Adult Second Language Acquisition in Natural Environments Nearly two dozen language acquisition theories have developed over

the past century, from Vygotskys beliefs in the importance of social interaction and language learning to the present exploration of the sources of language by Pinker. These theories fall into two general groups, environmentalist and nativist. Supporters of the environmentalist theories believe ones experiences and surroundings are the forces driving language acquisition, while nativist advocates accept language abilities as being innate. Most linguists and psychologists passionately endorse one collection or the other, but foreign language classroom instructors and more so, the language learners themselves, would admit that mastering a second language as an adult involves aspects from both schools of thought. This paper will present cases of successful adult second language acquisition in natural environments where no classroom instruction or formal studying occurred. It will also show that although most research supports the notion that language acquisition requires positive, low anxiety situations, there are cases where foreign languages have been acquired under conditions of extreme duress, a subject which has rarely, if ever, been explored. Positive Environments One of the most widely accepted theories of language acquisition is Krashens Monitor Model that contains several components or hypotheses, one being the Affective Filter. This theory, according to Krashen (1985), focuses on the learners emotional state, which can act as a filter either permitting or preventing input that is necessary for language acquisition (p. 7). Most research in support of this theory is intended for application to classroom situations. However, it is important to realize that similar situations in unstructured natural settings outside the classroom would also aid in language acquisition. Garcia and Hasson stated, a comfortable, nurturing environment is of the utmost importance for promoting communication. A stress-free, low anxiety atmosphere will facilitate the language acquisition process (1991, p. C-4). This distinction between classroom settings and the real world is vital, as Pinker (1994) claimed that most learning takes place outside the classroom lessons, by generalizing from examples (p. 432). Krashen (2003) expanded this concept when he declared ...adults, given enough comprehensible input and a reasonably low anxiety environment, typically achieve very high levels of competency in second languages (p. 3). This indicates that ones interactions with people who speak the target language as their first language plays a crucial for the language learner. Additionally, the more positive the relationship between the native speakers and the learner, the more the target language will be learned. Richard-Amato (1997) observed attitudes towards self, the target language, and the people who speak it...all seem to have an influence on acquisition (p. 58). The way the learner views those around them who speak the target language will either promote or retard acquiring the language. This leads us to examples of adult language learners who became highly competent in various languages without any formal classroom instruction simply by being immersed in target language environments. In the words of Krashen (2003), we acquire language...when we understand what people say to us and when we understand what we need (p. 3). This sounds logical , but what if ones native tongue is far-removed form the target language? Is it still possible to acquire the second language merely by being enveloped by it? A clear example of such a case is Armando Rodriguez, a Mexicanborn immigrant who has lived in Los Angeles, California, for the past 16 years. Rodriguez, a native Spanish-speaker, did not pick-up English in the U.S. as would be expected. Surprisingly, he became fluent in Hebrew. Silverstein (1999, p. 1), who interviewed Rodriguez, reported the following: After getting a job as a restaurant dishwasher and kitchen assistant, Rodriguez quickly absorbed new words and expressions by chatting with coworkers and customers. He picked up so much [Hebrew] that he never needed to enroll in a formal language class. One would assume that Rodriguezs Hebrew is rudimentary at best; however, his boss, Felix Wizgan, claimed, He [Rodriguez] speaks Hebrew like an Israeli (Silverstein, 1999, p. 1). Other factors were aiding Rodriguez in his acquisition of Hebrew. He enjoyed his job and had a great relationship with his boss, the boss family and all of his coworkers. Krashen believed it was the personal relationships with coworkers that promoted Rodriguezs language skills. He attributed Rodriguezs success to the friendly rapport between the restaurant staff and Rodriguezs obvious pleasure in chatting with Hebrew-speaking customers (2000, p. 23). It appears that Rodriguez viewed himself as a family member, not just an employee. On the contrary, Silverstein, who is not a linguist, psychologist or educator, credited Armandos financial needs as the force driving his language success when he stated:

