FINAL PROJECT OF

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

MEANINGFUL LEARNING FOR STUDENTS’ SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

ACCORDING TO THEIR CULTURAL BACKGROUND AND LEARNING STYLE IN E-
CLASSROOMS

ING. PAMELA SORIA PACHECO

ING. DIANA LACERA CRESPO

LCDO. DAVID CHONILLO MALDONADO

GUAYAQUIL, 2022
 INTRODUCTION

The population in general when learning a new language presents different approaches at
the moment of the acquisition of new vocabulary or grammar structure. The acquisition of a new
language will always depend on the social context the individual is involved in and the also cultural
background to which they belong. There are several types of second language classrooms around
the world, which, according to their culture, they may present different ways of learning. According
to McKay, (2006) “Students bring to the classroom not only other languages but also different
varieties of English and culturally learned ways of using English.” The way in which students learn
will depend a lot on their cultural background. Some of the students may focus more on different
topics or feel more attracted by only one or two skills of the new language to be learned. Culture is
also a matter of habit, and it is a habit that becomes tradition and tradition that gives rise to culture
(Kuo & Lai 2006).

Also, people in general present different ways of processing and perceiving information.
Learning style refers to individuals’ preferences in learning. Many experts have different
definitions of learning styles. According to Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer & Bjork (2008), “learning
styles” refers to the concept that individuals differ pertaining to what manner of instruction or
research is most effective for them. Ramalingam (2014) stated that the three most common learning
styles used by Malaysian students are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Learning styles are also
involved in students’ second language acquisition. Some of the classes that students have in an
English as a second language classroom are not suited to most of them according to their learning
styles, which may lead to their lack of interest. Some of the students may feel disappointed because
of the way they receive the new language due to the lack of accuracy of the contents they are
learning according to their reality.

This project has been developed in order to inform the teaching and learning community
about the challenges that second language acquisition may face in any ESL classroom and the
possible solutions to be applied according to the methods and approaches that the teacher use in
class. As students do not share the same cultural background, they may have different approaches
when receiving information certain types of information. Moreover, students that are learning in
the same ESL classroom do not always have the same objective for learning a new language. Some

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of the students may be learning a new language in order to obtain a better job position, traveling
abroad in the pursuit of new opportunities, just looking for a better life for themselves and their
families, or even having the experience of being involved in cultural exchanges. For this reason,
meaningful learning is necessary for students who are acquiring a new language for the benefit of
their interests and goals.

DEVELOPMENT

As it was mentioned before, the learning style that each student present is rooted not only
in their cultural background but also in their preferences and goals for second language acquisition.
The chosen learning style allows individuals to acquire and process knowledge in any subjects
taught in schools specifically among students who learn English as a Second Language.
Individuals, in language learning, might have their own preferred learning style preferences due to
certain factors, such as personal characteristics, as well as ethnic, cultural, and educational
background (Kang 1999). It is vital to identify the most preferred learning styles, failing to do so
may affect the student’s academic development as Felder & Silverman (1988) pointed out that
students with a strong preference for a specific learning style may have difficulties if the teaching
style does not match their preferred learning styles.

Among the benefits that the internet has provided the educational community is that more
students and teachers are connected from any part of the world by just having access to the web.
Connection and internet access have provided students the chance to access classes that are offered
in different places around the globe. As a consequence of the benefits of connection, there are
nowadays more classrooms that are not as common as physical classrooms. Instead, these
classrooms have become English as a Second Language e-classrooms that rooms students from
different cultural backgrounds and customs. According to the organization Accredited Schools
Online (2022), individuals from varied nationalities, ethnicities, and races all bring cultural
traditions to their interactions, and it is up to teachers to recognize, celebrate and share these
different perspectives. Thus, the requests of these students tend to increase and be more demanding
due to their different learning styles and cultural background.

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 The methods to be applied to this type of student that learns in e-classrooms must be as
practical, attractive, and meaningful as possible. According to approach and methods (Jack C.
Richards, 1986) changes in language teaching methods throughout history have reflected
recognition of many changes in the kind of proficiency learners need, such as a move toward oral
proficiency rather than reading comprehension and the goal of language study in many cases but
they are not evaluating accuracy as well; they have also reflected positive changes in theories of
the nature of language and even of language learning. Students that are in an e-classroom require
more meaningful strategies and methods that also must be aligned with their needs and realities.
Teachers have the duty to look for, create, and adapt activities for their students in order to make
their learning experience as meaningful as possible.

