Second language acquisition

How it is used

In SLA, 'second' means any language learned after the first, including a third or fourth, and the term covers both classroom and naturalistic learning. Key topics are input, interaction, interlanguage, age effects and individual differences.

Example sentences

1. Her research in second language acquisition focuses on how adults learn English articles.

2. Second language acquisition research consistently shows that learners need plenty of meaningful input.

Common collocations

• SLA research
• theories of second language acquisition
• instructed second language acquisition
• SLA researcher

Related terms

• language acquisitionThe process by which people come to know and use a language, especially the natural way young children pick up their first language from the speech around them.
• interlanguageA learner's developing language system, which has its own rules and is neither the first language nor the target language; the term was introduced by Larry Selinker in 1972.
• inputThe language a learner hears or reads and tries to understand, which is the raw material for acquiring a language.
• first languageThe language a person learns first, from birth or early childhood, usually the one they know best; linguists often shorten it to L1.
• fossilizationThe point at which some features of a learner's language stop developing and keep their errors, even with more input and teaching.

More terms: Language Acquisition

• critical period hypothesis
• universal grammar
• overgeneralization
• language transfer