Logo Lanfrica
  • Accueil
  • Atlas
  • Analyses
  • Documentation
  • Sign in

© 2026 Lanfrica. Tous droits réservés. Tous les droits d'auteur des ressources affichées sur le site Web Lanfrica appartiennent aux détenteurs de droits d'auteur d'origine, sauf indication contraire explicite.

Multilingualism and theories of second language acquisition in Africa

Domaine:

natural language processing

Type de record:

paper
Créateur:
Eya
Éditeur:
WILEY
Hôte:
Abstract This article analyzes Multiple Language Acquisition (MLA) and functioning in Africa as a case study of multilingualism. It interrogates central aspects of the dominant L2 acquisition (SLA) paradigm that is predicated primarily on mother tongue (L1) monolingualism, and presents data that document high levels of individual multilingualism (3–8 languages), and the achievement of native to near‐native proficiency in three to five of them. The article draws upon these findings to critique key tenets of SLA theories, focusing on the ‘Critical Period Hypothesis’ (CPH) and its extension to the acquisition of additional languages beyond L1; its use as an explanatory tool for the development of the so‐called ‘interlanguage’ grammars by learners; and their failure to achieve the ‘ultimate attainment’ in L2, L3, and Ln. It is argued that CPH is inapplicable to L2, L3, and Ln, because it fails to predict native‐like proficiency beyond L1. It concludes by offering an explanation for the achievement of ‘native‐like’ proficiency in several languages by post‐pubescent Africans.

Visit

doi.org

Licenses

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor

Similaires

Second Language (Arabic) Acquisition of LLMs via Progressive Vocabulary ExpansionOn Context and Second Language Acquisition: The Rural Urban Dichotomy in CameroonEnglish as a Second Language in Egypt: Acquisition, Challenges, and Educational ImplicationsThe acquisition of subject-verb agreement in Arabic as a second languageThe second language acquisition of number and gender in Swahili: A Feature Reassembly approachA cross-language study of the speech sounds in Yorùbá and Malay: Implications for Second Language Acquisition

Second Language (Arabic) Acquisition of LLMs via Progressive Vocabulary Expansion

This paper addresses the critical need for democratizing large language models (LLM) in the Arab wor

On Context and Second Language Acquisition: The Rural Urban Dichotomy in Cameroon

The complexity of the linguistic environment in Cameroon raises the question of context and its role

English as a Second Language in Egypt: Acquisition, Challenges, and Educational Implications

This study examines English as a second language (ESL) in Egypt, focusing on how Egyptian learners a

The acquisition of subject-verb agreement in Arabic as a second language

The acquisition of subject-verb agreement in Arabic as a second language

The second language acquisition of number and gender in Swahili: A Feature Reassembly approach

Much of the recent discussion surrounding the second language acquisition of morphology has centered

A cross-language study of the speech sounds in Yorùbá and Malay: Implications for Second Language Acquisition

Acquiring a language begins with the knowledge of its sounds system which falls under the branch of