Abstract:

Introduction:
Many studies have been done on the acquisition of new languages. Much of these studies have been mostly limited to the acquisition of L2 or the interference of L1 to the acquisition of L2. Studies on the acquisition of L3 or L4 are very limited. However, increasing globalization makes it imperative that many people need more than the knowledge of two languages (L1 and L2) in order to be relevant in the new places they have decided to make their homes.. Many countries require that immigrants acquire at least a basic knowledge of their language in order to properly integratedinto the society. Sweden is one of the countries with a strong sense of language nationalism so much so that even though many Swedes are proficient in English, official businesses are conducted mostly in Swedish. Thus immigrants who move to Sweden are faced with the challenge of learning the Swedish in order to integrate into the society. The Swedish authority has some very professional programs aimed at assisting the immigrants to learn the language faster. Sweden considers English an important language so it encourages knowledge of English also. Thus those aspiring to enrol in any advanced study of any program in any Swedish university must have a moderate ability in writing, reading, hearing and speaking in both languages. Often many immigrants are faced with the challenge of studying both languages as L2, L3 or L4. However, there is a dearth of studies on the perspectives of the immigrant learners who are thrown into the centre of this often difficult task.

Objectives of the study:
A key objective of this study is to raise more awareness on how the challenges to acquire an L2, L3 and L4 can act as a destabising factor to integration into a new society on the part of the students. The study posits that often the forceful language learning can disorient, marginalise and disconnect the immigrants more than it would assist their integration. The results and recommndations of the study might be a veritable resource for policy makers and teachers of L2, L3, L4 courses to plan programs and curricula that might be more learner centred.

Methodology:
Perspectives and opinions of the participants are essential for making conclusions and recommendations. At the same time statistics on the study of the swedish language by immigrants is also relevant. A review of the literature on language learning is an important source of data also. Thus, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to gather and analyse data. A set of semi structured interview questions will be administered on participants from different nationalities who are enrolled in about two levels of swedish language courses. There will also be provision for individual comments beyond the semi structured questions. The comments option is provided in order to know the gut feelings of the participants that may not have been captured by the questions. Anaysis and intepretation of data will be done through coding of the responses in order to find out the recurring responses and this will form a pattern for drawing conclusions.

Conclusions:
The researcher hopes to come to reasonable and acceptable conclusions based on the findings of the study. The conclusions will highlight the challenges faced in new language aquisition from the perspective of the learners. The recommendations will highlight how this can be mitigated thereby reinforcing the prospects in learning a new language.

Keywords:

Language, Nationalism, Globalisation, Immigrants, Integration, Marginalisation, Learners, L1, L2, L3. L4.