Picking up a few words in a foreign language, or in exceptional cases, advanced conversational skills, sometimes is a way to get ahead economically. Rodriguez, for instance, worked his way up from dishwasher to manager because he became fluent in Hebrew. (1999, p. 1) This may have played a motivational role by encouraging Rodriguez to remain gainfully employed, but it can hardly be a strong cause for acquiring Hebrew. Silverstein also added that when ...the desire for companionship at work supplies motivation, learning a language other than English begins (1999, p. 2). This would tend to support Krashens views of the importance of close personal relationships in language learning. It is important to note that Armandos skills in Hebrew were limited to the communicative aspects [listening and speaking] of the Hebrew language and not academic [reading and writing]. Cummins (1988) attributed this to Rodriguezs development of basic interpersonal cognitive skills, or BICS, which is language proficiency that develops as a result of everyday communicative contexts (p 382). Cummins further explained this idea by stressing the importance of such learning in contextembedded situations when he wrote, ...the participants can actively negotiate meaning (e.g. by providing feedback that the message has not been understood) and the language is supported by a wide range of meaningful paralinguistic and situational cues (1988, p 384). This would promote the idea of acquiring language by communicating with native speakers in common, daily interactions. Cummins added, The more context embedded the initial L2 input, the more comprehensible it is likely to be, and paradoxically, the more successful in ultimately developing L2 skills (1988, p. 386). There is little doubt that a new language will be learned, but one factor rarely mentioned in these cases is the length of time it took to acquire the languages even though they were heard on a daily basis. Another of Silversteins interviewees was Marcelino Fructuoso who worked as a cook for various Korean restaurants. After six years, he had only learned how to carry on simple conversations and understand work instructions in Korean (Silverstein, 1999, p. 3). This could hardly be considered language competency. Unfortunately, none of these subjects were given a standardized exam in the target language to evaluate what academic skills had been acquired. This is an area worth exploring to determine the relationship between surface language skills and deeper, academic abilities. Upon interviewing Rodriguez, Krashen (2000), noted that he ...had never learned to read Hebrew, never studied Hebrew grammar, had no idea of what the rules of Hebrew grammar were, and certainly did not think about grammar when speaking (2000, p. 22). Regardless, Rodriguezs ability to use Hebrew, a rather difficult language to speak, was very good. Krashen recorded an interview of Rodriguez in Hebrew and then played the tape for four native speakers who had no idea who Rodriguez was. They were asked to judge his speaking abilities. Interestingly, Krashen reported the listeners evaluations of Rodriguezs speech ranged from very good but nonnative to native (2000, p. 23). This is not surprising, as Krashen (2000) pointed out, ...acquisition alone can lead to impressive levels of competence in a second language. Armando [Rodriguez] had the necessary ingredients: comprehensible input... and a low affective filter (P. 23). Yet it would seem contradictory that Rodriguez could speak fluently enough to deceive native Hebrew speakers even though he claimed that he was illiterate in Hebrew and had no understanding of its grammar. This oddity brings us to the views of language by Pinker. Pinker attributes Rodriguezs speaking success to descriptive rules of language. He wrote: The rules people learn (or more likely fail to learn) in school are called prescriptive rules, rules prescribing how we ought to talk. Scientists studying language propose descriptive rules describing how people do talk. They are completely different things, and there is a good reason that scientists focus on descriptive rules. (1997, p. 383) This reason is that apparently, classroom instruction and all the formal rules associated with it, do not play as an important role in learning to speak and understand a language as one might imagine. Krashen stated that with respect to adults learning a second language, Acquisition is a subconscious process and is usually accompanied by a certainty that an utterance feels or sounds right (as cited in Garcia & Hasson, 1991, p. C-4). This sounds like adult learners using gut-feelings or internal instincts to speak. This statement could easily be argued against because what feels or sounds right in ones native language may have nothing at all to do with the structure and sound system of the target language. The case of Armando Rodriguez is not unique. Another Spanish speaker, Juan Sanchez, learned Farsi. Silverstein reported, I [Sanchez] was working there [a Los Angeles food store largely serving Iranian Jews] 12 hours every day and only hearing Persian, Persian, Persian. So thats what I

picked up, the Iranian language (1999, p. 2). Here, too, the concept of descriptive rules overriding prescriptive ones as mentioned by Pinker are apparent. Silverstein wrote, Although his grammar and accent are described as rough, Sanchez speaks Farsi with little hesitation and enjoys making small talk with customers (1999, p. 2). This statement also identifies with Krashens beliefs on the importance of a positive environment and pleasant interaction with native speakers of the target language. The three cases presented share several aspects. All three men were native Spanish speakers, they all learned languages linguistically different from their own, and they were all exposed to the target languages at their places of employment. All of these factors may have played some role in their language learning. Their personalities may have also been important. Though no personality assessment was administered, their