Language Acquisition Assignment 2 0845/10A/0058

Step 1 – Narrative account of L2 learner’s language learning experience

The narrative is about Ayesha, one of my cousin whose mother tongue is Sinhala and the
second language is English. This narrative is based on an interview conducted with her,
focusing on her language learning experience. She grew up in a family where Sinhala was
the only language of communication. Her parents wanted her to speak in English, but never
communicated with her in English. Her mother being a graduate, helped her to improve
writing, grammar & vocabulary but failed to provide her with language learning through real
conversations.

She received her primary education in English medium where she could exposed to
language speaking much more than in her home environment. The Teachers showed an
interest in every student’s learning. And also they provided individual help for the students.
The enthusiasm of the teacher had inspired her. She started speaking English with her
teachers and peers and showed a massive progress when she was in her preschool years.
But communicating using the native language at home, always was a barrier that
demotivated and kept her exposure to language confined only to the classroom. She didn’t
receive any opportunity to use the language outside the classroom, (authentic social
context).

For her secondary education, she entered a government school. There she did some of the
subjects in English medium and some of the subjects in Sinhala medium, under the local
syllabus. English was taught in a way that it is focused on Grammar, vocabulary and writing.
From Year 6- 9, that means from age of 12-16, English was taught in her school following the
same structure, where the teacher explains the grammar rule or a text and ask them to do
an activity. So that English had become a dull and boring period not only for her but for all
the students. She used to speak in English with her teachers and not with her peers.

She rarely read extra reading books other than to the prescribed reading for English
literature which she used to do at O/L. She did some reading with the persuasion received
by her aunt, but she couldn’t make it a habit due to lack of interest. No motivation was
provided by her teachers to do extra reading. Teachers were changing time to time in school
and they never had encouraged students to express their opinion. She learned English not
with an inspiration but just to get through the examination.

1
Language Acquisition Assignment 2 0845/10A/0058

She herself felt that the inspiration and motivation she had to speak and learn English was
declining when she felt so uncomfortable when speaking with somebody who speaks in
English. She made terrible grammar mistakes unconsciously in simple grammar, when
communicating in English. As a result she became so cautious about correct grammar when
speaking in English. Even though she tried to speak grammatically correct sentences, she
talked with so much of difficulty and uneasiness. She hesitated to participate any of the
extracurricular activities conducted by the School English association fearing that she might
make a mistake.

She got the opportunity to enter the Colombo University and there she had improved her
reading, writing skills further. She could refer more English books. But other than for
academic purpose she didn’t read for pleasure. According to what she said, she didn’t have
much time to do extra reading. Even though she communicated in English with the
lecturers, used her native language to communicate with her peers. Her exposure to the
second language was again got confined to the lecture hall and she didn’t get any
opportunity to use the knowledge gain in her social context.

After becoming a graduate of business and management, she went England for further
studies. At present, she is following a master degree in Birmingham University. She is being
living there for 5 years of time. She has received much exposure to language now. She is
using English throughout the day, not only for reading and writing. She uses English within
the classroom as well as in authentic situations. She doesn’t feel much uncomfortable when
speaking with the native language speakers, but she has not achieved the native speaker
competence. During the presentations that she did at the university, her British friends have
told her, “your grammar is good, but you sound like a book”.

At present she is being engaged to a German national person. As a result she has started
learning German. She tries to communicate with her partner using German, but has found it
difficult, she can hardly spell the German alphabet in the way it sounds. She often
mispronounce and mixed up German with the English pronunciation. Even though she has
the interest to learn German she wonders why it feels so difficult. She communicates with
her partner using English, and both of them have a foreign accent when speaking English.
But anyhow the way they speak is understandable to themselves.

Even with difficulty, she is with the intension of learning German anyhow due to the
motivation she receives by her partner.

2
Language Acquisition Assignment 2 0845/10A/0058

 Step 2 – Analysis of the participant’s language learning experience, using theories

and hypothesis

This is an analysis which is built up using the interview conducted with Ayesha, based on her
language learning experience. Theories and hypothesis like critical period hypothesis,
fossilisation, backslide, partial access to universal grammar, acquisition learning hypothesis,
monitor hypothesis, input hypothesis and effective filter hypothesis would be discussed
related to Ayesha’s second language learning experience.

