2a cloribel sla
Republic of the Philippines
CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY-CCAT
Cavite College of Arts and Trades Campus Rosario, Cavite
(046)437-9505 / (046)437-6659
Cvsu.rosario@gmail.com www.cvsu-rosario.edu.ph
L2 Learners: How Second Language is Acquired by 5-7 year-old
Submitted by: Geraldine A. Cloribel
BSE 201A English
Submitted to: Shanna Ky Opina
Course Instructor
January, 2022
I. Executive Summary
In this 21st century everything is in its modern ways, places,
things and even people like children. Being at trend, learning second
language is necessary as it introduce people in globalization. At this
modern world you can’t just have a single language for the reason that
modernity comes with globalization and for you to become globally
competitive you have to learn different language or simply second
language. Today, children are taught to acquire second language from
the fact that children are fast learner and easy to acquire language
at a young age.
The researcher make a stand to successfully accomplish the study.
There are methods she consider like interviewing a child aged 5-7
years old. She selected the most capable and available interviewee
near her to be the respondent. Princess Lenie is a child aged seven
who is a second language learner, she is studying English language to
be specific
and she voluntarily participate in the study.
The
researcher make sure that everything that is needed are all prepared.
She conducted the study in a good spot or place to do the interview.
She listed questions to be ask in the interview and the session is
done with observation of speech style, manners and expression of the
child that is relevant to the needs of the study. The researcher
gathered all the facts and information that is needed for the
accomplishment of the study, to measure and to evaluate the capability
of L2 learners in learning the second language.
The interview took short time to conduct, even it only finished
at a short period the researcher gathered all the information that
she needed to accomplish the study successfully. The information
gathered are, the child or the interviewee showed her capability of
speaking the language moderately fluent, she able to understand easily
and comprehend the given questions even those that needed deeper
analyzation. Princess can also express her rational in every quest
that is really unexpected to hear from a youngster like her because
she fulfill the succession of the study. The respondent give the
needed data that will answer the objective of this study.
For the result of the interview session, the researcher studied
and connect se theories that will fit in to the L2 learners. These
are Cognitive Development Theory of Jean Piaget and Sociocultural
perspective under Interactionist theory of Lev Vygotsky. The two
theory provide information of how L2 Learners acquire second language,
from cognitive theory that explain how the mental processes of a child
is important in learning second language and Interactionist theory
that emphasizes the importance of environmental factors in influencing
the L2 learners. Both theories are taking part in a successful learning
and acquiring of second language. Generally speaking, the effective
learning process of second language in children aged 5-7 needs
cognitive processes and social help. Children can acquire as many
language as they can but it is important to consider the factors that
will help them to bw successful learners.
II. Introduction
In this whole new world where everything is in its modern ways,
people even children are keeping up with the trend. 21st century opens
the world into a technological society at large, there are numerous
advancement, innovations and progress in all aspects. Learners open
their doors in such opportunity to learn and acquire second language.
Because of the high tech capacity and capability in todays generation,
human can learn things trouble-free through the help of digital
gadgets. Foreign languages are can be seen and learn instantly by
anyone, children are one of the dedicated learners of second language
such as English, Korean, and even Spanish as they seen it through all
platform of social media like YouTube.
Second language is the other language that a learner acquire or
possess excepting their native language. It is the additional language
that is learned by someone even though it is the third or fifth
language that a person acquire it is still called as second language.
L2 or second language is firstly acquire in school activities, like
for example in Philippines their native language is Filipino and
usually the second language they know and use is English. Schools
usually teach or include learning second language in their curriculum
as it guide the students to be globally competitive and prepared, just
like in learning English language it is necessary as it is the
universal language. This era open incalculable number of people to
learn and acquire second language for the fact that along with the
advancement of things, people also undergo upgrading, even children
aimed to acquire target language with the unreasonable feeling. In
this study the researcher will find out how capable children are in
learning second language. This aims to answer the question “ is
learning second language an acquisition or learning” it is confusing
but the researcher will use evidence to provide facts on how capable
L2 learners and what theories are suitable for L2 learners. This will
focus on what are the factors that influence children that help them
to gain knowledge of the second language and are there anything that
can block or hinder the learning of second language in other children.
III. Objectives
The researcher is working to achieve and acknowledge the following
statement.
• Come up with a strong information of how fluent L2 learners in
speaking the second language.
• Discover the factors that helps L2 learners in successful learning.
• Find out the best theory that will fit in L2 learners capability of
learning and;
• Be aware of the things that influence L2 learners in learning second
language.
