Abstract
Researchers have examined the process of learning a second language in adults and children who learn English as a second language. The results of the tudies indicate that second language learners generally pass through similar transitional stages which demonstrate systematic and nonsystematic variations, developmental sequences, and accuracy order. However, most of these studies have investigated L2 learning process in a natural setting. Therefore, the present study examines the process of learning English by adults as a foreign language in an EFL setting and attempts to find out the probable similarities or differences in language learning process. Data were collected from 200 adult students learning English interrogative structure. The results of this study indicated significant similarities between the learning process of the adults learning English as a foreign language and the adults and children learning English as a second language. These findings suggest that a second language is learned through similar processes. Consequently, there should be a kind of universal internal syllabus in the learning of a second language which controls the learning process independent of the environment and age of language learning.
Highlights
Since 1978 when the Chinese government leaders decided to adopt the reform and open-door policies, English language learning has been boosted in China
The present study suggests that it is possible for a non-native speaker to possess near native-like proficiency in a foreign language setting if he or she has adequate and effective input, interaction and output
This paper is a research in second Language acquisition (SLA) with its focus on the role of input, interaction and output in the development of oral fluency in the EFL context from both a theoretical point of view and a case study
Summary
Since 1978 when the Chinese government leaders decided to adopt the reform and open-door policies, English language learning has been boosted in China. In the past three decades, the Chinese English learner has greatly improved their four basic skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing. These four skills have not developed at the same rate. Li (2003) holds that speaking remains the most difficult skill to master for the majority of English learners They are still incompetent to communicate orally in English even though they might be able to read Shakespeare’s works in original after years of study at school. What accounts for this inability? Is it possible for a nonnative speaker to possess near native-like proficiency? Such questions have interested me for years and prompted me to choose this topic and conduct the present research
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