Teach English in HuangzhuAng Zhen - Tianjin

First Language vs Second Language AcquisitionLanguage acquisition is the learning of a native language and or a second language. The language learning is a part of human physical, social and cognitive development. While developing cognitively children use their experiences, interactions in social situation and surroundings to change and modify their language usage. There are different areas of differences between L1and L2 language acquisitions. One of them concerns the role of input- the exposure to a target language, its quality and regularity. The next great difference is-age , which reflects physical ,cognitive and emotional changes of the child. Emotional development, as well as, socio-cultural aspect determine students? motivation to second language learning. As a second language speaker I have experienced all the differences between L2 and L1 acquisition. I have been living in the US for seven years and during this time I have been asked many times about the way I learnt english. The answer to that question I was able to find in Krashen?s Monitor Model and theory based on his five hypotheses. During the L2 learning process I realized that I was using ?unconsciously? one of them ?the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis to describe the process of learning second language in a classroom settings. Just like Krashen, I separate the language acquisition from language learning process. In the past, I was used to describe my skills in using english language as ?knowledge about the second language? I was taught at school in Poland. I have studied grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, all the necessary theory, but acquisition of the L2, in my case, appeared to start developing once I had the opportunity to interact with native english audience-using Krashen?s definition once I got exposed to the process of ?natural interaction with the language via meaningful communication?. I learnt how to? think in second language? instead of translating Polish into english while thinking process. I completely agree with the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis which emphasizes great meaning of naturalistic environment contra classroom in SLL. I have to admit, based on my own experience, that knowledge of the linguistic rules does not guarantee its correct acquirement in spontaneous conversation. I want to emphasize the role of contextual understanding which can be learnt mainly by interaction with people in different social setting. We cannot fully experience situational context and socio-cultural context of second language if we study the second language in a classroom. We cannot also learn its intuitive understanding. By living in the US, I gained the opportunity to? learn english through english? .I also became capable of making choices of proper language adequately to particular situation and audience. I developed internal motivation, as well, new purposes of studying english. Being under the pressure of the surrounding environment I had to adjust to the expectations of the social group I belong to. My use of english became a subject of evaluation provided by the native english speakers in my work and academic environment. That put more pressure on developing my language skills. We are aware that talking to someone we know is different from talking to someone we do not know, for example interfering with classmates who represent the same level of proficiency in second language does not create challenging life situations in which we have to break psychological barriers in order to express ourselves. Students in order to avoid criticism of the classmates often want to stay ?safe? in a shadow of the group, and they do not want to participate in activities. That creates a challenging situation for teachers who not only provide the knowledge about the language but also build motivation and indicate the purpose of SLL in order to make their students go beyond the group expectation. In order to make the learning process interesting, easily and effectively learned they have to provide their students with clear and authentic purpose as well as friendly learning environment. R.Mitchell &F.Myles ;Second Language Learning Theories p. 44-49 Margaret Tucker-First and Second Language Acquisition First- and Second-Language Acquisitionin Early Childhood Beverly A. Clark Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning Stephen D Krashen University of Southern Californiahttp://sdkrashen.com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning.pdf