Introduction: Describing and Explaining L2 Acquisition

1. Introduction: Describing and Explaining L2 Acquisition Ellis 2003, chapter 1 pp. 3-13 By Ryan Rahman Hakim 2201410146

2. WHAT IS ‘SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION’? • The context ‘second’ can refer to any language that is learned subsequent to the mother language. • ‘Second’ is not intended to contrast with ‘foreign’.

3. Speaking ‘second’ language acquisition is simply learning a language naturally as a result of living in a country where it is spoken, or learning it in a classroom through instruction.

4. DEFINITION OF SLA • The way in which people learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside of a classroom.

5. SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISTION’S AIMS • 1. Description of L2 acquisition • 2. Explanation of L2 acquisition

6. EXPLANATION OF L2 ACQUISITION • Explaining L2 acquisition means identifying the external and internal factors that account for why learners acquire an L2 in the way they do.

7. TWO CASE STUDIES • 1. A case study of an adult learner by Schmidt A 33 year old artist, a native speaker of Japanese that learned English naturally in Hawaii. • 2. A case study of two child learners by Rod Ellis A ten year old kid from Portugal and eleven year old kid from Pakistan. Both of these two kids learned English inside classroom.

8. THE METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES BASED ON THE CASE STUDIES • Schmidt was concerned broadly with how Wes developed the ability to communicate in an L2 based on several aspects. • Rod Ellis, in another hand, only concerned on one aspects from 2 kids from Portugal and Pakistan.

9. RESULT • Based on the respect on the slide above, the study of Rod Ellis is more typical in SLA. Since language is such complex phenomenon that researchers have preferred to focus on some specific aspect rather than on the whole of it.

10. ISSUES IN THE DESCRIPTION OF LEARNER LANGUAGE • Both of these studies set out how learners use of an L2 changes over time and what this shows about the nature of their knowledge of the L2.

11. One finding is that learners make errors of different kinds. • Another finding is that L2 learners acquire a large number of formulaic chunks. • The main issue from these case studies is learners acquire the language systematically.

12. INFERENCES FROM THE DESCRIPTION OF THE LEARNER LANGUAGE • These 2 studies suggest that learners do acquire aspects of an L2 ‘systematically’ and they follow particular developmental routes with some features being acquired before others.

13. ISSUES IN THE EXPLANATION OF L2 ACQUISITON

14. ITEM LEARNING • When learners learn the standardized expression (i.e. ‘Can I have a ___ ?’) they are engaging in item learning – they learn the expression as an unanalysed whole.

15. SYSTEM LEARNING • When learners learn that ‘can’ is followed by a variety of verbs ( ‘have’, ’run’, ‘help’, etc. ) and that it can express a variety of functions ( ability, possibility, permission, etc. ) they are engaging in system learning – learning some kind of rules for ‘can’.