Study on Third Language Acquisition under Second Language

Environment

Luo Xuejuan

Qinghai University for Nationalities, Xining, Qinghai, 810007, China

Keywords: Third Language Acquisition, Language Transfer, Bilingual Education.

Abstract: Nowadays, more and more people start to learn foreign languages globally. The issue of language transfer in

third language acquisition has been the social focus of concern and the emphasis of study by linguists.

Mother tongue has some influence on second language acquisition, which has more influence on third

language acquisition. With the economic globalization nowadays, the society puts more requirements on

language acquisition and the economic development needs mixed-type talents who can speak many

languages. This study elaborated the relation between second language acquisition and third language

acquisition to show the complexity of the latter. The influence brought by second languages acquisition on

third language acquisition and third language acquisition in the environment of second languages

acquisition were analyzed.

1 INTRODUCTION

China’s participation in WTO indicated that China

quickened its pace in reform and opening up,

representing the increasing exchanges with other

countries, regions and nations. This exchange needs

languages as support points, which raises higher

requirements for language learning. China is

composed of 56 nations. In minority nationality

regions of China, it is very common for people to

command different kinds of languages, especially

English, which is the most popular in the world.

Many universities in China set up English plus

second foreign language course. With the social

development, only commanding two languages can

not satisfy the requirements of social development.

In this case, more and more people start to learn a

third or more languages. However, third language

acquisition is not equal to second language

acquisition. The study of second language

acquisition in China has been gradually mature,

however third language acquisition is still lacking.

Therefore, it is important to strengthen third

language acquisition under second language

environment.

2 OUTLINE OF THREE

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

UNDER SECOND LANGUAGE

ENVIRONMENT

Third language acquisition is the acquisition of a

third language, which is a new study direction,

including factors of society, economy, and

mentality, on the basis of deeper development of

second language acquisition. Third language here

refers to a broad concept rather than the number of

commanded languages. The concept mainly refers to

one or several languages apart from mother tongue

of learners.

As the deep study of second language acquisition

provides premises for learning a third language.

They are inseparably interconnected and closely

related. However, second language acquisition is

totally different from third language acquisition. For

a long period, many linguists confounded second

language acquisition with third language acquisition

for the following reasons. First, in the broad sense,

second language acquisition means that learners can

not only command their mother tongue, but also

grasp a second or third or even more languages.

Second, the objects of study are same for two types

of acquisition, which is based on the learning

process, individual differences and teaching mode.

The study of second language acquisition just

343

Xuejuan L.

Study on Third Language Acquisition under Second Language Environment.

DOI: 10.5220/0006025803430346

In Proceedings of the Information Science and Management Engineering III (ISME 2015), pages 343-346

ISBN: 978-989-758-163-2

343

emphasizes the common characteristics of foreign

language learning while third language acquisition

focuses on individual characteristic. In study, first

language, second language and third language

should be treated as different study fields. The

differences between common characteristics and

individual characteristics can lead to a series of

problems in mentality, recognition and learning

process.

3 RELATION BETWEEN

SECOND LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION AND THIRD

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

The study of language acquisition started in 1960s.

Studies show that some functional words in third

language acquisition are transformed from second

language acquisition, even though there is no

similarity on the pronunciation between second

language acquisition and third language acquisition.

The study of third language acquisition can not be

separated from second language acquisition because

it needs second language as a premise. Studies also

show that borrowings are frequent between second

language acquisition and third language acquisition.

Many scientists compared the learners of single

language acquisition with those of multiple language

acquisition, which showed that the learners of single

language acquisition had more disadvantages.

Learners of multiple language acquisition have

language awareness in their learning process and

that awareness is helpful in memorizing words.

Studies in recent years found that the functions of

mother tongue acquisition, second language

acquisition and third language acquisition in

learning process were different. The function of first

language is correction while the function of second

and third language serves as tools. With the elapse

of time, second language acquisition will be

replaced by third language acquisition. In third

language acquisition, learners will be influenced by

first language and second language acquisition,

which serves as intermediary function. With the

elapse of time, in third language acquisition or

multiple language acquisition, language talents will

be gradually changed. The advantages of language

learning can make learners become more confident

in learning a foreign language, which has

interreaction and is separated from first language.

