Position paper 1 : SLA Theories

Jahirton Johan Mazo Jiménez

SLA course

In this position paper I will present, in a brief synthesis, the theories about the
acquisition of a second language: Nativist, Environmental, Interactionist and
Interlanguage theories. In this order, there will also be a conceptualization and
description of these theories with their respective hypotheses (in a general way) about
these theories previously mentioned or related to the acquisition of a second language,
and their contributions in the teaching of languages. And finally I will write about the
contributions of these theories and conceptions in my learning process as a teacher,
specifically in the conscious recognition of the processes of learning and acquisition
of a language, in a concrete way in the acquisition of English as a second language.

As an illustration, SLA refers to the conscious process (referring to learning)

and unconscious (referring to acquisition) to learn a language, that is, the development
of a person to learn a second language. Following this the acquisition of a second
language depends on several factors such as: performance, input, the affective
aspect, the context of learning, internalization of the grammatical structures of a
language and ability to understand the linguistic code of the second language.
Theorists such as linguists and psychologists present various theories and hypotheses
about the way a language is acquired, hence the perspectives and points of view are
diverse and share certain positions on human knowledge and the factors that affect
the learning process of a second language.

Likewise, the research on SLA comes from the second half of the XX century
(specifically in 70´s -80´s) which investigates the nature of the learning of languages
and the relationship with human behavior, from where various theories arise from
various fields of knowledge such as psychology and linguistics. At this point the
theories present various hypotheses on the learning of a second language and the
factors that block their learning, hence that the researchers on the learning of a
language expose some factors in which the acquisition of a SL: genetic-biological,
cultural, psychological or linguistic structures and conditions. In this same order of
ideas, some of the theories have elements in common or they are counterposed by
their postures or affirmations around the process of learning, the relation subject-
language or the relation subject-appropriation of the language.
 Position paper 1 : SLA Theories
Jahirton Johan Mazo Jiménez
SLA course

Following this, the theories and research are summarized in 4 theoretical

currents on the acquisition of the second language in which authors are included and
their positions and factors that favor or disadvantage cognitive and metacognitive
learning at the time of learn a second language. It is important to consider that these
theories are not organized chronologically because they are located according to
research trends in the field of human sciences in the second half of the twentieth
century. The first theory is the Nativist theory that argues that human knowledge
develops from structures, processes, and “ideas” which are in the mind at birth (i.e.
are innate), rather than from the environment, and that these are responsible for the
basic structure of language and how it is learned. This hypothesis has been used to
explain how children are able to learn language and contrasts with the belief that all
human knowledge comes from experience. (Freeman, D., Long. M. 2014).

In addition the nativist theory is represented by authors as N.Chomsky and

S. Krashen who have as theories the Universal grammar (UG) and the monitor
hypothesis (MH) , respectively. First, Chomsky notes various factors which claim
support the idea that humans are innately or genetically endowed with a universal
language-specific knowledge (UG). Also this author posits innate knowledge of
substantive universals such as syntactic categories (subject, object, noun, verb) and
phonological features, and of formal universals (abstract principles governing possible
rules and parameters of human languages). Also exposes that the input is deficient or
poor in two ways: first it is claim to be degenerate (false starts, slips, fragments, and
ungrammatically sentences in real-time oral communication), and second the input is
degenerate that contains negative evidence in the children utterances in the
ungrammatical speech. (Freeman, D., Long. M. 2014; Douglas, H. 2007).

On the other hand, Stephen Krashen explains the relationship between

acquisition and learning (Schütz, R. 2017) and defines the influence of the latter on
the former (Krashen's theory of second language acquisition) which presents five
hypotheses to expose the processes of acquisition and language learning: a.
acquisition-learning the 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is the product of a
 Position paper 1 : SLA Theories
Jahirton Johan Mazo Jiménez
SLA course
subconscious process similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their
first language; b. monitor the monitoring function is the practical result of the learned
grammar. 'monitor' acts in a planning, editing and correcting function when three
specific conditions are met.; c. input the learner improves and progresses when
he/she receives second language 'input' that is one step beyond his/her current stage
of linguistic competence; d. natural order: the acquisition of grammatical structures
follows a 'natural order' which is predictable and the last hypothesis is e. affective filter
hypothesis: embodies Krashen's view that a number of 'affective variables' play a
facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition, these variables
include: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety. (Schütz, R. 2017)

The second theory is Environmental theory is a theory that the rate and level
of ultimate success of second language acquisition in naturalistic settings (without
instruction) is a function of the degree to which learners acculturate to the target
language community, also acculturation may involve a large number of social and
psychological variables, but is generally considered to be the process through which
an individual takes on the beliefs, values and culture of a new group. The linguistic
John Schumann includes the pidginization hypothesis in the environmental theory as
a variety of a language in which the sentence structure and the vocabulary of the
original language have been greatly reduced. Generally, elements from another
language have been absorbed, either in the form of vocabulary items or in the way
sentences are structured. In second language learning the development of a
grammatically reduced form of a target language. (Freeman, D., Long. M. 2014)

According to Thomas Givon and Siza´s group the Interactionist theory is a

position that focus on the social context of language development and how the
relationship between the language learner and the persons with whom he or she
interacts influences language acquisition. This perspective is sometimes contrasted
with a linguistic approach, which holds that language acquisition can be understood
through analysis of the learner’s utterances, independently of his or her cognitive
development or social life. Manfred Pienemann has proposed a multidimensional
model of second language acquisition in which some linguistic features are acquired
 Position paper 1 : SLA Theories
Jahirton Johan Mazo Jiménez
SLA course
according to a natural order defined by psycholinguistic processing constraints, while
others depend more on whether a learner orientates more towards correctness and
prescriptive norms or towards fluency. (Freeman, D., Long. M. 2014)

And finally the Interlanguage theory is a type of language produced by

second- and foreign-language learners who are in the process of learning a language.
Authors like Larry Selinker, Jack Richards and Paul Kiparsky states that the learner
language is influenced by several different processes these include: borrowing
patterns from the mother tongue, extending patterns from the target language e.g. by
analogy , expressing meanings using the words and grammar which are already
known. Frith, M. (1978). Since the language which the learner produces using these
processes differs from both the mother tongue and the target language, it is sometimes
called an interlanguage, or is said to result from the learner’s interlanguage system or
approximative system.

In conclusion, the contribution of the theories on the acquisition of the second

language presents new understandings about human learning and new possibilities of
learning languages, besides it offers the language teacher to know new perspectives
about new teaching methodologies for understand situations in the school that are
suitable for learning and acquiring the structure of a new language, in this case English
as a second language. Consequently, the contribution of some theories is fundamental
for the construction of teaching methodologies and new researches that reinterpret the
classical postures on the acquisition of a second language, in addition the SLA
theories are the source of discussions and new findings in applied linguistics to learn
from the relationship between brain-language and language-learning. As a reader of
the SLA theories I can conclude that each one of them contributes for the construction
of new theories of the SLA, so the theories of the second half of the last century can
be the first step to know the complexity of the language and new scientific discoveries
or interpretations for new re-definitions of the way we learn a second language.

References

● Douglas, H. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching. (5th edit.).

New York: Pearson education
 Position paper 1 : SLA Theories
Jahirton Johan Mazo Jiménez
SLA course
● Freeman, D., Long. M. (2014). An introduction to second language acquisition
research. (6th edit.) London: Routledge.
● Frith, M. (1978). Interlanguage theory: implications for the classroom.
● Schütz, R (2017). Stephen Krashen´s theory of second language acquisition.
Assimilação Natural o Construtivismo Comunicativo no Ensino de Línguas.