Name: Romel M.

Baja

Year and Course: BSED - ENGLISH 1

Subject: Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning

Instructress: Dr. Joylene T. Macabenta

Activity 1: Questions for Self-study

1. Match the following terms to their definitions

B. 1. Target Language a. has no immediate or necessary practical application,

might be used later for travel or be required for school.

b. the aim or goal of language learning

C. 2. Second Language c. an officially or societally dominant language (not

speakers of L1) needed for education, employment or other basic purposes

d. acquired during childhood

D. 3. First Language

A. 4. Foreign Language

2. The underlying knowledge of language is called LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE

3. Actual production of language is called LINGUISTIC PERFORMANCE

Active Learning:

1. List all of the languages you can use. First, classify them as L1 (s) and L2 (s) and then further classify
the L2 (s) as "second", "foreign", "library", "auxiliary" or "for special purposes". Finally, distinguish
between the ways you learned each of the languages through informal exposure, formal instruction or
some combination of these.

The languages I can use are:

Bisaya, this is my first language or L1 (s)

English, this is my second language or L2 (s).

Filipino, this is also my second language or L2 (s).

My second language or L2 (s) is both a library language and an auxiliary language.

2. Do you think that you are (would be) a "good" or a "poor" L2 learner? Why do you think so? Consider
whether you believe that your own relative level of success as a language learner is due primarily to
linguistic, psychological or social factors (social may include type of instruction, contexts of learning or
attitudes toward the L1 and L2).

Yes, I think I am a good L2 learner because I can confidently express my thoughts, ideas and insights well
using my second language and that is due to psychological or social factors because I am surrounded
with people who can also speak well in English and Filipino.

3. Do you know people who don't feel like native speakers of their first language acquired? or people
who feel like native speakers of a language acquired later in life? What do you attribute this feeling to?

No, I don't know of people who don't feel like native speakers of their first language because here in my
place, every one is very fluent and proficient in their first language. However, I know some of people
who feel like native speakers of a language acquired in life such as my friend and my cousin. They really
speak and write excellently in English and Filipino which are their second language. I thought they were
trained when they were still young, but I was wrong because they told it's all because of reading books,
listening to English-speaking people and incorporating what they learn into practice or application.

Activity 2. Provide answers to the following questions:

A. What are the goals of SLA?

There are several goals of SLAZ and these are:

*Description of L2 acquisition.

*Explanation or identification of the external and internal factors that account for why learners an L2 in
the way they do.

*Describe how L2 acquisition proceeds and to explain this process and why some learners seem to be
better at it than others.

B. Why are the following considered methodological issues in the study of SLA?

Because the identification and description of errors are preliminaries to the much more interesting task
of trying to explain why they occur. Errors are, to a larger extent, systematic, and to a certain extent,
predictable.

1. What needs to be described is how L2 acquisition proceeds and to explain this process and why some
learners seem to be better at it than others.
2. What "having a language means". It is always associated with studying the nature of language per
se. Language, indeed, is complex that has to account not only for its phonological feature but also for
other aspects such as syntax, pragmatics, and the like. A theory of SLA includes an understanding, in
general, of what language is, what learning is, and for classroom context, what teaching is.
Likewise, knowledge of children’s learning of their first language provides essential insights to an
understanding of SLA and its implication to language curricula and teaching. Though different models of
SLA have focused on different aspects of SLA and general linguistic research, no single model of SLA
has gained wide acceptance.

Give a definition and/or description of the following terms:

1. Second Language Acquisition

Second Language Acquisition (SLA) refers to learning a second language after a first language is already
established wherein it depends on a large amount of understandable language input, the gain of which
involves the learners’ extensive contact with language materials and their participation in
communication in person to convert what they have got into some materials. Knowing the same
language connects us to one another. We use language to share information, thoughts and ideas, and
these viewpoints collectively create culture. Learning a second language connects you to a whole new
group of people and their culture.

2. Learner Language

Learner language is what learners say or write when they are trying to communicate spontaneously in a
language they are learning. Interlanguage (IL) is the system that underlies learner language grammar,
vocabulary and pronunciation. The language being learned is sometimes called the target language (TL).

3. External factors that explain the process of SLA

This is the social milieu in which learning takes place. Social conditions influence the opportunities that
language in general. According to this view, there are inbuilt constraints on what is grammatically
possible in language in general and knowing these make the task of learning L2 much easier.

4. Internal factors that explain the process of SLA

This explains why learners why learners vary in the rate they learn an L2 and how successful they
ultimately are. It has been suggested that people vary in their language aptitude (i.e, their natural
disposition for learning L2), some finding it easier than others.

5. Input

Input is operationally defined as oral and/or written corpus of the target language (TL) to which L2
learners are exposed through various sources, and recognized by them as language input. This can be
from various sources, including the teacher, other learners, and the environment around the learners.
When teachers are talking in classes they are providing opportunities for learners to develop their
comprehension.

6. Item learning

The learning that is involved in learning separate and discrete items of language. In simpler term, it's
when learners learn the expression as an unanalyzed whole. Let's take this as an example. Would you
please take______? When learners learn this expression, that means, they are engaging in item learning.
They are trying to know how to properly connect a word with another word.

7. System Learning

Learning the abstract rules that underlie the use of linguistic items. In other words, when learners learn
that "would" is followed by a repertoire of verbs such as get, take, do, say, tell, bring and etc., they are
engaging in system learning because they are trying to understand the functions or uses of "would" or
even other words. When they have finally learned that "would" shouldn't be followed by anything other
than verbs, that means, they have understood how moral verbs or even other words should be used in a
context. Obviously, they wouldn't really say, 'would you beautiful her room?" Instead, "Would you
beautify her room?".