INTRODUCTION: DESCRIBING AND EXPLAINING L2 ACQUISITION

INTRODUCTION: DESCRIBING AND EXPLAINING L2 ACQUISITION

1. 1. What is ‘second language acquisition'?

   • From the second half of the twentieth century, the studies about second language acquisition started to appear;
   • People began to have to learn a second language for a means of obtaining an education or securing employment.
   • In the context of second language acquisition, “second” can refer to any language that is learned subsequent to the mother tongue;
   • L2 acquisition makes reference to the way in which people learn a language other than their mother tongue.