...Feargal Murphy Language Acquisition & Disruption 29-10-2015 The acquisition of language is one of the most difficult tasks a human infant takes on Children´s acquisition of language has been considered one of the most important human behaviors. Nowadays, there is still the belief that infants learn their mother tongue through their parents, either by imitating their behavior or through the sounds they emit. However, all children in different parts of the world learn the language they hear in their environment. From the outset, children tend to learn as many things as they possibly can, which will be used throughout life, for example, walking, talking and socializing. The acquisition of language is an issue that has been discussed for many...
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...Bibliography Linda Bookwalter Kaplan University Annotated Bibliography Kuhl, P. K. (2004). Early language acquisition: cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience (11), 831-843. Doi: 10.1038/nrn1533. The research that Dr. Kuhl shows is that children from different parts of the world are learning other different language. The children are able to pick up the language that adults are speaking rather if it’s native or non native. All children are different in their own way. As a group, infant’s discriminatory ERP responses to the non-native contrast are present at 7 months of age, but disappear by 11 months of age, consistent with behavioral data (Kuhl, 2004). The strengths of this article is when the infants of the same age group were divided into subgroups of the components of the basis of the individuals ERP, it was evident that the brains of the infants remained sensitive to the contrast of the 11 month old of an non-native contrast. The weakness of this article there are some factors of the social skills that are effecting the language acquisition because the language that is evolved are not being addressed for the need of a child’s social communication. The influences on this article are that the children learn by simply being introduced to the proper auditory information. The data that was collected was changes that occurred during the Universal Language timeline of the perception of speech and the production of speech development. The data means what changes...
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...students to learn a foreign language. So I asked to myself, why? Because I knew that you cannot speak in Spanish all the time, but “never”? In my classes I accept it for some activities and for others I do not. According to Davis Carless “Students use of the mother tongue in the task-based classroom”, the use of the native language or mother tongue (MT) is quite complex because it could be beneficial for learners but, at the same time, it could not. In general, the use of MT is stigmatized by some methods, and teachers who cannot handle a class in the target language (TL) feel frustrated by the overuse of the students’ first language. However, as the writer claims, by taking into account the type of tasks we give to our students we can analize which are the ones that imply a positive effect on the second language acquisition and the ones that imply negative effects. Thus, teachers will be able to handle a task-based class with both languages in interaction. Firstly, Carless argues that the use of MT may have positive and negative effects on second language acquisition. Positive effects seem to “serve social and cognitive functions, including the construction of scaffolded assistance and create through collaborative dialogue the opportunity for language acquisition to take place.” In fact, through group works, in which students do not need to speak in English all the time, they can elaborate hypothesis or predictions about the TL in their own language, serving as a base to produce...
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...Examine the factors which affect language Development Learning to talk is one of the most visible and important achievements of early childhood. In a matter of months, and without advanced teaching, toddlers move from hesitant single words to sentences, and from a small vocabulary to one that is growing by a few new words a day. New language tools mean new opportunities for social understanding, for learning about the world, and for sharing experiences, pleasures and needs. It also means being able to understand simple instruction which aid in the teaching and learning process of the child. This paper will look at factors that affect the development of language in Zimbabwe and the world in general. It will look at what renowned scholars say about the development of language. Definition of terms Language according to Fredd C.C Peng(2007) is a behavior which utilizes body parts, the vocal apparatus and the visual system for oral language, the brachial apparatus and the visual system for sign language. Such body parts are controlled by the brain for their functions. E. Bruce Goldstein (2008) defines language as a system of communication using sounds or symbols that enable us to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas and experience. lastly Language can be defined as a means of communication. Cooper(1989) defines language Development as the result of the series of on-going planned actions...
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...Learning/teaching English Language Abdullah Ibrahem Alorini Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Islamic University Introduction The Internet offers tons of information and unlimited resources that people can use in order to expose them to authentic language use. Exposure, however, is not enough to trigger language acquisition. People need to be acquainted the use of computers to enhance language acquisition. The aim of this paper is to prove that Internet is a great influence to Enhance English communication skills through their exploration of the Internet that will ultimately help them improve communication skills and enrich their vocabulary. The Internet offers tons of information and unlimited resources that people can use in order to expose them to authentic language use. Exposure, however, is not enough to trigger language acquisition. People need to be acquainted the use of computers to enhance language acquisition. (Mei Lin, Caroline. 2007) Literature Review In a Study by Yi Zhou about Attitudes and Motivation toward learning a second language in an internet-based informal context: Perception of University ESL Students done in university of Windsor, Ontario, Canada; the study investigates the motivational factors for learning English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL). One of the purposes of the study is to benefit the educators and the instructors to gain a better understanding of the characteristics inherent to a internet-based concept to help support language learning motivation and...
