Second Language Acquisition Theories

Second Language Acquisition Theories

1. BICS vs. CALP

   • Jim Cummins
   • BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills)
     • This is the language that the student uses in everyday social settings with peers.
     • It can take the student two to three years to acquire these skills.
     • Teachers can also misperceive the student's proficiency in this area as being equal to their proficiency in academic language.
     • In an iceberg model, this is the tip of the iceberg.
   • CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency)
     • This is the student's ability to listen, speak, read, and write at an academic level in a content area.
     • It can take the student five to seven years to acquire this proficiency.
     • Factors that affect this proficiency are native language literacy, prior schooling, and age of arrival. 
     • The amount of academic language an ELL must learn is much more than the language needed for basic interpersonal communication skills.  In an iceberg model, it is the iceberg below the water.
   • Application
     • When teaching ELLs, teachers must realize the iceberg model that is related to BICS vs. CALP.
     • In the classroom, realize that an ELL might be able to communicate socially and not able to speak, read, write, and listen with success academically.
     • Avoid having this bias about an ELL's academic language proficiency, and if it exists, accommodate the student's deficit in this area as much as possible.

2. Critical Period Hypothesis

   • Eric Lenneberg
   • Critical Period
     • An ELL can best learn a language from the age of two until puberty.
     • The ability to learn a second language is negatively affected by the lateralization of the brain.
     • Lateralization
       • The process of lateralization is when each side of the brain specializes it functions.
       • Young learners use the same part of the brain for learning both languages while older learners use different parts of the brain. 
       • Lateralization is completed by puberty, but recent research suggests that it can be completed by the age of five.
       • Therefore, if a learner learns two languages before lateralization, the learner is a native speaker of both languages.
   • Application
     • There are advantages of being a younger learner of a second language and of being an older learner of a second language.  Teachers can cater to these advantages.
     • Young Learner
       • The advantages of being a young learner of a second language include high probability of developing a native accent, less material to learn to be considered proficient, and high probability of receiving comprehensible input.
       • A teacher can utilizes these advantages to pinpoint what the learner has left to learn to be proficient, and because the learner is likely to receive comprehensible input well, a teacher provide comprehensible input as much as he or she needs.
     • Old Learner
       • The advantages of being an older learner include being able to consciously use strategies to aid learning, having knowledge from his or her first language to draw from, and having greater control over input.
       • Teachers can utilize these benefits in order to help the learner become proficient easier.

3. Universal Grammar

   • Noah Chomsky
   • Building Blocks of Expression
     • The theory of universal grammar states that all human language relies on innate building blocks of expression, such as verbs, nouns, and adjectives.
     • There are also unique features of each language.
     • Because languages have similar building blocks, the theory of universal grammar allows ELLs to compare the new language they are learning to their first language.
     • Verbs
     • Nouns
     • Adjectives
   • Application
     • To apply this theory, teachers can point out the similar building blocks of expression between English and the student's first language.
     • For example, the teacher can write a sentence in Japanese and in English for a Japanese ELL student.  The teacher can circle the noun, adjective, and verb in each sentence and describe each to the student so that the student can learn the English parallel of the building blocks in the Japanese sentence.

4. Input Hypothesis

   • Stephen Krashen
   • How do people acquire language?
     • Everyone acquires language in the same way.  A person acquires language is when he or she can understand messages in that language.
     • Comprehensible Input
       • Comprehensible input is the way to help someone understand messages in another language.  It helps language acquisition.
       • Application
         • Teachers can apply this theory by using comprehensible input because it can help students interpret messages in a second language in their own language.
         • Ways teachers can provide comprehensible input include using labeled pictures and diagrams, using objects from everyday life, and providing knowledge from the world.
         • Other ways teachers can provide comprehensible input include simplifying language when giving directions and discussing topics and defining new words in a familiar context.

5. Affective Filter Hypothesis

   • There are emotional and social aspects that affect language acquisition.
   • Affective Filter
     • Students in low-anxiety situations who possess good motivation and self-esteem have a low affective filter, so they are more open to input.
     • Students with a low affective filter can interact easily with proficient speakers, so the amount of comprehensible input that the student receives is much higher.
     • Forcing students to speak can put them in a high-anxiety situation and make their affective filter much higher.
     • Silent Period
       • Teachers must realize that ELLs must spend time in a silent period.
       • In this silent period, ELLs listen and attempt to understand the surrounding input.  Then, they speak when they are ready.
       • The length of the silent period depends on the personality of the student.
   • Application
     • For teachers to apply this theory, it is important for them to know that silence does not always indicate that language acquisition is not taking place.
     • Because an ELL's affective filter is lower in low-anxiety environments, teachers should strive to create these environments by motivating students in positive ways, not pushing them to speak, letting them take their time, and helping these students to feel comfortable.  Anything the teacher can do to boost the student's self-esteem is helpful.

6. Common Underlying Proficiency / Transferability Theory

   • Interdependency of Languages
     • Many language concepts are interdependent among languages.
     • This means that a skill or concept in one language can be transferred to another language when the students learn required vocabulary.
     • Transferable Skills
       • There are nontransferable skills as well.  One example is critical and cultural literacy.
       • Directionality
       • Sequencing
       • Distinguishing Shapes and Sounds
       • Semantic and Syntactic Knowledge Activation
       • Knowledge of Text Structure
       • Confidence in Reading and Writing
       • Recognition of Cues to Predict Meaning
       • Awareness of Purpose for Reading and Writing
   • Application
     • Since some language concepts and skills can be transferred to a second language, teachers can encourage ELLs to continue developing their skills in their first language in order to make it easier to learn a second language.

Imagens e arquivos do mapa