success in acquiring languages as adults, aside from being immersed in the target language, may have also depended on their inner states of mind and attitudes in general. Anxiety, motivation, and attitudes, wrote Richard-Amato, are particularly important and are strongly influenced by acculturation and certain personality variables such as the degree of inhibition, an ability to empathize, and a willingness to take risks (1997, p. 12). This would need to be explored more critically to determine the effects on language acquisition. Regardless, it would appear that L2 success is based on both the external environment and the internal feelings of the learner. In these cases, the learners were in highly contextualized situations in which there was low anxiety and little affective filter. As a result, they were all able to learn various languages rather competently without ever stepping foot inside a classroom. Negative Environments As the examples above have shown, learning takes place best in pleasant surroundings by persons with a positive attitude. These external and internal variables are part of what is known as the affective domain. Richard-Amato (1997) wrote, The affective domain includes several variables that can either enhance second-language acquisition or hinder it, depending on whether they are positive or negative, the degree to which they are present, and the combinations in which we find them (p. 58). This would lead one to believe that stress, anxiety and violence would make learning a new language very difficult, if not impossible. Surprisingly, this is not always the case. There are adults who have acquired new languages under negative, even hostile, conditions. Unfortunately, persons who have acquired languages while being prisoners of war, living under foreign occupation, or being incarcerated in a foreign country rarely discuss their experiences from a linguistic angle. Moreover, there has yet to be any formal study of such individuals. For this reason, the author contacted and interviewed some subjects who experienced firsthand the difficulties of learning a new language under highly negative conditions. It will be shown that their success at acquiring language was rooted in a number of theories, including immersion, motivation and acculturation. Immersion Theory Kiymazarslan (2003) defined immersion as a learning situation in which a learner is expected to acquire a language and communicate in that language when he or she is surrounded by the language...and hears nothing else (p. 6). This seems logical, but the theory was most likely directed at students living and studying abroad, not adults living under foreign occupation or in prison. Nevertheless, being surrounded by speakers of the target language in any situation is significant, as Baker & MacIntyre noted: The second language context provides constant visual and auditory stimulation in the target language (2000, p. 312). This would support being able to learn a language in almost any situation, as was the case of Kay Danes. Danes was an administrative manager from Australia working in Laos to develop a private security company when she was arrested for no apparent reason and sent to Phonthong prison in Ventiane [Laos]. Though Danes spoke some Thai and Lao, she was by no means fluent in either language. However, being forced to live in an environment where no one spoke English for almost a year changed that. Without any formal classes, Danes improved her speaking and listening skills dramatically and even became familiar with a third language, Hmong. This occurred as she spent hour after hour, day after day, interacting with target language speakers. Danes said, Most of my closest friends in the prison were either Thai origin or Lao/Hmong. They did not speak English, so we mostly conversed in Lao language (personal communication, October 10, 2003). Simply hearing the target languages continuously may not have been the only factor aiding Danes in her language acquisition. The rapport she developed with her fellow prisoners may have also played an important role, as Richard-Amato suggested: ...peers can promote a lowered-level of anxiety by providing a sort of surrogate family to serve as a buffer until independence is reached (1997, p. 63). Danes also improved her Lao over time because the primary language of the prison guards was Lao and she

had to understand them quickly in order to follow the regulations (personal communication, Oct.10, 2003). This would seem likely, as Krashen (1981) believed, ...informal environments must be intensive and involve the learner directly in order to be effective (p. 47). Danes was directly involved in the conversations of her cellmates and with the prison guards. Though Danes was incarcerated for only one year, she claims to have improved her language skills significantly. When asked about the language abilities of other foreign prisoners, she sadly commented, There were foreigners in Phonthong that could speak the Lao language fluently because they had been there for so long (Danes, personal communication, Oct. 10, 2003). Warren Fellows, another Australian who spent an incredible eleven years in various prisons in Thailand, reported that his ability to communicate in Thai developed rapidly. He had no one to talk to, so in his first few months incarcerated, ho forced himself to learn the local language. Fellows reported, During the many long days sitting in the crowded yard of Maha Chai prison, I did my best to try to converse with as many Thais as possible, learning a phrase here and there (1998, p. 76). He