MOHD ROSLAN CHEE

2015072340039

Bilingual can be defined as the ability to use more than one language in an individual
everyday live (Grosjean, 2010). Mastering another language than your own mother tongue is
important nowadays to compete with other people from all around the world is crucial in order
to develop a country. This is to show that one country has the ability to perform in any situation
such as technology, industrial or educational field. Developing country have high demand in
fresh graduate to be their employers who has the ability to converse in other language than
his/her first language (Flaherty, 2017). This is where the importance of having bilingual skills
in which it can help to provide needs during work or study. However, there are factors that can
influences the acquisition of second language of an individual. Therefore, this essay will
discuss on the factors that will affect the pupils’ second language acquisition as well as to
discuss the types of instructional activities that may cater the needs of the pupils in the ESL
classroom.

Teachers should acknowledge their pupil’s ability and level of proficiency. Pupils are
different by their learning styles in the classroom (Lane, n.d.). Some of them can acquire the
language instantly and there are some who need to work harder so that they can acquire the
language better. Teaching methods and strategies are should be varies when the teacher are
teaching in the classroom. This is to cater the pupils’ needs in acquiring English language as
their second language (Cole, 2008). To let the pupils acquire their second language in the
classroom, they should be given tasks that allow them to interact during the teaching and
learning. According to Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory (as cited in Beloglovsky & Daly,
2015), children learn language better when they interact among their social environment.
Therefore, teacher should provide interactional activities such as group discussion, peer work
or presentation that allows them to have question and answer session in the classroom. This
will encourage the pupils to converse in English language because the interaction that they
are having are among their friends (Graf , 2011). Teacher should also provide different
strategies for the remedial pupils. Remedial pupils mostly have difficulty to acquire and learn
the English language especially in terms of words and sentence structure. Hence, tasks that
should be given to them are suits to their level of proficiency. For example, substitution table
can be used to teach them past tense structure if they are unable to learn through chalk and
talk method. Thus, teaching methods and strategies has to cater the pupil’s need so that they
can acquire English language in the classroom as their second language.

Next, second language acquisition of a child also affected by their prior language
development and competence (Miller, n.d.). Pupils are tend to be competent in their second
language if they are having a constant exposure to the language itself because they are able
to recognize the rules and patterns of the language. However, some pupils are not willingly to
learn the language because of their personality traits. Pupils who are outgoing and confident
MOHD ROSLAN CHEE
2015072340039

usually perform better to acquire the second language in the classroom compare to those who
has introvert personality. This is because the more outgoing pupils will not worry about the
inevitability of making mistakes and willingly to take the risk whereas the introverted pupils has
the insecurities of making mistake during the learning process. Therefore, teacher should
provide instructional scaffolding to guide the introvert pupils to learn their second language
(Tanner, 2013). Teachers should always know that their students are different and select
several of tasks which suits the pupils’ personality. For example, use task-based learning for
the introvert pupils during learning the language due to the fact that they are more passive
when having discussion activity. Doing the tasks will somehow give the introvert pupils to
interact with their peers. Sometimes, they check their answers and check if both have the
same comprehension of the question. The interaction among them will develop the introvert
pupils in their second language knowledge (Lima, 2014). Thus, giving the correct scaffold to
pupils with different personal will help them to develop their second language acquisition.

Lastly, individual age and cognitive ability influences the acquisition of second
language. Chomsky (as cited in Williamson, 2014) stated that human was born with the innate
ability to acquire language. However, the innateness of human can slowly disappear when the
individual itself has reach his/her puberty stage. Children also has a greater capacity of
memory which is a great advantage for them to memorize the language that they are learning
(Radstone, 2016). Language aspects such as pronunciation and intonation can be acquired
easily during early childhood which makes them more competent to be a native speaker-like.
According to Bishop & Leonard (2014), children are likely to imitate the language in their
childhood day. Imitation occurs when there are formats and routines of an activity. That is
why, during the teaching and learning in the ESL classroom, teachers are tend to do repetition
when teaching English language. As a result, the pupils follows exactly as what the teacher
has spoken has become a routine for them. Furthermore, children are more flexible and
spontaneous when in their young age (Niamh & Over , 2017). Their curiosity and willingness
to know and learn the language makes them easier to communicate with other people in which
the social interaction among them develop their language aspects over time. Thus, teacher
should teach the young learner as much as they can so that they will be able to acquire their
second language better.

As a conclusion, second language can be acquired naturally, but to increase their

ability to use the second language in context, they need guidance from skilled ESL educators.
As an ESL educator, it is crucial to know different types of method and strategies in teaching,
to know the needs of pupils who has different personality traits, and also to use the impactful
stage of young learners so that they can learn and acquire English as their second language
better.
MOHD ROSLAN CHEE
2015072340039

(1017 words)
MOHD ROSLAN CHEE
2015072340039

References
Beloglovsky, M., & Daly, L. (2015). Early Learning Theories Made Visible. United States of
America: RedLeafPress. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.my/books?id=uDjoCAAAQBAJ

Bishop, D. V., & Leonard, L. B. (2014). Speech and Language Impairments in Children. New
York: Psychology Press. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.my/books?hl=en&lr=&id=iwFpAwAAQBAJ

Cole, R. W. (2008). Educating Everybody's Children : Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse
Learners. Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books?id=fPVQBAAAQBAJ

Flaherty, C. (2017). Job Market is Strong for Bilingual Workers. Inside Higher ED. Retrieved
February 10, 2018, from
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/03/01/report-job-market-strong-
bilingual-workers

Graf , M. (2011). Including and Supporting Learners of English as an Additional Language.

New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.my/books?id=C6FGqSxWXtIC

Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual. London: Harvard University Press. Retrieved from

https://books.google.com.my/books?id=XgRum7AWOoUC

Lane, R. (n.d.). Learning Styles. Retrieved February 10, 2018, from The Lancashire Grid for
Learning:
http://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/curriculum/english/download/file/LearningStyles.pdf

Lima, J. (2014, February 3). Teaching Tip: Helping Introverts to Thrive in an Active Learning
Classroom. Retrieved February 10, 2018, from Vanier College:
http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/pdo/2014/02/helping-introverts-to-thrive-in-an-active-
learning-classroom/

Miller, A. (n.d.). 9 Factors that Influence Language Learning. Retrieved February 10, 2018,
from Whitby: https://www.whitbyschool.org/passionforlearning/9-factors-that-
influence-language-learning

Niamh, M., & Over , H. (2017). Young Children Are More Likely to Spontaneously Attribute
Mental States to Members of Their Own Group. Psychological Science, 28(10), 1503-
1509. Retrieved February 10, 2018, from http://journals.sagepub.com/home/pss
MOHD ROSLAN CHEE
2015072340039

Radstone, S. (2016). Memory and Methodology. London: Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint

of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.my/books?id=hoTNDAAAQBAJ

Tanner, K. D. (2013). Structure Matters: Twenty-One Teaching Strategies to Promote Student

Engagement and Cultivate Classroom Equity. CBE Life Sciences Education, 12(3),
322-331. Retrieved February 10, 2018, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762997/

Williamson, G. (2014, January 21). Innate Ability for Language Acquisition. Retrieved
February 10, 2018, from SLT Info: https://www.sltinfo.com/innate-ability-for-language-
acquisition/