Foundations of SLA

What is Second Language Acquisition? (Pick 2)

• the study of individuals and groups learning another langauge

• the process of learning another langauge

• taking a Spanish class in high school

• watching anime and "picking up" a few words in Japanese

Match the following

• highly specialized, focused on occupation-specific functions

• second language

• a tool for further learning through reading

• auxiliary langauge

• official or social dominant language

• foreign language

• not widely used in the learner's immediate context

• language for a specific purpose

• need to know for some official functions

• library langauge

What is a creole, according to linguists?

• A language separate from the languages it blends

• An informal version of another language

• A language spoken in Haiti

• A dialect of another language

What are phonemes?

• An alphabetical writing system

• Sounds that make words

• A type of language

• A type of grammar

Match the following frameworks with their main ideas

• How learners internalize language knowledge and use language

• Linguistic

• The importance of social context in language learning and use

• Psychological

• How the brain processes language, how learners learn language, and differences between learners

• Social

Match the following

• vocabulary

• lexicon

• sound systems

• phonology

• composition of words

• semantics

• meaning

• syntax

• grammar

• morphology

Which best summarizes the "Logical Problem of Language Learning"

• Children say things adults don't, don't imitate adult grammar, use language following universal rules, and don't develop language ability based on input.

• Children can learn language by imitation as long as they follow the universal rules and have consistent adult input.

• Children can learn language by memorizing the grammar of their native language though consistent adult input.

• Children can develop language ability without any input from adults because of their innate language ability.

True or False: L2 Learners need face-to-face, reciprocal input to acquire the target language.

• True

• False

What is the goal of second language acquisition (for the L2 learner)?

• To be able to order food in a restaurant

• To be able to understand and speak the language fluently

• It depends on why the person is learning the language

• To learn the grammar and syntax of the language

​ (a)   is the influence of prior L1 knowledge on L2 learning. ​ (b)   is when that L1 knowledge produces "correct" language in the L2. ​ (c)   is when the L1 knowledge results in errors in the L2.

• Transfer
• Positive transfer
• Negative transfer
• False transfer
• True transfer
• Cognate
• False cognate