Language Acquisition Theories - Essay Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Language Acquisition Theories and Teaching and Learning and Approaches of SLA Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2012 Introduction English is a dialect that is captivating, challenging and even controversial at times. This occurs essentially in the context of teaching English as a second language. In Second language acquisition one of the most fascinating aspects is the ability of a person to speak another language which is not his/her own native language. Describing such a phenomenon has been a central issue of concern for many language scholars. Consequently, over the years various theories have arisen to try and give explanation to the phenomena of second language acquisition. With ten years of experience in teaching English as a foreign language, I must say that it is essential to connect theories of language learning and acquisition and the resulting approaches to language teaching and learning. This particular paper therefore seeks to provide an insight into various theories of SLA and the resulting approaches to English language teaching and learning. The scope of the analysis will be grounded on five major SLA theories which include; behaviourism, Interactionism, Social Cultural Theory, Cognitive theory and the naturalistic theory. Behaviourism theory The behaviourism theory which is fundamentally a psychological theory is grounded on the premise that language acquisition can take place through stimulus response as advanced by B.F skinner in his operant conditioning model. Under the behaviorist perspective, language is perceived as a system of habits whereby learning begins by generating a response to a stimuli and then getting either positive or negative reinforcement which influences whether what is learnt is retained or discarded. In general the behaviorist perspective is based on the idea that second language learning can be acquired through reinforcement, imitation, rewarding, practice and habit formation (Jou, 2006). The behaviourism theory can be described as a significant theory in influencing the approaches of teaching and learning the English language as a second language. A key aspect that connects the behaviourism theory to second language acquisition is the aspect of reinforcement which can influence the ability of the learner to acquire the language. As propagated by the behaviorist’s language is learnt thorough reinforcement and repetition, consequently when a teacher applies teaching methods such as pattern drills and repetition which act as the stimuli, students are bound to acquire the language more. The pattern drills facilitate reinforcement which will then make the language a habit for the learner. For instance in my teaching experience I have always used pattern drills in order to enable my students to acquire language easily an example of drill is; Teacher: I Student: I have a class at two Teacher: You Student: You have a class at two Teacher: Mary Student: Mary has a class at two By using such a pattern drill, I have witnessed my students develop the ability to construct series of English language sentences that have a similar grammatical structure however the sentences may have a slight variation. As a result I believe that the behaviourism theory does influence the approaches that a teacher uses during the teaching and learning process of the English language. Rod, (1997) highlights that based on the fact that behaviourism is also grounded on rewarding, it can act as an effective approach of influencing certain behaviour to become a habit. Rewarding as a habit formation strategy can therefore influence a teacher to adopt the rewarding and recognition approach during teaching in order to act as a form of motivation for the . In my teaching experience I have observed scenarios whereby certain students learn best when they are recognized and rewarded. The approach can actually yield positive results if a teacher uses the approach effectively. For instance a teacher may tell a learner to construct a sentence like ‘’ the teacher will give me a pencils.’’ If the learner constructs the sentence correctly, the teacher can reward the learner with a pencil. The implication of the rewards approach is that the learner will be motivated to construct more sentences correctly in order to obtain the rewards. Rod, (1997) however highlights that the rewards approach may not always necessarily influence corrective second language acquisition as a result a teacher should apply the approach with moderation. The behaviorist perspective of second language acquisition also proposes a direct relationship that exists between the input and output. Input consists of the stimuli given to the learner which will enable the learner to model specific patterns and forms of language, and then internalize them by imitating them. The output on the hand is the resulting behaviour of the learner for instance being able to construct correct English sentences (Rod, 1997). Rod (1997) asserts that behaviorists reject the notion that the mind can act as an object of inquiry and learning. According to behaviorists acquisition of language is controlled by external factors, as a result, second language acquisition can occur through manipulating the input by providing various appropriate stimuli. As a teacher, I have leant from the theory that the manipulation of the learning environment is useful in influencing SLA. For instance in future when teaching, I will use the pedagogical approaches that facilitate the manipulation of the external environment. For example learning by listening whereby I would organize class sessions in which leaners would just listen to various English language audio tapes and then they would learn to construct discussions and sentences as presented by the audio tapes. In other scenarios, I will also try the approach of reading texts aloud to the learners. I would repeat the reading of the texts several times and then tell the s to explain what I read. I will also try to confirm if the s understood the meaning of the texts. If they do get to understand I will ask them questions and guide them to explaining the right meanings. I believe that my experience with the use of such an approach will work, as argued the behaviorist theory the manipulation of the external environment of the stimuli provided to learners can act as an effective approach of enhancing SLA. The behaviorist theory has changed my view of teaching English as a second language. I can confess that I have acknowledged the fact that sometimes it is not always the internal factors that influence the learning of English as a second language but rather how a teacher is able to manipulate the learning