UNRAVELING TARGET LANGUAGE VENTURE OF A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL SPJ STUDENT: A CASE STUDY ON L2 ACQUISITION Author: MERAFLOR ALINSOG GASQUE TITLE UNRAVELING TARGET LANGUAGE VENTURE OF A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL SPJ (Special Program in Journalism) STUDENT: A CASE STUDY ON L2 ACQUISITION I. INTRODUCTION The concept of Second Language Acquisition has been anchored in its varying theoretical standpoint and approaches. Multiple researchers and theorists had tried to explain its nature based on the study conducted among their scope and presented with high regard to learning and acquisition of the target language. Among the most renowned approaches in SLA is its behaviourist position with regards to language learning. The behaviourist theory believes that “infants learn oral language from other human role models through a process involving imitation, rewards, and practice. Human role models in an infant’s environment provide the stimuli and rewards,” (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004). It holds that language learning is a process of stimulus and response. However, some evidence in support of the nativist view comes from children with limited linguistic experience. In certain situations in which the child is not presented with any consistent linguistic model, they appear to have the capacity to invent some aspects of language (Carroll, 42). This gave insight for Chomsky‟s innate of language. Originally, he puts forward language acquisition device to refer to the innate mechanism of language learning and later he illustrates UG as a way to introduce his idea. Stephen Krashen introduced the comprehensible input in learning the target language and was also known through his five hypotheses namely: the Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis, The Monitor Hypothesis, The Natural Order Hypohtesis, The Input Hypothesis and the Affective Filter Hypothesis which aims to bring students to the point where they can begin to understand authentic input. On the other hand, Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (1978) proposed that learning should always be closely related to what students already know (prior knowledge) and from there; teachers should start elaborating suitable experiences to achieve higher mental processes (Turuk, 2008). This is known as the Zone of Proximal Development (hereinafter referred to as ZPD) in which memorizing, thinking, paying attention, problem-solving and concept formation skills should be fostered. Piaget on metacognitive point of view believed that language development greatly relies on maturation at timetable. Schumann’s acculturation model suggested that acquisition of a second language is directly linked to the acculturation process, and learners’ success is determined by the extent to which they can orient themselves to the target language culture. A theory of SLA includes an understanding, in general, of what language is, what learning is, and for classroom context, what teaching is. Likewise, knowledge of children’s learning of their first language provides essential insights to an understanding of SLA and its implication to language curricula and teaching. Though different models of SLA have focused on different aspects of SLA and general linguistic research, no single model of SLA has gained wide acceptance. Therefore, a systematic modeling of SLA is necessary to address issues and problems that may provide informed decision in the pedagogical aspect of learning a second language. The foregoing assumption provides the motivation to adhere to the present situation; to study and evaluate the case of a Junior High School Special Program in Journalism 9 student in Agusan del Sur National Hhigh School in terms of her venture in acquiring the target language. A. BACKGROUND OF THE PARTICIPANT The participant of this case study is a 15-year old Grade 9 student of the Special Program in Journalism Class. Having been born and raised in Manila for 11 years made her use and practice Tagalog as her medium of communication. She was in 6th grade when her family decided to move and live in Mindanao. At present, she is now residing at San Francisco, Agusan del Sur and enrolled at Agusan del Sur National High School. She is a consistent honour student since nursery and received academic and extra-curricular awards. This motivation of the participant is driven from the aim of making her parents proud especially that her mother is an OFW and her father got stroke due to hypertension. Moreover, she was a sociable and bubbly teenager as she likes to sing and play musical instruments; even if she was a transferee student, it was not hard for her to make friends with her classmates and school mates. However, there were still Visayan words that are hard for her to understand especially the uncommon ones. She likes also to read books, write songs, poems and stories. She also likes to play with pets together with her younger brother John. She was also active in answering her modules and even helping her cousins in their lessons. B. LEARNING STRAGETEGIES When the participant was asked about her journey of her first encounter of English language, she revealed that as a kid, she always watch and sing along with the nursery rhymes specifically Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star played in their television. And that became her daily routine before bedtime. For later years, she was fond with watching Dysney movies especially those Princess stories with the English language and copied the lines uttered by the characters and even sing along with the movie’s official sound track. This habit of the respondent could be explained through the behaviourist theory which believes that “infants learn oral language from other human role models through a process involving imitation, rewards, and practice. Human role models in an infant’s environment provide the