Abstract—The study investigates the possible connections between acculturation and the acquisition of a second language on Libyan teenage students in Australia. Specifically, the study examined how various socio-psychological variables influenced English oral proficiency (oral communicative competence and native-like pronunciation) of the participants. In addition, it looked at whether or not SLA affects acculturation towards the target language group. This is achieved by analysing data obtained from semi- structured interviews and oral proficiency interviews. The present study found a definite link between the students’ acculturation process and their oral communicative competence but not native-like pronunciation. The results also provided evidence that SLL process has an impact on integration into the host society as well as the acquisition of a second language culture. Yet, it did not draw a clear conclusion with respect to how such a process affects these aspects. Keywords—Acculturation, Native-like pronunciation, Oral communicative competence, Second language acquisition, Second language learners. I. INTRODUCTION ITH globalisation in the 20th and 21st century, learning a second language became an absolute necessary for meeting the needful era requirements. It is estimated that two- thirds of the worldwide population has become bilinguals [76], [65]. In the real world, the number of Arab L2 learners has rapidly increased. Approximately, 50% of international students in Australia come from Arab World countries. During the period 2004 to 2005, the number of Arabic international students who entered Australia for study purposes rose by 50%. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya showed the strongest growth of any country (in terms of the number of students) with an additional 457 students and was followed by Kuwait (+253 students) [66]. Indeed, it is somewhat surprising that no previously published studies seem to have been done on Arabic learners to investigate the connection between acculturation process and forging language learning. Thus, this study is designed to investigate the possible connections between acculturation and the acquisition of a foreign language on Arab-Libyan teenage students in Australia. The purpose of this study is to examine how various social and affective factors experienced by the subjects would Hamza Muftah was with the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia. He is now with the department of English, AL Zawia University, Libya (e-mail: w0110425@ugmail.usq.edu.au, hamzamuftah@hotmail.com). influence their oral English proficiency (oral communicative competence and native like pronunciation). In addition, the present study aims at investigating whether SLA processes would affect acculturation into a target language group and shed lights on the mechanism of such influence. II. RATIONALE AND SCOPE In the last four decades, the study of second language acquisition (SLA) has been an area of interest for many linguists and scholars [27]. Much research has been done to call for a greater recognition of the significance of the social contexts, interactive nature of language use and emotional support. For example, [35], [32], [77], [78] point out that SLA is determined by the extent to which L2 learners socially and psychologically integrate with the target language (TL) group as well as the significant role that psychological elements play in acquiring the second language (L2). Additionally, many studies have been conducted on second language (L2) learners from various nationalities to investigate the relationship between acculturation (the social and psychological integration of L2 learners with TL group) and SLA. However, the results have differently varied. For instance [48] found various positive relationships between acculturation and SLA. In contrast, [84] found in his study, a negative correlation between acculturation and SLA. Literature showed no previously published research was undertaken to investigate the connection between acculturation and the L2 proficiency of Arabic-Libyan leaners or even Arabic students. So this study will investigate the connection between acculturation and L2 proficiency of teenage Libyan students in Toowoomba. The study will examine whether or not the social and psychological integration of L2 leaner with TL group can support L2 communicative competence and enhance the acquisition of native-like pronunciation. Additionally, literature demonstrated that the possible impact of SLA on acculturation has not been researched. Hence, this study will investigate whether or not acculturation is influenced by the process of SLA. The Investigation of the Possible Connections between Acculturation and the Acquisition of a Second Language on Libyan Teenage Students Hamza M. A. Muftah W World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic and Management Engineering Vol:7, No:10, 2013 1533 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 7(10) 2013 International Science Index Vol:7, No:10, 2013 waset.org/Publication/17305