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I have learned English as a second language since I was in 3rd grade.  My teachers explicitly taught me the rules of English grammar and I got familiar with the rules by lots of drilling exercises.  SLA to me is a lifelong process and I found the acquisition process has gone a big leap improvement when I had opportunity to use the language in a socially interactive setting.  Besides, in my personal experience, comprehensible input is important.  When a student does not understand the materials or the input is too difficult for the students and way beyond the competence of the students, the student will not intake the input and absorb the materials in the system.  In addition, unlike first language, learners immerse in the setting naturally and acquire the language implicitly.  Second language learners need to be emotionally at ease and relaxed when acquiring the second language.  If scared to use or learn the language, SL learners face a big hurdle to get over and the intake of the input will be minimal.  

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I have learned English as a second language since I was in 3rd grade.  My teachers explicitly taught me the rules of English grammar and I got familiar with the rules by lots of drilling exercises.  SLA to me is a lifelong process and I found the acquisition process has gone a big leap improvement when I had opportunity to use the language in a socially interactive setting.  Besides, in my personal experience, comprehensible input is important.  When a student does not understand the materials or the input is too difficult for the students and way beyond the competence of the students, the student will not intake the input and absorb the materials in the system.  In addition, unlike first language, learners immerse in the setting naturally and acquire the language implicitly.  Second language learners need to be emotionally at ease and relaxed when acquiring the second language.  If scared to use or learn the language, SL learners face a big hurdle to get over and the intake of the input will be minimal.  

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I'm coming into this course, like many of you, with limited knowledge of what SLA actually means. From its name I understand that SLA is how a person acquires a second language after their first language. It seems to involve how that typically happens and will probably explain the "why" behind it as well.

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SLA is the process of learning and producing a second language that is different from your home language or the first language you learned as a child. Through this acquisitions individuals develop an understanding for their second language through comprehension, grammar, vocab, and syntax. It is broad and can be applied to all modes of communication.A theory that I am interested in and find appealing is the behaviorist theory. Here is a video below:

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Behaviorist Theory of Second Language Acquisition

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Second language acquisition is a lifelong process of adoption and absorbtion of any language / languages which are not a speaker`s mother tongues. Throughout this process a person adopts and absorbs not only visual aspects of a language, such as vocabulary, grammar, syntax, discourse, etc., but also an acquaintance with another culture, mentality, world perception of the speakers of another language. Thanks to this process a person broadens their outlook. This process gives an ability to understand ideas and information received on a another language by all means of communication (spoken, audible, written and read) and to communicate  information, thoughts and ideas to the speakers of another language. The most important factors for a successful language acquisition is person`s high level of motivation, high level of instruction and interaction with speakers of a language being acquired. I have also attached a picture describing this process: input (spoken, audible, written, read + emotional) -> processing of input by brain -> person`s output of a unique product.  

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Second language acquisition is a lifelong process of adoption and absorbtion of any language / languages which are not a speaker`s mother tongues. Throughout this process a person adopts and absorbs not only visual aspects of a language, such as vocabulary, grammar, syntax, discourse, etc., but also an acquaintance with another culture, mentality, world perception of the speakers of another language. Thanks to this process a person broadens their outlook. This process gives an ability to understand ideas and information received on a another language by all means of communication (spoken, audible, written and read) and to communicate  information, thoughts and ideas to the speakers of another language. The most important factors for a successful language acquisition is person`s high level of motivation, high level of instruction and interaction with speakers of a language being acquired. I have also attached a picture describing this process: input (spoken, audible, written, read + emotional) -> processing of input by brain -> person`s output of a unique product.  

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Since I still feel quite new to learning how TESL works, I have a very simple understanding of what SLA is right now. From what I know right now, I think SLA is about how a second language is learned. As others have mentioned, language involves more than just conversational language, it is involves knowing academic language. In order to be able to teach academic language, we have to know how people learn it and, in turn, we have to know how to teach it.

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Second Language Acquisition, for me, is about the processes that people undergo to learn another language. The process of acquiring a second language looks very different from person to person, and I think it can be messy. Also, I think the process can be different in the classroom, where we are learning the academic side of a language, to learning a language in a personal context- at the supermarket, in a yoga class, or interacting with new friends. Language constructs change from the formal to informal side of a language, and, in my experience, the processes of learning and acquiring each type of language changes with each context.