Even if students are not from different countries, but from different cities within the same
country, the e-classroom face the challenge of different cultural background and different learning
styles. The group of students that were chosen for this work is adult students who are studying
English for a specific purpose at university. This group is very demanding and for that reason, the
class has to be very interesting and catchy to keep their attention and interest for most of the class
time. The level of this classroom is B1, and although it has a selective group with students of low
level, they adapt to the activity provided. In general, students are visual and auditory, they catch
the information more easily when there is audiovisual material presented in class, such as GIFs,
pictures, or videos, which certainly will have a better impact on their process of learning.
Specifically, these students are in an e-classroom receiving virtual classes and they belong to
different cities in the Ecuadorian territory.

According to researchers, the American psychologist, and pedagogue, David Ausubel has
been attributed to the Meaningful Learning Theory, which is one of the most relevant theories in
constructivist psychology. This theory says that learners learn through a meaningful process of
relating new events to already existing concepts (Cuzco & Zhagüi, 2010). In this type of learning,
the learning process itself is centered on the students, in other words, the protagonist of their own
learning making each activity to be more accurate for their necessities, while the teacher plays the
role of a guide and facilitator of that kind of knowledge that the students need in order to achieve
their goals for acquiring a new language.

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 It is so important to teach students about the rules of new languages and the correct use of
them, however, not all of the methods that are applied to students of the approaches that teachers
use in their classes are accurate for meaningful learning. Teaching activities that focus on
grammatical accuracy may be quite different from those that focus on communicative skills (Jack
C. Richards, 1986). In general, teaching is used to teach grammar in the traditional way, the
structure and formula method, which is still effective, however, it is not so meaningful for students’
language acquisition even if some students feel comfortable with this teaching strategy. It is part
of the natural development of people that we use new vocabulary ever since we listen to and reply
to it in a conversation or in a written way. The same method could be applied when students are
learning a new language, in which the core of language acquisition is being immersed as much as
possible in the language. In this way, students will be able to develop and foster the four skills that
any language present when producing or understanding it, the income or receptive skills such as
listening and reading; as well as the outcome or productive skills like speaking and writing.

The type of activities that the students previously mentioned must be attractive, eye-
catching, and meaningful. There have been many activities that were applied to these students,
however, only those that were very interactive were applied successfully as students enjoyed,
worked accurately, and were able to apply the prior knowledge they had acquired. There will be
ways in which some students have different needs, interests, and expectations compared to others
(Briggs, 2022). In order to mention the type of activities we can find gamification activities, role
plays, video and character characterization, and activities dealing with songs and listening
comprehension based on popular movies, tales, or songs. These activities have shown effectiveness
in second language acquisition for these students, not only because they approached their
necessities, but also because they were adapted to the real general context of students.

In a matter of the emphasis provided to the activities applied were routed in how learners
learn a language, what is the purpose of the communicative approach, principles about the goals of
language teaching, the kinds of classroom activities that could facilitate and promotes better
learning, the roles of teacher and learners in class, its importance and the benefits to the practice,
in order to improve the level of accuracy and fluency. The communicative Approach in language
learning is an approach that is used in learning a second language or foreign language that
emphasizes the improvement of communicative ability (Richard, 1997). Moreover, a talking period
was established to provide opinions about the explanation to compare points of view, remembering
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all the time how important communication is. When students listen to their surroundings, they listen
to conversations, and songs, and even listen to and read ads, which they can take advantage of to
receive a natural input of pronunciation, intonation, and word order. Furthermore, once they had
that input, they will be able to have better production in speaking as well as in writing.

Communication is always essential in the process of learning for each student, even if they
learn a different subject but a new language. The communicative approach can be described as a
group of principles about language learning and teaching which can be applied in some different
ways. The teaching experience can be modified by using technological tools in the teaching and
learning process since the traditional approach does not work meaningfully. The use of computer
technology can provide multicultural interactivity without students having to leave the classroom
(Kuo & Lai, 2006). It is not only possible to combine the use of technology to obtain an effective
communicative approach with the learners, but also the introduction of a new technological tool
that will be useful in order to keep engaging the class and foster students’ active and meaningful
participation. They will feel the learning process is an essential part of their lives as well as their
development as global citizens.