The learners’ previous language knowledge can

influence the process of third language acquisition,

but it is not clear which language influences the

process. Learners of multiple languages have

potential language knowledge, helping them to

quickly grasp language knowledge. Multiple

language learning can improve language system in

learners’ brains and help them develop new

language skills, facilitating their multiple language

awareness. Many fields and functions can

demonstrate this kind of language advantage, such

as language-use awareness, pronunciation, phrase

and grammar. Therefore, single language learners

are inferior to multiple language learners in word-

use and pragmatic output.

The context of society, politics and culture gives

rise to languages. Different contexts reflect different

forms of cultures and languages, which influences

the patterns of manifestation in foreign language

learning. In third language acquisition, learners need

to overcome the obstacles of first language and

second language. In learning words, grammar and

pronunciation, learners will more or less be

influenced by their mother tongue or second

language. Mother tongue, second language

acquisition and third language acquisition are

interactional and interconversion, which is helpful in

learning process. Studies show that mother tongue

and second language acquisition disturb learners to

some extent. However, in the same time, this

disturbance has great positive effects. The methods

of learning languages are interlinked. Learners can

use the method of mother tongue acquisition and

second language acquisition to learn third language,

reducing learning difficulties. Learners of third

language acquisition are strong in communication

and their sensitive emotion is higher than ordinary

people, so they have great potential. The efficiency

of language learning depends on two aspects. First is

the learners’ attitude, teaching conditions of schools,

and information-collecting capabilities. Second is

the value of the language and the social demand of

talents, which is a key factor. Overall, in learning

language, learners should know the attitude of

society or schools to the language learning, what

learning conditions and learning goals they have as

well as their own attitude towards learning. These

factors are keys and premises to command language.

With the deeper learning of language, learners

will find that third languages acquisition is greatly

influenced by second language acquisition,

especially in vocabulary, grammar usage and

semanteme. Therefore, learners will find it easier to

learn. The proficiency of second language

acquisition play an important role in third language

acquisition. People who know second language

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acquisition have strong communication skills as well

as good language analysis and application

capabilities. Learners can skillfully use rich

experiences and knowledge got in second language

acquisition to dig out their proficiency and

appropriately tackle the relation among different

languages. They can even find the characteristics

and laws of each language and actively guide the

correct transfer among languages. Learners should

analyze various languages and find their differences

as well as the similarity between second language

acquisition and third language acquisition, helping

them to balance their level of different languages.

4 STUDY ON THIRD LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION UNDER

SECOND LANGUAGE

ENVIRONMENT

With the further study of second language

acquisition, the proposal of language transfer theory

entered a new language study field, which mainly

studies third language acquisition is created under

what social background. The third language

acquisition here does not refer to the number of

language learning, but one or several languages

apart from mother tongue or second language.

Compared with second acquisition, third language

acquisition is more complex because second

language acquisition is influenced only by first

language. Third language acquisition is influenced

by both first language and second language

acquisition. Studies about third language acquisition

started from 1950s and some studies show that

borrowing among different languages is frequent.

Further studies also show that the role of first

language and second language in third language

acquisition is different as the role of first language is

correction while the role of second language is

bridge. With further studies, mother tongue and

second language acquisition will gradually be

replaced by third language acquisition. If learners

can skillfully use two languages, they will help lay a

solid foundation for third language learning. The

previous knowledge in third language acquisition

can be transferred. It is not clear which language that

learners have already grasped influences third

language acquisition.

In third language acquisition, some notional

words can be borrowed from second language

acquisition. Second language acquisition plays an

important role in third language acquisition and the

language distance is shorter and shorter. The

language level, learning time and learning attitude in

second language acquisition will all influence third

language acquisition. Learners’ abilities of

knowledge absorption are different. Good learners

can borrow more notional words from second

language acquisition while poor learners can only

borrow notional words from their mother tongue.

