Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period.pptVIP

Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period What we will do today Introduction to second language acquisition How age affects second language acquisition Second language acquisition: a first look Classroom learning not the best example of L2 acquisition L2 acquisition is much like L1 acquisition Child L2 acquisition is especially like L1 acquisition Adult L2 acquisition diverges in certain ways from L1 acquisition Classroom learning not the best example of L2 acquisition Majority of humans speak an L2; few of them learned it in classroom setting. Classroom language instruction is a relatively recent phenomenon. It usually involves just the beginning stages of acquisition. A typical language class 3 hours per week 30 weeks per year 2 years of study 180 total hours of exposure What can you do in 180 hours? If you learn 10 words per hour, you will learn 1,800 words in 2 years. Is this a lot? No. Average 18-year-old knows 60,000 words. 5-year-old knows 13,000! So….. Classroom language learning is worth studying (and worth doing!), But it is just one piece of the larger picture of second language acquisition. Second language acquisition: a first look Classroom learning not the best example of L2 acquisition L2 acquisition is much like L1 acquisition Child L2 acquisition is especially like L1 acquisition Adult L2 acquisition diverges in certain ways from L1 acquisition L2 acquisition is much like L1 acquisition Have to learn words: dog, run, of … Typical error: “Cover(wrap) the turkey with aluminum paper.” Have to learn rules: SVO, “add –ed to make verb past tense” … Typical error: “I taked test yesterday.” Second language acquisition: a first look Classroom learning not the best example of L2 acquisition L2 acquisition is much like L1 acquisition Child L2 acquisition is especially like L1 acquisition Adult L2 acquisition diverges in certain ways from L1 acquisition Child L2 acquisition is especially like L1 acquisition After arriving in a