Chapter 1
Rod Ellis, 2003
Page: 3-14
The Elements
 What Is ‘Second Language Acquisitio’?
 The Goals Of Sla
 Two Case Studies
 Methodological Issue
 Issues In The Description Of Learner
Language
 Issues In The Explanation Of L2 Acquisition
At first sight, the meaning of term ‘second language
acquisition’ seems transparentbut, in fact, it requires
careful explanation. For one thing, in this context
‘second’ can refer to any language that is learned
subsequent to the mother tongue. Thus, it can refer to the
learning of a third or fourth language. Also, ‘second’ is
not intende to contrast with ‘foreign’. Whether you are
learning a language naturally as a result of living in a
country where it is spoken, or learning it in classroom
through instruction, it is customary to speak generically
of ‘second language acquisition’.
L2 acquisition, then, can be defined as
the way in which people learn a language
other than their mother tongue, inside or
outside of class.
The Goals of SLA
1. Description
2. Expalnation
A better approach might to be find out what learners
actually do, as opposed to what they think they do, when they
try to leran language, the language the learners produce when
they are called on to use an L2 in speech or writing, and
analyses carefully. These samples provide evidence of what the
learners know about the language they are trying to learn ( the
target language). If samples are collected at different points in
time it may also be possible to find out how learner’s
knowledge gradually develops.
Explantion is identifying the external and internal factors
that account for why learners acquire an L2 in the way they do
1. External factors is the social milieu in which
learning
takes place.
2. The input that learners receive, that is, the samples of language
to which a learner is exposed.
Internal factors explain why learners vary in the rate
they learn an L2 and how successful the ultimately are. For
example, it has been suggested that people vary in their
language aptitude (i.e. their natural disposition for learning an
L2), some finding it easier than others.
Two Case Studies
 A Case Study Of An Adult Learner
 A Case Study Of Two Child Learners
Wes was a thirty-three year-old artist, a native speaker of
Japanese. He had had little formal instruction in English, having
left school at fifteen.
Richard Schmidt, a researcher at the University of Hawaii,
studied Wes’ language development over a three-year period
from the time he forst started visiting Hawaii until he eventually
took up residence there.
I investigated two child learners in a classroom context. J
was a ten years old Portuguese boy, literate in his native language.
He was an adventurous and confident learner, willing to struggle to
communicate in English, even when he had veru limited resources.
R was an eleven years old boy from Pakistan, speaking (but
unable to write) Punjabi as his native language. Initially, he lacked
confidence, using his native langauge extensively and relying on his
elder sister to help him communicate in English. Gradually,
however, he become more confident and independent.
1.
One issues has to do with what it is that needs to
be described. Schmidt was concerned broadly with how
Wes developed the ability to communicate in an
L2,
examining his grammatical
development, his ability
to use English in
situationally appropriate ways, and
how learned to hold successful conversation.
METHODOLOGICAL
ISSUES
2. Another issue concerns what it means
to say that a learner has ‘acquired’ a
feature of the target language.
3. A third problem in trying to measure
whether ‘acquisition’ has taken palce
concern learners’s overuse of linguistic
forms.
Both of these studies set out how to describe how learners’ use
of an L2 canges over time and what this shows about the nature of their
knowledge of the L2.
One finding is that learners make errors of different kinds. J and R also
made grammatical errorsin their requests. In addition, they made
sociolinguistic errors. That is, they failed to use request in a socially
appropriate manner.
Another finding is that L2 learners acquire a large number of
formulaic chuncks, which they use to perfome communicative functions
that are important to them and which contribute to the fluency of their
unplanned speech. An important issue in SLA is the role that these
formula play, not just in enchanging learners’ perfomance but also in
their acquisition of an L2. One of the most interesting issues raised by
these case studies is whether learners acquire the laguage
systematically.
The hypothesis that L2 acquisition involves different kinds
of learning. On the one hand, learners internalize chunks of
language structure (i.e. formulas). On the other hand, they acquire
rules (i.e. the knowledge that a given linguistic feature is used in
a particular context with a particular function). In other words,
learners must engage in both item learning and system learning.
The systematic nature of L2 acquisition also requires
explanation. One is that learners follow a particular
developmental pattern because their mental faculties are
structured in such a way that this is the way they have to learn.