SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (SLA)
Language teachers were once swayed by an argument that the most natural way of acquiring a second language was to emulate the process of first language acquisition. However, modern practice reflects a realisation that the two situations are very different. Compared with an infant acquiring its first language, an adolescent or adult acquiring a second:
has less time for learning;
is cognitively developed– possessing concepts such as causality or aspect;
is primed by experience to seek for patterns in data and so responds to input analytically;
already has a first language, which provides a lens through which the second is perceived;
has access to a language of explanation, and is therefore capable of understanding (even if not applying) theoretical explanations;
is accustomed to expressing their personality in L1, and may find their limited powers of expression in L2 a chastening experience;
has pragmatic experience of a range of social circumstances in L1 and extensive world knowledge.
