Theories of second language acquisition differ from first language acquisition, with no single explanation for how adults learn a second language. Most theories analyze the task, with a focus on input and output. Noam Chomsky’s idea of universal grammar and the concept of interlanguage are significant influences. The Monitor Theory posits evaluative filters for input and output, with an affective component that inhibits learning under stress. Other theories include the role of memory and cognitive thresholds. The ultimate goal is to blur the distinction between acquisition and learning.
Theories of second language acquisition are markedly different and distinct from children’s natural first language acquisition. There is no single accepted explanation for how people, especially adults with mature cognitive abilities, learn a second language. Several related disciplines – education, linguistics, psychology and neurology – have contributed theoretical ideas and research studies. The many theories and hypotheses also make a clear distinction between a multilingual person and the process of a person mastering other languages.
In general, most theories of second language acquisition analyze the task. There is a first native language, sometimes abbreviated L1; the second language to be learned is sometimes referred to as the “target language” and abbreviated L2. As new vocabulary and grammatical and syntactical rules are learned, they are initially stored in a “lexical memory” which is essentially an archive of definitions and statements. An “incoming” event is processed in the second language, perhaps compared with the information known in memory, to draw new conclusions and interpretations. The resulting “output” provides positive or negative feedback to refine both the memory and the process.
The greatest influence on second language acquisition theories is the idea proposed by Noam Chomsky, the social philosopher considered the “father of modern linguistics”, that all languages have a “universal grammar”. Learning a second language is as easy as getting used to all the minor grammar rules peculiar to the language. The second most significant influence on second language acquisition theories is the concept of ‘interlanguage’. A second language learner develops an indefinable but systematic third language that mediates between the first and second. Embarrassing mistakes like “Yesterday I went shopping” are believed to come from this interlanguage.
Understanding second language acquisition is an abstract theoretical exercise, as even modern brain imaging technologies cannot conclusively map the cognition process. Most studies, and their theoretical conclusions, concern the linguistic characteristics of a second language input and a learner’s resulting output. The student is classified by level of proficiency. Of particular interest are the linguistic errors in their production. Errors are scientifically replicable and reveal something about the underlying processes that cause them.
A set of hypotheses collectively called Monitor Theory basically posits that a student has evaluative filters for both input and output, as well as one for accuracy or effectiveness between them. For example, the input must be at least at a student’s level of understanding; otherwise the input does not pass through the filter. Also, particularly in the early stages of learning, people exercise great control and deliberation over their own outcomes.
Theories that emphasize input and output have a direct application in second language teaching. The monitor theory, for example, includes an affective component of filters that inhibits both input and output when subjected to stress or anxiety. A second language school or course will make an effort to establish comfort in a student, to allow for errors in understanding and responding to an unfamiliar utterance.
There are many other significant theories and hypotheses about second language acquisition. The role of memory — both short- and long-term, both lexical like vocabulary and procedural like grammar — is clearly very important. Some theorists note that learning occurs at certain cognitive thresholds. Processability theory, for example, suggests that only when an interlanguage has established an order of restructuring of the native language can a second language be learned. Other theories attempt the ultimate ambition to blur the distinction between acquisition and learning, so that learning a second language may one day become as easy as acquiring a first language.
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