According to Lenneberg, critical period for a language acquisition is from birth to age 12.
During the critical period, the brain is ready to construct mental grammar. But this
unconscious ability to construct mental grammar degrades severely after the puberty. That
is why the children are better learners of language than adults who struggle to learn a
language irrespective how qualified they are in education. This theory can be seen in
Ayesha’s language experience too. During her childhood she has acquired mother tongue as
well as English, the second language with the exposure she got from the English medium
nursery. When she was in age 4-6, she acquired Sinhala from her home environment and
English from the authentic learning (including meaningful conversations) she received from
the nursery. What she received in the nursery was a comprehensible input. (Refer interview-
point 4)

Comprehensible input is a theory that comes under the input hypothesis of Krashen’s
Monitor model. Input that consists of forms and structures that are one step beyond
learner’s current level of knowledge can be considered as a comprehensible input.
Meaningful interactions, games and activities Ayesha did in her nursery related to English
language development can be considered as comprehensible inputs.

But her improvement in English gets decelerate when she started her secondary education
in a government school, under a semi English medium curriculum. Her exposure to English
gets extremely confined only for the little conversations with the teacher. She gave up
talking in English with peers. She didn’t engage in pleasure reading. She was demotivated
with the poverty of stimulus, which means the insufficient input received by her teachers
who focused teaching only in grammar, vocabulary and writing. Affective filters such as
anxiety, feeling uninterested and bored, set her back in acquiring English language. (Refer

3
Language Acquisition Assignment 2 0845/10A/0058

interview – point 5 & 6) She didn’t come up with English speaking due to feeling anxious
whether she will make a mistake. (Refer interview- point 8)

When she was in secondary school, her aunt bought her extra reading books, but she didn’t
read them with an interest due to the difficulty she found in finding the meanings of new
vocabulary. In order to acquire a second language, a comprehensible input should be
provided. For that the input should be appropriate for the learner’s current level of
knowledge. The books that her aunt provided her fits with her age, but not with her level of
knowledge. (Refer interview- point 7)

The theory of interlanguage can also be elaborated using the second language learning
experience of Ayesha. Interlanguage by definition refers to the language system that the
learner constructs out of the linguistic data for which she/he has been exposed to. In
Ayesha’s childhood, her interlanguage got effected by two factors. One is the native
language which was used in her home and the useful conversations and activities carried in
her English medium nursery. (Refer interview – point 1-4)

In her secondary education, the lack of communication using English and lack of interactive
learning, made her speak in Sinhala most of the times. This influenced negatively for her
English speaking skill through fossilisation. The influence of the mother tongue Sinhala was
far more increased on her interlanguage. Not using English for a longer time in
communication had backslide her interlanguage system. As a result she made terrible
mistakes in simple grammar when communicating in English. (Refer interview – point 8)

In her university education, she had the access to so many resources of English. She read
books only to improve academic skills but she couldn’t improve her communication skills.
After becoming a graduate, she went to England for her higher studies. There her exposure
to English got widen. She could communicate with her British peers and even with the
lecturers. The authentic learning experience she received in England made her move
forward again in her interlanguage process. (Refer interview- points 9 – 11)

Anyhow due to passing of the critical period, that means at the age of 20s, she couldn’t
achieve native speaker competence in English speaking. (Refer interview- points 12)

4
Language Acquisition Assignment 2 0845/10A/0058

The learned English knowledge throughout the past years, helped her to speak
grammatically correct sentences. But she sounds like a book when she is speaking. This is
related to the Krashen’s Monitor hypothesis where learned system and acquired system
actively take part in the production of L2. (Refer interview- points 12)

Later she started learning German and found it really difficult to differentiate German
sounds from English and often forgot what she learned and failed to communicate in
German with her partner. This is because, being an adult, she has passed her critical period
and unable to construct mental grammar in order to acquire the new language German.
Hence she has to depend on learning strategies. The interlanguage she constructs when
learning German too get affected with the partial access of mental grammar that is the
mental grammar that is being created in her brain for the previously learned languages. This
effects the interlanguage that she is being creating for German and ends up in fossilisation.

