This article answers Q2 of the Miniseries “Decoding Definitions” on LEA “What is the difference between Second Language and Foreign Language?” from 3 perspectives.
Welcome to the 2nd instalment of the Miniseries “Decoding Definitions”, where I strive to disambiguate specialised terms from theoretical and applied linguistic terms for language educators. It empowers us to become more discerning in our reading of research literature in linguistics and language education. These terms will be captured in the glossary on this website eventually. In the meanwhile, let these articles be your come-to resource as part of your professional learning.
Key differences between second language and foreign language from 3 perspectives
So, for our second article, my goal is to provide a detailed response that pertains to the definitions in this question.: What is the difference between Second Language and Foreign Language?
I will address this question by considering possible definitions which distinguish both from 3 perspectives:
- In relation to first language and mother tongue/native language
- Instructional context
- Language management
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1. In relation to first language and mother tongue / native language
If you have not, I do urge you to read the 1st article in this Miniseries which answers the question of the difference between the first language (L1) and second language (L2). The current perspective is premised on that article which provides a fundamental but detailed understanding of second language in relation to the first language.
A second language is any additional language that is acquired by an individual after the L1s have been acquired, regardless of the chronological order of acquisition and the number of languages acquired (e.g. all third, fourth, fifth and languages thereafter are regarded as second languages). Do also note that bilinguals/multilinguals can have more than one L1, and thus their L2s only include those that are acquired thereafter.
We might then ask: where is foreign language positioned in relation to both? Can a foreign language also be a L1? Let us start first with a working definition of “foreign language”: for a language to be “foreign”, it is definitely not “native”; in that sense, a foreign language is one that is void of heritage and traditional connection to a society, community or an individual. Therefore, a foreign language is usually not associated with a mother tongue or native language.
With this consideration, we can be confident in asserting that a foreign language is usually not the L1 (using the dimension of acquisition context and sequence)/mother tongue/native language from the perspective of an individual. In the case of one’s mother tongue/native language being “foreign” in the country of residence, it is usually termed as the “heritage language” (I will deal with this term in another article in the series).
Taking in consideration such, a foreign language is regarded as a L2 for most individuals. I believe this is unsurprising: majority of individuals will only start learning a foreign language after they have acquired their L1s – if they do embark on such a journey. In any case, it is indeed the case that there are many scholars who do not make a differentiation between the term “second language” or “foreign language”; or use both terms interchangeably.
However, is a foreign language thus always categorically not a L1? In other words, are there circumstances where a foreign language can also be a L1, whether be it from the perspective of individuals or a larger community? My suggestion is “possibly yes”, and it is the case so with the effect of globalisation.
Parents with the resources and are forward-looking to invest in language learning may engage their children in the learning of foreign languages within early childhood. For instance, they may hire the L1 users of a target foreign language to be the babysitter of the child to socialise that child into using the foreign language; or enrol the child into a preschool programme which prioritises foreign language learning; or even go to the extreme of bringing the child overseas to be immersed in the community using the target foreign language as a L1.
While I cannot comment on the effect of such approaches – that warrants another article, it does not rule out the possibility that successful learners could have acquire that foreign language as a L1 (Two classic successful examples, though, comes through the daughters of global investor Jim Rogers, based on at least 3 dimensions I mentioned in the first article of this Miniseries. In other words, similar to a L2, a foreign language can become a L1 (non-native but learned during early childhood or used frequently with good proficiency) at least from the perspective of individuals – even though it is not common.
2. Distinction by presence in society
While it is important to understand the difference between “second language” and “foreign language” based on their relationship with “first language”, “mother tongue” and “native language”, the current perspective on instructional context is nevertheless canonical in establishing the most commonly adopted definition of “second language” in relation to “foreign language”, IF scholars choose to distinguish them (note that there are many that choose not to do so as mentioned earlier).
Generally, in the context of language instruction, a “second language” refers to a language other than one’s mother tongue/native language learnt in an environment where that language is widely used (or at least with considerable representation). In other words, there is a substantially large active speech community that uses this specific language as a mother tongue or native language within society. Think about the Spanish in the USA and the Polish in the UK learnt by English L1 users within those countries; or the learning of English by non-L1 users in the same two countries. To the learners, the target language is learned as a “second language”, and not a “foreign language”.
The “foreign-ness” in the definition of “foreign language” here has taken the scope of the society: that the language is non-native to the society or only used by a small group of migrants who have yet to establish an identity that is fortified as part of the nation-state identity. In that sense, the majority of learners who is learning this specific language will not actually have much direct contact with L1 users of that language. For instance, Japanese learning French language in Japan will probably not have much contact with L1-French users in general (ditto also for French learning Japanese in France not having much contact with L1-Japanese users in general).
With such differentiation in mind, we can then find meaningful discussion that explain how people learn a second language as opposed to learning the same language as a foreign language. Where the target language is learned as a “second language”, learners have an advantage in classroom instruction as well as real-life experiences. The target language enjoys presence within society; there is the availability of a larger linguistic environment accessible to the learners. With this advantage, many opportunities of actual real-life communicative contexts can be leveraged as extension of classroom learning (as an out-of-classroom authentic learning). There can also be a greater emphasis on active communication and interaction to build proficiency.
In contrast, Where the target language is learned as a “foreign language”, learners tend to have fewer chances to engage in authentic communication given the limited presence of the language in the community – their teacher might be the only source of authentic language use (unless they leverage networks facilitated by technology). As such, foreign language instruction may typically do so within the confines of a formal educational framework that focuses more on reading and writing skills. Successful foreign language learners may become adept at grammatical and semantic analysis, and yet struggle with oral skills and the communicative competence necessary for real-life situations.
