INTRODUCTION Every aspect of language is enormously complex. Yet, Yet, children learn most of the intricate intricate system of their mother mother tongue before the age of six. Before they can add 2+2, children are putting sentences together, asking questions, negating sentences, using the syntactic, phonological, morphological, and semantic rules of the language. hildren are not taught language as they are taught arithmetic. !hey learn language in a different "ay.
LINGUIST COMPETENCE AND COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE #e are far from completely understanding the language acquisition process. #e are $ust $ust begi beginn nnin ing g to grap grappl plee "ith "ith thos thosee aspec aspects ts of the the huma human n neur neurol olog ogica icall and and biological make up "hich explain the child%s child%s ability to acquire language. ertainly it is clear that the child is equipped from birth "ith the necessary neural prerequisites for language and language use. &ur kno"ledge of the nature of human language tell us something about "hat the child does and does "hen acquiring a language' () hildr hildren en do not learn learn a langua language ge by storing storing all all the "ords "ords ant all the sentences in some giant mental dictionary. !he list of "ords is finite, but no dictionary can hold all the sentences, "hich are infinite in number. 2) hildren hildren learn learn to understand understand sentences sentences they they have have never never heard heard before, before, and to construct sentences, most of "hich they have never produced before.
*) hildren must therefore learn rules "hich permit them to use language creatively. -) o one teaches them these rules. !heir parents are no more a"are of phonological, syntactic, morphological, and semantic rules than the children are. hildren, then, seem to act like very efficient linguists equipped "ith a perfect theory of language, "ho use this theory to build up the grammar of the language they hear. /n addition to acquiring the complex rules of the grammar 0that is, linguistic competence), children must also learn the complex rules of the appropriate social use for language, "hat certain scholars have called communicative competence. !hese include, for example, the greetings "hich are to be used, the taboo "ords, the polite forms of address the various styles "hich are appropriate to different situations, and so forth.
STAGES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN CHILDREN 1inguists divide the child%s acquisition of a language into prelinguistic and linguistic stages. !here continues to be disagreement as to "hat should be included in these periods. But most scholars agree that the earliest cries and "himpers of the ne"born cannot be considered early language. uch noises are completely stimulus3 controlled4 they are the child%s involuntary responses to hunger, discomfort, the feeling of "ell3being, etc.
THE BABBLING STAGE 5sually around the sixth month period, the infant begins to babble. !he sounds produced in this period seem to include the sounds of human languages. !he role of babbling is not clearly understood, but it is absolutely clear that in order that the language develop finally, the child must receive s ome auditory input.
THE HOLOPHRASTIC STAGE ometime after children are one year old, they begin to use same string of sounds repeatedly to mean the same thing. 6ost children seem to go through the one "ord7one sentence stage. !he child uses $ust one "ord to express concepts or predications "hich "ill later be expressed by complex phrases and sentences.
THE TWO-WORD STAGE 8round the time of their second birthday children begin to produce t"o3"ord utterances like' allgone sock4 bye3bye boat4 it ball4 hi mommy4 dirty sock4 mummy sock. 9uring this stage there are no syntactic or morphological markers4 that is, no inflections for number, tense, or person. !he t"o "ords a child utters can express a number of different grammatical relations "hich "ill later be expressed by other syntactic devices.
TELEGRAPH TO INFINITY !here does not seem to be any three3"ord sentence stage. #hen a child starts stringing more than t"o "ords together, the utterances may be t"o, three, four, or five "ords or longer. !he "ords in a sentence are not strung together randomly4 from a very early stage, children%s utterances reveal their grasp of the principles of sentence formation. !hese first utterances of children "hich are longer than t"o "ords have a special characteristic. 5sually, the small function "ords such as to, the, can, is, etc, are missing 4 only the "ords "hich carry the main message :the content "ords: occur. hildren often sound as if they "ere reading telegrams, "hich is "hy such utterances are called telegraphic speech. ;or example' athy build house4 o sit here4 ar stand up table.
8s children acquire more and more language, or more closely approximate the adult grammar, they not only begin to use function "ords but also acquire the inflectional and derivational morphemes of the language. !here seems to be a natural order of acquisition of morphemes. /t seems that the suffix :ing is the earliest inflectional morpheme acquired. Eventually all the other inflections are added, along "ith the syntactic rules, and finally the child%s utterances sound like those spoken by adults.
THEORIES OF CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISISTION IMITATION !here are those "ho think that children merely imitate "hat they hear. /mitation is involved, of course, but the sentences produced by children sho" that they are not imitating adult speech. Even "hen children are deliberately trying to imitate "hat they hear, there are unable to produce sentences "hich cannot be generated by their grammar.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT 8nother theory suggest that children learn to produce correct sentences because they are positively reinforced "hen they say something right and negatively reinforced "hen they say something "rong. !his vie" does not tell us ho" children construct the correct rules. #hatever correction takes place is based more on the content of the message than on its form. !hat is, if a child says obody don%t like me, the mother may say Everybody likes you2. Besides, all attempts to correct a child%s language are doomed to failure. hildren don%t kno" "hat they are doing "rong and are even unable to make the corrections "hen they are pointed to them.
