Fundamentals of Second Language Acquisition: A Crash Course (READ NOTES)

Learn the fundamental principles of second language acquisition in 60 minutes. I gave this talk to a group of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher trainees in October, 2023.

I use easy English to explain the basic principles of good second language teaching. I discuss Krashen's 5 Hypotheses and some applications of those principles.

Note that since this was recorded on Skype, there were participants showing on the screen. I have placed an image of the talk's title over the participant images, since I did not have their explicit permission for inclusion in the video.

This video is ideal for EFL/ESL teacher trainees whose first language is not English, but I hope will be of use to any beginning second language teacher.

h/t to Dr. Stephen Krashen for most of the content of this talk, include all the best examples (the bad jokes are my own).

**NB: There is a mistake in my Spanish at around the 00:47 minute mark which is a good illustration of acquisition versus learning and the Natural Order Hypothesis. I say "*un mano" (one hand)" instead of "una mano." Even though I've been a Spanish speaker for many years (as a second language), I still make occasional mistakes in gender! Gender acquisition may be "late acquired" in Spanish, like third-person singular -s in English (or I had too much coffee before the talk).

[izeducationcenter]

Jeff has shaped a considerable number of teachers' minds at IZ language school since 2020. Words fail us to thank him!

[Amirhossein]

We are all thankful for Jeff's insights and knowledge he always shares with us with maximum generosity!

[AlecHD]

Dr. McQuillan.
I am a fan of you and Dr. Krashen, and i believe i have a few missing pieces to the puzzle of SLA.

This will be related to methodology of Middlebury Language school.

A little background.
I spent 7+ years learning a second language the conventional way, some in school and some as individual hobby.
And even though i did well in school, realistically my final level was barely a beginner.

Then as a 19 year old i was a part of this experiment.
I was placed in a foreign military academy with very strict guidelines.
I was only allowed to use the second language, absolute 100% immersion 24/7.
And even though i was already an adult, i learned a second language to a near native level within a year.
I could physically feel the development of a second language.
And obviously i wasn't only studying a second language, I was learning science, engineering, humanities, doing sports. I was having a rich learning experience while acquiring a second language at a rate that seemed magical.

There are very important conditions that allow adults to learn on par with immigrant kids.
One condition really.
Temporarily abstain from native language and dedicate the remaining time to a second language.

Not everyone can go through such an experience, but understanding of QUALITATIVE differences that occur during 100% 24/7 immersion is important.

Feel free to reply, i have some fascinating ideas that complement your own.

[futuremultilingual]

Great. Really interesting. I am going to share

[voljes]

When I was just starting to learn English seriously (I was about A2 level at the time), I was lucky enough to stumble upon ESL Podcast, which helped me reach the level needed to understand native content. Now, years and thousands of hours of input later, I'm about C1/C2. If I could change one thing in my learning journey, it would be to learn about acquisition vs learning much earlier, as I only learned about it when I was already about B2/C1. Thank you for your work and research!

[verovskiconcepts]

Dr McQuillan, that was one great video on the subject. Please 🙏 do not stop making these videos. Thank you.

[jackvieiraoficial]

I can say this without any doubt: I started to see a real improvement in my listening and speaking after starting to listen to your podcast every single day in the last 10 years. It was absolutely vital to truly understand what native speakers say and sound much more natural when I have to talk. You and Dr. Lucy Tse have no idea how much you changed my life! Mainly, the routine of presenting new vocabulary and right after explaining the meaning with examples, all in English, helped me improve my learning so much!

Thank you so much Dr. Jeff McQuillan!

[juliamarsh]

Excellent, more like this, please. I would like to know your take on acquiring vocabulary using patterns, e.g. most English nouns that end in -ity are the same in Spanish but end in -idad. I found this helpful, but I am wondering if that is just my perception.

[kamransabeti]

Thank you Dr McQuillan. You are a great teacher and great human. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. ESL podcasts are fantastic. I wish you the best

[christinehydon]

I didn't want that to end. Thank you so much, Dr M. That was an absolutely brilliant lecture.

[Nihilistexperiment]

Thanks a lot for share us this information Mr. Jeff Mcquillan.. I'm from Mexico mty.. Your observations are very useful... Regards 🙏

[evala]

So interesting! Thank you for sharing this very useful knowledge! Now I'll know how to teach myself languages better

4:15 1) Learning (Conscious) & Acquisition (Unconscious)
15:39 2) Natural Order Hipothesis
23:03 3) Monitor Hipothesis
38:12 4) Input hipothesis
52:29 5) Affective filter

[jantelakoman]

Thank you Dr McQuillan. I have a question: I have often wondered why it's called "comprehensible input" and not "understandable input". I think it's because "comprehension" refers to grasping the overall meaning or intent behind an utterance, while "understanding" usually refers to awareness of the role of individual words. I've never seen it elucidated like that anywhere, but is that a useful way of thinking about the terms?

[stevencarr]

Can we learn a language by using the association method?

For example, can we learn the Spanish word 'saltar' by visualising a giant salt-cellar jumping very high on the Moon, where there is little gravity so it jumps high, or remember the German word 'Kopf' by seeing somebody clasp their head in their hands and saying 'Kopf', or learn the German word 'Ohren' by associating it with somebody holding their ears?

Could we learn the German word for '2' by seeing somebody draw the symbol '2' and then associating that image with somebody saying 'Zwei'?

Or remember the Spanish word for 'bread' by associating it with an image of somebody cooking bread in a pan?

Is the association method of learning words effective?

[BeyondMediocreMandarin]

First of all, you've explained things amazingly clearly! Quick question: do you consider output as a form of input? After all, you can hear yourself speak and see yourself write.

[stevencarr]

Which second language did Professor McQuillan acquire by this method, rather than the 'go to university and get a degree' method?

[redstorm]

Thank you so much for the lecture, but I disagree with what you said. When you learn something consciously (learning), after practice, you do it automatically (acquiring). The same is true when you learn to drive a car. I can deliberately study "she or he runs, " and after practicing it many times, I will use it automatically without thinking about it! As you said, just acquiring it from input can take you a whole life.

Retrieval practice is the most powerful way to learn something, both explicitly and implicitly, according to science. Your approach implies using repetitions (a lot of input); that's not an effective way. Research shows that studying deliberately outperforms studying undeliberately. There's no research that shows that a lot of comprehensible input can beat deliberate learning through deliberate retrieval practice, but there's a ton of research that shows retrieval practice is the best for learning and implicit knowledge.

So deliberate learning with a lot of practice and retrieval practice will make it perfect!

[williambudd]

A lot of talk but very little information. HUGE waste of time to listen to the whole thing!