Of course, such differences in instructional opportunities are more than just a function of the difference between “second language” and “foreign language” defined from this perspective. The main point I am driving here is that the presence of a target language within society has a lot more to offer for language acquisition, and teachers who are teaching a language as a foreign language has to deal with more challenges than others who are teaching it as a second language.
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3. Language management by the government
On seeing this, you may be wondering: what is language management? Language management is a construct that is placed within the sphere of language policy. It refers to the endeavours of individuals or groups (the “language managers”) who hold a vested interest in language as an instrument or symbol, to purposefully modify or adapt the language beliefs and practices of a selected group. In our context here, the “language manager” is the government or nation-state.
Having interface with the government on language policy matters, we probably will not underestimate the instruments that governments have in their toolkit to intervene in language matters. One of the most important instruments in that toolkit is to set the official language(s) and make decisions on the language of administration and the medium of instruction.
Again, the impact of such instruments warrants another article to explore thoroughly. For the purpose of this article though, language management by the government influences whether a specific language is defined as a “second language” or “foreign language”. In general, a “second language” is usually one of the official language(s) or at least a language that have been identified by the government to be of socio-political (e.g. indigenous languages) or socio-economic value accompanied with historical legacy (e.g. English in Commonwealth countries). With that, resources are allocated and prioritised for the learning of these languages – for reasons such as internationalisation, cohesion, integration and national identity.
On the contrary, a “foreign language” can refer to any other language that has not been conferred any kind of special status by the government. No doubt, the government can also officially identify a selected set of foreign languages to be introduced in the national curriculum as “foreign languages” (e.g. Japanese, French, German, and Spanish in Singapore) for economic reasons, but these languages are categorically never one of the official languages and will not receive priority in resourcing over the recognised “second language(s)”.
You might have noticed by now the nomenclature that may govern how selected languages are termed officially in your context of practice: Languages other than English, English as Additional Language, English as a Foreign Language, English as a Second Language, Modern Languages, International Languages, Heritage Languages, Second Languages, Foreign Languages, etc. These official nomenclature does reflect the positioning of the selected languages from the perspective of the language managers, usually anchored on an institutional narrative. The considerations are less about the psycholinguistic perspectives found in research on second language acquisition or second and foreign language education. And if we want to stretch further, there are tons of unnamed languages that not any one government will want to officially recognise under a certain nomenclature, except perhaps for “all other languages”.
Conclusion
Before ending this article, I would also just like to add an additional point. Definitions are messy, and linguists do not necessarily agree on them based on their operating contexts and ideological inclinations. Even among the 3 perspectives provided, we may find conflicting points that may render any specific language difficult to categorise, particularly because languages are dynamic, and positioning can change over time (even for the life course of an individual).
Notwithstanding such, the 3 perspectives which I have provided is quite encompassing to represent the different definitions that distinguish between a “second language” and a “foreign language”. If we do find conflicting points at times, we might just want to check if we are conflating perspectives and thus having difficulty in differentiating one from the other; or if the researcher might be engaging an alternative perspective from the one you are thinking about (e.g. from the scope of society rather than individual).
Recommended Readings
- Bussmann, H. (1996). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. London: Routledge.
- Davies, A. (2003). The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality. Clevedon UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
- Oxford, R.L. (2017). Conditions for Second Language (L2) Learning. In Van Deusen-Scholl, N., and Hornberger, N. (Eds.), Second and Foreign Language Education (Encyclopedia of Language and Education Vol 4) (pp. 27-42). New York USA: Springer Science+Business Media.
- Pinter, A. (2011). Children Learning Second Languages. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Saville-Troike, M. (2006). Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Stavans, A., & Hoffman, C. (2015). Multilingualism. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
- VanPatten, B., & Benati, A.G. (2010). Key Terms in Second Language Acquisition. London UK: Continuum.
References
Bauer, L. (2007). The Linguistics Student’s Handbook. Edinburgh UK: Edinburgh University Press.
Bussmann, H. (1996). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. London: Routledge.
Davies, A. (2003). The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality. Clevedon UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Davies, A. (2007). An Introduction to Applied Linguistics: From Practice to Theory (Second Edition). Edinburgh UK: Edinburgh University Press.
Gass, S., and Selinker, L. (2008). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course (3rd Edition). New York USA: Routledge.
Kramsch, C. (2017). Applied Linguistic Theory and Second/Foreign Language Education. In Van Deusen-Scholl, N., and Hornberger, N. (Eds.), Second and Foreign Language Education (Encyclopedia of Language and Education Vol 4) (pp. 3-16). New York USA: Springer Science+Business Media.
Littlewood, W., and Yu, B. (2011). First language and target language in the foreign language classroom. Language Teaching, 44(1), 64 – 77.
Ortega, L. (2013). Second language acquisition. In Simpson, J. (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Applied Linguistics (pp. 171 – 184). Abingdon UK: Routledge.
Oxford, R.L. (2017). Conditions for Second Language (L2) Learning. In Van Deusen-Scholl, N., and Hornberger, N. (Eds.), Second and Foreign Language Education (Encyclopedia of Language and Education Vol 4) (pp. 27-42). New York USA: Springer Science+Business Media.
Pinter, A. (2011). Teaching Children Second Languages. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pinter, A. (2017). Teaching Young Language Learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Saville-Troike, M. (2006). Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
Shin, S.J. (2018). Bilingualism in Schools and Society: Language, Identity and Policy (2nd edition). New York USA: Routledge.
Stavans, A., & Hoffman, C. (2015). Multilingualism. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
VanPatten, B., & Benati, A.G. (2010). Key Terms in Second Language Acquisition. London UK: Continuum.
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