Appourches to second Language Acquisition:

Behaviorism approach
In the classroom, the behavioral learning theory is key in understanding how to
motivate and help students. Information is transferred from teachers to learners
from a response to the right stimulus. Students are a passive participant in
behavioral learning—teachers are giving them the information as an element of
stimulus-response. Teachers use behaviorism to show students how they should
react and respond to certain stimuli. This needs to be done in a repetitive way, to
regularly remind students what behavior a teacher is looking for.

Positive reinforcement is key in the behavioral learning theory. Without positive

reinforcement, students will quickly abandon their responses because they don’t
appear to be working. For example, if students are supposed to get a sticker every
time they get an A on a test, and then teachers stop giving that positive
reinforcement, less students may get A’s on their tests, because the behavior isn’t
connected to a reward for them.

Repetition and positive reinforcement go hand-in-hand with the behavioral learning

theory. Teachers often work to strike the right balance of repeating the situation and
having the positive reinforcement come to show students why they should continue
that behavior.

Motivation plays an important role in behavioral learning. Positive and negative

reinforcement can be motivators for students.

For example, a student may receive praise for getting a good grade on a test, this is
positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is still motivation to get the student
to act in a desired way, but removes an element in order to get the student to do
something. For example, a student may not have to do homework if they score well
on a test. Both of these motivators are valuable for improved behavior inside the
classroom.

Cognitive approach
is a psychological approach to understanding how the brain works. We can use
cognitive theory to help us understand how human beings learn languages, whether
this is a first language or a second language.

Cognitive theory is grounded in the idea that individuals must first understand a
concept before they can use language to express it. It argues that, in order to
understand new concepts, children (or adults) must develop their cognitive abilities
 and build their own mental image of the world

A child can build a schema for cats. At first, they will see a singular cat, hear the .
word 'cat', and associate the two. However, the term 'cat' will eventually become
associated with all cats over time. While the schema for cats is still in the
developmental stages, the child may accidentally associate all small four-legged
furry friends, such as dogs and rabbits, with the word 'cat

Creative constriction approach

A learner constructs a series of internal representations of the L2 system. The

learner makes images of the elements (sounds andstructures) of the L2 in his/her
mind when he/she is exposed to the L2 in communicative situations These internal
representations occur as a result of natural processing strategies (e.g.
generalization, transfer, etc.)
and exposure to the L2 in communication situations.
It is proposed by Stephen Krashen (1982). It is also called as The ‘Monitor Model’. It is similar
to Chomsky’s ideas on L1 acquisition
The learner’s internal representations develop gradually in the direction of the L2
system. If the right kind of exposure takes place, the learner’s internal
representations develop gradually, in predictable stages, in the direction of the L2
system.

Sociological approach
Acculturation refers to the process of becoming adapted to the culture of the new or
second language. This involves developing an understanding of the systems of
thought, beliefs, and emotions of the new culture as well as its system of
communication
Acculturation is a function of thesocial andpsychological distance between the
learner and native speakers of the second language. If there is an increase in social
distance , the learner’s second language will be very simple or will result in simplified
L2 grammar. The lack in properties may include morphological inflections (-‘s, -ing,
etc.), function words such as determiners and auxiliaries, (his, that, is, was, etc.)
subordinate clauses, (if he goes
shopping, or while you‘re here, etc.) and so on.
Development towards the L2 norm (i.e. what is acceptable by adult native learners) is
dependent on the level of social distance between the learner and native speakers of
the L2. If the social distance fails to decrease, the L2 learner’s grammar will fossilize
(i.e. learner’s grammar becomes simplified). Individual learners will vary, too,
depending on the extent to
which they are willing or able to reduce the social distance
 Compressive view of second language acquired
Second-language acquisition assumes knowledge in a first language and
encompasses the process an individual goes through as he or she learns the
elements of a new language, such as vocabulary, phonological components,
grammatical structures, and writing systems

The Six Stages of Second-Language Acquisition

This is also called "the silent period," when the student takes in the new language -1
but does not speak it. This period often lasts six weeks or longer, depending on the
individual.

The individual begins to speak using short words and sentences, but the emphasis -2
is still on listening and absorbing the new language. There will be many errors in the
production stage. early

Speech becomes more frequent, words and sentences are longer, but the -3
individual still relies heavily on context clues and familiar topics. Vocabulary
continues to increase and errors begin to decrease, especially in common or
repeated interactions.

Speech is fairly fluent in social situations with minimal errors. New contexts and -4
academic language are challenging and the individual will struggle to express
in vocabulary and appropriate phrases. themselves due to gaps

Communicating in the second language is fluent, especially in social language -5

situations. The individual is able to speak almost fluently in new situations or in
academic areas, but there will be gaps in vocabulary knowledge and some unknown
expressions. There are very few errors, and the individual is able to demonstrate
higher order thinking skills in the second language such as offering an opinion or
analyzing a problem.

The individual communicates fluently in all contexts and can maneuver -6

successfully in new contexts and when exposed to new academic information. At
this stage, the individual may still have an accent and use idiomatic expressions
incorrectly at times, but the individual is essentially fluent and comfortable
communicating in the second language