FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AS A MODEL FOR SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE APPROACH IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING

L1 and L2 acquisition, in some respects, are similar. Language development in children goes hand in hand with physical and cognitive development. Children learn their first language by imitation, but not always and not only by imitation. There seems to be some "innate capacities" that make children start to speak at the same time they do and in the way they do it. Adults learning a second language usually are controlled more by their motivation. But language input is important for both L1 and L2 acquisition. Though there are differences between CL1 and between CL2 and AL2, the way in which these learners acquire some of the grammatical morphemes is similar. This, together with some other evidence, shows that it is not only children who can acquire language. Adults can also acquire a language. But when adults acquire a language, they should also learn it. Some of the ways in which children acquire their language can be used as a model for L2 acquisition, even for Chinese students whose language is unrelated to English and whose culture is different. Learning the culture of the English-speaking countries will benefit the learning of the language. Like children, listening should also be well in advance of speaking in L2 acquisition. To train listening comprehension skills, Asher’s TPR approach proves more effective. TPR approach is at the moment limited to the beginning stage only. In order for students to gain all the five skills in a second language learning, namely, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and interpreting/translating, other methods should be used at the same time, or at later stages.

Sociocultural Factors and Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Issues caused by different social cultures A clulture has a close connection with a particular language and plays an improtant role in the learn-ing and teaching of it.As we know,every nation has its own culture and the cultures of nations of theworld,generally,are different from each other.Owing to the disparities in culture,to people whospeak different languages,a word or phrase used to express good intention may surprise or irritate peo-ple;a common sentence can sometimes amuse one person greatly and cause laughter,but‘strange e-nough’,it can be too,dull enough in the eyes of another person with different culture background.

A Study on Using Noticing Hypothesis to Improve Learners’ Language Input in Language Learning

In 1967,more than fifty years ago,Corder introduced the concept of“input”in the second language acquisition(SLA)research field.In 1985,Krashen introduced the concept of“comprehensible input hypothesis.”In 1990,Schmidt introduced the concept of“noticing hypothesis”[1].Today,“input”is becoming more and more popular in the research on second language acquisition.This paper tries to connect theories about input and noticing hypothesis in hope that the clear definition can be helpful to guide language teaching accordingly.

On Teacher's Language Input

Appropriate input is the key point in language acquisition,and teacher’s language input is an indispensable and basic factor which decides success or failure of teaching.

Vygotskian Approaches to Interlanguage Fossilization

During the process of language acquisition, interlanguage fossilization is a common phenomenon among second language learners. Based on Vygotskian approaches, this paper looks at the causes of interlanguage fossilization, including social identity, learners' motivation, the influence of one's mother tongue and learning styles. By vividly incorporating my own language learning experience, this paper intends to explain how theory can be applied to practice; thereby attempting to shed light on second language learning and teaching. In conclusion, this paper suggests that teachers should get to know their students by paying attention to the most influential factors and encourage interpersonal interaction.