environment is a significant contributory factor. As a result, I intend to always work towards ensuring that the leaning environment that I present to my learners is stimulating enough in order to enhance easy leaning of the English language. Interactionism theories The interactionism theory of SLA is grounded on the premise that language acquisition occurs due to the interaction between the internal mechanisms within a learner and the linguistic environment. The theory acknowledges the contribution of both the input and the output in the process of SLA. The input refers to the sine qua non of acquisition which in simple terms is the language that the learner is exposed to for instance through listening or reading. Jou, (2006) argues that input is a significant component for learning due to the fact that it provides the crucial evidence from which a can develop linguistic hypothesis. Interactionist researcher have undertaken various studies on the concept of input and proposed that the input given to the learners should consist of accurate information. Interactionists argue that no matter how the learner may present wrong sentences or language due to the influence of their native language, the input presented should always be correct (Jou, 2006). In my opinion the concept of the input implies that a teacher should always emphasize on the correct format of language to learners at all times. In addition, the teacher should ensure that the students are able to give the correct grammatical forms of the sentences. This can therefore influence a teacher to adopt the direct method of teaching SLA, whereby accuracy is ensured in the grammatical instructions given to the learners, in addition the errors made by the learners are corrected. For instance I was once teaching Arabic students; I gave a learner an instruction to contrast a sentence like: Instruction in English Language: The hat is big and tall Arabic student Response: See hat is big. Big and Tall. In such a scenario, as a teacher it is vital for me to ensure that the input or the instruction given to the s is correct as proposed by the Interactionist theory. As a result by adopting the direct method, I will ask the learner to determine what the problem is with the sentence, and how they can modify the sentence according to the correct linguistic knowledge. The student can then develop a hypothesis concerning how they can construct the sentence correctly. Interactionism theory also acknowledges the contribution of the output in SLA. According to Jou, (2006) the significance of the output was reveled in a study conduced by Swan (1985, 2005) that took place in an immersion program. The study involved observing children who had spent years in an immersion program. The finding of the study reveled that in despite of spending a considerable amount of time within the institutions the children still demonstrated a great ability of second language learning. What was lacking was the adequate opportunity for language use. The study therefore concluded that output stimulates s to develop morphology and syntax. Consequently with regard to the learning of language, the continued use of language assists s to move to more fluent communication abilities. The concept of the output is a viable concept in SLA teaching and learning. As a teacher I intended to use teaching approaches that give learners and opportunity to use language in order to increase their level of fluency in the English language. For example one of the approaches I will adopt especially when teaching adult SLA students; is learning through the use of debates and discussions. I will give students simple topics in which they can debate on and discuss during the classroom session. I believe that this particular approach will be effective in the sense that the students will be able to express themselves using the English language. In addition the approach will assist s in improving their level fluency in the English language. Social Cultural Theory The social cultural theory (SCT) proposes that language learning is a process that is socially mediated. The theory was mainly based on the views of Vygotsky who devised the concept of scaffolding which involves learning though the help of another person such as relative, class mates and teachers. According to the theory, it is from the social world that one is able to see how others use language and then he/she can imitate. The social cultural theory is also founded on the premise that children can acquire language during their early ages from a social-cultural perspective. This occurs in a process of making meaning in cooperation or teamwork activity with other members of a particular culture (Donato, 2000). In my teaching experience, I can state that the social cultural theory is one of the most significant theories that can be applied in teaching English as a second language. I have observed scenarios whereby learners tend to gain effective English communication skills when they interact with other people. This especially occurs when the second language learners are exposed to people who speak English as their native language. Also, in many incidences when peer interactions exist in a classroom, I have observed that the learners can learn from each other on how best to use the English language. As a teacher therefore in the context where the entire class is composed of learners who speak English as their second language, I have frequently used the approach of inviting resource people who speak the English language as their first language. Through such kind of interaction my learners especially adults have greatly improved their proficiency in the English language. As stated by the SCT theory when children are subjected to activities or interactions with other members of a particular culture, they can easily acquire language. Consequently, over the years when teaching young children I learnt that social - cultural interaction is significant in second language learning. One of the teaching approaches that has worked for me as I taught young children was that of inviting people from their native culture for instance the mothers of the children to class. The mothers would then speak words and even sentences in their native language and then they would later translate the words in English for their children to repeat. This experience is basically inline with SCT theory whereby the social and culture aspect interact in order to bring about learning. The children will identify with their mother and also with their cultural language, which is then translated to the English language. Such an approach was actually very effective because the learners were able to understand the English language more by relating the words in English with words in their