Second Language Acquisition Essay Example

Second Language Acquisition

1. Sayer, P & Ban, R 2014, ‘Young EFL students’ engagements with English outside the classroom’, ELT Journal, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 321-329.

Brief summary of the article

In their article, Sayer and Ban (2014) carried out a study to determine how young students of English as a foreign language (EFL) engaged with English outside the classroom. The study was informed by the perception among some quarters that since very little time was dedicated to English as part of the EFL programme, the students had little or no interaction with the target language while out of the classroom, and as such, it was deemed that the EFL programme had little if any, chance of success.

Sayer and Ban (2014) were invited by the Ministry of Education in Mexico to study the impact of the EFL programme on the target learners. The authors, instead of only looking at the outcomes of tests to determine the students’ performance and improvement, chose to use an ethnographic approach. They interacted with the students and their parents to determine whether the students used English outside school.

According to the results of the study by Sayer and Ban (2014), contrary to the views of teachers that the students had limited exposure to English, the learners were exposed to the language through other means outside the class. Some of the ways in which the students interacted with the English language included watching English movies through channels such as YouTube, playing games with English instructions, communicating with relatives who live in the United States, listening to music done in English, and using Google Translate to translate English words into their own language.

As such, Sayer and Ban (2014, p. 328), conclude that one way of evaluating the success of EFL programmes is to look at the various ways in which the learners engage with the language outside the classroom. More importantly, the authors argue that teachers would benefit if they took a more ethnographic approach when teaching EFL in order to find out what their students do with English in the absence of a teacher.

Critical reflection

The article by Sayer and Ban (2014) gives a good insight on how learners of a second language can use the language on their own without necessarily having to be in the classroom. The article’s findings show that learners of EFL do not have to depend entirely on what their teachers teach in the classroom in order to grasp English. This is because there are many other instances outside the classroom in which the learners have an opportunity to interact with or use the English language. Specifically, watching English videos, reading English books, communicating with family members who are speakers of English, using applications such as Google Translate on the Internet, playing video games with English instructions, reading product instruction manuals and labels that are in English and listening to music performed in English are some of the ways in which EFL learners have an opportunity to interact with the target language.

I agree with Sayer and Ban’s (2014) findings regarding the role that the environment outside the classroom plays in the EFL learners’ use of the English language. This is because more often than not, the learners are exposed to other ways in which they are able to use the target language. For example, the learners are likely to have friends or relatives who speak English and are also likely to interact with different forms of media that expose them to the language, such as Facebook, YouTube, movies, video games and so forth.

In deed, several studies have suggested that the environment outside the classroom plays a major role in exposing learners of English to the language. For instance, Ferdous (2013, p. 3) argues that although formal classroom learning is one of the ways to practise and learn a new language, there are many other ways in which a learner can be exposed to the new language. The various ways through which learners get exposure to a new language, as mentioned by Ferdous (2013, p. 3), include multimedia (radio, TV, Internet and video games) and group work projects. The author points out that such exposure can enable learners to make use of the new language more. For instance, by interacting in English through group work, learners of EFL are able to use the language outside the classroom. Similarly, in a study of Japanese EFL learners in a university, Lee, Browne and Kusumoto (2011, p. 15) found out that the learners do in fact get opportunities to make use of English away from the classroom on campus. Moreover, the same authors note that students who lived on campus appeared to benefit more from the environment in comparison to their counterparts who lived outside campus. Tiittanen (2015, p. 1) also found out that Tamil-speaking ESL learners who used English outside the classroom reported better English accuracy compared to those who did not use the language outside the classroom.

The fact that Sayer and Ban (2014) used an ethnographic approach to collect data also adds to the relevance of the data that the two authors collected. This is because the authors were able to interact with the research participants rather than rely on class-based assessments of the EFL learners. Therefore, the authors collected the information from the perspective of the research participants’ own experiences by immersing themselves in the phenomenon that they were studying (Whitehead, 2005, p. 3). This enabled the authors to have personal experiences of the ways in which English is used by EFL learners outside the classroom.

1. Zafar, S & Meenakshi, K 2012, ‘Individual learner differences and second language acquisition: a review’, Journal of Language Teaching and Research, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 639-646.

Brief summary of the article

The article by Zafar and Meenakshi (2012) presents a review of the various factors that make individuals have different second language acquisition abilities.The authors argue that a person’s capacity to master a second language depends on several factors that are determined by nature and shaped by how the person is brought up. In particular, the authors point out that “people are not homogenous” given that they have different styles and personalities (Zafar & Meenakshi 2012, p. 639). And these differences between individuals affect the individuals’ levels of second language acquisition.

Zafar and Meenakshi (2012) note that the various factors that influence people’s ability in the acquisition of a second language include a person’s age, sex, aptitude, motivation, learning style, learning strategies, and personality. The authors go further to discuss how each of the aforementioned factors affects a person’s capacity to acquire and master a second language. In the discussion, it is noted that some of these factors also interdependent. For instance, a person’s choice of a strategy for learning a second language is influenced by the individual’s motivation, personality, cognitive style and other attributes (Zafar & Meenakshi 2012, p. 642).

