English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Unique Language Acquisition Device Construction in Second Language Acquisition Process: Grounded Theory

Subject Areas : All areas of language and translation

Milad Omidi ¹ , Hamid Reza Khalaji ² , Keyvan Mahmoudi ³

1 - Department of English Language, Malayer Branch, Islamic Azad University, Malayer, Iran
2 - Department of English Language, Malayer Branch, Islamic Azad University, Malayer, Iran
3 - Department of English Language, Malayer Branch, Islamic Azad University, Malayer, Iran

Received: 2022-10-15 Accepted : 2023-02-21 Published : 2023-04-01

Keywords: Second Language Acquisition, individual differences, Grounded Theory, Unique language acquisition device,

Abstract :

In this study, the perceptions of selected experienced English teachers about the construction of their unique language acquisition device (LAD) in the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) process is investigated. The grounded theory and constructive design were employed and open, axial, and selective coding after semi-structured interviews ranging from 30 to 90 was used. The teachers' perceptions showed seven categories related to the construction of their unique LAD, namely, (a) unique environment; (b) Psychological problems; (c) genetic factors; and (d) cyberspace. Perceptions showed that the following mentioned factors have been affected uniquely by those mentioned categories separately and uniquely. Factors such as motivation, interest, self-confidence, self-esteem, attitude, viewpoint, opinion, intentions, learning styles and strategies, exposure to the TL, rate of acquisition, acquisition progress, IQ and intelligence, social interaction, mental status, memory capacity, concentration, learning potential, metaphorical thinking, and ideology so that they would be equipped with the unique language acquisition device (ULAD) in SLA.

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