Introduction
Second language acquisition occurs as children and adults acquire the second language after being fully acquainted with the first one. This may be slightly different from the acquisition of any two languages by a child at an early age since second language acquisition involves learning an additional language about three years after acquisition of the native language (Genesee 2000, p.167; Meisel 2004, p.91). It is not very clear when a child begins to acquire second language but age eight or nine marks the upper limit for a normal child ((Bialystok & Miller 1999, p.127; Schwartz 2003, pp.317). Many literary scholars have argued that acquisition of a second language is to a large extent, affected by native language acquired at an earlier age. However, this justification is still debatable among scholars. For instance, there are those who are justifying positive influence while some are supporting negative influence. This research proposal will intuitively investigate and explore Arabic language in a bid to understand whether second language acquisition (in this case English) is affected by the native language.
Background
The Arabic language is one of the six official languages recommended by United Nations for formal communication. It is a dominant language used in many parts of North Africa and Middle East in inform of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The language is used in these regions in newspapers printing, publishing books, producing official documents, magazines and writing reading premier for young children. However, there is colloquial Arabic which is quite different from MSA which is used in different parts of Arabic world. Additionally, all the Arab countries use Literary Arabic as their official language and it is therefore the first language children learn at home. The language is also taught in schools across levels. Hence, when a child or an adult attempts to acquire the second language like English, he/she is heavily influenced by Arabic language which is of course their native language and also the language they have been taught intensively in school.
Research question/problem statement
This research paper will seek to answer the question whether Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) influences the second language acquisition of (in this case English) among Arabic children and adults. Does the native Arabic affect those who desire to learn the English language?
Research objectives
The empirical research seeks to meet the following objectives by the end of the study:
- Explore the relationship between modern standard Arabic and English languages
- Discuss challenges faced by native Arabs in an attempt to acquire English as their second language.
- Create and understand the difference between English language and Arabic language in terms of semantics.
- Devise strategies that can assist educators of second language to deliver to the expectations of learners who wish to acquire second language.
Literature Review
According to Meisel (2001), acquisition of the second language is different from bilingualism in childhood. In the latter case, a child learns two languages simultaneously in his or her early age (p.91). Indeed, this is a sequential bilingualism where one learns a new language sometime later after acquisition of the native language (Lakshmanan 1994, p.301). Learning the second language requires one to be naturally exposed to the second language. White (1991) claims that learners who are acquiring the second language receive evidence that are negative concerning the language targeted and inform them of implicit or explicit instructions (p.133). However, it is not yet agreed among the literary scholars on how implicit and explicit instructions affect second language acquisition (Norris & Ortega 2000, p.417; Ellis 2005, p.305; Ellis 2006, p.85).
As Cuevas (1997) posits, native language help learners to get acquainted with the learning of a second language (p.1). This view is supported by Ibrahim and Aharon-Peretz (2005) who argue that native language help in literacy development, academic skills, strategy development and concept formation (p.51). Those language skills that were learnt in the native language are transferred to the second language. This is evident in school as students learning the second language use vocabularies of the native language when reading comprehension literature in class. Lexical organizational influences the way the two languages are translated (Dijkstra, Grainer & Van Jeuven 1999, p.496; De Groot 1995, p.151). The lexical influence of the second language can be divided into user determined and language determined. As van Hell and De Groot (1998) indicates, similarity in morpho-phonological is one of the factors determined by language that affect lexical links between two languages. The influence of the first language to the second language is also demonstrated among Arab speakers who intend to learn Hebrew language.
The challenges of second languages acquisition are demonstrated in both written and spoken language. For instance, Arabic learners intending to learn English language are expected to encounter problems when translating Arabic words into English. This will apply to them when they are writing and speaking English words. Challenges of learning English language were experienced in India when the language was introduced in the country (Mitchell 1995, p.1112). These challenges are also evident among the Japanese and Chinese students learning English as their second language(Chu & Nakamura 2010, p.30).However, the trainer of the second language may use strategies such as cloze test to improve the learner’s ability to read comprehension written in English language (Ren 2011, p.15). Generative approach can also be applied which involves grammatical features and category transfer (Schwartz & Sprouse 1994, p.40; Vainikka & Young-Scholten 1994, p.265).
Research methodology
Several methods will be used to acquire information on the effects of native language to the second language learners. These methods will incorporate both secondary and primary research such as questionnaires and interviews. The research will interview several English teachers in Saudi Arabia and also give some questionnaires to be filled in order to answer research question. Secondary sources will also be used to provide additional information on what primary sources will provide. These secondary sources include journal articles, magazines, books and newspapers. Furthermore, internet sources will also be accessed to provide further information.
These research methods have been chosen due to their appropriateness in the addressing the research question. Interview English teachers will provide first hand information about the influence of Arabic language to their students due to their long time experience in the area. This will provide qualitative information about the research question thus providing a valid conclusion. Secondary sources of data are preferred because of their reliability. Most of these secondary sources have been used in the past and tested and reliable for this research. For example, information written in the textbooks have been tested and used for several years by different scholars thus making it very reliable.
Research limitations
Several limitations are expected in the course of the research study which may affect the outcome of the study. Most of these limitations revolve around primary sources of the data such as inaccurate answers from the respondents, failure to submit all the questionnaires, uncooperativeness on the side of the respondents among others. Secondly there are few English teachers in the Arabic countries thus posing a threat of inadequate respondents to the research questions. In case of secondary sources, challenges such as limited accessibility to some data sources and outdated sources are likely to be encountered. This limitations may affect validity and hence reliability of these data sources. In addition, social-cultural factors may also affect the results expected in the research since language is placed at the core of many cultures. Again different regions use and speak a different form of Arabic which may result to variations in the feedback expected from the respondents.
Importance of research study
This research will aim to provide a good understanding about the relationship between native language and second language acquisition. This will help educators to improve their understanding when they are training children in additional languages such as English. Educators in Saudi Arabia will know how Arabic language influences their learners in acquiring new languages such as English languages among others. This will help them to improve their teaching methods thus facilitating acquisition of foreign languages. The results from the research will also help the government of Saudi Arabia in making policies especially in the education sector. For instance, in making a curriculum for teaching foreign languages such as English, the recommendations from the research will be of great importance to the policy makers in the area of education.
In conclusion the research will provide a reliable conclusion to show how second language acquisition is affected by the native language. This will be achieved due to the appropriateness of the research design employed in this research.
References
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