described the Thai language as complex, being incredibly descriptive and they explain everything through imagery and symbolism (Fellows, 1998, p.76) This means the Thais used a great deal of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in their everyday speech. Regardless, in less than one year, Fellows had a reasonable grasp of their language (1998, p. 9) and was able to tell jokes in Thai to the amusement of the other prisoners. Every language educator as well as language student knows that being able to tell and understand jokes in a foreign language is a clear indication of oral/aural fluency. Within three years, Fellows knew enough Thai that he rarely needed the help of a translator at his court hearings. At one of his hearings, he reported that I understood quite a bit of the Thai language, so I basically knew what was being said (Fellows, 1998, p. 114). The most amazing aspect of Fellows language development was that by his fifth year in prison, guards were utilizing him to serve as a Thai to English translator for newly arrived English-speaking prisoners. One time, after witnessing the brutal beating of another prisoner, Fellows reported the following incident: On this same day, the head of security, a man called Sucha, called me over to help him. A foreign prisoner had just been visited by a representative from his embassy, and Sucha wanted me to translate a message to this prisoner. (1998. p. 125) This statement reveals that the native Thai speakers felt Fellows had reached the point of communicative fluency, accomplished without ever having seen a Thai language textbook or sitting in a classroom. Motivation Gardner and Lambert defined integrative motivation as a desire to integrate and identify with the target language group (as cited in Richard-Amato, 1997, p. 61). Such motivation is exaggerated in situations where ones survival is the ultimate goal. Deci and Ryan believed intrinsic motivation is related to basic human needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness. Intrinsic motivation activities are those that the learner engages in for their own sake because of their value, interest and challenge (as cited in Walqui, 2000, p. 4). In prison, learning the target language was the key to survival. It was important for Danes to learn Lao not only for her own welfare, but for those with whom she lived. Danes wrote: If you wanted to survive, or to be understood, you had to submerge yourself fully into the culture and language or you would never understand fully what was expected of you, how to follow the regulations...how to negotiate with the guards in order to attempt to build a rapport so that they would not look on you so dishonorably, how to shout out to the police at night when another prisoner was dying. (personal communication, Oct. 10, 2003) Learning another language in prison ensured the ultimate goal, extending human life. Fellows concurred with this notion of the importance of learning the target language to be accepted in order to make it through each day. He wrote, To win the trust and respect of the Thai prisoners, I had to learn their language as best I could (1998, p. 76). In both cases, the desire to survive provided the motivation needed to learn a new language. This is further supported by Baker and MacIntyres belief that motivation is the driving force that initiates learning in the first place and sustains learning when the situation becomes difficult (2000, p. 317). Danes and Fellows situations clearly support this assumption. Living in prison is not the only situation that motivates persons to learn a language. Miriam W. was 17 when the Russian army liberated her small town in eastern Poland from the Germans in 1944. To make money to survive, her mother would bake cakes and bread and send Miriam into the streets

to sell the food to the Russian soldiers from 6 a.m. until evening. Miriam stated, It only took me seven months to become very good at speaking Russian. When you deal with soldiers all day every day selling and arguing, you learn fast (personal communication, October 31, 2003). She added, When you speak and make mistakes, dont be ashamed. Ask a native to correct you (personal communication, Oct. 31, 2003). Miriam also mentioned that for her, morning was the best time of the day to learn foreign languages (she speaks six, three acquired by age 10, three from age 17 on). These situations could be considered language learning by force, not simply motivation. Silverstein reported the following story about an African-American miner who became fluent in Serbian: Publisher William Jovanovich, in his 1998 biography, tells of how as a young boy he was surprised to see his Tata [Papa] launch into a conversation in Serbian with an elderly black man in Denver. Jovanovichs Tata explained that the black man had worked with us Montenegrins in a coal mine...and nobody spoke English. He learned our language in self-defense. (1999, p. 1) It would appear that in extreme cases, survival is the ultimate motivator for language learning. It should be noted that not all negative motivational situations are a matter of life or death. The author came across one adult language learner whose experiences acquiring Italian were quite humorous. Whizkid, an adult male from Slovakia, began to learn Italian when he moved to Rome and lived in a boarding house with 200 people who only spoke Italian. He increased his target language skills by watching cartoons in Italian, which were aimed at children, so they used very short sentences (Whizkid, 2000). All of this helped his language skills, but he