Similarity account: first and adult second language acquisition are neither wholly identical nor wholly different, but similar¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 1 claim (1 against) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The article proposes that adult second language acquisition resembles child first language acquisition in key respects without being identical to it. It states that "Both successful adults and children appear to have very similar linguistic motivation, neural apparatus, amount of time for language contact, stages of language acquisition, and causes for linguistic errors." The account emerged from the Brigham Young University Hawaii research, which led the author to re-evaluate the extreme claim that the two kinds of acquisition are identical, while also finding the claim that they are wholly different wanting. It underpins the paper's recommendation to plan courses situationally rather than grammatically.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Courses recognizing the similarity must be carefully planned so the student has daily contact with and participation in the target language.

Constraints¶

• The article rejects assuming random and sporadic contact suffices for adults, noting many adults would not be successful without some planning and assignments.

Target Learners¶

• adult second language learners
• immigrant English learners

Target Learning Objectives¶

• second language acquisition
• communicative competence in English

Claims¶

• Target Language Contact Critical Activity [+M]
• A learner's first language predicts L2 phoneme perception more strongly than their proficiency level does. [-W]

Related Theories¶

• Language Acquisition Theory
• Krashen's Monitor Model: five hypotheses distinguishing subconscious acquisition from conscious language learning
• Krashen's five hypotheses of second language acquisition as principles for bilingual program design

Examples¶

• Use situational communication exercises, normal speech, ad hoc grammar explanations, and echo-expansion correction

Key Sources¶

• Gallagher, W. K. (1976). Facilitating the Immigrant's Learning a Second Language in the Classroom. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED136593