Second Language Acquisition,2,Some basic terms,Second Language Acquisition (SLA): refers to the systematic study of how one person acquires a second language subsequent to his native language.Target language (TL)(目的语): the language which a person is learning, in contrast to a first language or mother tongue.,3,Some basic terms,Second language (L2): a language which is not a native language but is widely used as a medium of communication and is used along with another language or languages. e.g. English used in Singapore Foreign language (FL): a language which is not a native language in a country, and is always taught in schools and not used to communicate within a country. e.g. English in China, Japan, etc.,4,Questions to be considered,Does an adult learn a second language the way a child learns a first language? If not, what happened to the LAD? Is there a critical period for L2 acquisition? Which is better classroom learning or immersion experience?,5,Connections between L1 acquisition and L2 acquisition,In theory, the new findings and advances in L1 acquisition are enlightening in understanding L2 acquisition. The first language study has served as a backcloth for perceiving and understanding new facts about second language learning (Littlewood, 1986).,6,Differences between L1 and L2 acquisition,The first language is acquired subconsciously, while the second (or foreign) language is learned consciously.In acquiring the first language, children always concentrate on meaning, not on pattern, i.e. structure, while the L2 learning concentrates on rules, i.e. the system of the thought (the grammatical rules).,7,Differences between L1 and L2 acquisition,One learns his first language directly from the reality, while the second language is learnt in manageable sequence, i.e. syllabus and course books.In L1 acquisition children apply the rules subconsciously, while the L2 learners are able to verbalize the rules after a period of training.,8,Contrastive analysis (对比分析),Came into fashion in 1960sBased on behaviorist thinking:SLA seen as the development of a new set of habitsPositive vs. Negative transfer (of habits),9,Contrastive analysis,Main points of Contrastive Analysis: Main source of errors in L2 due to the transfer of L1 habits Errors can be predicted by a contrastive analysis of the L1 and L2 The greater the difference between L1 and L2, the more errors that will occur,10,Contrastive analysis,Problems with CA: Errors occur that are not due to L1 Errors dont occur when they are predicted Problems operationalizing the contrastive analysishow do you measure “difference” and “distance”,11,Error analysis (错误分析),In 1970s and early 80s, a large number of papers on error analysis were published throughout the world. Error analysis is the study and analysis of the errors made by second language learners.,12,Error analysis,Error: (in the speech or writing of a second or foreign language learner) the use of a linguistic item ( e.g. a word, a grammatical item, a sentence, etc) in a way which a fluent or native speaker of the language regards as showing faulty or incomplete learning. Mistake: made by a learner when writing or speaking and is caused by lack of attention, carelessness or “slip” etc.,13,Error analysis,Interlingual error (语际错误): an error which results from language transfer, that is, which is caused by the learners native language e.g. Substitution of /t/for /and /d/for / Shortening of long vowelse.g. Shanghai learners often make /ei/and /i:/ short vowels, thus, sheep and meat sound like ship and mit.,14,Error analysis,Intralingual error (语内错误): an error which results from faulty or partial learning of the target language. Intralingual errors may be caused by the influence of one target language item upon another. e.g. He is comes from the blend of the sentences He is coming and He comes.,15,Error analysis,Intralingual error: Overgeneralization (概括过头): a learner extends the use of a grammatical rule beyond its accepted uses. e.g. to use mans instead of men for the plural of man. Jane advise me to give up smoking.Jane told me to give up smoking.*Jane hoped me to give up smoking.*Jane suggested me to give up smoking.,16,Intralingual error: Cross-association (互相联想): the confusion of the spellings and pronunciations which are alike.,17,Performance analysis (语言行为分析),An approach to the study of a learners competence in a language, based on the study of a learners total linguistic performance (i.e. what the learner is able to say and do in the language) and not just the learners errors.,18,Interlanguage (语际语),Interlangauge - learners independent system of the second language which is of neither the native language nor the second language, but a continuum or approximation from his native language to the target language.,19,Interlanguage (语际语),The type of language produced by second- and foreign- language learners who are in the process of learning a language. Fossilization: a process in which incorrect linguistic features become a permanent part of the way a person speaks or writes a language. e.g. the pronunciation, vocabulary usage, etc,