Theory: Theories of Second Language Acquisition Alexandra Altenaichinger

1 Theories of Second Language Acquisition

ALEXANDRA ALTENAICHINGER

1. Introduction

The following chapter will provide information about theories of second language acquisition and
teaching. There are numerous approaches and theories which have a huge impact on learning.
Generally, approaches provide information about how people acquire their knowledge of the
language and about the conditions which will promote successful language learning. In this chapter
the main focus will be on three theories which will be briefly described: The Creative Construction
Theory, Communicative Language Teaching and the Cognitive Approach.

2. Creative Construction Theory or the Naturalistic Approach
This approach is based on the assumption that language acquisition is innately determined and that
we are born with a certain system of language that we can call on later. Numerous linguists and
methodologists support this innateness hypotheses. Chomsky, who is the leading proponent, claims
that each human being possesses a set of innate properties of language which is responsible for the
childs mastery of a native language in such a short time (cf. Brown 2002: 24). According to
Chomsky, this mechanism, which he calls the language acquisition device (LAD), governs all
human languages, and determines what possible form human language may take (Dulay, Burt,
Krashen 1982: 6ff).

Some linguists, in particular Stephen Krashen, distinguish between acquisition and learning.
Acquisition is supposed to be a subconscious process which leads to fluency. Learning, on the other
hand, is a conscious process which shows itself in terms of learning rules and structures.
Furthermore, Krashen claims that there are three internal processors that operate when students
learn or acquire a second language: the subconscious filter and the organizer as well as the
conscious monitor (cf. Dulay, Burt, Krashen 1982: 11-45). The organizer determines the
organisation of the learners language system, the usage of incorrect grammatical constructions as
provisional precursors of grammatical structures, the systematical occurrence of errors in the
learners utterances as well as a common order in which structures are learnt. The filter is
responsible for the extent to which the learners acquisition is influenced by social circumstances
such as motivation and affective factors such as anger or anxiety. The monitor is responsible for
conscious learning. The learners correct
mistakes in their speech according to their age and self-consciousness (cf. Dulay, Burt, Krashen
1982: 45).

2.1 Krashens Input Hypothesis
This hypothesis by Stephen Krashen is one of the most controversial theoretical perspectives in
Second Language Acquisition. It is based on a set of five interrelated hypotheses that are listed
below:

1. The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
As mentioned above, Krashen claims that there is a difference between acquisition and learning.
Acquisition is a subconscious and intuitive process of constructing the system of a language, not
unlike the process used by a child to pick up a language. Learning is a conscious process in
which learners attend to form, figure out rules, and are generally aware of their own process (
Brown 2002: 278).

Theory: Theories of Second Language Acquisition Alexandra Altenaichinger


2. The Monitor Hypothesis
The monitor has nothing to do with acquisition but with learning. The learned system acts only as
an editor or monitor, making minor changes and polishing what the acquired system has produced.
According to Krashen, three conditions are necessary for monitor use: 1. sufficient time, 2. focus on
form, 3. knowing the rules (cf. Lightbown, Spada 1995: 27).

3. The Natural Order Hypothesis
This hypothesis states that we acquire the rules of a language in a certain order that is predictable
(cf. Lightbown, Spada 1995: 27). However, this does not mean that every acquirer will acquire
grammatical structures in exactly the same order. It states rather that, in general, certain structures
tend to be acquired early and others to be acquired late. (cf. Krashen, Terrell 1983: 28)

4. The Input Hypothesis
This hypothesis states that it is important for the acquirer to understand language that is a bit
beyond his or her current level of competence. This means, if a learner is on a level i the input he
gets should be i + 1. This means that the language that learners are exposed to should be just far
enough beyond their current competence that they can understand most of it but still is challenged
to make progress

5. The Affective Filter Hypothesis
(cf. Brown 2002: 278).
This hypothesis states that it is easier for a learner to acquire a language when he/she is not tense,
angry, anxious, or bored. According to Dulay and Burt, performers with optimal attitudes have a
lower affective filter. A low filter means that the performer is more open to the input language. (cf.
Krashen, Terrell 1983: 38)

Krashens assumptions have been hotly disputed. Many psychologists like McLaughlin have
criticised Krashens unclear distinction between subconscious (acquisition) and conscious
(learning) processes. According to Brown, second language learning is a process in which varying
degrees of learning and of acquisition can both be beneficial, depending upon the learners own
styles and strategies. Furthermore, the i + 1 formula that is presented by Krashen raises the question
how i and 1 should be defined. Moreover, what about the silent period? Krashen states that after a
certain time, the silent period, speech will emerge to the learner, which means that the learner will
start to speak as a result of comprehensible input. Nevertheless, there is no information about what
will happen to the learners, for whom speech will not emerge and for whom the silent period
might last forever (Brown 2002: 281).