stimuli and rewards,” (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004). It only shows the language acquisition of the participant wherein she imitated the lines from the movies or cartoon. It is clear that language learning and its development, for the behaviorists, is a matter of conditioning by means of imitation, practice, reinforcement, and habituation, which constitute the paces of language acquisition. Although it is hard to prove the superiority of young learners in learning a foreign language (Cook, 2008), a lot of research show that age plays a crucial role in the effective learning of languages. However, many studies carried out in this area suggest that younger learners learn some aspects of a foreign language such as pronunciation and listening better, while some areas, especially grammar, and vocabulary acquired slowly (Lynne, 2001). According to Lynne (2001), pronunciation and listening skills are required effectively in naturalistic setting whereas in classroom settings they are effectively developed. Moreover, younger learners tend to acquire more native accents, whereas for adult learners it is difficult to get rid of their mother tongue accent in L2 speech (Lightbown and Spada, 1999). Therefore, in the early years of education, it is effective to emphasize on teaching speaking and listening rather than on writing and reading. In addition, she was also exposed to her cousins who were practicing and using English language as their medium of communication in their daily undertakings. Vygotsky (1979) argued that the social dimension of consciousness is primary in time and in fact. The individual dimension of consciousness is derivative and secondary. From this perspective, mental functioning of the individual is not simply derived from social interaction; rather, the specific structures and processes revealed by individuals can be traced to their interactions with others. Learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment and with his peers…. learning is not development; however, properly organized learning results in mental development and sets in motion a variety of developmental processes that would be impossible apart from learning. Thus learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human, psychological functions. (p. 90) C. ADJUSTMENTS, CHALLENGES AND BEST STRATEGIES/PRACTICES USED The challenges that the participant has been facing upon learning the language are the following: First, being in an SPJ class is a great challenge for her to know the structures of sentence and grammar rules as she was required to write accurate and comprehensive news articles and scripts. Another challenge faced is the respondents’ fluency in speaking the language as they are required to have a radio broadcasting or TV broadcasting as part of their curriculum requirement. Lastly, as a transferee student from Manila, language barrier in terms of the dialect is already present during the conversation; the respondent still need to learn more about the Visayan language in order to connect with her peers in the new environment. She also quoted that the best way to learn English is to learn more vocabulary, and read a lot of educational materials in order to have a successful experience of language acquisition in terms of writing and speaking. III.RECOMMENDATIONS With the collective issues aforementioned the study would like to recommend the following: Students. To always consider learning English language as a cumulative process; the more information or knowledge that you put into practice, the more possibility that a success in second language acquisition will be achieved. Teachers. To always ignite the passion and love for teaching and balance situations in the needs of time and the special needs of the learner. Note that every learner is unique and this uniqueness of individuals must be properly addressed through proper guidance and empathy. Community. To always double think of the weight of words to throw on anybody who is still learning the language and to practice constructive criticisms instead of negative criticisms. IV.CONCLUSIONS The following are the conclusions that are drawn out from the issues and concerns discussed above: 1. Students learned the target language best through constant practice and exposure to the language. 2. Imitating the lines from educational TV shows and videos could help young learners utter the language and perform with the right pronunciation. 3. Integrating ICT in the classroom is of great help for learners to learn; young learners could have a meaningful learning experience if they have already a direct contact or picture of the object that the teacher would wish the learner to identify. 4. Students motivation and self-confidence also play a vital role in second language acquisition for it is the inner aspect that drives the learner to learn the target language. 5. And lastly, one way to have a successful L2 acquisition experience is through viewing learning as a cumulative process; learn more vocabulary, and read a lot of educational materials to broaden the horizon about the target language. REFERENCES Ren Hulin, Xu Na (2004). A Study of Chomsky’s Universal Grammar in Second Language Acquisition North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China Ismaeil Fazel (2014). Current Issues and Debates in SLA. Simon Fraser University Castrillón (2016). The effects of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory on second language acquisition and language Input., Floridablanca, Colombia Jenny Ximena Montaño (2017). Learning Strategies in Second Language AcquisitionUniversidad Andrés Bello Pratiwi A.(2020). English education department teacher training and education Faculty State Institute For Islamic Studies (Iain) Of Salatiga Arbon et al. (2018).A study of second language acquisition learnine strategies of college female students in the philippines.De La Salle State Univeristy Philippines.
