Second language acquisition. External linguistic factors and the role of input

Abstract or Introduction

This essay pays special attention to the external linguistic factors that offer assistance to second language learners in acquiring a target language. External factors relate to the environment in which learning takes place. This involves considering the role played by the social situation in which learning takes place and the language the learner is exposed to input. The role of input is undoubtedly crucial in the process of second language learning.

I is universally accepted that in order to acquire an L2, learners need to be exposed to the target language. The concept of input is perhaps the single most important concept of second language acquisition, and no individual can learn a second language without some sort of input. The importance of the input has been advocated by a variety of learning theories. Theories of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) attach different importance to the role of input in language acquisition process but they all acknowledge the need for language input. In many approaches to SLA, input is considered as being a highly essential factor while in other approaches it has been neglected to a secondary role.