ALS426 Chapter 9 Language Acquisition Part 2

LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
ALS426
WEEK 10
Part 2
CONTENTS
Knowing More Than One Language
❖ Childhood Bilingualism
Second Language Acquisition
❖ Is Adult L2 Acquisition the Same as L1 Acquisition?
❖ Native Language Influence in Adult L2 Acquisition
❖ The Creative Component of L2 Acquisition
❖ Heritage Language Learners
❖ Is there a Critical Period for L2 Acquisition?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
understand childhood bilingualism

01
understand Second Language Acquisition
02
Knowing More Than One Language
Knowing More Than One Language –
Childhood Bilingualism
❖ Children may acquire more than one language at one time.
❖ Bilingual children seem to go through the same stages as

monolingual children except they develop two grammars and
two lexicons simultaneously.
❖ Whether the child will be equally proficient in the two

languages depends on the input he or she receives and the
social conditions under which the language is acquired.
Theories of Bilingual Development
Questions
❖ Does the bilingual child start out with only one
grammar that is eventually differentiated?
❖ Or does he construct a separate grammar for each
language from the start?
Answer
❖ The separate systems hypothesis says that the
bilingual child builds a distinct lexicon and
grammar for each language.
Theories of Bilingual Development
Studies show:
Bilingual children, even very Bilingual children develop their

young ones, understand two grammars along the same
01 which language to use in

different conversational
context.
lines as monolingual children.
They go through a babbling
stage, a holophrastic stage
03
and a telegraphic stage.
02
Language mixing of bilingual During the telegraphic
children is not caused by
confusion, but is rather the
result of two grammars
stage they show the
same characteristics in
each of their language as
04
operating simultaneously. monolingual children.
Second Language Acquisition
(L2 Acquisition)
❖ Second Language Acquisition - refers to the
acquisition of a second language (adult or child)
who has already acquired a first language. Also
referred to as sequential bilingualism.
❖ Bilingualism Language Acquisition - refers to the

simultaneous acquisition of two languages
beginning of infancy (before the age of three).
Also referred to as simultaneous bilingualism.
Is English your foreign
language or your second
language?
Foreign Language or Second
Language?
Foreign language: learning a language that is not
generally spoken in the surrounding community
e.g. Japanese students learning English in Japan
English as a foreign language (EFL)
Second Language: learning a language that is spoken

in the surrounding community
e.g. Japanese students learning English in English
speaking countries English as a second
language (ESL)
Did you acquire or
learn the English
language?
Acquisition and Learning
Acquisition: the gradual development of the
ability in a language by using it naturally in
communicative situations with others who
know the language
Learning: a more conscious process of

accumulating knowledge or the features of a
language such as pronunciation, vocabulary
and grammar, typically in an institutional
setting with teachers
Is Adult L2 Acquisition
the Same as L1
Acquisition?
Is Adult L2 Acquisition the
Same as L1 Acquisition?
❖ Even in ideal acquisition, adults do not readily become proficient in
a second language.
❖ Very few adults seem to reach native-like proficiency in using an
L2 especially with respect to pronunciation.
❖ Joseph Conrad, one of the greatest English-language novelists of
all time, suggests that:
- Certain L2 features are easier to learn than others
- Grammar and vocabulary are easier than pronunciation
- Without early experience, even highly and proficient adult
learners are likely to have an ‘accent’ of some kind
Native Language Influence in
Adult L2 Acquisition
As we grow older, our inherent capacity for language is strongly taken
over by features of L1. Why?
Fully developed grammar of L1

Strong influence of L1 syntax and morphology
Dominance of L1 is strong in terms of pronunciation
Difficulty in pronouncing unfamiliar words
Loss of flexibility
Loss of openness
Native Language Influence in
Adult L2 Acquisition
❖ Adults seem to rely on their L1 grammar to some extent at the
beginning stages of acquiring L2.
❖ The make errors which often involve the transfer of grammatical rules
from their L1.
❖ L2 learners construct grammars of the target language called
interlanguage grammars that go through stages like their L1
❖ This is most obvious in phonology. L2 learners generally speak with
an accent because they transfer the phonemes, phonological rules,
syllabic structures, stress placements or intonational patterns of their
L1 to their L2.
The Creative Component of L2
Acquisition
❖ It would be an oversimplification to think that L2 acquisition
involves only the transfer of L1 properties to the L2 interlanguage.
❖ There is a strong creative component to L2 acquisition. Many
language-specific parts of L1 grammar do not transfer.
❖ Items that a speaker considers irregular, infrequent or semantically
difficult are not likely to transfer to the L2.
❖ Speakers will not typically transfer L1 idioms such as ‘He hit the
roof’ meaning ‘He got angry’ to L2.
The Creative Component of L2
Acquisition
They are likely to transfer structures in which the semantic relations
are transparent. For example, s structure such as (1) will transfer more
readily than (2).
(1) It is awkward to carry this suitcase.

(2) This suitcase is awkward to carry.
In (1) the NP ‘this suitcase’ is in its logical object

position, while in (2) it has been moved to the
subject position away from the verb that selects it.
Heritage Language Learners
❖ A heritage language learner is someone
who grew up with a strong cultural
connection to a language spoken in his
family because of immigration and then
decides to study that language more
formally.
❖ He may not have linguistic knowledge of the
language or he may be bilingual to some
degree in the heritage language (his weaker
language).
❖ He may be exposed to the heritage language
in childhood and then switched to another
dominant language later in life, perhaps
when he enters school.
Heritage Language Learners
❖ He may lose the heritage language – a
process called language attrition.
❖ The heritage language can be maintained if
the speaker continues to use it alongside the
dominant language in his home or
community.
❖ Sometimes a heritage language learner may
speak the language, but be unable to either
read or write it because he was educated only
in the dominant language.
Is There a
Critical Period
for L2
Acquisition?
Is There a Critical Period for L2
Acquisition?
❖ Age is a significant factor in L2
acquisition. The younger a
person is when exposed to a
second language, the more
likely he is to achieve native-
like competence.
❖ Evidence show the critical age
period for language acquisition
has passed around the time of
puberty.
Is There a Critical Period for L2
Acquisition?
❖ Some studies revealed that early teens are
quicker and more effective L2 learners in
the classroom than seven-year-olds. Why?
- Inherent flexibility has not been
completely lost
- Maturation of cognitive skills allows a
more effective analysis of the regular
features of the L2
❖ Adults, on the other hand, requires more

Local residents give an enthusiastic welcome to the
conscious attention, studying and opening day of Romsamer Witthaya School for the
memorisation to learn a second language. elderly, the first of its kind in Phitsanulok, Thailand.
References (for Part 1 and Part 2)
Anealka Aziz Hussin (n.d.). First Language Acquisition and

Second Language Acquisition, Powerpoint Presentation
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. & Hyams, N. (2019). An introduction

to language. (11th ed.). USA: Cengage Learning.
Yule, G. (2017). The study of language. (6th ed.). Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

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LANGUAGE

understand childhood bilingualism

❖ Bilingual children seem to go through the same stages as

❖ Whether the child will be equally proficient in the two

Bilingual children, even very Bilingual children develop their

01 which language to use in

❖ Bilingualism Language Acquisition - refers to the

Second Language: learning a language that is spoken

Learning: a more conscious process of

Fully developed grammar of L1

(1) It is awkward to carry this suitcase.

In (1) the NP ‘this suitcase’ is in its logical object

❖ Adults, on the other hand, requires more

Anealka Aziz Hussin (n.d.). First Language Acquisition and

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. & Hyams, N. (2019). An introduction

Yule, G. (2017). The study of language. (6th ed.). Cambridge:

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