Greensboro College NC, USA

Reading and Writing for English Language Learners

Professor: Dr. ELENA KING

Student: Luis Demecio Renteria

Second Language Acquisition in a Classroom Setting.

This literature review is intended to examining some of the theories, approaches and

research studies that have addressed the field of second language acquisition in the classroom

context mainly modified by the pedagogy instruction. That is to say, this review seeks to answer

the question: What role does pedagogy play in helping children succeed in their process of

second language acquisition? This is not an easy question to answer since there are various

theories with regards to this subject. However, I will explore some of the most influential

assertions which are available in the literature related to this field.

First, the process of second language acquisition normally goes through several stages

which is somehow similar to the first language acquisition process. This statement is supported

by Whelan-Ariza, Morales-Junes, Yahya and Zainuddin (2010) who argue that in acquiring

semantics second language learners go through stages similar to the stages first language

children go through in learning words (2010, p. 136). Nevertheless, this second language

acquisition process can be boosted by the delivery of teachers instruction in the classroom.

Thus, teachers have to maintain high expectations on their students and provide comprehensible

input similar to that given by parents and caregivers to children who are learning their first
language during the first six to nine months of their lives. Most importantly, teachers have to

provide adequate feedback, in order to guide this progress in their students like a spiral.

In this respect, Stephen Krashen asserts that the idea that humans acquire language in

only one way - by understanding messages or by receiving comprehensible input Krashen

(1985). The i + 1 formula symbolizes how comprehensible input works: messages in the

language must make sense, ideally, just beyond the competence of the learner, who must strain a

bit cognitively to understand. Krashen (1985).

It is very common to find learners who do not make much significant progress in their

second language acquisition process, in spite of having lived in an English-speaking country for

several years. This phenomenon might be explained by looking at the pedagogy foundation used

by the teacher in the classroom, which sometimes is not the most effective one in order to favor

students learning. Conversely, other possible factors can be taken into account which might

greatly influence students process of second language acquisition. Those other factors might

include the learning environment, students affective filters (motivation, self-confidence and

anxiety), or the students cultural background.

Children from different first languages, such as French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian etc.

have the innate capacity to learn any second language and they tend to learn this new language in

a similar way. That is, the order they acquire the different categories of the language is the same.

In this respect, Dulay and Burt, (1982) maintain that children from different language
backgrounds seem to have a similar order of acquiring the English morphemes (1982). This

partially explains why second language learners process is very alike.

On the other hand, teachers might encounter that there are many factors which may

influence the process of second language acquisition, like cognitive style, personal traits, social

psychological factors among others. For example, in the context of a class delivery, teachers

need to lower the level of anxiety in their learners, providing a safe, secure and confident

environment. As noted by Dulay and Burt (1977) who claim that the level of anxiety prevents the

input from being used for language acquisition (1977). They then sustain that acquirers with

optimal attitudes are hypothesized to have low affective filters (1977).

Both children and adults tend to acquire a language by the great amount of practice they

are exposed to. Equally they need some amount of time and comprehensive input in the target

language to develop the patterns of that language before they start producing some utterances in

that language. That is to say, students need to build on the structure of the language before they

start to use that language appropriately; however, it is important to be mindful that time without

real practice of the language will not be enough to develop the language patterns necessary to

speak a second language. In this sense, Dulay and Burt (1978), reported that students should also

focus on the form of the language. They argue that to use the monitor effectively, time is not

enough. The performer must also be focused on form, or thinking about correctness (1978).

Unlike, many teachers would think, at the beginning, students transfer the patterns of their

L1 to their L2, but with time, they start to correct themselves once they become conscious of the
structure of the new language. In this regard, and following the natural order hypothesis,

Fathman (1975) confirmed the reality of the natural order in child second language acquisition

with her test of oral production, the SLOPE test, which probed 20 different structures (1975).

This means, students do follow a certain process in order to acquire a second language.

This process is formed by a set of stages in which they acquire the different parts of the speech.

According to Whelan-Ariza, Morales-Junes, Yahya and Zainuddin (2010) these stages include a

silent period, acquisition of phonology, acquisition of morphology, acquisition of syntax and

acquisition of semantics (2010, p. 133 136).

Additionally, and with respect to the pedagogy utilized for the instruction in the classroom,

this plays an important role in helping students develop the cognitive ability in the second

language to succeed academically as social language is not as demanding as the academic one

consequently, the activities carried out in the classroom must aim at augmenting progressively

the level of difficulty giving all the students access to equal opportunities to practice the

language in a meaningful way. Along these lines, Echevarria and Graves, (2007) claim that,

effective language learning takes place in well-organized classrooms where there are

opportunities for interactions with the teacher and peers and adequate practice in the target

language. Interactive instruction allows students to use elaborated language around relevant

topics, building English skills while at the same time developing content knowledge (2007, p.

50).

To summarize, it is highly important to consider the importance of teachers instruction on

students second language acquisition process. Additionally, the process of second language

acquisition must abide by the different stages that it takes; since it involves a great deal of
patience from both teachers and students in order not to go in desperate through such process.

Besides that, the expertise and awareness of teachers of the process is important to be taken into

account for the students to succeed in this process, which takes time and effort. Additionally, the

importance of the students affective filter is very outstanding and teachers must be fully aware

of this. As stated by, Dulay and Burt (1977), in the affective filter hypothesis, they explain how

affective factors relate to the second language acquisition process. This concept of an affective

filter is consistent with the theoretical work done in the area of affective variables and second

language acquisition. Those variables are: Motivation. Performers with high motivation

generally do better in second language acquisition (usually, but not always, "integrative". Self-

confidence. Performers with self-confidence and a good self-image tend to do better in second

language acquisition. Anxiety. Low anxiety appears to be conducive to second language

acquisition, whether measured as personal or classroom anxiety.

 References:

DULAY, H. and BURT, M. (1977) Remarks on creativity in language acquisition. In M. Burt, H.

Dulay and M. Finnochiaro (Eds.) Viewpoints on English as a Second Language. New

York: Regents. pp. 95-126.

DULAY, H. and BURT, M. (1978) Some guidelines for the assessment of oral language

proficiency and dominance. TESOL Quarterly 12: 177-192.

Dulay, H., Burt, M., and Krashen, S. (1982). Language Two. New York: Oxford University

Press.

Fathman, A. (1975) The relationship between age and second language productive ability.

Language Learning 25:245-266.

Whelan-Ariza, Eileen N., Morales-Jones, Carmen A., Yahya, Noorchaya., Zainuddin, Hanizah.

Why TESOL?: Theories and Issues in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in

K-12 Classrooms. Kendall Hunt Pub Co, 2010.