native language. In future I intend to apply the SCT essentially when teaching adults. This is because as stated by the theory social interaction does enhance second language acquisition. As a result I will use more of debates and discussion as a useful approach of enhancing social learning. Cognitive theory The cognitive theory proposes that mental process such as memory, thinking, problem solving and knowing contribute to the learning of language. The cognitive approach opposes the behaviorist viewpoint that people learn through responding to the stimuli that exists in their environment. The theory postulates that second language acquisition is a reasoned, conscious and conscious process that encompasses the deliberate use strategies of learning (Ponniah, 2010). According to the cognitive theory perspective second language acquisition can mainly be attained through the development of a system of knowledge which can finally be utilized in speaking and also understanding the new language. Foremost, learning begins with the duty of building up the general knowledge concerning that one needs to produce or understand. After a great deal of practice and experience the learner will now be able to make an application of certain aspects of the knowledge they have gained. With time the learner will be able to automatically use the language (Lucia, 2002). I think that the cognitive approach also greatly influences second language acquisition. When many second language learners especially adults are asked about their first encounter with the English language, some would tell me that they first started learning the simple vocabularies of the language through the media for instance by watching movies and comics. Others also say that they begun learning English by looking up words in the dictionary which assisted them to learn more about the language. Through gathering knowledge concerning the language and progressively practicing the language as a propagated by the cognitive theory, I believe that one can be able to progressively understand and use the English language even before getting to a formal class. The cognitive theory has also changed my perspective concerning teaching English based on the fact that, I have come to the realization that the behaviorist approach which greatly focused on environmental stimuli is not the only applicable approach to second language acquisition. In deed sometimes the knowledge that is gathered by the learners and how they process the knowledge in their minds also greatly influences their language acquisition capabilities. As a result within the class room context, I intend to focus on using learning strategies that give the learners an opportunity to undertake information processing. For instance some of the relevant class room teaching activities I would give the learners include revision and review of their work, discussion and analysis of discussion topics, learning training, inductive approaches and scaffolding when teaching young learners. The naturalistic theory The naturalistic theory is grounded on the notion that the acquisition of language is an aspect that is innately determined. According to Chomsky,(1976) who is one of the core proponents of the theory, people are usually naturally born with a language system that they can depend on later on in their lives. Chomsky (1976) further argues that each individual has attributes of innate language properties which can result to direct mastery of language within a short time. In my teaching experience I have noted the fact that the potential of children in learning language is actually different. However I noticed that certain children had a faster capability of learning the English as a second language as opposed to other children. Nevertheless, I noted that a common characteristic among all children is that they have the capability of learning their native language more easily. I can conclude that this aspect is attributed to what Chomsky referred to as innate capabilities that someone is born with. I believe that the naturalistic view point has also greatly transformed my view of second language acquisition. Based on the fact that acquisition is a process that involves the subconscious mind within a person. In addition, with the idea that every person is born with innate capabilities of language as proposed by the naturalistic perspective; consequently acquisition of the second language can also be made possible if learning is well organized. Just as a child has innate capabilities of learning their native language, if learning is well organized the child can also acquire the second language effectively. As a teacher, the naturalistic theory will help me in teaching in the sense that I will adopt approaches such as the naturalistic approach which involves devoting much of the class time to giving comprehensive input. For example as a teacher I will explain topics using the target language in this case the native language, while the leaners use the second language to explain what I have said. In case the learners make errors I will correct then appropriately. I believe that the naturalistic approach is also very relevant in learning second language acquisition and it can actually not be ignored. Conclusion From the above discussion what is evident is that second language acquisition and learning consists of many theories that should be implemented by a teacher in order to enhance effective learning. The paper has evaluated various theories which include the behaviourism theory, which proposes the development of a stimulating learning environment for learners. The paper has also evaluated other theories such as interactionism, social cultural Theory, cognitive theory and the naturalistic theory. What is evident from the above theoretical evaluation is that as a teacher I can not ignore the essence of theoretical applying in the teaching of English as a second language. I acknowledge the fact that all the theories provide a viable implication to teaching English as a second language. As a result in future I intended to ensure that I implement the theories where necessary. References Chomsky, N, A. (1976) Reflections on Language, New York: Pantheon. Donato, R.( 2000). Sociocultural contributions to understanding the foreign and second language classroom, Oxford: Oxford University press. Ponniah, J. (2010) ‘Insights into second language acquisition theory and different approaches to language teaching, Journal on Educational Psychology, 4, p14-17. Rod, E. (1997) Second Language Acquisition, Oxford University Press. Jou, W. (2006) Theories in Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction, Routledge. Lucia, M.(2002) Second Language Acquisition: From main theories to complexity, FAPEMIG. Read More