assignment 1.docx

assignment 1.docx

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assignment1

TE10203

SECONDLANGUAGEACQUISITION

LECTURER:

DR.LEEKEANWAH

ASSIGNMENT1

HUKE（KINGSLEY）

BP14170003

Analyticalnarrativeofyourselfassecondlanguagelearner

IamaninternationalstudentwhocomesfromChina;thepositionofEnglishisaforeignlanguageinthere.SoitisdifferentbetweenChinaandMalaysia.InMalaysia,asweknownEnglishactsaroleofsecondlanguageforMalaysian.AndtheEnglishsystemforusisfollowingtheAmericanEnglish,butEnglishsystemofMalaysiaisBritainEnglish.ItmeansthatsomepartsofEnglishvocabulariesandpronunciationsaretotallydifferent.

Therearedifferentdefinitionsbetweensecondlanguageandforeignlanguage.Forsecondlanguage,ithastwodifferentdefinitions,theyaregeneralizationandspecialization.Forthegeneralizationone,itisalanguagedifferentfrommothertongue.Andintheotherhand,thespecializationismeaningthatbilingualorinamultilingualenvironmentexistsanotherlanguagebesidesthemothertongue,andthiskindoflanguagehastheequalpositionasthenativelanguageormoreimportantthannativelanguage.Ithasdifferentsenseofforeignlanguage;foreignlanguagemeansthatlearnersonlylearnitintheclass,andthislanguageusesorlearnsoutofnativecountry.

IhavespecialexperiencesoflearningEnglish,inthepastIstudiedinChinauntil17agesofmine,IlearnedEnglishasforeignlanguage,IjustlearnedmyEnglishintheclasstime,theteachertaughtususedthewayswerequiteboringanddull.Thewaysarelikethatwereadthewordsafterteacherspeakinganditjustforourpracticingourpronunciation；sometimes，welearnedthepronunciationofwordsfromrecordedtape.Formemorizingthevocabularies,weforceourselvestomemorize,sowewrittendownwordspageafterpage,wearenotgoodatcommunicatingbecausewearenomorechancestocommunicatewithothers,welosetheskilltocommunication.Eventhought,welearnEnglisharenotforourinterest,ourmainintentionisthatjustwanttopasstheexam,atleastforme,Iamthespecialcaseone.

ActuallyIamnotgoodatlearningEnglish,evenIhavelearntEnglishsince3rdgradebutuntilIfinishedmyprimarystudying,Icouldnotevencount1to100clearly,andthenumberofvocabularyispoor,ontheotherhand,pronunciationissowrong,youwillnotimaginehowdidIlearnEnglishinmyprimaryschool.InmyprimaryschoolIdidnotlearnthephoneticsymbol,welearnedfromteacherandtapes,soforme,IlearnedthesoundsofvocabularyislikethatafterIhearingIwoulduseChinesecharactersasexplanatorynoteforwhatIcouldnotspeak.Forexample,‘goodmorning’Iwoulddothat‘gudemoni’（thisonewecalledPINYIN,itsimilarasphoneticsymbol,weuseitpronounceChinese）.SoIusedPINYINasassistantforhelpingmespellingandspeaking.ItwasquiteastupidwaybutforthatperiodIthinkalotofstudentslikemeareusingthisway.UntilIwenttomiddleschoolIlearnedphoneticsymbol,butformestillquitedifficult,becauseImaderulesofPINYIN,Icouldnotchangethehobbitinashorttime,buttherewasnochoiceIstillusedthesamewayasprimaryschool,butwiththetimewentgraduallyIunderstoodalotsandthetimeIusedPINYINwasdescended.AndnowIhardlyusePINYINforhelpingmypronunciation.

Duringmyschooltime,teacherusedthegradetodeterminethelevelofstudent’slearning.Somestudentstheirmarkwasgoodbutwhentheydoingpracticeinrealitytheywouldbehard,becausetheywerelackofexperiencesandtraining.Onthecontrary,somestudentsweregoodatspeakingbutcouldnotwritewell,itwasabigproblem.

IcansaythatIknowthesurfacelevelsofEnglish,butforthedeeperoneIreallydonotknowuntilnow.

Butrightnow,IamonthewaytolearnactualEnglish.SofarIhavelearntmorphology,phonology.ThebasicstandardofEnglish,butIcanfeelthatIamtouchingtherealEnglishnow,becausenowIamauniversitystudentofUMSandtakingTESLprogram.

NowIamastudentofTESL,eventhough,IamnotalearnerregardEnglishasmysecondlanguage,butIhavelearntEnglishasforeignlanguagesinceyear3inprimaryschooluntilnowandIamstilllearningandstudyingit.IthinkmyexperiencesoflearningEnglishisquitesimilaraspeoplewhoregardEnglishassecondlanguage.ThenlaterIwillshowmysomeexperiencesthatIhaveforyouandcomparewithsecondlanguagelearnersiftheyarehavingsameproblemsasme.

Someresearchersthinkthattheprocessoflanguageacquisitionisdifferentfromtheprocessoflearninglanguage.forinstance,theAmericanlingualexpertS.D.Krashenindicatedthatpeoplemasterinakindsoflanguagealwaysusetwomeanstogain：

Onetypeisacquisitionandanotherislearningwhenhecameoutthelanguageacquisitiontheoryin1970s.