CREATIVE CONSTRUCTION !he reinforcement theory fails along "ith the imitation theory. either of these vie"s accounts for the fact that children are constructing their o"n rules. 9ifferent rules govern the construction of sentences as the grammar is learned. !he imperfect sentences children use are perfectly regular. !hey are not mistakes in the child%s language4 they reflect his or her grammar at a certain stage of development. !he child seems to form the simplest and most general rule he can from the language input he receives, and is so pleased "ith his theory that he uses the rule "henever he can. !he most obvious example of this overgenerali
hildren seem to be equipped "ith special abilities or "ith a language acquisition device, residing principally in the left side of the brain, to kno" $ust "hat they can ignore, to find all the regularities in the language. !he details of this innate device are far from understood. 8s "e gain more information about brain functions and the preconditions for language acquisition, "e "ill learn more about the nature of human language.
LEARNING AND ACQUISITION OF A SECOND LANGUAGE 8s "e compare a child%s acquisition of his mother tongue "ith the learning and acquisition of a second or foreign language, it becomes evident that the processes and theories involved seem to be, at least to a certain extent, parallel. &ther aspects, on the other hand, keep less similarity , as it the case "ith the stages that children go through. !he learning progression does not take place in a linear "ay, by successive appropriation of the different subsystems implied, but rather by a global approximation "hich in the initial stages implies a considerable simplification and an exclusion of peculiarities that are not perceived as essential. =rogress consists then in a continuous process of completing, polishing and enriching this global apprehension of the ne" communication system. !hus, the teaching and learning of a foreign language should not be vie"ed so much in terms of a series of elemental units of content "hich are perfectly apprehended before proceeding to the next, but in terms of a communication system "hich is globally elaborated and "hose complexity and communicative potential increases in a progressive form. /t should be pointed out that the information processing mechanisms often "ork efficiently even "hen the student is not producing utterances. 9uring the first moments in the learning of a foreign language, there are often silent periods during "hich the student does not produce at all. !his silence, ho"ever, cannot unmistakably be
interpreted as a lack of learning4 it often covers an intense activity that cannot be directly observed and "hich sometime in the future, "ill let him produce utterances "hich reflect the internal representation that he has built during those silent periods. /f "e accept that creative construction can take place "ithout generating an immediate production, "e "ill have to admit that receptive activities specific comprehension competencies can be developed, but also, "hat is not so evident, the general communicative competence that is behind every linguistic system. !he above explained makes clear that the process of language learning is complex and that this process takes place in a personal and distinct "ay for each individual since the strategies "hich let the sub$ect receive and transform the input he receives are al"ays used in a particular "ay.
SECOND LANGUAJE ACQUISTION THEORY 8ccording to >rashen there are five hypotheses, "hich try to explain the process of acquisition of a second language'
THE ACQUISTION-LEARNING HYPOTHESIS 8cquisition in a not conscious process in "hich the person is not a"are of the grammar or the rules he uses. /n many "ays acquisition can be compared to the process by "hich a child becomes proficient in his mother tongue. /n this "ay, fluency is progressively gained as the proficiency in consolidated. Errors are accepted as a normal part of the process. 1earning occurs consciously, "e have to study the rules "hich govern a given language. #e are not responsible for our fluency since "e depend on the activities suggested by the teacher. 1earning has only one function' as editor or as monitor, that is, to make corrections and change our output.
THE NATURAL ORDER HYPOTHESIS !his ?ypothesis states the grammatical structures are acquired in a fairly predictable order in 1( native language and 12 0second language). /n other "ords, $ust as children learn their native language in a natural order, so students of a foreign language learn structures in a predictable "ay. evertheless t"o points can be made against this hypothesis' a) #e do not have information about the order of acquisition of every structure in every language. Besides, there are individual variations. b) !he existence of a natural order of acquisition does not imply that "e should teach second languages follo"ing this order.
THE MONITOR HYPOTHESIS !he monitor hypothesis states the relationship bet"een acquisition and learning. 8cquisition plays a far more important role than learning because learning is used as editor or monitor only. !he function of monitor is to make self corrections and change the output before of after speaking or "riting. But in order to use the monitor, three conditions need be fulfilled' a) !ime' in order to make a self3correction "e need time. elf correction can hardly be used "ithout altering fluency. b) ;ocus on form' "e have to be a"are of the grammar forms "e are using and kno" that there is a choice of forms. c) ;inally, once "e have stopped and concentrated on the form, it is necessary to have a correct kno"ledge of the rules so that the proper correction can be made.
!hus, it can be easily deducted that monitor overusers may have difficulty in acquiring fluency. 6onitor, ho"ever, can be a great help if used for grammar tests and "riting.
THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS We acquire language by understanding input that contains i + 1
i + ( means a step by step progression. /n order to progress the input 0i) should be only a bit beyond 0() the acquirer%s current level of competence. #e understand language that "e do not kno" by using context, extra3 linguistic information, and our kno"ledge of the "orld. /n the same fashion, language is made understandable to us through the use of devices such as simplified, visual clues, key "ords and phrases, gestures or familiar topics. We do not teach speaking directly
peaking fluency emerges on its o"n over time, thus, the best "ay to teach speaking is to provide comprehensible input. ;or the same reason, early speech is typically not accurate. 9irect error correction should be avoided. The “best” input should not be “grammatically sequenced”
/t is enough by providing genuinely interesting and comprehensible input. !eachers should organi
THE AFFECTIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS /t deals "ith the effect of affective variables on 12 acquisition. !hey are variables like anxiety, motivation or self3confidence. !he affective filter produces a mental block "hich prevents inputs to enter the language acquisition device.
>rashen summari
AGE DIFFERENCES IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION &lder acquirers are faster in the early stages of second language acquisition because' a) they are better at obtaining comprehensible input as they have good conversational management4 b) they have superior kno"ledge of the "orld, "hich helps to make input comprehensible4 c) they can participate in conversation earlier, via use of first language syntax.
Younger acquirers tend to attain higher levels of proficiency in second languages than adults in the long run due to a lo"er affective filter.
IMPLICATIONS FOR SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING !he five hypothesis about 12 acquisition predict that any successful 12 teaching program must have the follo"ing characteristics4 a) /t must supply input in the 12 that is'
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omprehensible.
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/nteresting and relevant to students.
!he goal is, thus, to transmit messages, not to practice grammar.
b) /t must not force students to speak before they are ready and must be tolerant of errors in early speech. #e improve in grammatical accuracy by obtaining more input, not by error correction. c) /t must put grammar in its proper place. ome adults, and very fe" children, are able to use conscious grammar rules to increase the grammatical accuracy of their output4 and even for these people, very strict conditions 0time, focus on form, and kno"ledge of the rule) need to be fulfilled before the conscious kno"ledge of grammar can be applied, given the monitor hypothesis presented above.
ROLE OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS HYPOTHESIS !he first language has long been considered the ma$or cause of a learner%s problems "ith the ne" language. /t interferes "ith the learner%s acquisition of his of her 12. /f a structure in 1( differs from that of 12, errors that reflect the structure on the 1( "ill be produced. !his process has been labelled interference or negative transfer. panish structure' ad$ + noun'
1a casa grande
/nterference "ith English'
@!he house big
/f a structure in both languages is the same, there "ill be positive transfer or
libros
English plural marker 3s'
books
!he contrastive 8nalysis treatment of errors "as popular up through the (AC%s. 8 large part of the rationale for the ontrastive 8nalysis hypothesis "as dra"n from principles of behaviourist psychology. !here are t"o central concepts in transfer' a) the automatic and not conscious use of the old behaviour 0habits) in ne" learning situations 0behaviourist vie")4 b) the use of past kno"ledge and experience in ne" situations 0other educational and psychological vie"s). /n recent years there have been enough data accumulated to place the 12 learner%s first language in a respectable role. =resent research results suggest that the ma$or impact the 1( has on 12 acquisition may have to do "ith accent, not "ith grammar.
ERROR ANALYSIS MOVEMENT 6any teachers and researchers noticed that a great number of the errors that students make could not possibly be traced to their native languages. !he theoretical climate of the late fifties and early sixties provided the ultimate rationale for the error analysis approach' oam homsky%s, Devie" of B.;. kinner%s erbal Behaviour 0(AFA) questioned the very core of the behaviourist habit theory "hich accounts for language learning. homsky%s vie"s, along "ith =iagetian psychology, succeeded in highlighting the previously neglected mental make3up of learners as a central force in the learning process, not a habit formation. Interlingual and developmental errors
!he term error is used to refer to any deviation from a selected norm of language performance, no mater "hat the characteristics or causes of the deviation might be.
/n the Error 8nalysis vie", errors that reflect the learner%s 1( structures are not called interference but interlingual errors. 9evelopment errors are errors similar to those made by children acquiring their native tongue. ;or example, students of English as a foreign often say things such as' ?e cans play football very "ell. !his error is also found in the speech of children acquiring English as their first language. Desearchers have consistently found that, contrary to "idespread opinion, the great ma$ority of errors made by second language learners are not interlingual, but developmental. 8lthough adults tend to exhibit more 1( influence in their errors then children do, adult interlingual errors also occur in small proportions. Implications of error analysis for L learning
Error 8nalysis has yielded insights into the 12 acquisition process that have stimulated ma$or changes in teaching practices. tudying learner%s errors serves t"o ma$or purposes' a) it provides data from "hich interferences about the nature of the language acquisition process can be made4 and b) it indicates to teachers and curriculum developers, "hich part of the target language students have most difficulty to produce correctly and "hich error types detract most from a learner%s ability to communicate effectively.
INTERLANGUAGE /nterlanguage is the linguistic system that a learner constructs on his "ay to the mastery of a target language. 6ethodologically, interlanguage may be said to incorporate the assumption of both ontrastive 8nalysis and Error 8nalysis. #hile ontrastive 8nalysis contrasts the
learner%s native language and the target language, and conventional Error 8nalysis involves contrast bet"een the learner%s performance and the target language, interlanguage take all three elements into account, explicitly incorporating the contrastive analysis of the learner%s interlanguage "ith both his native and the target language.
