Second language acquisition

Second language acquisition research papers can look at teaching or acquiring a second language. The writers at Paper Masters custom write every research paper so that you can have your topic on second language acquisition explicated exactly as you need it to be.

Evaluating the theories that have been applied to the understanding of second language acquisition, a precursory overview of the current literature suggests that behaviorist theories were among the first to be utilized in explicating this process. While it appears that these methods for understanding second language acquisition have fallen out of fashion over the course of the last fifty years, the basic constructs of applying theory to practice are useful for understanding the advancement of understanding in this area of study. As such, this investigation begins with an overview of behaviorist theories as they apply to language development and second language acquisition.

Research papers have shown that student performance in second language acquisition can be improved by utilizing certain learning strategies. While this research paper will suggest that improvements can be made by developing certain learning strategies, the results that can be garnered are dependent on both the nature of the task and the individual learner. As such, there are variables when considering the learning strategies and their impact on second language acquisition.

First and second language acquisition theories differ in several ways. The major first language acquisition theories include behaviorist, innatist, and interactionist theory. According to the behaviorist view, children learn their first language through stimulus, response and reinforcement. The innatist theory, proposed by Chomsky, contends that infants are born with the innate ability to learn language, and they acquire their first language by applying rules that are acquired with little help from parents or teachers.

• The interactionist theory of first language acquisition argues that caregivers play an important role in adapting language to assist children in applying their innate capacity for language. In this way, the interactionist approach to first language acquisition combines the innate and behavioral views. Second language acquisition theories are related to each of the first language acquisition theories discussed above.
• The behaviorist theory emphasizes imitation, repetition, and reinforcement of grammatical structures, while the innatist approach is related to the creative construction theory of second language acquisition, which includes contrastive analysis of fist and second language, by students. In addition, Krashen offered five hypotheses for second language acquisition that is based on innatist principles.

For student learning English as a second language, the process can be difficult. Often, the English language's rules can be confusing and misleading, and only through practice are they completely understood. This can cause problems for many students who have had very little exposure to language. However for students who also have learning disabilities, this process can seem overwhelming-as well as for the instructors.

However, in recent years, mush work has been done to direct programs which are specifically formatted to aid students with learning disabilities in their comprehension and use of the English language. These special programs are geared to allow for the students to achieve the greatest possible success in their learning of the English language, as well as giving the teachers of these special needs students the tools needed to achieve their own successes.

In the process of teaching any student, who is not a native English speaker, there must be understanding of several different issues. First of these, is a cultural understanding of the student's native country. For the instructor to reach the student in a manner conducive to teaching any subject there must first be an understanding of the history of the student. In this way, the instructor is able to form the curriculum around the needs of the student.

No where is this more true than with a student with special needs. In these cases, the instructor must understand the cultural differences associated with the student, as well as the manner in which the student is disabled. For some students, such as those with only physical disabilities, this will pose little more than the normal effort. However, for students with mental, emotional or intellectual problems, the instructor will have to face many new challenges in order to effectively teach the student.