The Factors That Influence The Acquisition of A Second Language
The Factors That Influence The Acquisition of A Second Language
Age
Second language acquisition is influenced by the age of the learner. Adults feel it difficult to
recognize sounds of foreign language, to remember what is heard and also to produce sounds.
This happens mainly because of the problem of transfer of habits of the native language.
Children, who already have solid literacy skills in their own language, seem to be in the best
position to acquire a new language efficiently. A 3 year old child has great facility in imitating
foreign sounds and remembering them. Teaching writing is not a pre-requisite for pronouncing
sounds and words. High school children are at a transition stage in which limited use of special
symbols can be of some help. Greater flexibility of vocal organs, spontaneous oral imitation,
sensitivity to the forms of speech heard and natural love of repetition of the six to ten year old
student favour learning a new language. A small child would be less conscious and more an
extrovert. This will favour easy language learning. It has been observed that ten year old students
are passionately interested in the study of languages. Motivated, older learners can be very
successful too, but usually struggle to achieve native-speaker-equivalent pronunciation and
intonation. Research has shown that the starting age does not affect the route of the second
language acquisition (S L A) but it does influence the rate of acquisition. It has been established
that adults will acquire proficiency levels rapidly because of their cognitive abilities, but children
are more successful as far as pronounciation is concerned.
Sex
Many studies have found that gender can have a significant impact on how students learn a
language. Although the study of gender as a variable in language learning is still at an early stage,
studies of individual language learner differences related to sex (biological) or gender (socially
constructed) have shown that females tend to show greater integrative motivation and more
positive attitudes to L2, and use a wider range of learning strategies, particularly social strategies.
In all phases of language learning, i.e., articulation, word use, length of utterance, complexity,
grammatical correctness of sentences etc. girls are found to excel. The difference was highly
reflected in the case of adolescents. It was also found that girls use more personal pronouns than
boys and minimum number of slangs. Again, the singletons are proved to be superior in
producing long talks, long sentences, clear articulation etc. when compared to twins, triplets and
quintuplets. Studies of actual results suggest females are typically superior to males in nearly all
aspects of language learning, except listening vocabulary.
Personality
Studies have shown that extraverts (or unreserved and outgoing people) acquire a second
language better than introverts (or shy people). Introverted or anxious learners usually
make slower progress, particularly in the development of oral skills. They are less likely
to take advantage of opportunities to speak, or to seek out such opportunities. Extroverts
will be willing to try to communicate even if they are not sure they will succeed.
Logically, anxiety will cause students not to try and advance their skills, especially when
they feel they are under pressure. Just the lack of practice will make introverts less likely
to fully acquire the second language.
Cognitive Style
In general, it seems that students with greater cognitive abilities will make the faster progress.
Some linguists believe that there is a specific, innate language learning ability that is stronger in
some students than in others. Each individual leaner has his own way of processing information
or approaching a task. This is known as his cognitive style. The processing of the input depends
on the cognitive style of each student. The particular aspect of the presented material to which
each student listens, will be different and thus the difference in the intake. If there is any
compatibility with respect to the learning style and the instructional style, again, there will be
anxiety, lack of confidence, de-motivation, all of which will affect the learning process adversely.
According to Ellis, cognitive style is a term used to refer to the manner in which people perceive,
conceptualize, organize and recall information. There are two types of cognitive style: field
independent and field dependent.
Field independent learners display the following characteristics
They rely on an internal frame of reference in processing information
They are analytical and look at a language in terms of its parts.
They are not socially very much aware and are not so skilled in interpersonal
relationships.
Aptitude
Carrol proposed that foreign language aptitude consisted of four independent abilities
Phonetic coding ability, which consists of the ability to perceive and memorise new sounds.
Grammatical sensitivity, which is the individuals ability to demonstrate awareness of the
syntactic patterning of sentences of a language.
Rote learning ability, which is the ability to learn association between sounds and meanings
rapidly.
Inductive ability which consists of the ability to notice and identify similarities and differences in
grammatical form and meaning.
Intelligence
language is an intellectual task which depends on the teachers abilities. Verbal or linguistic
intelligence is accepted to be one of the components of multiple intelligence. Language learning
fosters intelligence. At lower levels, intelligence is found to be highly related to acquisition of
vocabulary. Experiments have proved that emotional intelligence also has a significant role in
foreign language development. Language ability is a combination of verbality (fluency,
confluence etc) cerebro-vocal ability, memory and perception, reasoning, speech and writing.
Attitude
Attitude can range from extreme positive to extreme negative grade. It is studied that positive attitude
facilitates learning. If the learner is reluctant to learn or he/she does not have a positive attitude,
he/she does not produce any result. Learning of a foreign language is not so easy when compared to
many other school subjects. A positive attitude is to be developed towards the language. This can be
done by applying a variety of techniques like games, film shows, dramas, simulations etc.
Conclusion
The success in second language acquisition depends on many factors. Age and motivation factors are
among the most important ones. In studies, it has been found that if a learner has a competency in his or
her own language, he or she is more advantageous than those who have not completed his first language.
As to motivation, it has been found that motivated students are more successful in second language
acquisition than those who are not motivated.