Introduction

Having a second language is very useful and important, especially in today’s globalization world. For
English language alone, there are about 375 million people who speak English as their first language
and 750 million people who speak English as a second or third language worldwide (BBC, 2000). In
addition, about 43.6% of all American high school students were enrolled in additional language
classes in 2000 (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2002). With
so many people having a second language, it is important to put second language acquisition (SLA)
under scrutiny. Second language acquisition looks at the process by which people gain proficiency in
a language other than the mother tongue (Richards, Platt & Platt, 1992 as cited by Cai & Gu, 2006).
According to Fillmore and Snow (2000), the understanding of SLA can help teachers to communicate
better with second language learners, and thus improving teaching and learning process. This paper
discusses SLA in terms of theories and methods of SLA. The discussion is based on an interview done
over the internet with a learner of the Spanish language.

Background

The learner of the Spanish language is a male American. He wishes that he remains anonymous
throughout the case study, so he will be called TJ in this paper. He can be considered as being
multilingual as he speaks English as his first language, Spanish as his second language, and he is
currently learning Polish. He was chosen because he started learning Spanish at an age where he had
already passed the last stage of first language acquisition several years before when he was
approximately four years old (...), meaning that his first language is firmly established. He started
learning Spanish since he was twelve years when he was in sixth grade at an American middle
school. According to Carver (2007), most people could not remember much of what happened in
their lives before they were ten years old. Therefore, he was also chosen because he started learning
Spanish after the age of ten. He took Spanish class as part of the education policy requirement for all
students to be enrolled in foreign languages. He went throughout the middle school years learning
Spanish and continued until the third year of high school. He has now finished high school and
currently studying at a college in the US.

Acquisition Experience

TJ only learned Spanish at school because when he started middle school, he was required to take a
foreign language class. The school only offered him to learn Spanish. So, that is how his Spanish
language acquisition started. At the very beginning, he was taught the very basic aspects of the
Spanish language. These include simple words and phrases like the name of colors or objects,
pronouns like ‘I’, ‘you’ or ‘they’. He was also taught what to say in general conversations like asking
the well-being of a person, or what a person’s name is.

Although he had already heard conversations in Spanish numerous times before taking the class and
also had some classmates of Hispanic origin who could speak Spanish fluently, he still felt that the
language was new and strange. This is because instead of just listening, he had to actually learn to
understand and speak the language. He felt frustrated briefly in the beginning as he found Spanish
difficult to learn, but his Spanish-speaking classmates and the teachers were very helpful and patient
and they helped him get through the Spanish class throughout the years.
Repetition and memorization were prominent in TJ’s Spanish class to get students to remember and
be familiar with Spanish words. They were included every year in his class throughout the study at
the middle and high school. Various techniques of memorization were done like whole-class revision
before a test or exam, flash cards or index cards, and also using mnemonics. Grammar was also
taught often in the class. He was usually first given the general rule of a grammar aspect, then
examples then he was given some exercises regarding the grammar rule he just learned to do it
himself. Pair work was also set in the class to promote collaboration.

For the first four years of Spanish language learning, which is from the sixth grade of middle school
to the first year of high school, the Spanish classes he went to were all conducted in both Spanish
and English. The conversation practice done in the class was very much scripted and artificial in the
earlier years, but as the time passed by and after much exposure to the “real” conversations through
videos and audio tapes, the conversations TJ had with others became more spontaneous and
natural. By the tenth grade, the Spanish class was conducted fully in Spanish and it required that
everyone speak Spanish, even to ask for permission to go to the bathroom. By the final year of
studying Spanish at school, he signed up to be a teacher’s aide for five months before he ended the
subject.

Theories of Second Language Acquisition

Within more than a half a century ago, theories have developed to explain language acquisition.
They include the behaviorist, innatist, cognitivist, and interactionist theories (Thomas & Blacker,
2006). One of the theories that explains TJ’s language acquisition is the interactionist theory. This
theory believes that interaction is crucial in second language acquisition (Ariza & Hancock, 2003).
Furthermore, Vygotsky (1973) states that functions in the cultural development of a child appear
twice, and the first of which is in social level. This could apply to language acquisition as language is a
part of culture (Jiang, 2000).

TJ’s interaction with his classmates and the teachers helped most with his language acquisition.
When he felt frustrated in the early years, it was his classmates that were patient and helpful
enough to get him acquire the Spanish language as well as keeping him motivated to learn it. Pair
work given by the teacher also promoted interaction and collaboration between him and his
classmates where they communicated with each other to solve the given problems. The interaction
he had with his teacher and the classmates, especially the Spanish-speaking classmates, not only
enabled him to listen and produce the Spanish language, but also to be corrected by his classmates
after he tries to produce the language. Pica (1994, as cited by Ariza & Hancock, 2003), defines this as
part of negotiation for meaning where the learner modifies and restructure his language production
after an interaction between the learner and interlocutors reveals that there are difficulties in
comprehending the message attempted to be conveyed.

