FP003 – SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

PRACTICAL ACTIVITY
General instructions:

The practical activity of this subject consists of carrying out the tasks detailed below. To do
this, the learner must keep the statements of each of the tasks and respond to each of
them. In addition, the activity must meet the formal requirements:

 Length: 5-6 pages (excluding instructions, statements, bibliography and annexes, if any).
 Font: Arial.
 Size: 11 points
 Spacing: 1.5.
 Alignment: Justified.

The activity should be carried out in this Word document following the rules of presentation
and editing in terms of citations and bibliographic references (see Study Guide).

Submission must be done following the procedures described in the subject’s evaluation
document; under no circumstances should it be submitted through the professor’s email.

On the other hand, remember that there are evaluation criteria which are considered
extremely important for the learner to follow. For further information, please refer to the
subject evaluation document.

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Student first and last name(s): Natalia Droguett Villablanca

Group: FP_TEFL_2022-10

Date: February 27, 2023

Second Language Acquisition: Practice Activity

Prof. María Eugenia Falabella

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TASK 1 - SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN L1
AND L2 ACQUISITION

Table 2.3. of contents presents a summary table - adapted from Ellis (1994) who in turn
draws on a similar scheme by Bley-Vroman (1989) - which includes some of the features
involved in language acquisition. Refer to the table and answer the following questions:

Language Acquisition (Ellis, 1994 based on Bley-Vroman, 1989)

Feature L1 acquisition L2 acquisition

- adult L2 learners are unlikely to
achieve perfect L2 mastery
- children under 13 according, to
the Critical Period Hypothesis,
can achieve perfect or near
- children normally achieve perfect
perfect L2 mastery (Lenneberg,
L1 mastery
1967)
Overall success - children benefit from adults
- adult L2 learners can achieve a
providing Scaffolding to reach the
high level of competence, but
ZPD (FUNIBER, 2022)
pronunciation will very rarely be
near-native (Odlin, 2003)
- child and adult learners benefit
from Scaffolding to acquire L2 just
above their developmental stage
General failure success guaranteed complete success rare
- L2 learners vary in overall
success and route
- Interlanguages are dynamic,
Little variation in degree of
Variation changeable, permeable and of
success or route
great variability; L2 competences
will often change in a learner’s
journey
L2 learners may be content with
less than target language
Goals target language competence
competence or more concerned
with fluency than accuracy

common, plus backsliding (i.e.

Fossilization unknown return to earlier stages of
development)
- L2 learners are often unable to
form clear grammaticality
judgements
children develop clear intuitions - L2 learners can develop
Intuitions
about correctness intuitions about grammaticality,
but they will be more inconsistent
than L1 speakers (FUNIBER,
2022)

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 - helpful or necessary
- attention to form is often
Instructions not needed
necessary to enhance L2
competence (FUNIBER, 2022)
- correction generally helpful or
necessary
correction not found and not - implicit feedback preferable
Negative evidence
necessary when taking into account L2
learners’ Affective Filter
(FUNIBER, 2022)
play a major role determining
Affective factors not involved
proficiency

a) Can you think of any other difference? Try to add some more features to the
table.

Please find my added features to the table in blue.

b) What points do L1 and L2 acquisition have in common?

First, and following an Innatist approach, it is important to address Universal

Grammar. This principle, first introduced by Noam Chomsky, was explained by Vivian
Cook as
the language properties inherent in the human mind make up 'Universal Grammar ',
which consists, not of particular rules or of a particular grammar, but of a set of
general principles that apply to all grammars and that leave certain parameters
open; Universal Grammar sets the limits within which human languages can vary.
(Chomsky’s Universal Grammar and Second Language Learning, n.d, par. 6)
Even though there are conflicting stances towards whether or not L2 learners can access
the UG of their target language, there is consensus that unmarked features, which are,
according to Hulya Ipek, “those that are universal or present in most languages,” can be
transferable between L1 and L2. On the other hand, marked features belong to a particular
language and are difficult to transfer. So, when acquiring an L1 and L2, we find that “core
rules, such as word order, are innate and can be arrived at through the application of
general, abstract principles of language structure” (2009, p. 156).
Secondly, according to Rod Ellis (1984), there are developmental stages in the
acquisition of any language that follow a common sequence: the silent period, formulaic
speech and semantic and structural simplification. In the early stages of language

