The Main Factors in Second Language Acquisition

【中圖分類號】H31 【文獻標識碼】A 【文章編號】2095-3089（2012）11-0123-01

Driven by the new curriculum reform， China?蒺s foreign language education is changing from traditional teaching method to new diversified teaching task. The new round curriculum reform puts forward new ideas and principles—emphasizing on learners?蒺 individuality development “people-oriented” education thought; emphasizing the sustainable development relationship between language learning and people; emphasizing the new content of the language target—knowledge， skills， strategy， cultural and emotion; emphasizing on context teaching and the introduction of the theory of comprehensive evaluation. Furthermore，the rich connotation of the concept needs to be studied and understood.

Second language acquisition research is the expression of foreign language education which tends to be mature and standard， while the discussion of the teaching method comes to be the main trend. There are many teaching strategies， such as grammar translation， direction， listening， speaking and so on. As the time goes by， many other teaching methods spring up， for example， communication， cognition， hints and so on. From 1960s to 1970s， as the development of application linguistic， second language acquisition has become a comprehensive discipline. The features include many disciplines intersect， as well as the same importance of theories and practices. Moreover， it is based on language description， language learning， as well as language application and involves linguistics， education， psychology， sociology， language testing， computer assistant and other related fields. The second language acquisition aims to explore the process， rules and characteristics of second language acquisition learners.

However， native language will affect one?蒺s new language learning. It is the problem which is the discussion of psychology linguistic and second language acquisition. Each theory has different hypothesizes. Different opinions have the different point views. But still， there is something in common. First language definitely affects the new language learning. And the process of the effect is called language transition. When it comes to the nature of transition， the comparable analyses declare that positive transition is beneficial to language learners. On the opposite side， negative transition will make some troubles to the language learners. Even though， many other new opinions appear， the negative and positive transitions still have the extensive effects.

Attention is the most significant concept of the whole language learning process which includes the basic content of language teaching and psychology. Because attention is the portal of outside world， language input， and the learners?蒺 thoughts and emotions， so attention affects every aspects of language. To learn a new language， learners should pay attention on the important and meaningful information， not some branch or indirect information.

Moreover， Language and cognition are the most distinctive features from other animals. Attention is the core of the five main factors， while cognition is the necessary condition. Without the basis of human?蒺s brain and intelligence， the learners， language， attention and emotion can?蒺t be discussed， because cognition gives out the explanation of all aspects of language acquisition. The research of cognition explains and concludes， also defines the each profile of social， language， attention and emotion in language acquisition.

What?蒺s more， language learning is the process of information management. In every aspect and the link of language learning and teaching， cognition takes part in it. Therefore， the influence of cognition upon second language acquisition is one of the main courses that the philologers and foreign teachers are interested in.

Emotion is the most influential factor in second language acquisition while it is also the most difficult part to research. Emotion factor is the main reason which explains the individual difference of language learning. And the motivation， anxiety and empathy are the main content.

Motivation is the inner power and reason which encourage people to act. It includes the intention， desire， impulse and the expected goal. Firstly， the goal of foreign language is to explore the outside world and to get familiar with politics， economy， and culture of other countries. Secondly， foreign language is a kind of knowledge system. Language learning can expand the horizon and satisfy the thirst of knowledge. In the end， it is a necessity of self?鄄improvement.

Empathy refers to the emotion resonance which results from the human?蒺s relationship. In the foreign language teaching， empathy is very out standing. And one of the content of empathy is that when someone learns English， he must try his best to get rid of his first language and put himself into English. At the same time， cultivating a harmonious， coordinate， and good relationship between teachers and students is very important. Teachers should help students set up the correct outlook on life and optimistic characteristic which is very helpful for teaching.

As an old Chinese saying goes， the way of learning is endless. There is not a fixed way of teaching. If the teachers are willing to try their best to delve the teaching methods which are popular among the student and in favor of teaching， the quality of teaching will continually increase.

Bibliography:

[1]J. Michael O?蒺Malley， Anna UhlChamot. Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition.，2001.

[2]Marion Williams， Robert L. Burden. Psychology for Language Teachers. University of Cambridge，2000.

[3]Tom Scovel. A Guide to Second Language Acquisition.，2004.

作者簡介：

何倩，女，1988年生，碩士，四川師范大學外國語學院，研究方向：英語（學科教學）。