FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION/ LEARNING

FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Knowledge of a language involves a number of areas, or levels; Phonology: pronunciation, combinations Morphology: prefixes, suffixes Syntax: sentence structure Semantics: word meaning Pragmatics: (in)direct speech acts, implicatures Conversational rules: turn-taking

Were we born with the capacity for language or is it something we develop after birth? It seems as if children are programmed to learn a language, but not a particular one. It is believed that we possess some preknowledge of language. We seem to have some 'operating principles':  

Pay attention to the order of words Pay particular attention to the word endings (inflections) Focus on consistent relationships between expressions and content Look for generalisations

Caregiver speech/motherese/baby-talk/parentese Exaggerated intonation contours slow and clear articulation high pitch concrete, immediate referents frequent content words few function words few modifiers personal names (not pronouns) baby talk words (doggie, tummy) frequent questions repetition imperatives

Interaction with other language users is absolutely vital There seems to be a critical period around puberty for language development. If a first language has not been learned by then it may never be completely mastered.

Acquisition stages: Pre-language stage (3-10 months) cooing/babbling: C(onsonant) + C /k g i ʊ/ V(owel) + V CV CV Certain interactive skills; socialization starts

One-word stage (12-18 months) Holophrastic utterances ‘look at that’ /lʊkǝðæt/ > 50 words Semantics: Overextension: vava = car, bicycle, bus, train Note only in production, not in comprehension

Two-word stage (18-24 months) Phrasal structure: N(oun) + N N + V(erb) N + A(djective) Daddy shoe, daddy come, daddy nice Produces 200-300 words

Telegraphic speech (24-36 months) More content words than function words Later on: inflections, prepositions, -ing, plural -s The development of morphology: overgeneralization: go-ed, foot-s, went-ed

The acquisition of semantics: Overextension: all round objects are referred to as ‘ball’; all furry, four-legged animals are referred to as ‘doggie’.  

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Some terminology: L1 = first language, L2 = second language SLA = Second Language Acquisition EFL = English as a Foreign language ESL = English as Second Language Applied linguistics: research on teaching methods, L2 acquisition, involves many other disciplines: pedagogy, sociology, psychology, among others.

Differences between learning a 1:st and a 2:nd language: First language learning means 'starting from scratch', filling all gaps of language knowledge The surroundings and situation in which the language is acquired Awareness of language and its social connections Language awareness (linguistic metaknowledge)

Acquisition: development of ability by using language communicatively (“exposure”) Learning: process of accumulating linguistic knowledge (“study of” ) The affective factors/acquisition barriers: - the surroundings - learning/teaching methods - motivation - inhibition

L1 learning vs L2 learning L1; the child + more motivated + less self-conscious + more time + more one – to –one situations L2; the adult + has cognitive skills + can read + write + meets more varied situations

Why do some people learn new languages more easily? aptitude (innate talent) empathy adaptability good memory good at detecting patterns and phonetic differences (stress, melody, vowel quality)

Focus on method Grammar-translation method: the traditional method, exercises on written language. Audio-lingual method: emphasis on spoken language, spoken ´drills`. The communicative approach: emphasizes the functions of language.

Focus on the learner Error analysis Transfer: positive transfer and negative transfer. Interference errors L1 is mapped on L2 Interlanguage: stages of the learner's language Fossilization: when the learner has stopped progressing.  

Input/output = the relationship between exposure and the language produced by the language learner. The input has to be meaningful in order for the learner to be able to improve his/her output.

Language skills: Communicative competence: Grammatical competence Sociolinguistic competence Strategic competence > a communication strategy