According to Krashen’s acquisition learning hypothesis, a child can develop a second

language competence in two ways. One way is, by acquiring and other is, by learning. A
second language can be acquired in the same way of acquiring the first language. It can be
acquired during the critical period where the child is ready to construct mental grammar
through meaningful interactions. After passing the critical period, the acquisition of a
second language become harder as the ability to construct mental grammar by the brain
gets degrade. Hence the development of second language competence should be done
through learning strategies. It is time consuming and less effective in achieving native
speaker competence. This can be applied to the experience gained by Ayesha who could
never achieve the native speaker competence in English even after completing masters at a
University in England and living there for many years. (Refer interview – point 12)

According to Ellis, first language acquisition differs from second language acquisition in
several ways. In second language acquisition, the overall success may differ from person to
person. The level of competence received by each individual may differ. Just as the same in
Ayesha’s language learning experience is not a complete success as she couldn’t achieve the
native speaker competence. The goal of acquiring a second language too vary from person
to person. Related to Ayesha, her goal of learning English was to get through her exams and
become a graduate. Later she has started to learn German with the intension of facilitating
communication with her partner.
5
Language Acquisition Assignment 2 0845/10A/0058

In this way, we can come to a conclusion that even though the first language acquisition is a
uniform process happen within human brains passing similar milestones, second language
acquisition is not a uniform process and differ in its competence from person to person as it
is not a natural process that takes everyone towards native speaker competence. As in the
second language experience gain by Ayesha, learning a second language is less effective
than acquiring a language in childhood. That’s why most of the international schools follow
the ABL method introduced by Pearson, to make the children acquire English than learning.

6
Language Acquisition assignment 2 0845/10A/0058

Attachment
Transcribed Interview

1. Which language do you usually speak with your family members?

From the childhood, I used to speak in Sinhala with all my family members.

2. That means didn’t you receive any help related to English learning?
No it’s not like that, my mother helped me to improve my reading and writing skills.

3. Can you tell me about your primary education?

Yes. I went for an English medium primary school. There I received an exposure to
English language speaking. I spoke in English with teachers and peers. Teachers gave
individual assistance to the students and their enthusiasm inspired me. So during
preschool years I showed a massive progress in English.

4. Do you think that the students should be inspired to learn English or any other
second language?
Yes. When the teacher provides individual help and concerns about student’s
opinion regarding any subject matter, while trying to engage them in real
conversations students will become active learners. And also classroom activities
should be introduced by the teacher in order to help the students learn how to use
the knowledge they gain inside the classroom. I can remember the ‘morning circles’
we did once a week in my primary school. There all the students sit in a circular
shape and the teacher used to play various games with them. Students giggled,
talked and enjoyed a lot. Teacher encouraged English speaking among students as
well as among students and teachers.

5. So with the progress of your second language, how did you start your secondary
education?
I entered a government school for secondary education. There I could do some
subjects in English medium and other subjects in Sinhala medium under the local
syllabus. English was taught by the teachers focusing on writing, grammar and
vocabulary. Teacher always followed the same technique for teaching English. She
explained the grammar rule or the text and let the students do the activity. It made
the students feel dull and bored.

6. Did you speak with your friends in English?

No. never. I felt so uncomfortable to communicate in English. But most of the times
I communicated in English with the teachers, during the lesson. Actually the
motivation I had to speak and learn English was declining and discouraged during my
secondary education and also in MY A/L, Where I did all my subjects in Sinhala
medium. English was given a less importance
1 as I did my A/Ls in commerce stream.
Language Acquisition assignment 2 0845/10A/0058

7. Did you engage in pleasure reading?

No. Not much actually. But my aunt bought me a book for my every birthday. I did
some reading with that persuasion. But I couldn’t carry it as a habit due to the lack of
interest and finding so many difficult words in those books.

8. Did you participate in language competitions?

No. I was so conscious about grammar even when I’m speaking, that made me do
terrible mistakes while speaking. So I was afraid to talk in English in front of others.

9. In which faculty were you in Colombo University? And how was the use of English
there?
I was in the commerce faculty. All the lectures were conducted in English. There was
no difficulty for me to understand and study in English. But my difficulty to
communicate in English remained same.

10. Did your university education help you to expand your English competence?
I don’t think that is the competence, university education helped me to learn English.
I had access to so many extra books. I read much more than I did earlier. But there
too I read only for the academic purpose and not for pleasure.

11. After being a graduate you went to a foreign university for further education. How
was that experience?
Yes I went to the Birmingham city university to do Masters. There my environment
changed upside down. I was exposed to an English speaking community. Even with
difficulty I spoke with peers and the lecturers. Now I’m using English throughout the
day, in day today circumstances.

12. Then that means have you achieved the native speaker competence by now?
No. not at all. I have unconsciously improved my English than it was before, by
interacting with British English speakers. But it doesn’t mean I have achieved the
native speaker competence. It is something impossible. When I’m doing
presentations at the university, I have heard my friends tell that “she is good in her
grammar, but she sounds like a book”

13. If I ask you to rate your proficiency in English using a scale from 1-7,
(1 – Beginner level, 7 – native speaker competence) what would you select?
level of 4.