Thus it can be seen that the process of third language

acquisition is very complex.

Second language acquisition has influences on

third language acquisition in vocabulary, writing,

pronunciation and grammar. First, in pronunciation,

most learners of third language remain their mother

tongue or second language pronunciation. The

pronunciation of third language acquisition is mainly

influenced by mother tongue and the role of second

language acquisition is comparatively weaker.

However, if learners recently have been learning the

second language, then the pronunciation of second

language will appear more frequently. Second, in

writing, third language acquisition often has the tone

characteristics of mother tongue. Third, in grammar,

time span and skill level should be considered when

third language acquisition transfers second language

acquisition. If second language acquisition has

longer time span and higher skill level, third

language acquisition will transfer the grammar of

second language acquisition. When third language

acquisition transfers second language acquisition,

types and inner relation between them should be

taken into consideration. In earlier stage of third

language acquisition, it often borrows words and

phrases of second language acquisition. Generally

speaking, second language acquisition has great

influences on third language acquisition. As long as

these influences exit, third language acquisition has

more or less transferred the knowledge of second

language acquisition. With the deeper study of third

language acquisition, only words transfer will be

fewer and fewer. Much attention should be paid on

the establishment of systematic network language.

Even if there is a close relation between first

language acquisition and third language acquisition,

procedural or substantial transfer is often based on

second language acquisition. However, if second

language acquisition and third language acquisition

do not belong to same language family, the

possibility of transfer will be lower.

Although the study of third language acquisition

develops fast, because of short study time and wide

study field, third language study is still in primary

stage and the methods and scope of study need to be

improved. When people are learning a third

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345

language, they often have already learned or grasped

another language. So they have already got their

mother tongue and second language acquisition as a

language basis. In third language acquisition, they

should weaken the influence of mother tongue and

second language acquisition. Learners need to

compare the differences between second language

acquisition and third language acquisition, which

can help deepen their memory and understand the

differences between two languages, reducing the

mistakes when using foreign languages and

quickening the learning process. However, in

learning process, learners should not overly pay

attention to the differences among different

languages, which can cause negative effects and

bring heavy burden, leading to weariness mentality.

Learners should emphasize the individual

characteristics and common characteristics of two

languages and compare the similarity and

differences among different languages. Then they

can gradually find laws to enhance their learning

passion and efficiency, strengthening their learning

confidence. Learners can have systematic analysis

on several foreign languages in order to avoid the

negative effects of second language acquisition.

However, comparison needs to be within certain

time and scope. If comparison is undertaken among

many languages, the effects can not be ideal, which

will confound learners’ thinking, memory and

understanding. The mutual transfer between second

language acquisition and third language acquisition

provides learners with better chances to learn several

foreign languages. In learning process, the

knowledge about foreign languages will influence

the effects of third language acquisition. The

differences between second language acquisition and

third language acquisition can not guarantee the

learning ways and learning effects of two foreign

languages are same.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Third language acquisition mirrors a lot from second

language acquisition, such as study methods and

academic theories. As third language acquisition

needs a lot of language knowledge, so the learning

span is large. In addition, third language acquisition

is constrained by social factors and own factors. The

constraints of own factors mainly reflect in learning

attitude, age, career and gender while social factors

include national language policies and language

plans. In order to appropriately tackle these factors,

some adjustments under the environment of second

language acquisition are needed. Only through these

adjustments can learners lay a solid foundation for

third language acquisition.

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Yuan Qingling. Summary of Foreign Third Language

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Foreign Studies, 2010(6):36-37.

Han Shuhua, Liu Yongbing. West Third Language

Acquisition Research Implications for Foreign

Language Studies in China. Journal of Northeast

Normal University (Social Science), 2012(6):23-26.

Zengli. Foreign ‘Third Language Acquisition’ Review.

Journal of Guizhou Educational College, 2011(1):55-

59.

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