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...Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning Stephen D Krashen University of Southern California Copyright © 1981 Stephen Krashen All Rights Reserved. This publication may be downloaded and copied without charge for all reasonable, non-commercial educational purposes, provided no alterations in the text are made. First printed edition 1981 by Pergamon Press Inc. Print Edition ISBN 0-08-025338-5 First internet edition December 2002 i Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following journals and organizations for granting permission to reprint material: Newbury House, the Center for Applied Linguistics, Language Learning, TESOL, the SPEAQ Journal, Academic Press. I have had a great deal of help and feedback from many people in writing this book. Among the many scholars and friends I am indebted to are Marina Burt, Earl Stevick, Heidi Dulay, Robin Scarcella, Rosario Gingras, Nathalie Bailey, Carolyn Madden, Georgette Ioup, Linda Galloway, Herbert Seliger, Noel Houck, Judith Robertson, Steven Sternfeld, Batyia Elbaum, Adrian Palmer, John Oller, John Lamendella, Evelyn Hatch, John Schumann, Eugene Brière, Diane Larsen-Freeman, Larry Hyman, Tina Bennet, Ann Fathman, Janet Kayfetz, Ann Peters, Kenji Hakuta, Elinor Ochs, Elaine Andersen, Peter Shaw, and Larry Selinker. I also would like to express my thanks to those scholars whose work has stimulated my own thinking in the early stages of the research reported on here: John Upshur, Leonard Newmark, and S...
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...PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE 1.1 Introduction Learners nowadays have different ways of learning the second language and they also have various levels of competencies with grammatical structure of English language. English language became the new lingua franca it is usually used as a medium of instruction. But in order to teach the second language also known as the English language, one must know how to apply different techniques and strategies in teaching English as a foreign language. After all, there is no single best way to teach the English language but there are many ways to do. And it is the main role of the teacher to become flexible enough in applying various techniques in developing the level of competency of the learners. Moreover, grammar is the essentials of language. The means to say that in order to learn the English language, a learner must know when to use a certain tense, word form, knowing how to explain and apply the rule and the right expression. Consequently, teaching English grammar is tricky as there are just so many exceptions to rules, irregularities of word forms, and other that even if you do know your grammar rules, you are probably going o need some help hen providing explanations (http://esl.about.com). Accordingly, the study of grammar began with the ancient Greeks, who engaged in philosophical speculation about language and described language structure. This grammatical tradition was passed on to the romans, who translated the greek names for the...
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...words a day. Language development is a complex subject with varying views.This debate reflects fundamentally different beliefs about human development and is not likely to be resolved. There is however considerable agreement that the course of language development reflects the interplay of factors in at least five domains.Educators and policy-makers have often ignored schoolchildren, whose language seems to be lagging behind development in other areas, arguing that such children are “just a bit late” in talking. However language development is a vital issue which has implications on the performance of a child at school. Because of this, this essay analyses factors that affect language development. 2.0 DEFINITION OF TERMS 2.1 LANGUAGE Skinner, who was a behaviourist, defined language as the observed and produced speech that occurs in the interaction of speaker and listener. 2.2LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT According to the internet site, www.healthofchildren.com/L/Language-Development, Language development is the process by which children come to understand and communicate language during early childhood. 3. 0 3.1 EXPOSURE TO THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT Owens R. (2001), quoted Beistein in an attempt to associate the social environment to language development. The social environment refers to the environment developed by humans as contrasted with the natural environment; society as a whole, especially in its relation to the individual. The social environment influences the language development...
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...Factors that Influence Language Development JUDITH JOHNSTON, PhD University of British Columbia, CANADA (Published online February 24, 2005) Topic Language development and literacy Introduction Learning to talk is one of the most visible and important achievements of early childhood. In a matter of months, and without explicit teaching, toddlers move from hesitant single words to fluent sentences, and from a small vocabulary to one that is growing by six new words a day. New language tools mean new opportunities for social understanding, for learning about the world, and for sharing experiences, pleasures and needs. Subject The nature of language knowledge Language development is even more impressive when we consider the nature of what is learned. It may seem that children merely need to remember what they hear and repeat it at some later time. But as Chomsky1 pointed out so many years ago, if this were the essence of language learning, we would not be successful communicators. Verbal communication requires productivity, i.e. the ability to create an infinite number of utterances we have never heard before. This endless novelty requires that some aspects of language knowledge be abstract. Ultimately, “rules” for combining words cannot be rules about particular words, but must be rules about classes of words such as nouns, verbs or prepositions. Once these abstract blueprints are available, the speaker can fill the “slots” in a sentence with the words that best convey the message...
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...Research Samantha L. Banasihan Mark L. Banasihan CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Introduction The importance of English language for enhancing educational attainment through improved communication ability can never be over emphasized. Students who have so much difficulties with their communication skill in English language may not function effectively, not only in English language but in their academic and this is no reason than the fact that English language in Philippines today is the language of text-books and the language of instruction in schools. When English Language proficiency is high, it will definitely affect and improve the academic performance of such students. Nevertheless, where the proficiency in English is lacking in any academic setting, it will definitely lower the academic performance of such students. The competency in English significantly determines performances in intelligence or academic tests. The explanation above seem to suggest that mastery of English language is very importance even in students’ academic performances in intelligence tests, especially when it comes to the issues of Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management education that involves a lot of laboratory and workshop practical in the acquisition of skills. Technical Education is an aspect of education, which leads to the acquisition of practical, basic scientific knowledge which involves special manipulative skills, creative...
