Chapter 1. Introducing Second Language Acquisition I. What id SLA? 1. The definition of SLA SLA, that is Second Language Acquisition. It refers both to the study of individual and groups who are learning a language subsequent to learning their first one as young children, and to the process of learning that language. The additional language is called a second language or target language. 2. The scope of SLA It includes informal L2 learning and formal L2 learning. Informal L2 learning take place in naturalistic context, formal L2 learning takes place in classrooms. 3. Three basic questions In trying to understand the process of second language acquisition, we are seeking to answer three basic questions: (1) What exactly does the L2 learner come to know? (2) How does the learner acquire this knowledge? (3) Why are some learners more successful than others? There are probably no answers that all second language researches would agree on completely. This is because SLA is highly complex in nature, and in part because scholars studying SLA come from academic disciplines which differ greatly in theory and research methods. II. What is a second Language? A second language is typically an official or societally dominant language needed for education, employment, and other basic purposes. A foreign language is one not widely used in the learners' immediate social context which might be used for further travel or other cross-cultural communication situations, or studied as a curricular requirement or elective in school, but with no immediate or necessary practical application. A library language is one which functions primarily as a tool for further learning through reading, especially when books or journ...
