Five Stages Of Second Language Acquisition

Linguist Stephen Krashen visualized five stages of second language acquisition. These are-
• Silent/Receptive – The silent/receptive stage can last anywhere between a few hours to a few months. New language learners spend time brushing up their vocabulary and in practicing how to pronounce new words in this stage. They are unable to speak the language with any fluency or understanding.

• Early production – Language learners begin to acquire words and use them in phrases, which may not always be grammatically correct. The stage can last for upto six months.

• Speech emergence – Learners begin to read and write the second language in this stage and gain greater comprehension. They can communicate in questions, short phrases and sentences.

• Intermediate fluency – After a year of speech emergence comes intermediate fluency. In this stage, learners can think in their second language, improving their verbal proficiency. They can write and speak using more complex sentences.

• Advanced fluency – Advanced fluency or the stage of continued language development is reached after two years of learning the language. The student is now able to grasp the nuances and complexities of the second language.

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