6.27.2005

How would you frame the SLA research?

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

From birth to death humankind is prone to learn as a result of his learning wonder.SLA period is,primarily,affected by the backround gained from the culture of the learner's own language.But the ability of blending the mentality of both languages(native vs second lang.)in via a strong knowledge of rules,experiences,the motive towards target language shape SLA...

Anonymous said...

in order to make a productive research on SLA the history of language should be researched initially; because the answer to why human being tended to use a language is of great importance here. The change in the social life of human from individual to community life caused a need for communication. They had to use a tool to undeesrand aech other to make commerce. That was language. For SLA the case is the same, only the needs have changed; but the reality that all human behaviour is result of `needs` will newer change.

Anonymous said...

sir you have not posted the second one::)))

Anonymous said...

SLA is a period that contains learning the grammar structure,words and the daily speech of a foreign language.During this period i think dialogues should be used most.As we learn our mother language by speech,we can achieve SLA by this way too...

Anonymous said...

SLA process consists of fulfilling the stable brain which has just the native info of learner's own language.The acquisition is highly shaped by factors such as experiences,social status,personal differences etc...To me;acquisition presents a wide range of elements than that is contained in learning process...For instance acquisition can be performed in everywhere that it's not restricted by formal limitations that are in schools...

Anonymous said...

If we want to make a good research on SLA we should look at these points: age of learner, natural education or formal education, language group and intelligence type.

Age is important because children are better learners than adults
because children are not afraid of making mistakes. Thus, they will take risks. However, adults are afraid of making mistakes. Moreover, children are good imitators, children imitate their teacher, and they do not try to learn grammar structure of language.

The factor of learning in natural way or formal way is also important.
When a second language learner learns language in a natural way he/she will learn easily because learner will be able to practice language. Thus, learner will improve his/her speaking. For example, I am as a foreign student (naturalistic learner) in Turkey I have learnt Turkish language easily; however, I am learning English for eight years (in formal way) but I can not speak it as perfectly as Turkish language.

I think, Intelligence type is another important factor. If a student has linguistic intelligence then he will be more successful than other students.

The fourth factor is language group. German students can learn English better than Japanese students. Bulgarian students can learn Russian very easily because Russian and Bulgarian languages belong to same language groups.

Mockingbird said...

The key to mastering a second language well is age. The younger one picks up a second language, the higher the chances of him becoming fluent in it. Research has shown kids (between the age of 3 to 12) that are constantly exposed to various languages (up to 6 or 8!) at the same time, have little difficulty in becoming fluent in all of them. Provided he gets to use them in equal duration and frequency.

Anonymous said...

To me,it' s difficult to frame the SLA research with a few sentences or some certain points.because,it's a really world-wide research and stil,nobody couldn't frame it whooly.
But to sum up:
*Second language acquisition is the phrase used to describe the process that people go through when confronted by a need to use a language other than their native one for communication. People acquire their first and second languages differently. Some of the issues and processes involved in language acquisition include the idea of innateness.İn my opinion,the first question to be investigated is : "Can the language ability be determined genetically?" the answer will make you bring to the centre of the SLA research...

at last;ıt's pleasure to thank to the most handsome teacher of HAYEF,Tuncer Can on behalf of my summer school friends to prepare such a good work for us:)

betül başaran

Anonymous said...

hi sir:) when will you post the other mission?l will be waiting for you with a big wonder...see you:) betty

Anonymous said...

-Mamma and daddy teached me talk:)-
My headline can easily reflect the idea i will support.Of course second language acquisition research is a complex study of human nature;but we can make some conclusions regarding the way we acquire the language.
Children are supposed to acquire the language by imitating the phrases they hear.But I suppose there is a confusing mechanism which can work out very complex calculations inside humans' skull.What I mean is that nobody says 'no eat candy or he hitted me!' near a child for him or her to imitate.So the child can comment using his logic that he can make a past sentence by adding -ed after the words.Or he can think that the sentences including-no are negative-but not the verbal ones:)who ever taught them Kadıköy as Kediköy or how can a child say'Beşik mi taşta inicez?:)'So these are good examples for the idea.
So it is possible to conclude that people get the language by recreating some sentences regarding the situation by using their logic and the innate features they have had since the day of their birth...

Anonymous said...

Sla research is a complex study i think.So many researches have been done during recent years and today.And so many researcers have tried to verify their thesis.Yet,i believe that we should be interested in what way do learners learn the second language:Consciously or unconsciously.