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Second Language Acquisition is the process of acquiring a language. It is a continuous process that occurs as you progress in life and develop a language and as you learn new languages. Sometimes it is as easy as getting on a bike and riding easily, whereas other times it is more like your first time learning to swim. I saw this picture online and it reminds me of the main proficiency areas on the ACCESS Test that ELLs are tested on: reading, listening, speaking, writing as well as comprehension. Learning a language consists of learning about the culture of the language, the social communication aspects, on top of the academic language and vocabulary. Language is interesting because there's the slang or common language people use on a daily basis compared to the academic language found in schools. Being immersed in the language itself feels more authentic than sitting in a classroom but this all depends on how a classroom is structured and how students are taught.

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Second language acquisition is simply how someone learns another language.  However, the term seems more passive than it really is.  When I say the word “acquire” it sounds like something was handed to me, but SLA is a very active process.  Listen to it, read it, write it, speak it, struggle with it, fumble with it, make mistakes, have fun.  When I get a new group of students, I really encourage students to not just sit in a room and study out of a textbook, but find ways to actively practice it.  Sadly, a lot of them have studied English for 10+ years, but due to the classroom culture, a lot of them can take multiple choice grammar tests, but can't order a cup of coffee or introduce themselves.  My goal is to make class time as active as possible.

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Second Language Acquisition is about the process of understanding, speaking and writing another language fluently. The main point of SLA is to use another language to communicate with others. When I was teaching in preschool, I worked with many preschoolers who are ESL learners. At the beginning, they were not able to speak any English, for example, they would nod their heads to express yes or no. Sometimes they would speak their home languages to other native English speakers because they assumed everyone spoke the same language., Sooner, they realized that other people did not understand their home languages. They will start speaking one or two key words or short phrases in English to communicate with others.

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Second language acquisition is how a person learns and is able to use a second, third, fourth, etc. language. As I'm reading through the texts this week I'm beginning to understand a little more on how subsequent languages can be acquired and learned. Besides working with English Learners for the past 3 years, this is my first course in SLA. I have seen students successfully acquire another language, struggle with acquiring another language and be unable to acquire another language. I was frustrated with myself teaching ELs because I did not know the best practices or the theories behind SLA to help my students in the ways they needed me to. I'm very hopeful that this course will give me the information and tools that I need to successfully help my students through their SLA.

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Most of my experience teaching English as a second language was before any I had any formal instruction on how to teach it, and it was a long time ago! My experience learning a second language was also a long time ago (17 years), but the selections we read this week have helped to refresh my memory about SLA and made me eager to really dig into it more. 

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Most of my experience teaching English as a second language was before any I had any formal instruction on how to teach it, and it was a long time ago! My experience learning a second language was also a long time ago (17 years), but the selections we read this week have helped to refresh my memory about SLA and made me eager to really dig into it more. 

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I'm pretty new to SLA and the teaching theories surrounding SLA.  I have worked with EL students in some capacity for ten years, so I'm hoping the theories will be more familiar once we dive deeper into this class.   I'm excited to gain knowledge about potential teaching strategies and tools to help my students. I'm also excited to share my learning with my co-workers.

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To be honest, I don’t know much about SLA. I know there are many theories and ideas within this area of study, but I couldn’t say which I believe to be best or the pros and cons of each idea. I feel, at this moment, quite uninformed about SLA. I remember learning a bit about it when I took my TEFL course, but that was over 3 years ago and I don’t remember most of it! This being said, I’m really interested in this area of study and I’m looking forward to expanding my knowledge and opinions regarding SLA. The attached photo expresses my current feeling... (MRL)

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SLA refers to the idea of acquiring a language beyond ones native language. Although its often referred to or thought of in terms of a "second" language, the term can also be applied to a third, or fourth, or any number of languages that a learner acquires beyond their first language. It is distinctive from bilingual acquisition, or first language acquisition in that it is typically (though not always) acquired after the learners first language is fully developed. SLA usually happens much more intentionally and explicitly than native language acquisition, though some implicit learning is involved in SLA as well.