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acquisition, babies go through a silent period in which they listen to and absorb their
mother tongue. In his Input Hypothesis, Stephen Krashen (1982) states his belief that
children acquiring a second language also go through this silent period. Krashen goes on
to say that “adults, and children in formal language classes, are usually not allowed a
silent period. They are often asked to produce very early in a second language, before
they have acquired enough syntactic competence to express their ideas” (p. 27). However,
in successful L2 acquisition, adults who go through this natural silent period are able to
build linguistic competence while on it.
When it comes to formulaic speech, it can be defined as “expressions which are
learned as unanalysable wholes and employed on particular occasions by native
speakers.” (Lyon, 1968, as cited in Ellis, 1983, p. 53) This formulaic language, also known
as chunks, can also be acquired by L2 learners. Krashen (1982) talks about memorized
sentences that, though at first the learner does not wholly understand their meaning, they
make the speaker appear competent until real competence arrives at later acquisition
stages.
The final developmental stage is structural and semantic simplifications. Ipek states
that
Structural simplifications take the form of omitting grammatical functors (e.g.
articles, auxiliary verbs) and semantic simplifications take the form of omitting
content words (e. g. nouns, verbs). There are two suggested reasons why such
simplifications occur. The first reason is that learners may not have yet acquired
the necessary linguistic forms. The second reason is that they are unable to access
linguistic forms during production. (2009)
These simplifications are observable in L1 and L2 acquisition processes, and thus another
shared characteristic.
Finally, another point in common between L1 and L2 is acquisition order. Kashen
states in his Natural Order Hypothesis that “acquirers of a given language tend to acquire
certain grammatical structures early, and others later. The agreement among individual
acquirers is not always 100%, but there are clear, statistically significant, similarities.”
(1982, p. 12) This rule is not wholly steadfast, but it has been observed throughout
interlanguages and can thus be considered a similarity between L1 and L2 acquisition.

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TASK 2

The next article describes some of the problems involved in conducting research into
motherese (also referred to as child directed speech in the article). Read the text and
answer the following question: Lieven poses three questions on the first page of the article.
Explain (very briefly) the main points she makes with regard to each one.

Article: Lieven, E. (1996). Language addressed to children: Linguistic and Cultural

Aspects. In N. Mercer & J. Swann (eds.), Learning English: development and diversity.
(pp. 40-43). London: Routledge.
Note: Your answer should be in your own words.

Answer:
Regarding the first question, (what is the range of environments within each
children learn to talk?), the author describes the many possibilities in which a child might
be encountered, being either dyadic (mother-child) or polyadic (within a group of varied
configurations).

When it comes to the second question (do adults from other cultures and
subcultures see themselves as adjusting their language to children, and if so, to what
purpose?), the author points out that even though there is much more data about adult and
children talk in an English speaking context, usually these studies do not reflect the culture
in which the child is set. Studies about language acquisition in non-industrialized countries
or non-Indo-European languages do consider context, but they tend to be conducted by
researchers that do not belong to the culture being studied, and thus may fail to
understand cultural behavior.

Finally, in order to address the third question (how, if at all, might these
adjustments relate to the child’s task of learning language structure?), the author points
out that children across cultures are mostly found in polyadic settings. Moreover, despite
the varied configurations of these groups that may or may not adjust their language
structure to address them, most children all around the globe successfully acquire
language.

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TASK 3. ERROR ANALYSIS

Next utterances have been produced by L2 English learners (L1= Spanish). The analysis
consists in:

 identify and describe the errors that appear in the utterances

 give an explanation about their origins
 interlingual errors (result of L1 transfer)
 intralingual errors (result of the own L2 development process)

1. We put all the equipments on the beach: The error is in the noun ‘equipments’. It
should be singular as it is an uncountable noun. This is an interlingual error, as the
word ‘equipos’ in Spanish is countable, so this is a case of interference.

2. A large number of people is sick: The error is in the verb ‘is’, there is no
subject/verb agreement, as ‘a large number of people’ needs a plural verb. This
error is interlingual, as the same expression in Spanish uses a singular verb. This is
another case of interference.

3. He is owing me ten dollars: The error is in the progressive conjugation ‘is owing’;
it is not possible, as ‘owe’ is a stative verb. This error is intralingual, as it is applying
a correct rule (Present Progressive), but omitting or not knowing the exception that
applies to stative verbs.

4. Does John can sing?: The error is the use of the auxiliary ‘does’ instead of using
‘can’. This is an intralingual error, as it is the result of hypercorrection (over
application of a rule).

5. I am also speak German: The error is the use of the verb ‘are’ to indicate Present
Simple. This is an intralingual error, as it is the result of a confusion with the rules of
Present Simple.

Very important: the following personal details must be included on the cover page.

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 Bibliography

Cook, V. Chomsky’s Universal Grammar and Second Language Learning. (n.d.).

http://www.viviancook.uk/Writings/Papers/AL85.htm

Ellis, R. (1983). Formulaic Speech in Early Classroom Second Language Development. In

J. Handscombe (ed.), TESOL ’83. The Question of Control. Selected Papers from

the Annual Convention of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED275141.pdf

Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press

Ipek, H. (2009). Comparing and Contrasting First and Second Language Acquisition:

Implications for Language Teachers. English Language Teaching, 2(2).

https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v2n2p155

Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Prentice

Hall.

Lieven, E. (1996). Language addressed to children: Linguistic and Cultural Aspects. In N.

Mercer & J. Swann (eds.), Learning English: development and diversity. (pp. 40-

43). Routledge.

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