IV. Discussion Of The Subject And Observation Setting Of The Study
a. The Subject
Princess Lenie A. Gesta is a 7 year old girl from Halayhay,
Tanza, Cavite. She is the youngest child of her parents and grew up
as the most bright rather than her brother and sister. Princess is a
child who is very aware of gadgets like cellphone, smart TV and other
electronic gadgets. She grew up in a generation where all are high
tech, because of his parents job she can get some things that she
wants like owning a smartphone. Princess is keeping up with the trends,
she even have social media accounts like Facebook and TikTok and he
is literate in using YouTube. There are also some instances that she
will filming herself like what the Vloggers did. She have some access
to modernity that enables her to acquire and learn second language.
b. The Observation Setting
The interview session is conducted at the interviewee’s house
near the researcher’s place. The setting is quite and good place to
conduct an interview because the respondent can move without any
hesitations and feeling good with no pressure because she is at her
home. The researcher decided to go to the respondent house so that
the child can calm and stable. The ambience is just alright, not so
quite and not so loud just right for interview session, there are
seats and space to execute the interview in its good situation. These
helps the session to be successful and responsive.
V. Communication Dialogues (Reporting Data)
The following questions are asked to the respondent to be able to
attain the expected response. The researcher made the questions more
easier to understand and comprehend by the interviewee.
Transliteration of the Dialogues
Key:
[Bold text] Questions
[R] Researcher
[***] L1 learner ( Princess Lenie Gesta, Interviewee)
[Italicized text] Non verbal actions
[.] Pause shorter than 3 seconds
[…] Pause longer than 3 seconds
[#] laugh
[***] unknown words
The conversation
[R]: Hi! Goodmorning!
[***]: Goodmorning
[R]: So what is your name?
[***]: Princess Lenie A. Gesta
[R]: How old are you?
[***]: Seven
[R]: who are your parents?
[***]: Helena Gesta [.] and Junevin Gesta
[R]: Do you have siblings?brother?sister?
[***]: Yup!
[R]: What are their names?
[***]:Luise Jenelle [.] and Jhon Michael Gesta.
[R]: Are you studying?
[***]: Yes.
[R]: Where?
[***]: Elementary School
[R]: Halayhay elementary school?
[***]: [nod]
[R]: What is your favorite color?
[***]:[…] Blue
[R]: Blue why?
[***]:hmm nothing.
[R]:nothing? You should have answer.why blue?
[***]: ahmm [.] because […]blue is my hanger [stands up and pointed the
hanger with her towel]
[R]: aside from that?why do you like blue?
[***]:[.] I don’t know
[R]: next, what is your favorite music?
[***]: BTS!
[R]: BTS! What song?
[***]:[Stand up and do some singing and dancing] smooth like butter like
a criminal under cover.[#]
[R]: [#] butter? Why do you like butter? Why do you like BTS?
[***]:ahm nothing because they’re is very cool!
[R]:ahh very cool. Ahm. Me too! How about your hobby? What are your
hobbies?
[***]:Ma birthday!
[R]: [#] no I mean ahm something that you like to do? For example
dancing or drawing.
[***]:[.] Drawing!
[R]: drawing? what kind of drawing you draw what?
[***]: [***]
valentines day [***]
[R]:ahh you like doing greetings cards?like that? How about your
favorite movie or television show?
[***]: movie? Television show?my television show favorite is Encantadia
[R]: Encantadia why?
[***]: Nothing because there is super hero [#]
[R]:next ehm what is your favorite game?
[***]:game? Sokaboka
[R]: what’s that?
[***]: Sokaboka
[R]:is it mobile game?online game?
[***]: it’s not wifi!
[R]:oh what is it? Its offline?
[***]:ahm you gonna do it with your hands [clicking gestures]
[R]: in the phone?
[***]:yup!
[R]:ah ok its an offline game ahm what are your talent?do you sing?
Dance?
[***]: I’m sing
[R]: ahh you can sing? Can you give me an example?can you show me?
[***]:[#]
[R]:okay [#] what are your strength?what makes you strong?
[***]:strong?[…] Foods
[R]:foods?yah that’s right! How about your weakness? what makes you
weak? Or ahm what are the things you are afraid of?
[***]:ahmm doll
[R]:doll? You’re afraid of doll?why?
[***]: because they look like zombies!
[R]:[#] they look like zombies, next ahm what is your favorite story?
[***]:story?[…]
[R]:hmm for example Cinderella, Rapunzel
[***]: Rapunzel.
[R]: why?
[***]: because I watching them
[R]: ahh so Rapunzel’s story is all about what?
[***]: she have a long hair
[R]: right! Next what is your favorite food?or what food do you like?
[***]: food? Ahm cereals [get the cereal]
[R]: cereal like cococrunch? Why?
[***]: because cococrunch is my food [***]
[R]: ahm if you would given a chance to have a pet, what pet do you
like?
[***]:dog
[R]: Why? Why dog? Why don’t you want cat?
