Verified Document

Goal Of Second Language Acquisition Essay

For example: The mother is dressing her little boy, and she put her clothes, her pant, her coat, and then she finish.

Stage 3 -- Post-emergence; differentiated use of 'his' and 'her' but not correctly when the possessed object has gender.

For example: The girl fell on her bicycle. She look his father and cry.

Stage 4 -- Error free use of 'his' and 'her' in all contexts.

For example; The little girl with her dad play together. And the dad take his girl on his shoulder and he hurts his back (Lightbown and Spada 89-90).

In examining the developmental sequence of relative clauses, Lightbown and Spada (90) report a definitive sequence, presented below.

Subject -- The girl who was sick went home.

Direct object -- The story that I read was long.

Indirect object -- The man who (m) Susan gave the present to was happy.

Object of preposition -- I found the book that John was talking about.

Possessive -- I know the woman whose father is visiting.

Object of comparison -- The person that Susan is taller than is Mary. (Lightbown and Spada 90).

They also explain that the acquisition of relative clauses is highly influenced by the first language.

As second language learners acquire the ability to use past tense verbs, they pass through a developmental sequence similar to young children acquiring knowledge. Additionally, the process seems to be similar regardless of the first language (Lightbown and Spada 91). The first stage involves no reference to time (My son come. He work in a restaurant.) The second stage involves the addition of a grammatical morpheme (Me working long time). Second language learners typically acquire past tense of irregular verbs before regular verbs.

Lightbown and Spada (96) outline three other areas of communicative competence. These include vocabulary, pragmatics, and pronunciation. Vocabulary is an important skill for second language learner; however, it is an area that is often neglected. Additionally, Lightbown and Spada (96) explain that while vocabulary development for first language learners is almost effortless, second language learners do not have as much exposure to vocabulary. Therefore, development becomes more difficult. Lightbown and Spada (99) add that exposure to frequently used...

Lightbown and Spada (100) explain that pragmatics includes elements such as directness, politeness, and deference. Second language learners must develop skills such as "interpreting requests, responding politely to compliments or apologies, recognizing humour, and managing conversations" (Lightbown and Spada 101). According to Lightbown and Spada (103-104), pragmatics should be integrated into classroom instruction by using communicative, content-based, and task-based approaches to second language acquisition.
Lightbown and Spada (104) explain that when behaviorism and audiolingualism fell out of favor, so did the teaching of pronunciation. Additionally, very little research has been conducted in this area.

Although, more is now understood about second language acquisition, still not all learners are successful in acquiring a second language. Erlam (147) explains that it is important to consider learner aptitude when selecting instructional methods for second language learners. Gardner identified a link between student motivation and success with second language acquisition. Lightbown and Spada (194) add "language learning is affected by many factors. Among these are the personal characteristics and experiences of the learner, the social and cultural environment both inside and outside the classroom, the structure of the native and target languages, opportunities for interaction with speakers of the target language, and access to correction and form-focused instruction."

Works Cited:

Ellis, Rod. "Measuring Implicit and Explicit Knowledge of a Second Language: A Psychometric Study." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 27.2 (2005): 141,141-172. ProQuest Education Journals. Web. 30 June 2011.

Erlam, R. (2005). Language aptitude and its relationship to instructional effectiveness in second language acquisition. Language Teaching Research, 9(2), 147-147-172. doi:10.1191/1362168805lr161oa

Gardner, R.C. "Correlation, Causation, Motivation and Second Language Acquisition." Canadian Psychology 41.1 (2000): 10-. ProQuest Psychology Journals. Web. 30 June 2011.

Lightbown, Patsy M. And Nina Spada. How Languages Are Learned. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited:

Ellis, Rod. "Measuring Implicit and Explicit Knowledge of a Second Language: A Psychometric Study." Studies in Second Language Acquisition 27.2 (2005): 141,141-172. ProQuest Education Journals. Web. 30 June 2011.

Erlam, R. (2005). Language aptitude and its relationship to instructional effectiveness in second language acquisition. Language Teaching Research, 9(2), 147-147-172. doi:10.1191/1362168805lr161oa

Gardner, R.C. "Correlation, Causation, Motivation and Second Language Acquisition." Canadian Psychology 41.1 (2000): 10-. ProQuest Psychology Journals. Web. 30 June 2011.

Lightbown, Patsy M. And Nina Spada. How Languages Are Learned. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Second Language Acquisition Advantages and Disadvantages of
Words: 6907 Length: 24 Document Type: Essay

Second Language Acquisition Advantages and Disadvantages of Bringing up Children Bilingually Much of the debate on bilingual education is wasteful, ironic, hypocritical, and regressive. It is wasteful because instead of directing attention to sound educational practices, it has led to advocating specific "models" based solely on what language should be used for what purpose. It is ironic because most attacks on bilingual education arise from an unfounded apprehension that English will be

Second Language Acquisition There Is
Words: 3175 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

These people are also, reportedly, more creative, and also excellent at problem solving. One Moroccan individual was injured in an accident, she was a bi-lingual, and she could speak both French and Arabic before the accident. During her recovery, she found to her amazement, tat she could speak French one day but not Arabic, and one day, Arabic and not French. After three months, she could speak both fluently. Today,

Second Language Acquisition Metacognitive Listening
Words: 3409 Length: 10 Document Type: Thesis

" Stated to be indentified in this framework are three categories of knowledge that represent "key components in the process of cognitive appraisal" which are those of: 1) Person knowledge; 2) Task knowledge; and 3) Strategy knowledge. Task knowledge is stated to "acknowledge the successes or failures in one's learning. Person knowledge is related to one's learning abilities and knowledge about internal and external factors that affect the success of failure in one's learning."

Importance of ICT SA and Oral Practice in Second Language Acquisition...
Words: 6142 Length: 20 Document Type: Essay

ICT, SA, and Oral Practice in Second Language Faculty's Name Importance of ICT, SA and Oral Practice in Second Language Acquisition (Applied Linguistics) Information Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the most attracted terminology in the field of education. This very concept has managed to bring a great deal of finesse in the traditional method of teaching. Where ICT has now, a fundamental importance in the traditional methods of teaching, it has also

Report on Get It Right From the Beginning Proposal in Second Language...
Words: 1769 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Right from the Beginning Lightbown and Spada present six proposals for teaching second and foreign language. The first of these is called "Get it right from the beginning" (138). This approach, known also as audiolingual teaching, was formed as a reaction to the grammar translation method. Lightbown and Spada (138) explain that with grammar translation, students translate a text line by line from the second language to their first language.

Issues in English Second Language Acquisition
Words: 2070 Length: 7 Document Type: Research Paper

Issues in English Second Language Acquisition Introduction All students have different learning styles and for Second Language learners or English-as-Second-Language (ESL) learners, the challenge faced by the ESL instructor is not only about using a differentiation-based method of instruction to convey the lesson (Peregoy & Boyle, 2013) but also about using a variety of methods to assess the ESLs (Gottlieb, 2006). ESLs come from a variety of different backgrounds; they have unique

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now