Stephen Krashen is one of the experts when it comes to language acquisition. He has theorized on the subject of second language acquisition for years and has been quite influential in this field of linguistics. He approaches the subject of second language acquisition by presenting his five theories for acquiring a second language. Aida Walqui is another expert; however, she approaches the subject from the aspect that contextual factors are involved in second language learning.
Even though Krashen and Walqui are attempting to achieve a similar goal, their methodologies are different. Krashen believes there are two independent systems that affect one’s language and how a language is acquired. Krashen believes there are two systems that have different approaches to language acquisition. One belief is that there is an “acquired system” and another belief is that there is a “learned system”. The acquired system is a process like that of a child learning their first language, where language comes from the interaction between the speaker and the listener naturally.
The acquired system can easily be used effectively by teachers in the classroom through meaningful interaction in the target language. This is a form of natural communication where those involved are not concentrated on the form of what is being spoken, but in the actual communication that is taking place. When this method is used, the teacher is able to gradually pass more independence on to the student, resulting in growth in language acquisition. This is done by the teacher modeling and describing what is being said which guides the student. Through the built-in routines of response and feedback, with corresponding revision and editing, students are scaffolded ...
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... learning, not something that to be considered when acquiring a language.
When considering the contextual factors in the acquisition of a second language, Walqui explains the importance of various factors that shape second language learning: language distance, native language proficiency, knowledge of second language, dialect and register, language status, and language attitude. These things differ from Krashen’s theory because they focus on formal registers and standard dialects, while conversation with friends and relatives may call for informal registers and nonstandard dialects.
Works Cited
Peregoy, S., & Boyle, O. (2008). Reading, writing, and learning in ESL: A resource book for k-12 techers (5th ed.) Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Stephen Krashe's Theory of Second Language Acquisition
Contextual Factors in Second Language Acquisition, Aqui Walqui
1. In the beginning of the semester, I did not really understood the hypothesis of Krashen. Based the article (Gulzar, M. A., Gulnaz, F., & Ijaz, A, 2014) there is two systems, “the acquired system” and “the learned system.” The acquired system works similar to the process of acquisition of the first language. When you learned your first language, you were not aware of how the surroundings were influencing you to talk. The learned system has formal instructions, and it involves a conscious process.
Schumann, J. H. (1986). Research on the acculturation model for second language acquisition. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 7(5), 379-392. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from the Taylor&Francis Online database.
Krashen, S. D. (1981) Second language acquisition and second language learning. Retrieved December 29, 2011, from Web
The issue of English language learning has been always a controversial one for almost all non-English language countries around the world these days. However, it seems language learning difficulties are not restricted to those who attempt to learn English. This is the same issue when an English speaker attempts to learn another language especially the Middle Eastern or Asian Languages. There are several hypotheses and theories concerning the language learning difficulties from different perspectives. One of the theories to explain second language acquisition issues from the sociocultural/sociolinguistic point of view is Brown’s (1980) Optimal distance Model, which is in parallel with Schumann’s (1986) Acculturation Model. Brown (1980) and Schumann (1986) state that both second language learning difficulties and the level of mastery in that language can be determined within the period of culture adaptation known as acculturation (Brown, 1980; Schumann, 1986).
There are three main theories of child language acquisition; Cognitive Theory, Imitation and Positive Reinforcement, and Innateness of Certain Linguistic Features (Linguistics 201). All three theories offer a substantial amount of proof and experiments, but none of them have been proven entirely correct. The search for how children acquire their native language in such a short period of time has been studied for many centuries. In a changing world, it is difficult to pinpoint any definite specifics of language because of the diversity and modification throughout thousands of millions of years.
Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. M. (2006). How languages are learned (3rd ed.). Oxford [england: Oxford University Press.
This essay is going to illustrate the different stages in language acquisition that children pass through and elicit the theories in accordance.