So,I think we should divide sla process into two groups:The first one is,as we do,consciously(learning it in school or attending a course),the second one is uncounsciously/subconsciously(living in that country or being unaware of the process).
The first group members are a little bit unlucky because they don't always have the chance to practise the language that they want to learn.so they possibly may forget it if they don't do repetition.
The second group members,on the other hand,are exposed to the target language.They don't have to make great efforts to learn it.They hear it at work,in shopping,maybe at home too...so they generally don't have the luxury of forgetting it.

Anonymous said...

Since it is very arduous to gain a foreign language totally, in my opinion SLA is a process which should never end. Besides analyzing the theories over how a foreign language is acquired, we, tomorrow's teachers of English, should MAINLY concern on the ways how a second language can be learned and taught more effectively regarding the factors of individual variation in second language learning such as age, cognitive style, aptitude, intelligence, motivation etc.

Anonymous said...

Language acquisition ( first or second ) is not stable. Even in our mother tongue we can face with new proverbs and idioms. Language acqusition is something endless that is why it is difficult to frame it.
Second language acquisition doesn't have only one dimension. It has cognitive, social and psychological dimensions.
We can research a person's intelligence (especially verbal-linguistic intelligence) ,comprehension, memory when we talk about cognitive process. A person must be willing to learn a language, it musn't be an obligation. This is about psychological aspect. Lastly ,social dimension cantains culture, custom and needs of people for learning a second language.
We can research all of these dimensions because I think they affect second language acquisition.

Tansel Sarıbeyoğlu

Anonymous said...

I think that it is not so easy to frame second language acquisition research because it is a very wide field of English Language Teaching but there are some points that should be taken into consideration when trying to frame:
- features and special needs of second language learners. Especially age is important because it is easier to learn/acquire a language in the childhood because of the critical period.
- linguistic features of the native language
- linguistic features of the target language.

Anonymous said...

I love this sentence “...You need a language to learn a language...” I think, it can be true. Language is one of the essential capacities of the human species. Language is used for communication and social interactions learning a new language. People is also learning a new reality and a new way of life with language.

Me to, if we want to make a good research about SLA we should be careful at these points: Young age, to give opportunities for interaction in second language, reading and writing in the first language, several years of education in the first language, language instruction in second language, feedback, to take risks in using second language, cultural factors, body language, pedagogy-psychology, cognitive development, language development, lathophobia, power relations, formal and natural education, individual differences-personality, learning-teaching strategy, multiple intelligences, language group, language universal...

When babies see something new, they will look at it until they get bored. The babies watched until they were bored and quit looking. Because they are very interesting and new things for them. As the years passed, the learner’s mother tongue enables him or her to conceptualize the world around him. Children in every culture all over the world achieve communicative competence in their “first” or “native” languages — unless they have a specific language processing problem (like autism...)

The cultural environment that people (learner) grow up in can be very important on how they interpret the world around them. Language is influence by interests, concerns, and values of their culture. Because second language is learnt in cultural context.

However if culture of a society is more powerful and/or prestigious than others, this culture’s language becomes the dominant group in the languages.

Why is it so difficult for adults to acquire a second language? Because some of adults are lathophobic people. Making mistake is a terrible event for them. According them they mustn’t make mistake. These people think: If they speak something incorrect, other people laugh them and they feel ashamed. But actually learners can say something incorrect, this is a normal event for human.
So learners can take risks in using second language.

There are, of course, enormous cognitive differences between young adults and developing children. While a new language is learnt by adults, they use of their analytical thinking. They want to need information about what they are learning. In contrast children are more successful in spontaneously producing the sentences.
The children learn language even without information, too.

Giving opportunities for interaction in second language is one of the factor of learning. Because the students need to be helped to become full participants in the classroom. If they don’t make a practise of speaking with SL they don’t achieve in using and speaking fluidly.

In the educational process the teacher is central of the lerning. So the teacher’s feedback is becoming very important factor. When the students can say something incorrect if the teacher gives a positive feedback it encourages the student’s learning motivation and the students continue to learn without a problem. But if the teacher gives a negative feedback the students don’t want to continue for learning.

One of the most important factors is personality. Each individual learns different from the others. Since an individual’s identity is developed within a context of communication and interaction — for example, with family members and peers — and since language plays a salient role in interpersonal relations, language becomes central to the sense of self. However students acquire a second language by taking in language that they understand and using that to try to get their point across to their peers or to the teacher.

