Second Language Acquistion process - Research Paper Example

This paper on “Second Language Acquisition Process” seeks to analyze, investigate and understand the criticalities involved in the SL acquisition process through an input output process involving a range of intervening steps, and with crucial empirical studies that seek to validate the steps involved in the process of acquisition of a foreign / second language. This section comprises of an elaborate discussion of five critical steps along with empirical studies that authenticate the claims made.

These steps include: Beginning of input: Frequency, attention, affect and other factors; Negotiation and Modification; Comprehended input-universal, prior knowledge,(L1/L2); Intake-hypothesis testing; and Individual differences: Personality, situational and modality variables. Languages cannot be learned in a vacuum and hence, it requires essential input for development of adequate language skills. Although the adequate type and quantity of input required for development and achievement of second language acquisition knowledge and skills is a highly debated issue among researchers (Gass, 1997, Pp. 86). The key factors discussed here include input frequency which symbolizes the cross linguistic influence, and comprises of primary variables in a study conducted by Lowie (2000) on the acquisition of derivational morphology in the bilingual mental lexicon.

In this study, the L2 factor was productivity, which is essentially associated with frequency. This study revealed that conversion uniformity plays a prominent role in written production at all levels of acquisition. This further suggests that the learners in this experiment depended heavily on their morphological experience in L1 and those, particularly at the lower levels of acquisition, lacked proper development to of L1 skills. Another experiment conducted in order to ascertain the degree of order of acquisition associated with input, wherein the comparative effect of the L1 related variable