Second Language Acquisition: Myths and Realities

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Second Language Acquisition
Myths and Realities

These statements are designed to get you to think about your own beliefs about second language acquisition. Some are commonly-believed misconceptions, others are commonly-held “truths”; some are theoretical claims with little empirical support, others are fairly well-supported by research data; for some, we simply do not know if they are true or not.

This exercise has two purposes. The first is to get you to examine your beliefs about second language learning and teaching. The second is to help you think about what areas of second language acquisition you are most interested in.

Please indicate on the right the degree to which you agree with each statement. Then put circles around the numbers of up to five statements that reflect the areas that you think would be the most interesting to pursue in this course.

                                                                                        Agree                          Disagree
1. Children are better language learners than adults.      1          2          3          4          5

2. With enough opportunities to use the language,
    most people will pick it up naturally, so instruction
    is not really necessary.                                                 1          2          3          4          5

3. It is impossible to learn a second language without
    making errors.                                                              1          2          3          4          5

4. People who can tolerate ambiguity well find it
    easier to learn second languages than people who
   cannot.                                                                           1          2          3          4          5

5. The only thing necessary for language acquisition
    is for the learner to understand the language
    s/he hears.                                                                     1          2          3          4          5

6. If you have integrative motivation (you want to
    be like the people whose language you are
    learning), you will learn better than if your
   motivation is instrumental.                                            1          2          3          4          5

7. Some grammatical structures are learned in a
    similar sequence by all learners.                                   1          2          3          4          5
  
8.  Children are born with innate grammatical
     knowledge that helps them learn their first
     language, but which is no longer available
     to adult second language learners.                                1          2          3          4          5

9.   Groups that believe there is a large social
      distance between themselves and the group
      whose language they are learning will have
      trouble learning that language.                                     1          2          3          4          5

10. Simplifying the language when you speak
      with second language learners helps them
      acquire language.                                                          1          2          3          4          5

11. Learning a second language is very different
      from learning a first language, because of the
      existence of the first language, and because of
      the second language learner’s greater cognitive
      capacity.                                                                         1          2          3          4          5

12. Language learning strategies are largely
      subconscious, so learners can’t really control
      their use.                                                                         1          2          3          4          5

13. Interference from the first language is the
      main cause of errors in the second language.                1          2          3          4          5

14. Extroverts are better second language learners
      than introverts.                                                               1          2          3          4          5

15. Uninstructed learners are more likely to have
      more grammar errors in their language than
      those who take classes.                                                  1          2          3          4          5

16. It is impossible to learn a second language
      perfectly if you begin as an adult.                                 1          2          3          4          5

17. Conscious learning of grammar rules will
      not help language acquisition.                                       1          2          3          4          5

18. A negative attitude toward the group whose
      language is being learned can inhibit language
      learning.                                                                         1          2          3          4          5

19. At any particular stage of language acquisition,
      a learner’s language has its own rule system.                1          2          3          4          5

 20. The process of learning a second language is
      one of discovering which aspects of language
      are universal, and which differ from the first
      language to the second.                                                  1          2          3          4          5

21. A strong cultural self-identity can interfere
      with second language acquisition.                                 1          2          3          4          5

22. Since all learners go through the same stages
      of language development, it doesn’t matter if
      a second language learner takes classes or not.             1          2          3          4          5

23. You can usually tell what a person’s first
      language is when you hear him/her speak a
      second language.                                                           1          2          3          4          5

24. A language cannot be learned just from
      hearing it; it must be used interactively.                       1          2          3          4          5

25. Both first and second languages are learned
      through essentially the same process.                           1          2          3          4          5

26. The teaching of strategies for learning a
      language can facilitate language acquisition.                1          2          3          4          5


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