* SECOND LANGUAGE * FOREIGN LANGUAGE * LIBRARY LANGUAGE * AUXILIARY LANGUAGE
HOW IS SUCCESS MEASURED IN SLA?
INNATE THEORY - BLAKE
I often thought of this as something similar to pattern recognition, that children would often hear a spoken language and develop an idea of a spoken pattern. This would then lead to a natural process of simply "plugging" in learned words to produce their own means to communicate. However, I felt that the text both supported and did not support this idea. What are your thoughts on this?
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES - DANIEL
Why can one person learn multiple languages with, what appears to be, ease, while another struggles to grasp the concepts of simple grammar and pronunciation?
DISADVANTAGES - SHATINA
How can a person still learn a language well if there are factors that already set one at a disadvantage? For instance, we have technology that allow one to practice vocabulary and grammar for a language, but one does not get the same social interactions that allow the language development to continue. How do the frameworks come into play in this case?
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
In your life, what has been the most effective way to learn a foreign language? Discuss your own experience and anecdotal evidence to support your position, as well as any theoretical or empirical evidence you have knowledge of.
THIRD LANGUAGE LEARNING
Many of us who specialize in SLA have shared a common assumption that a third language is easier to learn than a second, etc. Some of us have (perhaps without very strong evidence) attributed this to the experience that people gain in “learning to learn” language. We’re not so sure anymore. What do you believe? Why?