Contents

• Introduction 2
• Second language Acquisition --- A Major Concern in Language Proficiency 3
• Second Language Acquisition in Higher Education 5
• Constructivism --- The Learning Theory 8
• Cognitive Constructivism or Endogenous constructivism 9
• Exogenous Constructivism 10
• Social Constructivism or Dialectical constructivism 10
• Constructivism and Second Language Acquisition 11
• Various factors Influencing Second Language Acquisition 14
• Recommendations to Improve Second Language Acquisition 16
• Conclusion 18
• References 20

Description

The world has come a long way in terms of technology and development in the last century. The advances in technology and advancement have made the world a small place. In the recorded history, communication has never been as important on a large scale as it is now. Communication is the pillar on which the whole world is standing. As geographical barriers and boundaries are becoming less and less prominent it is becomes essential for people to be able to converse in multiple languages. In such a scenario, language proficiency plays a major role. It has become very important in every filed form business, education, entertainment and even in warfare. So, it becomes very important for everybody to learn a second language apart from their native languages. Second language acquisition (SLA) has gained a lot of momentum in the past few decades and is being studied very intensely now. And this forms the topic for the current research. Second language acquisition has been a great challenge for those who want to be able converse in a language other than their native language. This can be seen to a great extent in the education sector, especially higher studies, where students from different countries meet. This report will mainly focus on second language acquisition with respect to the education sector (higher studies) and then will relate SLA to the constructivism learning theory. The constructivism learning theory has been seen by a few as a very efficient learning theory and others criticize it. Constructivism learning theory gives a different dimension to the process of learning. It argues that humans construct knowledge through their personal experiences.
The report will first identify the problem about SLA ad then relate it higher studies in the education sector. For better understanding constructivism and different types of constructivism is briefed. The relation between SLA and constructivism learning theory is established. The influence of various factors such as psychological, historical, sociological, political and economic on SLA is discussed. The research is ended with recommendations to integrate the constructivist theory of learning and SLA.