[***]: I like cats too but we have no a pet dog so I like dogs
[R]: what would you call it?
[***]: hearty
[R]: hearty [#] ahh next, are you happy right now?
[***]:ahm yes!
[R]: why?
[***]: ahmm I don’t know I’m happy!
[R]: you don’t know you’re just happy? Ok … are you grateful for your
family? are you happy with your family?
[***]:yes!
[R]: why?
[***]: nothing
[R]:Do you love them?
[***]: yes!
[R]: how big?
[***]: big! [gestures big circle]
[R]: next question I’m going to ask you… how did you learn English?
[***]: Just watching YouTube
[R]: YouTube and?
[***]: watching YouTube
[R]: YouTube only? Is there anyone who teaches you? Like teachers or
family?
[***]: I don’t know?
[R]: who teaches you how to speak English aside watching YouTube?
[***]: ahm KC and Rachelle
[R]: Who is KC and Rachelle?
[***]: KC and Rachelle I watching to the TV.
[R]: how about your mother?
[***]: she watching too
[R]:she teaches you too? Like what kind of English words? basic words?
[***]: basic
[R]: ahm how old are you when you learn English?
[***]: […] I learn english [***] five!
[R]: five? That early? Do you want to learn other language?
[***]: language?
[R]: like for example, korean, spanish, french. Aside from english do
you want to learn other language?
[***]: […]
[R]:hmm ok last question, are you using English everyday?
[***]:everyday? Just a little bit
[R]: like for example.
[***]: small
[R]: [smile] ok thank you! Thank you for participating!
The transcript of the conversation explained the facts of how
well the respondent in expressing herself in English language or in
her second language. At the very young age which is 7 year old, the
interviewee can finish the interview with a no break session. Based
from the conversation above, it shows that the respondent can
understand all the questions with no hard time. It is also obvious
that the respondent is not just answering with a simple response but
also she tries her best to explain and elaborate her reasons. From
the given questions, Princess able to give the unexpected result of
the interview, she gets beyond the expectation of the researcher. From
the allotted time for interview, this only took almost 15 minutes to
finish because the respondent can continuously response to the given
questions with no breaks at all. However, there are glimpse of small
mistakes in grammaticality, structure or words and sentence as well
as in the thought of the responses. The respondent provide evidence
of how she acquire second language, she mentioned some factors that
help her to be an L2 learner. Through the help of mentioned factors
the respondent can effectively share her thoughts and opinion as well
as her experiences in dealing and learning Second Language.
VI. Methodology
In conducting this case study the researcher come up with an
organized procedure to follow so that the study will be successful.
The researcher firstly think of the stage where she believe suitable
in this study, from the given development chart she chose the stage
5-7 years for the reason that they have greater amount of knowledge
of the second language as well as much fluent and much appropriate to
interview. She find some available and qualified child to attend and
be interviewed. Princess Lenie is a girl who is learning second
language
to
be
specific
English
language.
Before
the
day
of
interviewing comes, the researcher already prepare questions that will
be sked to the respondent, the researcher make sure that the questions
are understandable and easy to comprehend by the interviewee to avoid
some lapses.
Before the interview session the researcher make sure that
everything is all prepared and organized. While conducting the study
and interviewing the respondent, the researcher also observe simple
gestures and expression of the interviewee, she listed all the remarks
of the respondent, from its gesture, expression, manners and style of
speaking. After the session, the researcher gone through the website
that will help her point out the theories that is connected to the
result of the interview, she then gather the information and analyze
thoroughly the idea of the result of the study.
VII. Analysis
All throughout the session, the researcher has listed everything
she observed from the L2 learner. The conversation have undergone
smoothly that it took only short time. The researcher have seen and
studied every single thing from the interviewee. From the manner, the
respondent is very confident in answering questions it was like she
has no hard time understanding the given questions also in responding
Princess is very jolly and sure of her answers, it was like the
language she is speak is her mother tongue besides she expressed
herself effectively which shows that the knowledge of the language is
within her even at this early age. Princess showed that she have basic
mental structure of the second language (English). This characteristic
of a child convey that she is in the concrete operational stage of
cognitive development of Jean Piaget. The concrete operational stage
is the third stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. This
period lasts around seven to eleven years of age, and is characterized
by the development of organized and rational thinking.( McLeod, 2021,
Concrete operational stage of cognitive development section). Princess
express and showed some details that she have cognitive processes
while answering to the interview session. She shows organization of
her thoughts through her answering strategy, she able to share her
rational to be able to answer the researcher correctly and she is
successful in expressing her answers with a logical thought. The child
is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i.e. rules)
but can only apply logic to physical objects. (McLeod, 2021)
The respondent also share some factors that influence her to
acquire second language. Princess have mentioned some social media
platforms like YouTube that serves as her guide in possessing the
English language. She said that through watching YouTube videos she
able to learn things like English language, by that she practice
herself in speaking English. Another, there is also a presence of
actual teaching of her mother, the respondent mentioned that her
mother is watching with her and she then will ask things that is being
mentioned in the video and then her mother will explain that to her,
through these she able to acquire English as her second language.
