ACQUISITION AND LEARNING FACTORS INFLUENCING ACQUISITION OF A LANGUAGE …

Hi, friends!

This module discusses about language
acquisition and language learning.

The factors influencing the acquisition
of a language,

like the learner factors, environmental
factors and infrastructural factors

are dealt in detail.

Acquisition and learning.

Language acquisition is the process by
which humans acquired the capacity to

perceive and comprehend language, as well
as, to produce and use language.

Acquisition is implicit and subconscious
which take place in an informal situation.

According to Stephen Christian 1985,
language acquisition does not require

extensive use of conscious grammatical
rules and tedious drills.

Acquisition requires meaningful
interaction in the target language,

natural communication in which speakers
are connected,

not with the form of their utterances but
with the messages they are conveying

and understanding.

Language acquisition encompasses the
development of

four interdependent systems.

Pragmatic: communicative use of language
in a social context.

Phonological: perception and production of
sounds to form words.

Semantics: processing of meaning

and grammatical use of syntactic and
morphological rules to combine words

into meaningful sentences.

The phonological and grammatical systems
constitute the language form.

The pragmatic system describes

how language should be adapted

to specific social situations

in order to convey emotions

and reinforce meaning.

The term acquisition is used for L1

and the term learning is associated
with L2.

Children acquire language through a
subconscious process

during which they are unaware of
grammatical rules,

that is no deliberator for to learn the
language.

They pick up language in informal
situations.

Language acquisition is implicit, and
effortless as meaningful communication

occurs in natural environment,

while communicating the message in the
text is given more important

rather than the form.

It is all connected through feedback or
when they hear the correct usages.

Later on, they can cut it themselves

when they become masters of the linguistic
generalizations.

They will be confident in using the
language in the real life situations.

Language learning is explicit and
conscious

and takes place in a formal situation.

The rules of the language are taught
directly

and learning is the product of formal
instruction.

It is learning about a language.

Children have the conscious knowledge of
the new language, and can talk about it.

They can memorize the rules to solve a
grammatical problem,

but when it comes to the practical level
of using the language,

it may not work.

In the case of second language,

or the third, or the fourth language,

this is what happens.

Whatever that is learned

meaningfully and naturally, is retained
and will become acquired.

Factors influencing acquisition.

Language learning is a habit formation,

and so,

if one's acquired it becomes automatic.

According to Paul Roberts:

"When we learn the first language,

we face the universe directly

and learn to clothe it with speech.

When we learn a second language,

we tend to filter the universe through
the language already known."

By the time the child learns a second
language,

he is familiar with the system of the
mother tongue.

He has to set aside the rules and sets of
his mother tongue

to invite the habits of a new language.

Factors influencing acquisition can be
broadly classified into three.

They are:

Learner factors.

Infrastructural factors.

Environmental factors.

The learner factors.

The learner factors influencing the
acquisition of a language are mainly

psychological, physiological and
sociological.

Factors like aptitude, attitude,
interest, personality,

motivation, age, sex, intelligence and
learning styles come under this.

Aptitude.

Aptitude refers to the potential for
achievement.

According to Carrol,

foreign language aptitude consisted of
four independent abilities.

They are:

Phonetic coding ability.

The ability to identify and memorize
new sounds.

Grammatical sensitivity.

The ability to demonstrate awareness

of the syntactic patterning of sentences
of a language.

Root learning ability.

The ability to learn associations between
sounds and meaning.

Inductive ability.

The ability to identify similarities and
differences

in grammatical form and meaning.

It is not necessary that successful
language learners

are strong in all the involved components.

Teachers can identify their students
requirements,

and select appropriate strategies to
accommodate

their differences in aptitude.

Personality.

The personality characteristics which
can affect

language acquisition are:

Extroversion, introversion,

self esteem, anxiety, etcetera.

Personality may be a major factor in the
acquisition of oral skills,

not in reading and writing skills.

Introverted or anxious learners

make slower progress

especially in communication skill.

They try to get away from opportunities
to speak

and express themselves.

The extroverts will take risks.

They will not worry about the mistakes,

and make the advantage of opportunities
to interact.

Motivation

This is a strongly favor intrinsic
motivation.

Intrinsically motivated learners, try
for excellence,

autonomy and self-actualization.

A supportive and non-threatening learning
atmosphere

naturally creates motivation.

Through various activities, tasks, and
learning materials in the class,

the teacher can increase students interest
to learn language.

A felt need develops both intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation.

Learning styles

Learning style is an individual's natural
habitual,

and preferred way of absorbing,

processing and retaining new
information and skills.

Reid, 1995.

Each individual is different,

and process information in their own,
unique ways.

Types of learning styles are: perceptual
learning styles,

and cognitive learning styles.

Perceptual learning style includes:

visual, auditory and kinesthetic.

Visual learners have a preference for
seeing.

Auditory learners best learn through
listening.

And tactile or kinesthetic learners
preferred to learn through experience.

That is:

moving, touching and doing.

