Second Language Acquisition: The Impact of School Experience

It is important to know and understand how a student learns a language to align our teaching to its development states, and the stages of language acquisition. We might not know the student's native language, but we can understand how language is learned to adjust our instruction accordingly. Words must be repeated constantly to assimilate them: hearing, seeing, expressing them, using intonation, 

visual cues - these are all mechanisms by which language is assimilated. All too often an ELL is expected to repeat words without being given the chance to internalize the sounds and the meaning.

Language's impact on meaning has everything to do with the pedagogy used to teach it, which is affected by the disciplines in which we teach. Teachers who understand how and why an ELL is struggles with the language specifically is better prepared to engage them in an effective, differentiated pedagogy. Let's take a look at some language essentials: morphology, syntax, semantics, phonology, and pragmatics.

Morphology

Morphology is the study of word formation. Certain languages do not have the same tenses or words that denote gender. For example, in Haitian Creole "he" might be used to refer to a female or an inanimate object because "she" does not exist. The English verb to be in "to be hungry" is conjugated as "I am hungry," "you are hungry," and so forth. In some languages the smallest unit of meaning, or morpheme, isn't used, so the speaker might say, "I hungry," rather than, "I am hungry." This is among the most difficult concepts for students to grasp in the English language, with all of its forms and conjugations.

Another challenge in English morphology is through the use of prepositions. In Spanish for example, the word en means "in," "on, "at" and "inside." Trying to decipher which preposition is the correct one to use in English takes a lot of time and thought, especially with such nuances as "in the morning" but "on Monday morning" Additionally, in French, Spanish, and other romantic languages, the same verb is used for "to make" and/or "to do." The result of this confusion winds up with the student saying "I made my homework." This might work perfectly well in another language, but can easily be confused in the English language, with an altogether different conjugation.

Syntax

Syntax refers to the word order of a language. In English, the writer or speaker must be clear in expressing what he or she really wants to say In every language, a word pattern exists. In English it is subject, verb, object (SVO), for example: Dad has a black car. In Spanish, this sentence is in a different syntactical order, and would be translated to John has a car black, or Juan tiene un carro negro. 

Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning, words, and phrases. The idea of semantics is a complex one in the English language, especially so to a non-native English speaker. Appropriate cultural knowledge helps with any new language, especially to process specific connotative meaning, idiomatic expressions, and ambiguous sentences. Real-world knowledge is crucial in comprehending messages of a second language (Ariza, Morales-Jones, Yahya, & Zainuddin, 2002). Words, idioms, or metaphors hold special meaning for each culture.

Teachers should be vigilant in speech and in oral instructions to be sure no special, cultural specific, or non-literal meanings are needed for understanding. Otherwise the non-native speaker, or ELL, will be placed at an unfair disadvantage. This attention to non-literal significance must also extend to curriculum and instructional materials.

• Ask yourself if the meanings of the topics are clear, and if your students will understand that "lid" for example, is another word for "top or cover." Keep the language of instruction to its simplest form.
• Here are some words that are commonly not understood due to their cultural significance in the English language:
  • tonic for soda (Massachusetts)
  • pop for soda (Ohio)
  • Teacup and saucer for mug
  • sleet for hard, frozen snow
  • lanai (a porch in southern climates like Florida and Hawaii)
  • Florida room (living room)
  • dumbwaiter (an elevator)

Phonology

Phonology is important when learning a new language. It is the study of a sound system with in it, and the English pronunciation of learners is imperfect when the sound system of the first language gets in the way of the second language. Learners learning English or any second language at an early age are not as likely to have an accent in the new language. This is because they can approximate the sounds closest to the native language, reconciling prior knowledge with new knowledge.  Older language learners aren't as able to hear the exact sounds because they do not exist in the only language they've known.  For example, in Spanish "B" and "V" are pronounced the same. the speaker can be understood but still can get into linguistic trouble.

Pragmatics

Pragmatics is the study of how people use language within a certain context, and why they use it in a particular way. Think about approaching your minister for example, addressing him with "yo, Rev" or "Hey, bro" to your professor. When we apply for a job, we dress nicely, we put on our best "show", we use formalities  like handshakes and we use formal language. We know we need to impress because we want a job and we do this within our own cultural experiences and context. If someone from another country were asked the same questions, they might be more modest and self-effacing. Americans are trained and encouraged to promote ourselves, talk ourselves up, where other cultures perceive it as boastful. These are culturally learned behaviors are also articulated in verbal scenarios such as:

• How many in your party? for seating in a restaurant, not people attending a party.
• For here or to go? meaning, for here in the restaurant, or taken away to be eaten elsewhere.
• Regular or black? referring to coffee with cream and sugar (regular) or without (black)

These phrases are specific to those living in the United States, and are culturally specific phrases, but would not be known to a non-native speaker. At the very least, they would be confusing!

The newcomer to your classroom with little or no English proficiency is at disadvantage on many levels. The teacher must provide the same curriculum as the fluent speakers, and there are many pragmatic syntactic, phonological curve balls that could easily derail a learning event.

The Home Language

The home language has many advantages, and should be encouraged on all levels. While it is equally as important the students use English outside of the classroom to practice for mastery, it is as important they not lose communication with parents, or isolate themselves culturally or socially from their roots (Hakuta & Pease-Alvarez, 1992). When young children lose the ability to speak their native language due to becoming schooled in English, communication stands in jeopardy of breaking down at home. If a child does not use the home language enough, it may stunt the richness of the native language knowledge that could be transferred to the second (Wong-Filmore, 1991). If the child doesn't know the appropriate amount of second language, it may appear that he or she is proficient in neither language, however eventually it balances out. It is always in the best interest of the child for the teacher to do everything possible to help the child maintain the home language through exposure and usage in sufficient amounts. encourage parents to speak it at home, and encourage children to respond.

Code-switching

Code-switching is a phrase used to refer to how students switch languages depending upon their setting. Sometimes they'll speak English and interject a word from the native language, or vice versa. Code-switching is a sophisticated communicative device that follows rules and demonstrates meaning (Pease-Alvarez, 1993).