Second Language Acquisition as a Mode-Switching Process

An Empirical Analysis of Korean Learners of English

Sooho Song

• Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781137524355
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137524362
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Teaching Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Introduces the theory of second language acquisition as a mode-switching process

Applies this theory to Korean learners of English

Examines how native language shapes use and learning of second languages

© The Author(s) 2018

Sooho SongSecond Language Acquisition as a Mode-Switching Processhttps://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52436-2_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Sooho Song¹

(1)

Foreign Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

Sooho Song

Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Song describes the issues involved in second language acquisition and set the stage for understanding second language learning in terms of socio-cognitive contexts. In learning a language, people adopt a particular framework for communication. In second language acquisition, change of framework is required to reflect the target language’s culture and social values, which is called mode switching. Song introduces a new approach, second language acquisition as a mode-switching process.

Keywords

Language learningSecond language acquisitionMode switching

End Abstract

In the era of globalization, learning another foreign language in addition to their native language is necessary for many people because of increased intercultural interactions. As a result, bilingualism or plurilingualism is more predominant than monolingualism (Grosjean 2008). Second language or foreign acquisition is a complex learning process affected by many linguistic, social, psycholinguistic, and intercultural factors. It involves obtaining the knowledge of speaking norms and cultural values in addition to the target language’s grammar and rules because effective cross-cultural communication requires a pragmatic and socio-contextual understanding of the language as well as linguistic knowledge. In other words, second language acquisition means learning how to manage multidimensional aspects of a new language.

According to the extant literature on second language acquisition, various theories have been developed to understand the process underlying foreign and second language learning. The first generation of second language research (e.g., Lado 1957; Lehn and Slager 1959) heavily focused on native language transfer. According to them, habits of the native language (NL) are moved to and superimposed on the patterns learned in the target language (TL). The amount and utilities of a first language exert negative input for second language learning although later studies of this school, such as Anderson (1983) and Kellerman (1995), explain first language influence from a more positive point of view.

The second generation of scholars studying second language acquisition (e.g., Corder 1967; Richards 1971; Dulay and Burt 1974) explored the errors of second language learners in the context of learners’ learning strategies . For instance, Corder (1967) argues that an innate capacity shown in children’s first language acquisition is also utilized by adult second language learners. This school rejects the idea that learning is the accumulation of habits and uses error analysis to demonstrate that errors are produced not by NL interference but by the learners’ strategies acquiring the TL system. In other words, second language production is an outcome of second language learners’ cognitive learning and the competence of the target language.

The third generation of studies focused on second language learners’ mindset and the impact of first language on second language acquisition in the sociolinguistic context. A group of scholars in this generation (e.g., Felix 1980; Kellerman 1995; Jarvis 1998) argue that second language acquisition is substantially affected by the language learner’s reasoning and learning minds rather than the syntactic and lexical differences between the target language and the native language. In other words, language production is the result of interaction between grammar and the language user, not between grammar and the text as the speaker’s mind plays a significant role in interpreting the grammar to produce a desired text (Chafe 1980).

As Sato (1988: 371) states, “any approach to the development of second language learner’s interlanguage (IL) that assigns a primary role to conversational interaction involves functional analysis at some level.” In this context, a group of scholars (e.g., Ellis 2003; Ellis and Schmidt 1998; MacWinney 2001; Robinson 2001; Sokolik and Smith 1992) focus on how second language learners process the knowledge of the target language in their cognition . In this view, the emphasis is on grammar within a context based on a user’s cognitive process instead of grammar itself. That is why Vigotsky (1978, 1986) contends that second or foreign language learning is a socially situated activity as well as a complex mental process .

Another group of scholars (Bardovi-Harlig and Hartford 1992; Ellis 1992; Hill 1997; Kasper 1992; Rose 2000; Song 2012; Trosborg 1995) assert that first language significantly affects the sociolinguistic aspects of the second language acquisition process, such as second language pragmatics. According to them, second language learners’ learning processes are not only affected by target language grammar, but also by complex social and linguistic conventions. Each society has its own social norms made up of rules prescribing a certain behavior and/or a way of thinking in certain context/situation. Thus, in order for foreign or second language learners to become effective users of the new language, knowledge of the sociolinguistic rules of language usage is crucial (Olstain 1993; Rintell 1990).

According to Chang (2008), the goal of learning a language is to use the language accurately and appropriately. To this end, Kirtchuk (2011) introduced a communication mode perspective in studying second language acquisition. He argues that second language learners do not activate the newly obtained second language rules in the same manner. They use different pragmatic and prosodic frameworks as second language learners are dealing with a different mode of communication in using a different language. Static rules in second language are not always germane in a conversational situation where language users should create instantaneous responses in the ongoing real world.

Therefore, it is necessary to study functional and socio-pragmatic aspects of second language learning. Much of a learner’s linguistic fluency depends on how the second language speakers use their second language knowledge in their speech production, which leads the researchers to figure out the cognitive process that second language learners go through in dealing with the different linguistic systems of target language and native language. Moreover, speakers with various language backgrounds differ in the way they use linguistic devices and perceive contextual factors to make syntactic and pragmatic meanings. In other words, second language learner’s language production needs to be viewed not based on the discrete grammatical components as rule-governed entities, but in a virtual context and in a social juncture.

As discussed, there is a plethora of studies concerning second language acquisition. Yet, previous scholars focused on one aspect of second language learning, and few studies have attempted to explain the second language acquisition process in an integrated manner by combining the functional and social context perspectives in second language use.

Yet, in order to understand the second language acquisition process, we need to study how second language learners link grammar, pragmatics, and contextual meanings of the second language to achieve their communicative goals. To describe second language learning behavior by focusing on the integrative function of communicative use, I use the term “mode-switching .” Mode-switching is a process that speakers employ as a speech strategy to adjust to the changes of an interlocutors’ sociocultural identity. Speakers choose the mode of communication among the possible options of language resources and this process is highly subjective, spontaneous, and function-based.

In this book, I describe second language acquisition as a process of mode-switching , using the case of Korean learners of English. Korean and English languages are grammatically dissimilar and their cultural backgrounds are very different. Thus, this study will show how second language learners overcome linguistic and cultural differences to communicate with a second language. In second l...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Frontmatter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Second Language Acquisition Theories
• 3. Functional Approaches in Second Language Learning and Linguistic Cognition
• 4. Sociolinguistic Patterns
• 5. Second Language Learning as Mode-Switching
• 6. Comparision of English Language Mode and Korean Language Mode
• 7. Empirical Analysis
• 8. Conclusion
• Backmatter