Cognitive learning styles, are the mental
mechanisms

that process the incoming information
through different sources.

Each individual learner has his own way
of processing information

or approaching a task.

This is known as his cognitive style.

According to Ellis:

"Cognitive style is a term used to refer

to a manner in which people perceive

conceptualize, organize and recall
information.

While designing learning activities,

the teacher has to consider the students
with varied learning styles.

Age

Age is one of the characteristics which
affect language acquisition.

Learners who have a solid skill in their
own language,

are found to acquire a new language
more easily.

Motivated adults learn language more
easily,

but struggles to achieve correct
pronunciation

because of the problems of the transfer

of the habits of native language.

They feel it difficult to recognize the
sounds of the foreign language.

Young children show greater flexibility

in identifying the sounds of a language,

remembering them and reproducing them.

They are less conscious about the mistakes
made,

and are ready to correct their mistakes
without hesitation.

This will foster language acquisition.

Sex

Girls are found to excel voice in
language learning.

They start talking earlier than boys,

and uses grammatically correct

and complex sentences.

Auditory sensitivity and other behavior

is not the same for boys and girls.

The fact that girls mature earlier than
boys

has direct implications for language
acquisition.

Attitude

Language attitude is the feeling one has
about language learning.

It is greatly influenced by the learning
situation.

Teacher, language, classroom, books,
friends, homework,

and the school as such determine students'
attitude towards language learning.

Spolsky says,

"In a typical language situation there are
a number of people

whose attitude to each other can be
significant:

the learner, the teacher,

the learner's peers and parents, and the
speakers of the language.

Each relationship might well be shown to
be a factor

controlling the learners' motivation to
acquire a language.

A positive or a negative attitude towards
language learning

can be developed in children by the
influence of these factors.

Positive attitude for language learning

has to be created through a congenial
and motivating environment in school.

Interest

Teachers need to design creative
activities

to evoke student interest in language
learning.

Clarity and relevance of the language
learning goals,

extensive teacher and pure support,

learning language through fun and games,

all creates interest in learner.

As Einstein said,

interest is the best teacher,

without interest, the best learning
situations will prove to be ineffective.

Intelligence

Intelligence plays a very important role
in language acquisition.

Kinesthetic intelligence is the ability to
use the physical actions

with linguistic responses to express ideas
more clearly.

While taking part in group discussions,

the learners are using interpersonal
intelligence.

Grammar analysis

falls into the logical intelligence.

The stress timed rhythmic nature of
English language,

the need to communicate using melody, and
rhythm in a language class

points to the need for musical
intelligence.

Learning language through the knowledge
about self

focuses to intrapersonal intelligence.

Linguistic intelligence involves the
sensitivity

to spoken and written language.

The ability to learn language, and the
capacity to use language

to accomplish certain goals:

The opportunities for learning,

the motivation to learn,

the individual difference in
intelligence,

aptitude, personality,

and also, learning styles

play an important role in the rate of
learning,

and success in learning.

The teacher should consider learners'
individual aptitudes,

personalities, and learning styles

into account to create a learning
environment conducive to all.

The environmental factors

The environmental factors include both

school and family.

The classroom should provide a favorable,

democratic environment for language
learning.

Maximum exposure in target language

has to be given in the schools.

Cooperative rather than competitive
atmosphere,

free from tension has to be maintained in
the classroom.

A felt need to learn the language for real
life communication

has to be evoked in students.

The teacher should be aware of the
individual difference,

and has to provide learning experience
suitably.

The weak and the gifted

has to be considered according to their
language needs.

A tolerant attitude has to be adopted

to student errors while using language.

There is a marked relationship between
the child's linguistic development

and socio-economic status.

The teacher should also consider this
aspect of the students

while planning for language learning
programs.

The infrastructural factors

The infrastructural facilities,

it's magnitude, and quality

depends upon the strength, interest
and vision of the organization

which manages the institution.

Facilities to use the equipments like
audiovisual aids,

language laboratories, libraries,
etcetera.

which provides maximum exposure and
practice in the target language

has to be arranged in schools.

First time experience to use the target
language,

as interacting with the native speakers,

spacious classroom with facilities to
contact learning activities like roleplay,

discussions debates, dramatization,
etcetera,

where the students use the language

has to be provided.

Problems in acquiring English as a
second language.

Learning a second language is always a
challenge

in a place where people hardly use it in
their daily life.

Second language learners face several
difficulties to gain

good command over a foreign language.

English presents a number of issues to non
native speakers

because of the illogical nature of its
spelling, pronunciation,

and unique grammatical rules.

The pull of mother tongue.

When a child begins to learn a second
language,

he has acquired his mother tongue,

the system which he can use with ease

So, whenever he wants to express something
in second language,

he has to keep the habit of the first
language in check

in order to produce the new sounds
and structures.

It will be difficult for him

to produce the distinctive sounds of the
second language

as his years are accustomed

with the sounds of the first language.

Thus, he replaces the sounds of the
second language

with the similar sounds in his mother
tongue.