In their concluding remarks, Zafar and Meenakshi (2012, p. 644) note that the different individual attributes of learners play a critical role in the learning of a second language. Nonetheless, the authors also argue that in spite of the attempts of many researchers to come up with a conclusive theory regarding the various differences, no convincing theory has been arrived at. More importantly, the authors argue that because of the differences among individuals, teachers, and particularly language teachers, need to be psychologists who can modify their teaching to suit learners with different attributes. They also assert that teachers need to know the differences among learners but also go further to help the students utilise those differences to their advantage in the process of acquiring a second language.

Critical reflection

Zafar and Meenakshi’s (2012) article provides an insight into the various factors that shape learners’ ability to acquire a second language. This is very important since understanding the various factors that influence second language acquisition is critical in helping learners achieve the set objectives. The article is particularly important because upon reading it, one can understand that the achievements made by learners of a second language need to be assessed by taking into consideration the various factors that affect the ability of people to acquire a second language.

The factors discussed by Zafar and Meenakshi (2012) in the review as having an effect on a person’s ability to acquire a second language include age, sex, aptitude, motivation, learning style, learning strategy, and personality. Zafar and Meenakshi (2012) also note that in many cases, these factors are interdependent. For instance, a person’s personality may influence the individual’s choice of a learning style and learning strategy for second language acquisition.

In a different study by Ehrman, Leaver and Oxford (2003, p. 313), the authors noted that learner differences comprise, inter alia, factors that can be grouped under three major areas: learning styles, learning strategies; and affective variables. Ehrman, Leaver and Oxford (2003, p. 313-314) also note that other key areas of individual differences are related to age, gender, learning aptitude, culture, and other demographic factors.

Some studies have focused on a single variable that is perceived to affect learners’ level of second language acquisition. For instance, Agulló’s (2006) study titled “Overcoming age-related differences” was focused on how to overcome age-related differences that affect individuals’ levels of second language acquisition. In the study, Agulló’s (2006) proposed how to adapt the same teaching content to promote the acquisition abilities of learners of different ages to the increase the success chances of the second language learning process. On the other hand, van der Slik, van Hout and Schepens (2015) conducted a study that involved an evaluation of gender differences in the acquisition of Dutch among immigrants from different countries. It was found in this study that female learners constantly performed better than male learners in writing and speaking ability in second language (Dutch) acquisition (van der Slik, van Hout & Schepens, 2015, p. 1). The same point is noted by Zafar and Meenakshi (2012, p. 640), where it is indicated that females tend to depict higher integrative motivation as well as positive attitudes towards acquiring a second language compared to men. Further, it is argued that females use a wider array of learning strategies, especially social strategies, in their attempts to master a second language (Zafar & Meenakshi 2012, 640), and are therefore likely to perform better than men.

What is clear from the study by Zafar and Meenakshi (2012) as well as the other studies that have been mentioned is that there are individual differences that affect learners’ levels of acquiring a second language. This is inarguable given that many studies support this assertion. Specifically, although the study by Zafar and Meenakshi (2012) only involved a review of existing literature, it is supported by findings from other studies as noted above. Therefore, as noted by Zafar and Meenakshi (2012, p. 644) and Ehrman, Leaver and Oxford (2003, 325), it is important to understand the individual differences among learners of a second language in order to find ways to help them achieve success in their studies.

References

Agulló, GL 2006, ‘Overcoming age-related differences’, ELT Journal, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 365-373.

Ehrman, ME, Leaver, BL & Oxford, RL 2003 ‘A brief overview of individual differences in second language learning’, System, vol. 31, pp. 313–330.

Ferdous, T 2013, Use of English beyond the classroom wall: a study of undergraduate students’ out-of-class English learning activities (Master’s thesis), BRAC University, BRAC University, Dhaka, viewed 25 April 2017, <http://dspace.bracu.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10361/2760/Tanjila.pdf;sequence=1>

Lee, RA, Browne, KC & Kusumoto, Y 2011, ‘Measuring EFL learners’ environment; English contact and use outside the classroom at a Japanese international university’, Polyglossia, vol. 20, pp. 15-25.

Sayer, P & Ban, R 2014, ‘Young EFL students’ engagements with English outside the classroom’, ELT Journal, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 321-329.

Tiittanen, M 2015, ‘The impact of use of English outside the classroom by mandarin and Tamil ESL learners in their accuracy with the simple past tense’, ELTWorldOnline.com, vol. VII, pp. 1-20.

van der Slik, FWP, van Hout, RWNM & Schepens, JJ 2015, ‘The gender gap in second language acquisition: gender differences in the acquisition of Dutch among immigrants from 88 countries with 49 mother tongues’, PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 11, p. 1-22.

Whitehead, TL 2005, ‘Basic
classical
ethnographic
research
methods’, Ethnographically Informed Community and Cultural Assessment Research Systems (EICCARS) Working Paper Series, viewed 25 April 2017, <http://www.cusag.umd.edu/documents/workingpapers/classicalethnomethods.pdf>.

Zafar, S & Meenakshi, K 2012, ‘Individual learner differences and second language acquisition: a review’, Journal of Language Teaching and Research, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 639-646.