4.3. Learning second languages in childhood

Week 4 Part 3 will help you to:

• become familiar with key concepts in language development such as ‘implict/explicit learning’, ‘silent period’, ‘interlanguage’, and ‘corrective feedback’
• gain an understanding of the second and third steps in the input-intake-output cycle of language acquisition and of how classroom teachers support these through ‘teacher talk’ (i.e. their conversational interactions with children which model the target language and provide scaffolding for language growth)

To reach these goals, you are expected to do the following:

• read the introduction below
• watch the videos provided
• check your knowledge and understanding with an activity at the end of each task

Please note: the total work time required to complete 4_3 is about 75 minutes.

Reading

This part examines the process through which learners move from language input to intake then to output as they learn a second language (L2) in primary school.

Language acquisition and language learning

Some children acquire multiple languages from earliest childhood, often because they are exposed to them in their home environments. Other children learn second or additional languages (L2) after they’ve acquired their first language (L1), often because they study them at school.

Language acquisition implies an unconscious process wherein children absorb a language through implicit learning often in familiar contexts, whereas language learning implies a conscious approach usually through explicit instruction in more formal settings.

Both types of language learning, implicit and explicit, can lead to proficiency in the target language (i.e. the language being learned).

Receptive and productive skills

Learners’ competence is using a second language generally progresses from receptive skills (i.e. ability to listen and read in the L2 and understand meaning) to productive skills (i.e. ability to speak and write in the L2). The time required for the passage from receptive to productive skills depends on the individual learner, as well as on the quality and quantity of input provided in the L2.

Learning a second language is not a smooth, swift, or even process. Learners may progress in bursts then reach a plateau before something prompts further progress in the L2.

Silent period

Infants learn a second language by listening to verbal input provided by caregivers and teachers. At the start of the acquisition process they are ‘silent’ insofar as they are not actively producing the language (orally or in writing) but are absorbing it through active listening. Exposure to sufficient comprehensible input enables them to acquire the new language and develop productive skills.

Interlanguage

Learners’ developing knowledge of a second language is called interlanguage: it may have some characteristics of the L1, some characteristics of the target language (TL) and some characteristics that are more general and seem to occur across language systems.

Analyzing learner language is a crucial step in a teacher’s ability to understand the evolving L2 competence of learners and provide constructive feedback to support their language growth. In order to support their learning and not de-motivate them, it is important for teachers to distinguish between problems learners may experience in basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) compared with cognitive academic language (CALP) in the L2.

Error analysis

Error analysis enables teachers to decide on the nature of different types of errors made by learners in the L2: errors in spelling and punctuation; developmental errors; over-generalizations; simplifications; transfer or interference errors from L1; avoidance errors.

Understanding whether errors made in learners’ utterances in L2 are a decrease in the correct form due to an emerging ability to generalize a particular form or rule (for ex. I buyed a bus ticket), which actually indicates progress in the L2, is important for teachers to be able to provide corrective feedback that supports individual learner’s linguistic development.

Corrective feedback and scaffolding

Corrective feedback is an indication to a learner that his/her use of the target language (TL) is incorrect. Teachers often recast learner language by correcting the mistakes made in leaners’ utterances; these changes help to model the correct usage of the TL.

Teachers will also use linguistic scaffolding techniques to support the communicative success of L2 learners. This may include providing a learner with a missing word or expanding his/her incomplete sentence. Teachers also use modified interaction techniques or adapted patterns of conversation with L2 learners – such as self-repetitions, checking for comprehension by asking questions, stopping to clarify requests – to ensure they understand.

Sources:

Cameron, L. Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge UP: 2001.

Cook, Vivian. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. Routledge: 2016 (5th edition)

Cummins, Jim.

Dorsch, Matthias. Second Language Acquisition vs. Second Language Learning. Grin Verlag: 2010.

Dunn, O. Introducing English to Young Children: Spoken Language. Collins: 2014.

Ellis, Rod. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford UP: 1997.

Krashen, Stephen. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Pergamon Press: 1981.

Philip, J., R. Oliver, and A. Mackey. Second Language Acquisition and the Young Learner: Child’s Play? John Benjamins Publishing Company: 2008.

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 Activity

The following activities are based on your viewing of three short videos recorded in a Montessori primary school in South Tyrol where German is the L1 and Italian the L2. The video clips are of a single Science lesson taught in the L2 to a mixed group of pupils, aged 6 to 8  (1st, 2nd and 3rd year primary school).

An English-language transcript of the three video clips is provided: week_4_3_-_video_transcripts_eng.pdf

Task 1 [30 min]

1. Read the definition below of CLIL

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) – the term CLIL was coined by David Marsh, University of Jyväskylä, Finland (1994): “CLIL refers to situations where subjects, or parts of subjects, are taught through a foreign language with dual-focused aims, namely the learning of content and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language.”

2. Now watch Video 1 by clicking on the link below. Note how the teacher uses a CLIL approach by using the target language throughout the Science lesson (in this case Italian L2 for a group of German L1 speakers) and introduces the new vocabulary in real and meaningful contexts. Can you identify when and how the teacher introduces specialist vocabulary (i.e. vocabulary related to Science, specifically to the solar system)?

3. Check your comprehension by completing the activity that follows.

Task 2 [30 min]

1. Re-read the definitions of ‘corrective feedback’, ‘modified input’, and ‘interlanguage’ in the Introduction above.

2. Now watch Video 2 by clicking on the link below. Note how the teacher recasts the pupils’ utterances into grammatically correct statements while, at times, supporting and extending their developing language.

3. Check your comprehension by completing the activity that follows.

Task 3 [15 min]

1. Study the Montessori symbols’ chart for parts of speech below

2. Now watch Video 3 by clicking on the link below. Note how the teacher supports the pupils’ literacy development in the TL through a consolidation activity focusing on language awareness in written production.

3. Check your comprehension by completing the activity that follows.

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