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...This paper presents a model of second language acquisition based on the social‐psychology of acculturation. The model maintains that certain social and psychological variables cluster into a single variable, acculturation. The model predicts that learners will acquire the target language to the degree they acculturate to the target language group. Six studies that, in various, ways seek to test the Acculturation Model are reviewed and evaluated. Technical problems that affect such research are discussed, and the current status of the model is assessed. The extent to which form-focused instruction contributes to the acquisition of second language implicit knowledge is controversial. Whereas Krashen (1993) has argued that the effects of FFI on acquisition are peripheral, N. Ellis (this issue) sees FFI as facilitative and even necessary for developing implicit L2 knowledge. This article examines the role of FFI in developing implicit knowledge by reviewing 11 studies that have examined the effect of FFI on learners' free production. The review suggests that FFI can contribute to the acquisition of implicit knowledge and points to two variables that appear to influence its success—the choice of the target structure and the extent of the instruction. FFI involving extensive instruction directed at “simple” structures was more likely to succeed. However, limited instruction directed at complex structures also proved effective, provided that the target structures are readily available...
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...Although scientists have not discovered all the secrets of first language acquisition, the fact that children are born with the gift for acquiring language is practically undisputed now. However, what happens if the child is deprived of a normal audio environment from the beginning? In order to acquire listening comprehension ability, children need to hear sounds in order to imitate them correctly and then to link the sounds to the object they represent. However, deaf children can still develop a fantastic sense of language through sign language. To store and process language, people rely on the neurological system responsible for processing by the brain. It is a highly sophisticated mechanism that is only possessed by humans. Although...
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...Theories Of First Language Acquisition English Language Essay Imagine a blank template, a white sheet of paper, thats how human being starts off. From a crying baby in a cradle, to babbling, to simple single words, slowly progressing into two-words, then finally a complete sentence, ever wonder how one acquires the ability to produce the language? Linguists throughout the ages have tried to find out how does one ACQUIRE a language, is it a deep structure as claimed by Kimball? Or is it an innate ability, a build-in human capacity propagated by Chomsky? Various theories have arose since language studies came to fore, and the ability to acquire language has interested various parties since the dawn of man. From the dunes of Egypt, Psammeticus, the Pharaoh during the 7 th century BC, believed language was inborn and that children isolated from birth from any linguistic influence would develop the language they had been born with. Fast forward to the 15th century,King James of Scotland performed a similar experiment; the children were reported to have spoken good Hebrew. Akbar, a 16th century Mogul emperor of India, desired to learn whether language was innate or acquired through exposure to the speech of adults. He believed that language was learned by people listening to each other and therefore a child could not develop language alone. So he ordered a house built for two infants and stationed a mute nurse to care for them. The children did not acquire speech, which seemed to...
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...LANGUAGE ACQUISTIION AND DEAFNESS Assignment 1 INTRODUCTION The first 0 – 4 years are the most important years of the learning process of a child’s life. It is generally expressed that a child’s brain can perform like a sponge in early education, and that it can soak up a wealth of information which is retained for most of its life. Much of our knowledge could be described as being acquired in a mechanical or programmed sort of way during these early years, whereby a child learns to crawl, sit, stand, walk or talk without being shown or forced to do so. However, with regard to language acquisition, according to the ‘Behaviourist’ Perception (B.F. Skinner) children learn through training and start from scratch. This theory bases its beliefs on everything being determined through the environment, whereby “’conditioning’ that is through imitation” Singleton, D (1989:122) and habit development forms the basis of language acquisition. On the other hand the ‘Nativist’ approach (N. Chomsky) contradicts this line of thought. This theory argues that there is a ‘poverty of stimulus’ in earliest environmental existence and that the child is born with an innate biological language faculty which steers and forms language acquisition, and that humans are equipped with a language acquisition device (LAD). Singleton (1989). The “argument here is age related having to do with the early emergence of language in the young child”. Singleton (1989:188). While each writer has his particular...
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...different from that of an adult and has twice as many brain connections as an adult. Babies are capable of formulating their own native language, which involves usage of different symbols, without any formal assistance. Creativity, sensitivity and imaginations are some of the key extracts of a child’s personality. These youthful traits are highly valued from an evolutionary perspective: the more species evolve, the more they carry youthful traits into adulthood (a process called "neotony" or "holding youth"). It is imperative that we, as educators and parents, help preserve these genius characteristics of children as they mature into adulthood, so those capacities can be made available to the broader culture at a time of incredible change. Language is defined as “Any code employing signs, symbols, or gestures used for communicating ideas meaningfully between human beings”. There are three language acquisition theories by Skinner (Behavioristic) Infant learn by imitation and have no prior knowledge of language, Chomsky (Nativistic or psycholinguistic)Child is prewired for language development and the environment triggers its emergence, Piaget(Interactionistic) Language occurs through fixed developmental stages. CHOMSKY’S THEORY: Noam Chomsky was a believer of the idea that every human infant has an inherited capacity to learn any human language. He stated that a child’s mind has some linguistic configurations embossed on it, on the basis of their accurate usage by the...
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