There are the psychological difficulties which interfere with language learning: anxiety, low self-esteem and motivation, identity conflict...

The other factors of learning teaching and learning strategies. The teaching of meta-cognitive strategies can help students develop stronger language learning skills However each student can’t learn same material in same ways. So they need different strategies to learn.

The other important factors are multiple intelligences.This shows some students will be best served by learning material visually, others interpersonally, and how others are best served when musical or aural elements are introduced into the classroom. For example, pictures provide something to talk about. A picture can evoke mental images to help second language learners recall a term or concept. However if a student has linguistic intelligence then he will be more successful than other students. For example one of the my friends has a linguistic intelligence and he can speak three languages like a mother tongue. However he can take high point without not studying.

Language groups are other important factor of the learning SL. If the language groups come from similar family learners can learn SL easier. But if languages are very different, learning of SL will be more difficult.

However several years of education is given in the first language so language instruction in second language is a very artificial process in formal education. But it is the contrast with language acquisition Because language acquisition is natural process.
In addition, learners study reading and writing in the first language since several years, too.

Finally the ideal SLA research should analyze the linguistic needs of the students and
SL learning should be pragmatic and practical, too! Because if a language isn’t functional, learners can’t use it easily in daily life We should use body language in SLA, too. Because there are a lot of different signs in every society.

Anonymous said...

Elif Manış
For SLA research learner's features,teacher's features,socio-cultural features,target language's features are important.
If the learner is a chide s/he can learn easier than the adult one, because children have plastic brain,so it can be shaped easily, and it has not got more things than the adults.Also children don't worry about gramatical mistakes,so they try more and if you try you can learn.Also if the adult's idae is different from the writter s/he doesn't want to read/speak the text,so on...
If there is a scholl,although its feature is important, the teacher's features are more effectif.The teacher's linguistic knowledge,teaching method/s,experience...etc are effect the students.If teacher is native speaker or like native speaker students can learn better, because if teacher doesn't know the language better how can s/he teach it.Also teacher can be native/like native but if s/he doesn't know the teaching method/teachnice... s/he cannot teach.If the teacher is a tolerant one ss can be relax, and they can learn easier.
Socio-cultural factors effect the ss, so SLA.For exaple, one of my friend doesn't like English, and cannot be success, because he doesn't like USA,and England.Also if people don't like to learn an other language in your sociaty, it may effect your successful.
Also if the target language's features are like your own language features you can learn it easier.For example Germany, and England are in the same language family, so a German learner can learn English easier than a chaini one.

Anonymous said...

In SLA process,the researcher should try to found out how learners acquire an L2,what learners actually do when they try to learn L2.For this we can collect samples of learner language.By analysing these samples we can find out what the learners know about the language and if how learners' knowledge gradually develops.On the other words,she should focus on how learners ability to communicate develops,how they become more fluent in speaking.How they pronounce the words,how learners build up their vocabulary and how learners' ability to produce gramatical structures develop over time.All of these affect SLA process.

There are two factors called external and internal which affect learners in SLA.

One of the external factors is social conditions.Think that you are in the country of the target language.If you respect that language or are respected by native speakers of that language,then it will be helpful to improve the target language.On the other hand,if you experience hostility from native spaker or if you don't like that country and you are not close to that culture of that language,it can be difficult to acquire that language.

Another external factor is the input that learners receive.If we want the learners to benefit more from the input,we should consider the age of the learners.While teaching young learners we should use concrete things,because they can't think abstract things.Also we need to provide authentic language of native speaker communication.

One of the internal factors is that learners possess cognitive mechanisms.This provide learners to notice the grammatical structure and use them correctly.

Also they've known their own language and had general knowledge about the world.So they can improve some communication strategies which will help them use L2 effectively . By using other words they can give the idea of the word which they've not learned yet.

Another internal factor is that if the learners vary in their language aptitude.Because of this learners vary in the rate they learn an L2.

Another factor is the aim of the learner in second language learning.We need to consider in what field they will use the second language.The learner can want to improve only his/her communicative competence or lin guistic competence when they satisfy their communicative needs after a while it can be not necessary for them to learn full grammar of that language.

Another thing is that especially children are not interested in language.They are interested in what they can do with the language . Briefly they want to use it to be able to do something.

