Second Language Acquisition

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION


Heber Eli Guerrero Girón




Second language acquisition is a process by which people learn a second language. It refers to any language learned in addition to the first language and the differences between both processes. Second language acquisition is still a controversial issue; since,there is no a general agreement about how and when it takes place. Several theories and models have appeared to explain the facts that may be involved in acquisition of a second language, Theories as the Behaviourism theories which state that acquisition is just a set of habits a learner may acquire or Nativist theories that suggest we all have a natural-born ability to acquire a language ormodels as Socio –linguistic models, Interactional models that express that language and society are connected and the former is affected by society , etc .However all the theories have failed to explain how acquisition really happen and yet there are many questions unsolved .

This essay refers to two of the most important theories in this field, the Input Hypothesis by Krashen and theComprehensible Output Hypothesis by Swain, their differences, similarities and their relation with other theories proposed.

1. Swains and his Comprehensible Output Theory state that acquisition is a phenomenon that occurs when the learner tries to transmit a message and fail (encounters a gap between he knows and needs to know .Funiber 57.) Therefore, when Learners try and finally manage to produceutterances that can be understood by their partners, they have acquired new language knowledge. During this process learners have tested their knowledge and formulated hypothesis which help them to acquire new language forms later.


2. Krashen makes a difference between acquisition and learning. The former is the natural process that occurs when a child participates in natural communicationin his environment while he interacts with the world. It just the way people learn their own language. On the other hand, Learning is just the result of formal instruction and occurs when learners consciously study a language. When Krashen makes this differentiation he formulates his Monitor Model which has five different hypotheses such as the Natural Order Hypothesis, The acquisition / learningHypothesis, The Affective Filter Hypothesis, The monitor Hypothesis and The Input Hypothesis.


KRASHEN AND THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS


Krashen gives Input a great importance in the process of language acquisition since he considers it the cause of language acquisition. The Input hypothesis is the most accepted and study theory within the linguistic field, however not only by listening greatdeals of the target language, we will manage to acquire it because the language information a learner can be exposed to is not the same information he/she assimilates INPUT should not be confused with INTAKE which is what the leaner really assimilates from INPUT (Page. 38 Funiber)


To really process and assimilate the information from all the INPUT we may receive, several factors may be takeninto account. We can mention some such as motivation, views the learners have about the language, age, etc. Factors Krashen also consider important in language acquisition. Also at this point we can talk about some theorist such as Schumann, Giles and Byme who also see motivation and feelings towards the language as crucial factors for language acquisition.


Schumann with his Acculturation Model,Giles and Byme with his Accommodation Theory state that learners who are positive towards the group who speak the target language for either cultural or personal reason will have more possibilities to acquire the second language .However, It seems important to mention that both Schumann and Giles based his theories only in Second language environments where learners are constantly exposed to...