FACTORS of SECOND LANGUAGE
FACTORS of SECOND LANGUAGESecond Language acquisition is often a daunting task for even the best among us. So tedious can this endeavor be, that few of us are able to master the goal with any true fluency, and fewer yet are those individuals who are able to speak three or more languages. However, the skill or ability of speaking two languages, or �bilingualism�, has existed since man created language for himself. However, it has only been in modern times that it has been studied and analyzed to see how this ability is acquired. This analysis has shown that there are various factors that can influence or impede the acquisition of a second language, some of which to be discuss here in this paper is the impact of modern technology, age, the political environment, and the learners self-esteem. These factors are but a few of the many that can influence the path of a learner but they are important in the understanding of how a learner navigates this complex task known as second language acquisition.
Technology can often be overwhelming to both student and teacher alike and where computers are concerned, it can be an imposing instrument. The complexity of the computer, not to mention the vast choice of possibilities, can put students and teachers off as they loose time grappling with how to use the computer. Yet, the learning curve aside, computers can be valuable assets in the classroom. Computers being used as a tool to further a learning goal is not an entirely new phenomenon in our society. Although, their use in the classroom as a tool for second language acquisition can be said to be a fairly recent occurrence and thus deserves to be looked at as a factor in promoting the learning of a second language. Computers are wonderful instruments and can complement other learning tools in the classroom such as textbooks, VCR�s, blackboards, etc. But we need to be careful that the computer itself doesn�t become the center of the attention, rather that it is used in promoting learning in ways other technology can not. For some tasks, computers can provide distinct advantages over more traditional approaches. The use of a computer for listening exercises often provides not only sound, but also visual input providing students with more contextual clues, which can be invaluable to the second language learner. More over, they can also provide interactivity with students in ways that no other technology can currently compete. Students interacting with a computer can improve motor-skills such as typing and clicking which give a physical context to the learning process, which in turn, can help seed the phonetics, spelling and context of the vocabulary being learned. Computers can also greatly help in the area of pronunciation as most language software can record students voices and compare their recorded voice signature to that of the correct pronunciation...
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