Suprasegmental features have great impact
in English language

which may not be so pronounced in
mother tongue.

The natural word order of sentence in
the mother tongue

may be different from that of English.

Conscious attempts to arrange words

according to the syntactic patterns of
mother tongue

results in literal translation, and
produces ungrammatical sentences.

The tendency to replace

the sounds and structures of the
second language

with those of mother tongue is known as

pull of mother tongue

or in psychological terms

transfer.

Transfer of learning

is the application of skills,
knowledge,

and/or attitudes,

that we learned in one situation to
another learning situation.

Perkins, 1992.

Transfer may be either positive or
negative.

If the habits of first language help in
the learning of the second,

it is called positive transfer or
facilitation.

Positive impact is seen in acquiring
vocabulary and sentence pattern

through comparing and contrasting.

If the former hinders the acquisition of
the letter,

it is called negative transfer or
interference.

Negative transfer is seen

while learning certain grammatical
structures and pronunciation.

If the learning of one subject or
activity neither facilitates

nor interferes with the learning
of another subject or activity,

it is called zero transfer.

Spelling, vocabulary,

and the diversity of the word meaning.

English language is enriched with great
amount of words.

These words are not limited to one
single meaning.

Each word has shades of meaning,

which are categorized as connotative
or denotative,

and it gives different impressions in
different situations.

For example,

the word "hard" have various shades
of meaning.

"The stone is hard".

This shows quality.

"You must work hard".

More, labour is needed.

"His hard luck".

This shows misfortune.

"He is hard of hearing".

It means he is deaf.

For a second language learner,

this creates much confusion.

They learn the meaning of several words,

but don't really learn their application,

and therefore can't benefit from them
while using language.

The irregular nature of English spelling

is another problem for a second
language learner.

English has 44 discreet sounds of
phonemes,

with an alphabet made of 26 letters.

The letter to phoneme correspondence is
not consistent.

One letter has, with a few exceptions,

more sounds than one in different words or
even in the same word;

example,

the letter 'c' in the words:

cat, cycle, cancel,

success, vacancy;

and the letter 'g' in:

age, bag, geography,

gorgeous, etcetera.

Lack of motivation

Learners find it boring and difficult
to learn

a second language which is very much
different from the native language.

Learning English is something they
have to do,

not something they want to do.

Some of the demotivating factors are;

the teacher personality,

commitment,

competence,

and teaching method,

the learner's reduced self confidence,

negative attitude towards second
language learning

nature of evaluation system,

uninteresting course books and school
environment.

One key to increase motivation among the
heterogeneous learners

is to design and use activities,

which match the learners varied language
learning needs,

and goals by a competent and creative
teacher.

Insufficient time,

resources and materials.

Number of files allotted for learning
English,

and the opportunity to get exposed to,

and use the language is too less.

The resources and the materials

to aid L2 learning, are sparce

Learners do not get any opportunity to
communicate with native speakers,

or even with their peers at school
in the target language.

Thus they miss communicative competence.

They hardly read or listen to
English news, literature,

article or anything that enhances the
learners' skill.

Thus they miss the listening and
reading skill

which is very important in acquiring a
second language.

The availability of right type of
materials,

good library facilities, and
audiovisual aids

will make learning of English interesting
and effective.

Overcrowded classrooms.

Is the number of students in a class
is too high,

it is difficult to meet the individual
needs

of a diverse group of lively learners.

Group activities like roleplay,
discussion, debates, etcetera,

cannot be successfully carried out in
an overcrowded classroom.

Effective participation of each
student

cannot be ensured.

Teaching learning process and evaluation
strategies

will be under threat,

which result in low achievement.

To conclude,

language acquisition is a subconscious
process.

Language acquirers

are not consciously aware of the
grammatical rules of the language,

but rather develop a feel for correctness.

In non-technical language, acquisition is
picking up a language.

On the other hand,

language learning refers to the conscious
knowledge of a language,

knowing the rules, being aware of them,

and being able to talk about them.

Language learning can be compared to
knowing about the language.

To court Richard Bentley,

"Every living language

like the perspiring bodies of living
creatures,

is in perpetual motion and alteration;

some words go off, and become obsolete;

others are taken in,

and by degrees grow into common use;

or the same word is inverted to a new
sense or notion,

which in tract of time

makes an observable change in the air

and features of a language,

as age makes in the lines and mien of
a face."

Before moving to the next session,

please try to answer the following
questions:

Point out the factors influencing
acquisition.

What are the major problems in
acquiring a second language?

What is transfer of learning?

Mention different types of transfer
of learning.

At present to what extend

does the infrastructural facilities in
schools

aid in learning the second language,

Substantiate.

For further references.

The English Teacher's Hand Book

by T.C. Baruah.

Sterling Publishers,

private limited,

New Delhi.

Contemporary English Teaching,

by author M. Jesa.

K.M.K Publications, Kollam.

Modern Teaching of English,

by Nayyar Shamsi,

Published by

Anmol Publications private limited,

New Delhi.

Hope you find the session informative.

Thank you.

Bye.