The Factors Influencing the Acquisition of a Second Language
The Factors Influencing the Acquisition of a Second Language
The Factors Influencing the Acquisition of a Second Language
Language other than one’s mother tongue is called Second Language. Nowadays the importance of learning a second language has immensely increased. But learning a second language is not an easy task. A successful acquisition of a second language needs sheer determination, hard work, persistence and practice. However, there are some factors- both internal and external- that influence the acquisition of a second language. These factors are- Age, Sex, Personality, Motivation, Cognition, Same Language Family, Access to Native speakers and Intelligent. They are being discussed below:
Age
Second language acquisition is influenced by the age of the learner. Children who already have literacy skills in their mother tongues seem to be in the best position to acquire a second language efficiently. Motivated elder learners (adults) can be successful too. But they have to struggle to acquire native-like fluency in the second language.
Sex
Trudgill, a research scholar has found out that girls are better learners than boys. He argues that women are socially and economically less secure than men. They compensate for it linguistically. Society expects women to be more correct, discreet, quiet and polite and increases the pressure on them to use more correct and prestigious forms of language than men.
Personality
Research has shown that the personality of a learner affects his skill in learning a second language. It is seen that introverted or anxious learners usually make slower progress, particularly in the development of oral skills than those learners who are extroverts. Introvert learners are likely to take advantage of opportunities to speak or to seek out such opportunities. But extrovert and more outgoing students take more risks and thus give themselves too much practice.
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation correlates strongly with educational achievement. The students who enjoy learning a language and take pride in their progress can do better than those who don’t. For example, a person who needs to learn English to take the office of an ambassador or to communicate with a friend is likely to make a greater effort and thus gets greater progress.
Cognition
The term ‘cognition’ refers to the process of gaining knowledge through experience, thought and senses. Some linguistics believes that there is an especially innate language-learning ability that is stronger in some students than in others. And students having strong cognitive abilities can acquire a second language more easily.
Same Language Family
A learner who goes to learn a language that belongs to the same language family of his mother tongue can learn very easily than those who are not. For example, a child will learn Bengali more quickly and easily than English whose mother tongue is Hindi.
Access to Native Speakers
The opportunity to interact with native speakers both within and outside the classroom is a significant advantage. Native speakers are linguistic models and can provide appropriate feedback. They show progress, particularly in the oral and aural aspects of language acquisition.
Intelligence
Intelligence is usually conceived of as an ability to understand, learn and think things out quickly. It consists of verbal ability, reasoning ability, concept formation ability etc. The students having more intelligence can acquire a second language more aptly and easily than those who don’t.
These are the principal factors that contribute to the acquisition of a second language. 0 0 0
The Factors Influencing the Acquisition of a Second LanguageÂ
N. B. This article entitled ‘The Factors Influencing the Acquisition of a Second Language’ originally belongs to the book ‘Essays on Linguistics‘ by Menonim Menonimus. The Factors Influencing the Acquisition of a Second Language
Books on Linguistics by M. Menonimus:
- A Brief History of the English Language
- Essays on Linguistics
- My Imageries
- Felicitous Expression: Some Examples
- Learners’ English Dictionary
Books of Composition by M. Menonimus:
- Advertisement Writing
- Amplification Writing
- Note Making
- Paragraph Writing
- Notice Writing
- Passage Comprehension
- The Art of Poster Writing
- The Art of Letter Writing
- Report Writing
- Story Writing
- Substance Writing
- School Essays Part-I
- School Essays Part-II
- School English Grammar Part-I
- School English Grammar Part-II..
Related Searches:
- 10 Characteristics of Human Language
- 10 Main Features of Human Language
- Characteristics of Language
- Word Formation Process
- Types of Word Formation Process
- Sociolinguistics and Its Scope
- The Nature and Scope of Sociolinguistics
- Bilingualism Overview
- Aspects of Bilingualism
- The Factors that Influence Second Language Acquisition
- 9 Factors that Influence Language Learning …
