Second Language Acquisition: Key Processes and Theories

L1 Transfer in Second Language Acquisition

L1 Transfer refers to the influence that a learner’s first language (L1) exerts over the acquisition of a second language (L2). This includes positive transfer, negative transfer, overuse, and avoidance.

Theoretical Accounts of L1 Transfer

• Behaviourism: Errors were viewed as the result of interference. The habits of the L1 were supposed to prevent the learner from learning the habits of the L2.
• Contrastive Analysis (CA): Comparisons of the two languages were carried out using CA to predict difficulties.
• Mentalist Accounts: These suggest that only a few errors are the result of L1 transfer.
• Cognitive Accounts: Transfer is viewed as a cognitive process, with the L1 acting as a kind of input from the inside.

Learners' Perceptions

Learners have perceptions regarding the linguistic features of their own language. They possess a sense of which features in their L1 are basic and which are unique. Consequently, transfer is governed by learners' perceptions about what is transferable and by their specific stage of development.

The Role of Consciousness in SLA

While L1 is acquired without conscious effort, L2 learners often work hard and study consciously. Stephen Krashen identifies two distinct knowledge systems:

1. Acquired L2 Language: Implicit knowledge of the language developed subconsciously through comprehending input while communicating.
2. Learned L2 Language: Explicit knowledge about the language developed consciously through deliberate study.

These two knowledge systems are independent of one another; learned knowledge can never be converted into acquired knowledge.

Conscious Attention to Input

Richard Schmidt argues that learning cannot take place without noticing (the process of attending consciously to linguistic features in the input). Factors that influence noticing the input include instruction, frequency, skill level, and the act of comparing.

Processing Operations and Interlanguage

Researchers deduce the operations that learners perform through a close inspection of their output.

• Operating Principles: These are general strategies that children use to extract and segment linguistic information from the language they hear, accounting for the regular properties of their output.
• Andersen’s One-to-One Principle: This suggests an interlanguage system should be constructed so that an intended underlying meaning is expressed with one clear, invariant surface form.

Communication Strategies in L2 Acquisition

These are the mechanisms involved when learners use the L2 knowledge they have acquired during communication. Common strategies include:

• Paraphrasing
• Substitution
• Coining new words
• Non-verbal strategies
• Avoidance

Computational Models of Language Learning

These models identify the mental processes involved in constructing and using an interlanguage. The "black box" houses an apparatus that extracts information from the input, processes it, stores it, and subsequently uses it in output.

Types of Computational Models

1. Serial Processing: Information is processed in a series of sequential steps, resulting in the representation of what has been learned as specific rules and strategies.
2. Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP): This model suggests the learner has the ability to perform a number of mental tasks simultaneously.