in determining whether learners have acquired a particular
feature. Learners may manifest target-like use of a feature of formula without having
acquired the ability to use the feature productively.
Issues in the description of learner language
Learners made errors in different kinds. Wes failed to use some grammatical features
(errors in omission and overuse), J and R made sociolinguistic errors. The most
interesting issues is whether learners acquire the language systematically.
Issues in the explanation of learner language
Learners must engage in both item learning and system learning and also how the two
interrelate. The systematic nature of L2 acquisition also requires explanation. Learners
follow a particular developmental pattern because their mental faculties are structured in
such a way that this is the way they have to learn. Other explanations emphasize the
importance of external as opposed to internal factors. Perhaps L2 learners can only
acquire difficult linguistic features if they receive direct instructions in them.