One of the aspects of Krashen’s Monitor Model, which is the Affective Filter Hypothesis, also
explains TJ’s language acquisition. This hypothesis suggests that there is a mental filter between the
learner of a language and environment (Shulz, 1991). This filter is activated by affective variables
such as anxiety, self-confidence and motivation. If the filter is low, the chance for success in
language acquisition is higher, but a high filter hinders the acquisition (Shulz, 1991). In TJ’s case, the
motivation he got from his classmates and teacher in middle school helped him in his language
acquisition. He began to shift from being required to learn Spanish to becoming interested as the
years progressed. In fact, TJ chose to continue learning Spanish in high school because he was
interested and not because of any requirement. Furthermore, it is also noteworthy that, based on
the interview, TJ decided to end his Spanish class in the middle of the third year of high school
because of the lack of motivation given by the new teacher.

Another theory that explains TJ’s Spanish language acquisition is the behaviorist theory. This theory
believes that learning is done through the process of conditioning (Wagner, n.d.). This process
occurs after a learner undergoes a three-stage process; stimulus, response, and reinforcement
(Carroll, 2003). TJ underwent this process in his class where he was given rewards whenever he
responded correctly to a stimulus. For example, whenever he answered a question correctly in
Spanish, he would be given praise.

Methods of Second Language Acquisition

Theories of learning contribute much to the development of teaching approaches or methodologies

(Carroll, 2003). Audio-Lingual Method, for example, derived from the behaviorist theory (Mora,
2002). It stresses on repetition and memorization (Mora, 2002). This method was used in TJ’s
Spanish class. TJ had to repeat and memorize Spanish words and phrases that are normally used in
conversations like ‘hasta mañana’, which means ‘see you tomorrow’, or ‘buenos días’ which means
‘good morning’. He would then be given praise or a pat on the back as reinforcement for correct
pronunciation and memorization.

TJ’s class also adapted Grammar-Translation Method. This method sees learning as a process of
memorizing rules and examples (Mason, n.d.). Grammar, in this method, is taught formally and
explicitly (Mason, n.d.). This is true in TJ’s class as grammar was often taught explicitly where the
students would first be introduced to a grammar rule, given examples, and then exercises to see if
the students understand or not.

Besides that, there were also elements of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach. In this
approach, language is seen as a communication tool and is used for communication (Savignon,
2002). In TJ’s class, there was group and pair work set for the students. Then the students would
cooperate and communicate with each other to solve the problem. The teacher would just be an
observer and facilitator to the learning. They would apply the grammar rules they learnt during the
communication and they would correct each other if they noticed a mistake. After they were done,
the teacher would give feedback and comment on their activity.

The Direct Method was also used in TJ’s Spanish class. Like CLT approach, Direct Method sees
language as a communication tool (Thanasoulas, 2002). This method emphasizes that classes should
be conducted fully in the target language without any translation (Thanasoulas, 2002). In TJ’s case,
starting from the second year of high school, his Spanish class was conducted only in Spanish and
translation was not allowed. Since he had already had basic knowledge of the Spanish language, this
method was not seen as a problem to him.

Conclusion

It has been seen that different theories were applied in TJ’s second language acquisition. There were
the interactionist theory, Krashen’s Monitor Model, and behaviorist theory. There were also
different methods used in the classroom; Audio-Lingual Method, Grammar-Translation Method,
Communicative Language Teaching approach and the Direct Method. This suggests that there such
thing as the only correct theory or method for teaching and learning language does not exist as
different theories have their share in getting learners acquire language. Teachers should not just
select one theory and method once, and adhere to it for the rest of their teaching time. They need
to know what theory or method is appropriate to applied and used at one time, and what is
appropriate at another time.

Reflection

One of the most difficult things in conducting the case study was finding the ‘right’ person. At first, I
thought that since I am going to be an English teacher and since English is used all over the world, it
would be better if I tried to find someone who has learned English as a second language. However,
most of the people I interviewed started learning English when they were very young. Some started
when they were as young as three years old. This made them reluctant to think hard and remember
how they learned English. So, I changed my strategy and started looking for English-speaking
Americans who acquire other languages because I remember that when I was in the US, second
language learning started to be introduced only in middle school. So, that was how I found TJ on the
internet.

TJ was a talkative person and it did not take much effort to get him to talk about his Spanish
language acquisition. I have learned that some people tend to be general in their response and it
was up to me to seek clarification and ask for specific details. For example, when he said he felt
strange in the beginning, I asked him to clarify what he meant by strange. I have also learned that
sharing my own experience and telling the purpose of interview helps the interviewee to be relaxed
and would even get them to be more helpful.