Introduction and Literature Review

Background of the study

Second language acquisition is the study of a non-primary language. It means that the learner
will learn any other language other than the native language. Another word for learning is
acquisition. The process by which a person learns a language is called as acquisition. Generally,
there are many factors which effect the second language acquisition which includes aptitude,
attitude, motivation, personality and intelligence. A student attitude, learning ability, confidence
and aptitude may vary (Buckledee, 2008). It is a fact that each language has its own set of rules
and procedures which helps a learner in speaking and writing properly. However, it is also a fact
that second language learner may face certain challenges such as fear of learning, anxiety and
tackling a new language. A student may feel excited, bore, happy, and confident when taking a
second language class. These conditions affect the learning abilities of students and may
influence a student to actively participate in the class or not. Motivation plays an important role
in the acquisition of second language. A person with high motivation can acquire second
language more quickly as compare to a person low in motivation (Ortega, 2011).

Review of related literature

Literature Review

Norris et al. (2018), has found that external factors which includes teacher characteristic such as
condition of class and school had no positive relationship with success of learning a second
language. Reference has found that attitude, motivation, ability to learn and motivation plays a
major role in learning a second language (Norris et al., 2018).

According to Ehrman, Leaver and Oxford, (2003), a students with a bored attitude may find it
difficult to efficiently learn a second language. They also found that students ability to grasp and
absorb the information may affect student ability to learn the language (Ehrman, Leaver and
Oxford, 2003).

According to Saville-Troike and Saville-Troike, (2012), some students learn second language
more quickly than others it is because the language learners have strong determinations,
potential, aptitude and ability to grasp things more quickly than others. Saville-Troike and
Saville-Troike, (2012) were of the view that there exist internal and external factors which plays
a major role in acuiring a second languages. Internal factors winlcudes; age, ability aptitude,
determination whereas the expternal environment includes class environment, teaching facilities
and teachning methodology (Saville-Troike and Saville-Troike, 2012).

Definitions

Aptitude

According to Skehan (2014), Aptitude is the capacity to learn possessed by someone (Skehan,
2014).

Anxiety

According to (Schmitt, 2008), language anxiety is a specific personality traits which have two
psychological factors i.e. emotional arousal and self related cognition (Arnfast, Jørgensen and
Holmen, 2010).

Attitude

According to Reference, attitude is a manner of acting, feeling or thinking which shows one’s
opinion, thoughts and disposition.

Problem statement

The linguistic, cultural and ethnic diversity around the world is steadily increasing. The learning
of second language is equally important for students because of linguistic, cultural and ethnic
diversity. There are many psychological factors which becomes a hindrance in the learning
process of students.

Significance of the study

This study is significant in a way that it attempt to identify the reasons which might be associated
with the hindrance in learning a second language. This study will be helpful for the teachers
teaching in primary or secondary level to adopt relevant method and procedures which enhances
self-confidence, attitude, ability and aptitude of students. This study also helps and contributes
to the research literature specifically in the field of acquisition of second language.

Research objectives and Question

This research study has the following objectives;

  To determines and identify the factors which effects students in learning a language

 To analyze the role of, anxiety, attitude, aptitude and motivation in learning second
language

Research Question

 What are the factors which contribute in minimizing the interest of students in learning
second language?

 How language anxiety of students affects the learning behavior of students?

 How aptitude and attitude of students forces students to learn second language?

 What role motivation plays in learning a second language?

Methods
Participants
The participants will be selected on the following criteria;
(b) Can be a learner or a teacher

(c) Be heterogonous in a subset of the sample population

Before Collecting data from the participants the participants will be guided regarding the
selection criteria. In order to ensure willingness of participants an informed consent process will
be conducted. The participants of the study will be given full information about the research. The
information includes the primary objectives of the research, overall goals of the research and
how this research will be beneficial for the teachers. A written consent form will be signed by the
participants to ensure their availability and willingness.

Instrumentation
In simple words instrumentation is the process of constructing instruments which can be used in
the research to collect data. In order to collect data questionnaires, interviews and observations
are the most common techniques of collecting data. The questionnaire was arranged in such a
way that specific answers of the problem will get. Close ended question, dichotomous questions
and Likert scales questions will be the part of this research study. The questions will be in the
form of Yes/No, 5 point likerts scale and demographic information such as Gender, Age and
qualification of respondents will also be the part of the study.
Procedure
Data collection instruments will be used to collect data. In this research study structured
interview with close ended questions will be used as data collection tool.

The data will be collected with the help of questionnaires which were obtained from different
publish sources. In this research study the questionnaires will be adopted from the top tier
journals.

Analysis
The data will be analyzed by using statistical software which includes SPSS. A correlation and
regression test will be used to analyze the data.

References
Arnfast, J. S., Jørgensen, J. N. and Holmen, A. (2010) ‘Second language learning’, in
International Encyclopedia of Education. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-044894-7.00509-1.
Buckledee, S. (2008) ‘Motivation and Second Language Acquisition’, ELOPE: English
Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries. doi: 10.4312/elope.5.1-2.159-170.
Ehrman, M. E., Leaver, B. Lou and Oxford, R. L. (2003) ‘A brief overview of individual
differences in second language learning’, System. doi: 10.1016/S0346-251X(03)00045-9.
Norris, J. M. et al. (2018) ‘Second Language Learning Theories’, in Second Language
Educational Experiences for Adult Learners. doi: 10.4324/9781315230801-2.
Ortega, L. (2011) ‘Second language acquisition’, in The Routledge Handbook of Applied
Linguistics. doi: 10.4324/9780203835654.
Saville-Troike, M. and Saville-Troike, M. (2012) ‘Introducing Second Language Acquisition’, in
Introducing Second Language Acquisition. doi: 10.1017/cbo9780511888830.002.
Schmitt, N. (2008) ‘Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning’, Language
Teaching Research. doi: 10.1177/1362168808089921.
Skehan, P. (2014) Individual differences in second language learning, Individual Differences in
Second Language Learning. doi: 10.4324/9781315831664.