Languageacquisitionisthatlearnersthroughtouchingandusingtargetlanguageandthenlearnapartaspectofalanguageorthewholeprocessesofalanguageortheresultsofalanguageunconsciously.Learningislikethatlearnersinordertomasterinthetargetlanguageconsciouslyandstudytargetlanguage.Duringthis,thepatternofstudyingisthecore.Peoplealwaysconnectacquisitionandmothertonguetogether,becausethatmothertongueisgainingfromacquisitionandisnotbylearning.Meanwhile,peopleusuallylinklearningandforeignlanguagetogether.Tomasterinsecondlanguage,maygainfromacquisitionorlearning.

Krashen（1981）pointsthattomasterinaforeignlanguagereally,onlydependsonlearningisnotenough,acquisitionistheonlymethodtomaster,andacquisitiononlyoccursandexistsinanaturallanguageenvironment,learningisawaylearnersareconscioustolearntherulesoflanguageandpractice,butlearningcannotcauseacquisition.However,lookingatthehistoryofstudysecondlanguageacquisition,wecanobservethatdifferentresearchershavetheirownopinions.Forexample,therearenosubstantivedifferencesbetweenacquisitionandlearning.

FormyexperiencesoflearningEnglishinChina,mostChinesestudentsarelikemetolearnEnglish.ThewaywhichwestudyEnglishislearning,itisnotacquisition.ChinesestudentsareconscioustostudyEnglish,andtheyarefollowingthelanguagerulesforwriting,speakingandetc.duringtheEnglishclass,teacherwillprovideopportunitiesforstudentstocommunicate.Buttheprocessofcommunicationisstilted;thesentenceofdialogueisaccordingtothetextbook.AndteacherwillspeakstudentsinChineseforteaching,sostudentsaredifficulttouseEnglish.Forstudentsmemorizingvocabularyisrepeatingthewordsagainandagain,forcingthemselvestorememberthemintotheirbrain.IamusedtousingEnglishinmydailylife,andstudyinginEnglishgradually,butitisstillquitehardforme,becauseofmyspecialbackground,becauseIdidnotuseEnglishveryoftenandfrequentlyinthepast.

Stern（1983）pointedoutthatbothofthemarethesameconcept,differingacquisitionandlearningdonothaveanytheoreticmeanings.Butforme,IthinkitisgoodformetostudyEnglishassecondlanguage,becauseIunderstandthedifferencesoftwoofthematleast.AndIcanbeclearertolearn.

Corder（1977）whowasexponentofsecondlanguageacquisitionpointedoutthatsecondlanguagelearningisextendingfromfirstlanguageacquisition.Hesaidthatmostofpeoplestudyforeignlanguagebyusingthewaystheylearnedfirstlanguage.

AndIalsocanproofthisviewfrommyexperiencesoflearningChinese;IhavelearntmyfirstlanguagefrominfantuntilnowbutsomeofdetailsIcannotrememberclearly.ButIstillcanrememberthatwhenIwasprimarystudenthowdidChineseteachertoteachme.Werepeatedwhatteacherreadtousformemorizingthepronunciationofwords,forrememberingthestructureofwordswewrittendownthewordspageafterpage,sothatwecouldknowhowtouseChineseinourdailylife.

FormypreviousexperiencesoflearningEnglishinChina,thewayswelearnedEnglishwassameaswelearnedmyfirstlanguage.Ihavementionedbefore,wealsorepeatedafterteacherreading,writtendownthetargetwordsagainandagainuntilweremember.ButforlearningEnglish,alotofstudentswerenotwillingtolearn,becausetheythoughtthatEnglishisnotusefulinlife,duetowealwaysuseChineseinlifeandthereisnoplaceforustopracticeEnglish.TherearelotsofexcusesforthemtodonotwanttostudyEnglish.Meanwhile,thewaysthoseteacherstaughtwereverydullsothatstudentscouldnotbeinterestedinlearningEnglish.

Inthelearningprocessofsecondlanguageorforeignlanguage,distinguishingthemfromtheoriesispossible.KrashenpointedoutTheMonitorHypothesis,itthinksthatpeoplewhomasterinalanguagethroughacquisition,andtheycaneasilyuselanguageforcommunicating;butpeoplewhomasterinalanguagefromlearning,theyonlycanusetherulesoflanguagetocommunicate.Someofpeopleusinglanguage,theyalwaysusegrammarstocheck,inordertomakesuredonotmakemistakes.Thisiscalledthroughmonitoringtolearn.Withthelanguagestandardsimprovegradually,thatwaywillbedecreasedasymptotically.

IamalsousingEnglishlikethat,whileItalkingtootherIhavetomorefocusonthegrammarrulesthanmyutterances.BecauseIamafraidofmakingmistakesandscaredpeoplewhoaretalkingtomewillnotunderstandme.Ithinkitishardtobeimproved.

ThroughtheanalysisoftheprocessandmethodoflearningEnglish,wecanfindthat“acquisition”seemsmoreimportantthan“learning”.Becauselearnersabsorbknowledgenaturally,itiseasyforlearnerstomasterinalanguage,wecanrealizethisopinionfromtheprocess