How do children acquire language? What are the processes of language acquisition? How do infants respond to speech? Language acquisition is the process of learning a native or a second language. Although how children learn to speak is not perfectly understood, most explanations involve both the observations that children copy what they hear and the inference that human beings have a natural aptitude for understanding grammar. Children usually learn the sounds and vocabulary of their native language through imitation, (which helps them learn to pronounce words correctly), and grammar is seldom taught to them, but instead that they rapidly acquire the ability to speak grammatically. Though, not all children learn by imitation alone. Children will produce forms of language that adults never say. For example, “I spilled milk on hisself” or “Debbie wants a cookie”. This demonstrates that children have the desire to speak correctly and have self-motivating traits to communicate. This supports the theory of Noam Chomsky (1972)-that children are able to learn grammar of a particular language because all intelligible languages are founded on a deep structure of universal grammatical rules that corresponds to an innate capacity of the human brain. Adults learning a second language pass through some of the same stages, as do children learning their native language. In the first part of this paper I will describe the process of language acquisition. The second part will review how infants respond to speech.
The Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis: In its most general version, the Acquisition / Learning Distinction Hypothesis is deemed to be the most salient all the hypotheses in Krashen's theory as well as the most recognized and valued conceptualization by most linguists and language practitioners. In practice, Krashen postulates that there are two independent systems in a second language competence: 'the acquired system' and 'the learned system'. On the one hand, the 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is the inevitable corollary of a subconscious and intuitive process of constructing the system of a language, paralleling
This paper first, argues why first language acquisition is fundamentally different from second language acquisition in light of the fact that acquiring first language is innate. Thereafter, this paper discuses fundamental distinction between first language acquisition and second language acquisition in terms of age, cognitive development and previous experience.
In addition to that, the writer will discuss the fact of neutral learning and language acquisition and finally how to engage brain-based learning approach to develop the process of second language learning.
Language acquisition is perhaps one of the most debated issues of human development. Various theories and approaches have emerged over the years to study and analyse this developmental process. One factor contributing to the differing theories is the debate between nature v’s nurture. A question commonly asked is: Do humans a...
Still today, it is the commonly held belief that children acquire their mother tongue through imitation of the parents, caregivers or the people in their environment. Linguists too had the same conviction until 1957, when a then relatively unknown man, A. Noam Chomsky, propounded his theory that the capacity to acquire language is in fact innate. This revolutionized the study of language acquisition, and after a brief period of controversy upon the publication of his book, Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, in 1964, his theories are now generally accepted as largely true. As a consequence, he was responsible for the emergence of a new field during the 1960s, Developmental Psycholinguistics, which deals with children’s first language acquisition. He was not the first to question our hitherto mute acceptance of a debatable concept – long before, Plato wondered how children could possibly acquire so complex a skill as language with so little experience of life. Experiments have clearly identified an ability to discern syntactical nuances in very young infants, although they are still at the pre-linguistic stage. Children of three, however, are able to manipulate very complicated syntactical sentences, although they are unable to tie their own shoelaces, for example. Indeed, language is not a skill such as many others, like learning to drive or perform mathematical operations – it cannot be taught as such in these early stages. Rather, it is the acquisition of language which fascinates linguists today, and how it is possible. Noam Chomsky turned the world’s eyes to this enigmatic question at a time when it was assumed to have a deceptively simple explanation.
Learning a second language is a hard and complex task because it involves much commitment from both the learner and the facilitator. In addition to the commitment and the hard mental process that the learner goes through, there is a group of factors involved in the learning process. Among these factors are the person attempting to learn the second language is, and what is meant by this is, where they come from, the economic limitations they may have, how, when, and where the learning takes place. It is also important to understand their social and cultural background, to be aware of their intellectual capacity, and what inclines them to learn a second language, as well
As the global communities migrate from their native home lands to new countries and regions, the need to learn a new language becomes an imminent requirement. Learning second language for an individual with not back ground to the language can be a serious proposition which can results in seriously straining the individual. This makes it very important to select a learning strategy very carefully to prevent complicating the learning process and also one which will help speed up the entire learning process (Bitchener 2007). With this in mind there are three main approaches linked to learning a 2nd language namely the behaviourist, Halliday’s and Chomsky’s approaches. Each of these adopts different learning theories but that all promote