As you can see we need to identify the factors.If we describe and explain these factors,SLA process will be more effective for learners.
(Müjgan)

Anonymous said...

It is so obvious that human has learning ability and acquiring potential from birth.SLA process requires the interaction among learner,mother tongue,target language and social features.In order to acquire a second language,learner ought to make a dense logical link between his mother tongue and target language in his mind.I mean,learner needs meaningful approaches for SLA.Actually;Krashen,a famous researcher about SLA,sums up all I try to explain::" Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding"

Anonymous said...

SLA research is a very complex term that contains many elements, such as human psychology, social and environmental conditions, developmental features etc.So it is hard to explain the term completely.Briefly we can define SLA research as a complex, systematic and progressive study of how people learn a second (of course it can be a third, fourth or somewhat) language within or outside a systematic program.

Anonymous said...

sorry teacher as ı have no comment on thıs subject as ı have no enough knowledge about it and as ı could not participate in your first lesson.. ı hope you understand me.. have a good nıght..

Anonymous said...

I think,first, we should realize the distiction between second language acquisition and second language learning.They are two independent systems of second language performance.The acquision is very similar to the process that the children undergo when they are acquire their mother language because it is a subconcious process.It requires meaningful intretaction in natural communication in which speakers talks fluently,fastly.It is natural. Learning is the product of formal instruction and has an objective.for ex:the children learn the instructıons in school because the lesson has an aim.learning has an concious knowledge about language.for ex:knowledge of grammar rules. SLA has become a broadly-based field and it now involves, for instance:studying the complex pragmatic interactions between learners, and between learners and native speakers,examining how non-native language ability develops,carrying out a highly technical analysis and interpretation of all aspects of target language,testing hypotheses to explain second language behavior using standard experimental techniques as well as also techniques specially developed for SLA purposes.We understand that it is complex research that hasnot explained clearly,yet.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry sir I made an error and I forgot writting my name.I'm fatih ışık and my essay startswith this sentence:I think,first, we should realize the distiction between second language acquisition and second language learning. thank you.

Anonymous said...

language learning cannot be restricted with time. lt is a life long process that has neither a beginning nor an end for both L1 and L2. SLA is affected by many internal and external factors. The external ones can be called social factors. They include the intellectual capacity of the family members, suitable conditions of the environment and the culture of the society. These factors are of great importance because one aproach on language learning claims that one can learn only what he sees and hears. That is a kind of imitation; for imitation sender is more important then the receiver. All the factors we mentioned about identifies the features of the sender. The internal factor is the learner's own intellect. l don't believe the ability from birth; but can't ignore the genetic factors. lt is a dilemna for me to accept genetic factors as internal or external; but it is sure that the intellectual capacity of the learner plays an important role for SLA. (erdem inciguz)

Anonymous said...

As known there are many factors for SLA.To me,first learners's interest,why do you want to learn second language.It is essential to know what your aim is.Then age of learning is effective.the younger you are,the easier you learn.Other important factor is to know nature and culture of second language,pronounciation,syntax, their thouhts,because all learns grammar structure.As a matter of fact this factor makes become hard SLA...

Anonymous said...

To frame the sla isn’t easy however, everything started with the “needs” so, people needed to learn/acquire a second language to communicate with other nations/people that spoke different languages. The researches about SLA began with Stephen Krashen and others followed another ways to explain, “How people learn/acquire SL” in fact it is a social study and it is not concrete there are so many theories about this.
I think it began with the needs and also there are some factors that effect in SLA. Those are being a child/adult, intelligence type, motivation, culture, etc.

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Oğuz said...

hi .)
My topic is :
"Who is a naturalistic learner ? What Stages does a naturalistic learner go through concerning with his/ her SLA process?"
I couldn't find anything about this :S please help me :(

Anonymous said...

I am an ELT MA student and I am conducting a piece of research on early foreign language learning across Europe. I am trying to find out the best age for children to start learning other languages in an L1 environment so that they can acquire native-like accent , use the grammar and vocabulary skills at the utmost level. I believe that first language has an impact on second language learning. For instance; if there are similarities between sentence structures and phonetic similarities, the acquisition will be easier.Furthermore, length of exposure is highly significant as it affects the level of proficiency. So is early language learning advantageous only in the long-run? Is there a critical period in Foreign language learning? and does it merely influence pronunciation skills? Should the acquisition of L1 be completed in order to start learning other languages? When do you think a person should start learning a foreign language in an L1 environment?