It is not enough to program certain activities that will be useful for students due to not only
language must be acquired, but also students have to think about the use of the language acquired
in a real context. The students must be immersed in the cultural context of the language in order to
acquire it successfully. If children are given cultural knowledge, immersed in a culturally rich
environment, and exposed to the culturally basic material, they may learn the second language with
more ease because their background knowledge about the second-language culture will make
comprehension less difficult, (Kuo & Lai, 2006). Exposing children, teens, or adults to a whole
context of a language, for example, the acquisition of the Italian language is necessary to teach
about the Italian culture, their customs, their origin, and even a glance at their history, no matter
the culture or country they come from. As it was stated by Briggs, (2022), “the brain has an easier
time learning and remembering if it can make more associations and connections between the new
material and other material.” Another sustainable evidence comes from the psychologist Lev
Vygotsky (1978) in his socio-cultural theory that explains that language “comes out from the
cultural and social activity and only later becomes reconstructed as an individual, psychological
phenomenon.” Vygotsky refers to the cognitive and meaningful acquisition of a new language
thanks to cultural influence.
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 CONCLUSION

The learning community, in general, does not always have the same approaches when
learning a new language since they have different needs or goals set for the language they are
acquiring. This may not only lead to different objectives, but also to different learning styles. In
case these learning needs are not fulfilled or achieved, the students tend to feel disappointed and
selfless according to their process of learning a new language. The whole learning community has
independent and specific sources of motivation to study a new language, for this reason, they are
looking for the course or process of learning that best fits their necessities and goals.

Not only students’ cultural backgrounds, but also ethnic and educational backgrounds are
a huge influence on their second language acquisition due to they see languages differently in
matters of use, application, and importance. It will depend on how relevant the language is in their
daily or professional life. For this reason, it is vital that teachers have to know their students’ needs,
objectives, and approaches to the language they are acquiring for further benefit. In this way, their
lessons will foster students’ language development increasing interest and enhancing academic
performance in their students.

The impact that meaningful learning produces on students in any social context is relevant
when acquiring a new language. Not only their cultural background is an influence in their process
of learning, which must not interfere, but also the learning style that each student present according
to their needs. This work will provide guides and ideas to teachers in the virtual world of education
in order to provide students with the best learning experience through different activities and
methods from the communicative approach and immersive culture for language acquisition. After
all, the more related an ESL learner is with the target language to its cultural surrounding, customs,
effective communication, and everyday activities, the more meaningful their learning process will
be. It is necessary to make students have the best learning experience possible.

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 REFERENCES

Accredited Schools Online. (2022). “Creating Inclusive Multicultural Classrooms”. Retrieved

from: https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/education-teaching-degree/multicultural-
students/

Briggs, S. (2022). How Does Culture Influence Language Acquisition? An Expert Exploration.
Berlitz. Retrieved from: https://www.berlitz.com/blog/how-does-culture-influence-
language#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIf%20children%20are%20given%20cultural,%2C%E2%
80%9D%20write%20Kuo%20and%20Lai.

Cuzco, A. & Zhagüi, L. (2010). “The Use of Concept Maps for Developing Children’s Reading
and Writing Skills in a Foreign-Language Classroom”. Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca,
Ecuador. Retrieved from:
https://dspace.ucuenca.edu.ec/bitstream/123456789/2058/1/tli242.pdf

Felder, R. M. Y Silverman, L. K. (1988): “Learning and Teaching Styles in Engineering Education

Application”. Engr. Education, vol. 78 (7), pp. 674-681.

Kang, S. (1999). Learning styles: Implications for ESL/EFL instruction. English Teaching Forum,
37(4), 6.

Kuo, M. & Lai, C. (2006). Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language
Learning. Journal of Foreign Language Instruction. Retrieved from:
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED496079.pdf

McKay, S. L. & Hornberger, N. H. (2006). Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching. 11 th printing

Cambridge University Press. 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA.

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence.
Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119.

Ramalingam, S. (2014). Learning styles among Malaysian undergraduates: A survey at a Malaysian

higher learning institution.

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Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. S. (1986). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, Jack C., & Rogers, Theodore S. (1997). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. M.

Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.

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ANNEXES

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 LINK OF THE VIDEO:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r1gmVb2rHErqBSMmWB7R4e__fym5j_sO/view?usp=share_lin
k

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