reported the following as his key to learning the Italian language: I really graduated into accelerated learning of Italian when I always ended up sharing the dining room table with a real jerk who prided himself about being a bilaureato [a person with two doctors degrees] and thought no one was smarter than him. We ended up in serious theological arguments twice a day: At lunch and supper. He had one big advantage: He was Italian and we argued in Italian. Youd be surprised how fast I learned Italian just to make him lose! (July 4, 2000) Acculturation Another influential force driving Danes and Fellows language acquisition was the need to socialize with other prisoners. Second language learners, wrote Stauble, will succeed to the degree that they acculturate to the target language group if no formal instruction is attempted (as cited in Richard-Amato, 1997, p. 63). Danes mentioned that most of her closest friends were Thai, Lao or Hmong, and Fellows told jokes to his fellow Thai prisoners in their language. This shows that the two became an integral part of the larger non-English speaking prison population. Both developed a feeling of community and belonging with members of the target language. This is probably the most important factor in their language acquisition. Baker and MacIntyre wrote that integrativeness is described as a positive temperament toward the target language group and the desire to interact with members of that community (2000, p .318). Both prisoners demonstrated this behavior. Additionally, Baker and MacIntyre determined that mastery of a second language involves, to some degree, taking on the identity and culture of the target language (2000, p. 318). Danes felt she reached the point where she was no longer an English- speaking Australian. By the end of the year spent inside Ponthong prison, she stated, I had almost forgotten how to speak English because my mind was undergoing some changes. Basically I think I was losing my national identity (personal communication, Oct. 10, 2003). This seems difficult to comprehend. How could a person who had spent more than 30 years of her life speaking one language claim that within 12 months of being incarcerated, she was not only forgetting her native language, but the cultural identity associated with it as well. According to Thorne, this is a grave possibility if the language of the environment overwhelms the internalized language. He reported: The entailments of a SCT [Socio-Cultural Theory] approach foreground sociality to individuality, language as socially constructed rather than internally intrinsic, language as both referential and constructive of social reality, and notions of distributed and assisted activity in contrast to individual accomplishment. (2000, p. 219) Simply stated, Danes surroundings were more important than her inner self. It appears that towards the end of her incarceration, she felt so comfortable in the prison environment interacting with the other prisoners in their native languages that Thai and Lao became second nature. She no longer believed that these new languages were not her own. Danes explained that at times, she did not even realize she was communicating in the target languages without any effort at all. She wrote: Actually in the prison, it was quite bizarre. I would sit and listen to the women speaking in Lao and Thai and I could understand the gist of what they were saying even though I

couldnt understand all. It became uncanny...that they would be talking and I would interject with a comment...like in affirmation...or yeah, and what about this? The women would look at me and pause for a moment and then laugh and say...you turning into Lao people now, Kay. (personal communication, Oct. 10, 2003) Pinker further supported Danes experiences when he stated that a second reason for language to be partly learned is that language inherently involves sharing a code with other people. An innate grammar is useless if you are the only one possessing it (1994, p. 244). Had Danes and Fellows not learned the target languages, they would have been extremely lonely. Conclusion Various cases of adults acquiring second languages in natural environments have been presented. Some occurred under very pleasant conditions; others under extreme hardship. In both situations, target languages were learned without ever seeing a textbook, memorizing a grammar rule or being told how to pronounce the language. Pinker attributed such language success to innateness. He commented that knowing about the ubiquity of complex language across individuals and cultures and the single mental design underlying them all, no speech seems foreign to me, even when I cannot understand a word (1994, 448). This may be true, but he may never have considered acquiring a language under the conditions endured by Danes and Fellows. When asked why she thought she was able to learn Thai, Lao and some Hmong, Danes sadly wrote the following: You see, when we have everything stripped away from us, then we must look at ways by which we can survive. Our right to speak and think are sometimes the only things we have left. We soon learn that the differences in our cultures and languages are not so important after all, and that we must all work hard to bridge the gap that these differences create to find a common ground where we can communicate in whatever language in order to be understood. This is the essence of our survival. (Personal communication, Oct. 7, 2003) Perhaps this is the key to language learning, which unfortunately, is not a lesson that can be taught in any classroom.