3. Communicative Language Teaching

3.1 Background
The communicative approach has its origins in the changes in the British language teaching
tradition dating from the late 1960s and more generally in the developments of both Europe and
North America. This approach varies from traditional approaches because it is learnercentred. Also,
linguists state that there is a need to focus on communicative proficiency in language teaching and
that Communicative Language Teaching can fulfil this need. There are numerous reasons for the
rapid
Expansion of Communicative Language Teaching: the work of the Council of Europe in the field of
communicative syllabus design; the theoretical ideas of the communicative approach found rapid
Theory: Theories of Second Language Acquisition Alexandra Altenaichinger
application by textbook writers; and there was an overwhelming acceptance of these new ideas by
British language teaching specialists and curriculum development centres.


Proponents of this approach state that the goal of language teaching is communicative competence.
Another aim is the development of procedures for the teaching of the four language skills (writing,
reading, speaking, listening). Moreover, the four skills build the basis of the interdependence of
language and communication (cf. Richards, Rodgers 1986: 64-66).

According to Littlewood, one of the most important aspects of communicative language teaching is
that it pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language (Littlewood
1981: 1). One of the most important aspects is pair and group work. Learners should work in pairs
or groups and try to solve problematic task with their available language knowledge. Howatt also
distinguishes between a weak and a strong version of Communicative Language Teaching. The
weak version, which seems to be standard by now, stresses the importance of providing learners
with opportunities to use their English for communicative purposes. The strong version claims that
language is acquired through communication (cf. Howatt 1984: 279).

As mentioned above, there was and still is a wide acceptance of the communicative approach. This
approach is similar to the more general learning perspective usually referred to as Learning by
doing or the experience approach (Richards, Rodgers 1986: 68). Generally, Communicative
Language Teaching focuses on communicative and contextual factors in language use and it is
learner-centred and experience-based. There are many supporters but also numerous opponents,
who criticise this approach and the relatively varied ways in which it is interpreted and applied.
Nevertheless, it is a theory of language teaching that starts from a communicative model of
language and language use, and that seeks to translate this into a design for an instructional system,
for materials, for teacher and learner roles and behaviours, and for classroom activities and
techniques (cf. Richards, Rodgers 1986: 69).

3.2 Theory of language
A central aspect in Communicative Language Teaching is communicative competence. Hymes
defines competence as what a speaker needs to know in order to be communicatively competent in a
speech community. This includes both knowledge and ability for language use. In his book
Teaching Language as Communication (1978) (quoted in Richards, Rodgers 1986: 71) Widdowson
presented a view of the relationship between linguistic systems and their communicative values in
text and discourse. Moreover, Canale and Swain (1980) (cf. Richards, Rodgers 1986: 71) found four
dimensions of communicative competence that are defined as 1. grammatical competence, 2.
sociolinguistic competence, 3. discourse competence, and 4. strategic competence.

3.3 Theory of learning
Although there is little discussion of learning theory, there are still some elements that, according to
Richards and Rodgers (1986), can be defined as communication principles, task principles and
meaningfulness principles. The first one includes activities that involve real communication which
are supposed to promote learning. The second element describes activities in which language is
used for carrying out meaningful tasks which are also supposed to promote learning. The last one
states that language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process. Of great
importance is meaningful and authentic language use (cf. Richards, Rodgers 1986: 72).
4. The Cognitive Approach
Cognitive psychologists claim that one of the main features of second language acquisition is the
building up of a knowledge system that can eventually be called on automatically for speaking and
Theory: Theories of Second Language Acquisition Alexandra Altenaichinger
understanding. At first, learners have to build up a general knowledge of the language they want to
understand and produce. After a lot of practice and experience they will be able to use certain parts
of their knowledge very quickly and without realising that they did so. Gradually, this use becomes
automatic and the learners may focus on other parts of the language.
The cognitive theory is a relative newcomer to second language acquisition and there have been
only a few empirical studies about this approach so far. Although we know that the processes of
automatizing and restructuring are central to the approach, it is still not clear what kinds of
structures will be automatized through practice and what will be restructured. Also it cannot predict
which first language structures will be transferred and which will not. As far as the phenomenon of
restructuring is concerned, psychologists state that things that we know and use automatically may
not necessarily be learned through a gradual build-up of automaticity but they may be based on the
interaction of knowledge we already have. They may also be based on the acquisition of new
knowledge which somehow fits into an existing system and may, in fact, restructure this system
(cf. Lightbown, Spada 1995: 25).