Princess provide information that shows how environmental factors
influence her or serve as her guide in acquiring the language, and
this could be connected to Interactionist theory under Sociocultural
perspective of Lev Vygotsky. Princess Lenie emphasizes the social
factors
that
included
to
her
learning
processes.
Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theory views human development as a socially mediated
process in which children acquire their cultural values, beliefs, and
problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more
knowledgeable members of society. (McLeod, 2020, Introduction) The
Interactionist approach claims that if our language ability develops
out of a desire to communicate, then language is dependent upon whom
we want to communicate with. This means the environment you grow up
in will heavily affect how well and how quickly you learn to talk.
(Khan Academy source, 2022). Princess has been influenced by the
people around her through interaction and effective conversation.
VIII. Conclusions and Recommendations
For all intents and purposes the researcher have successfully
acknowledge the objectives of the study. From the information gathered
the researcher have seen the fluency of the respondent in speaking
English, 5-8 year old children are showing a little fluency of the
language from the fact that it is not their native language, they are
not
fully
fluent
in
speaking
because
there
are
lapses
in
grammaticality. They are getting the knowledge from the people around
them like family and community as well as they include the presence
of technology as a help to their successful learning. The Theories
that are connected and liable for L2 learning is Cognitive theory and
Interactionist theory as both of them have a part in the acquisition
process of the child.
In a modern world like today, it is very essential to have
learning and knowledgeable of the things that being introduced in
modern society. Learning second language is needed for global purposes
as well as in personal growth. The thing is, through the learning
process of the child, it is important that there are guidance of
mature and responsible people. In this generation where there are many
advantages, disadvantages are also present like negative things
therefore, to help the children in learning successfully, it is a must
to guide them in a good path, like in teaching second language,
appropriate language should be taught and negative ones should be
explain very well, if they learn bad words teach them what is right.
IX. References and Appendices
Puwarno and Suhendi Andang. (2018, April 10) Constructivist Learning
Theory: The Contribution to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching.
Retrieved
from
Knowledge
E
website:
https://knepublishing.com/index.php/KneSocial/article/view/1921/4298#:~:text=Another%20constructivism%20pri
nciple%20refers%20to,complex%20learning%20environment%20or%20environ
ment.
Khan Academy. Theories of the early stages of language acquisition.
Retrieved
from
Khan
Academy
website:
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/processing-theenvironment/language/a/theories-of-the-early-stages-of-languageacquisition#:~:text=The%20Interactionist%20approach%20claims%20that,
quickly%20you%20learn%20to%20talk.
Saul Mcleud. (2020) Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. Retrieved from
Simply
Psychology
website:
Saul
Mcleud.
Development.
(2021)
Concrete
Retrieved
from
Operational
Simply
Stage
of
Cognitive
Psychology
website:
Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage Stage of Cognitive Development
X. About the Author
Geraldine Amada Cloribel is a 19 year- old student who is
passionate, Dedicative and Optimistic when It comes to studying. She
was Born on March 22nd in the year Of 2002. Her mother is Ana Riza
Cloribel who is a tailor and Her father is Ramlond Cloribel, A driver
as of now. She is the Only daughter of the family and She have 2
brothers which are Currently studying in grade School as a 3rd grade
learners. Geraldine is a type of woman Who loves to enhance everything
about her. Geraldine Cloribel is a student of Cavite State UniversityRosario Campus and currently taking Bachelor of Secondary Education
Major in English. She graduated Senior high school in Amaya School Of
Home Industries from Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) Strand in
the year of 2020 and also a graduate in high school of The same school
(ASHI) from Food technology vocational course (2018). She graduated
grade school in Halayhay Elementary School in The year 2014, which is
just around the corner from her home together With her cousin and
relatives. She pursues teaching for the reason that she loves to
interact With the student. Ever since she was in grade school she
always Dreamed of becoming a teacher because for her teacher is the
most Noble profession because if there is no teacher, there is no
other Profession. Geraldine also open herself in different activities
such As dancing, singing and even sport to support the enhancement of
Herself and to be more ready in different aspect because as a teacher
You should be flexible not only physically but also flexible in Giving
and providing knowledge to the students. She is conducting this case
study in partial fulfillment of the subject BSEE 24, to help her
gather information about children that will serve as his first step
in knowing children that can be useful in the profession she chose.
…
