second languages

Until Chapter 5 of the Saville-Troike text, no distinction was made between the "type" of second language being learned - the text focused on "second language" acquisition as a whole. In the discussion of the microsocial context of language learning, however, Saville-Troike introduces three different types of second language. A "second language" is a language used in a community among native speakers. A "foreign language" is a language learned in the context of one's own culture, with no interaction with native speakers unless one chooses to study abroad for a period of time. An "auxiliary language" is a language learned for political or technological functions.

I teach at the English Language Institute and my students are learning English as their second language. Most of them desire to become conversationally fluent, at the very least, although many of them also have academic goals and wish to attend a University in the United States. Because of my interactions with these students, the following paragraph on "foreigner talk" really interested me. Saville-Troike states:

"Some of the linguistic modifications appear to aid comprehension and early stages of learning: ex. high frequency phrase may be memorized as chunks of speech which can be processed automatically, pauses at appropriate grammatical junctures can help listeners recognize constituent structures; a slower rate of speech allows more time for information retrieval and controlled processing, and topicalization helps in identifying what a sentence is about and what part of it contains new information. On the other hand, the common practice of speaking louder to an L2 learner probably does no good at all, and "simplification" of sentence structure may actually impair comprehension to the extent that it reduces redundancy" (107).

Just in this one paragraph, I learned several things that will help me be a better teacher to my students. First of all, it is important to be consistent in what I say - use the same phrases and pause to emphasize important grammar concepts that I may sometimes say without even thinking about it. Also, if my students are giving me feedback that says they do not understand what I'm saying, I often tend to simplify to aid their comprehension, but Saville-Troike explains here that that may not actually help, because it usually means you're saying less and perhaps being less explicit. I had never thought of that before and I think it will help me in my interactions with my students.

The chapters in both Saville-Troike and the Lightbrown & Spada were also very encouraging for older L2 learners. As I looked at the chart describing the advantages and disadvantages of L2 learning for younger and older students, I realized that I know many successful second language learners - the students I work with, my Spanish professors, missionaries that I know... there are so many people who began their L2 education at a time that would be considered "too late" according to the Critical Period Hypothesis but who can actually navigate the language very well. Our efforts to teach and to learn are not futile! It's very encouraging.