4.1 McLaughlins Attention-Processing Model
This model connects processing mechanisms with categories of attention to formal properties of
language. Consequently there are four cells. The first one refers to focal automatic processes like
the students performance in a test situation or a violin player performing in a concert. The second
one characterises focal controlled processes such as the learners performance based on formal
rule learning. The next cell refers to peripheral controlled processes such as the phenomenon of
learning skills without any instruction. The last cell focuses on peripheral automatic processes and
can be related to a learners performance in situations of communication. Controlled processes are
capacity limited and temporary, and automatic processes are relatively permanent
(McLaughlin et al. 1983: 142 in Brown 2002). Automatic processes mean processing in a more
accomplished skill which means that the brain is able to deal with numerous bits of information
simultaneously. According to
Brown, the automatizing of this multiplicity of data is accomplished by a process of restructuring
in which the components of a task are co-ordinated, integrated, or reorganised into new units,
thereby allowing the old components to be replaced by a more efficient procedure (McLaughlin
1990b: 188 in Brown 2002).

4.2 Implicit and Explicit Models
According to Brown and other linguists, there is a distinction between implicit and explicit
linguistic knowledge. Explicit knowledge means that a person knows about language and the
ability to articulate those facts in some way (Brown 2002: 285). Implicit knowledge is information
that is automatically and spontaneously used in language tasks. [] Implicit processes enable a
learner to perform language but not necessarily to cite rules governing the performance. (Brown
2002: 285) Instead of implicit and explicit Bialostok uses the terms unanalysed an analysed
knowledge. Unanalysed knowledge is described as the general form in which we know most things
without being aware of the structure of that knowledge; on the other hand, learners are overtly
aware of the structure of analyzed knowledge (Brown 2002: 286). Furthermore, these models also
distinguish between automatic and non-automatic processing which is build on McLaughlins
conception of automaticity. Brown states that automaticity refers to the learners relative access to
the knowledge. Knowledge that can be retrieved easily and quickly is automatic. Knowledge that
takes time and effort to retrieve is non-automatic (Brown 2002: 286). Another significant fact in
second language performance is time. It takes learners a different amount of time until they
produce language orally.

5. Conclusion
Theory: Theories of Second Language Acquisition Alexandra Altenaichinger
All three theories of language learning inter-relate somehow. Many teachers will use classroom
methods which may be linked to all three approaches. Teachers who are native speakers tend to use
Krashens Natural Approach more than others. But this approach has been hotly disputed and it
seems that it took a back seat in the foreign language learning classroom during the last few years.
Communicative Language Teaching has established itself in the last twenty years. It somehow
builds the basis of language learning and can now be found in almost every language class and
language schoolbook, whereas the Cognitive Approach is a rather new approach and therefore not
very widely applied. All in all, a teacher should be aware of the different theories and approaches
and use them as a basis for his/her teaching.


REFERENCES
Brown, Henry D. (2002). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. New York: Longman.

Dulay, Heidi, Marina Burt and Stephen Krashen (1982). Language Two. New York: OUP.

Howatt, A.P.R. (1984). A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: OUP.

Krashen, Stephen D. and Tracy D. Terrell (1983). The Natural Approach. Language Acquisition in
the Classroom. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Lightbown, Patsy M. and Nina Spada (1995). How languages are learned. Oxford: OUP.

Littlewood, W. (1981). Communicative Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Richards, J.C. and T.S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and Methods in Language Learning.
Cambridge: CUP.