What is Language Acquisition? The process of attaining a specific variant of human language. The process of learning a native or a second language. Although how children learn to speak is not perfectly understood, most explanations involve both the observation that children copy what they hear and the inference that human beings have a natural aptitude for understanding grammar. Children usually learn the sounds and vocabulary of their native language through imitation, and grammar is seldom taught to them; that they rapidly acquire the ability to speak grammatically supports the theory of Noam CHOMSKY and others that children are able to learn the grammar of a particular language because all intelligible languages are founded on a deep structure of universal grammatical rules that corresponds to an innate capacity of the human brain. People learning a second language pass through some of the same stages as do children learning their native language.

Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing How is language acquired or learned? Language representation How are the symbols of language represented in memory? Language processing What factors influence the processing of language?

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related? Language is acquired

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related? Language is acquired Acquisition leads to a set of representations

How are Language Acquisition, Representation, & Processing Related? Language is acquired Acquisition Language use is the leads to a set of processing of these representations representations

Language Acquisition Major Issues First language acquisition How does our general intelligence interact with our biological predispositions? How do we learn our native language? What are the stages this process follows? How do failures in this process occur? Language disorders and loss--linguistic deprivation The critical period hypothesis--biological basis of language learning When you’re tired--not just people with pathologies

Language Acquisition Language Development Phonological development Semantic development Syntactic development and syntactic categories —from babbling to full sentences We learn what things mean (semantics) and acquire concepts We learn the syntax of our language (what are synt cat)

Language Acquisition Second language acquisition Factors that affect our chances of learning L2: Individual differences Age of acquisition effects Environment of learning Style of instruction--arnab is “rabbit” or Stages of second language acquisition Ind diffs--working memory span AOA--time at which begin to learn L2 Environment--classroom versus immersion Style of instruction--associations between translations or directly to concepts WILL RETURN TO ISSUES OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION LATER

First Language Acquisition Behaviorism Nativism Definition We learn language through a process of stimulus (hearing, input) and response (our trials). Correct responses are rewarded, as is our correct language use, which increases over time. Key phrase: Habit Formation We are born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) and access to Universal Grammar (UG). We are not born knowing English, or French, or Thai. Rather, we are born with innate knowledge of certain universal structures.

Second language acquisition is the study of learning a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. language having learned/started to learn an L1. This learning may take place in naturalistic or classroom settings. Researchers look at both the language used at various stages of learning (product) as well as the mental processes and environmental factors that influence that learning (process) Understanding SLA is important for knowing how to approach the teaching of 2nd/foreign languages

Some facts about SLA Errors are important for SLA (both for learning the L2 and for studying the process of L2 acquisition) SLA is systematic and, to a large extent, universal Order in which grammatical features such as morphemes are acquired are largely fixed regardless in which order they are taught. Individual differences do determine how well SLL acquire a language.

Language errors Initially errors were seen as something bad – to be avoided at all cost: in line with behaviourist psychology. Now recognise that errors in SLL are a stage through which learners must go through Errors that L2 learners make are universal: omission (compare with L1 acquisition) overgeneralization (compare with L1 acquisition) transfer errors (from L1) Positive transfer Negative transfer

Fossilization Most learners do not reach full competence in every aspect of the target language, i.e. they do not go through all the stages of learning for every aspect of the language. In such cases their ‘interlanguage’ is said to have fossilized, i.e. their errors are consistent and systematically used At what point learners’ language development fossilizes depends on a number of factors including: Ls’ language aptitude Ls’ motivation to acquire language proficiency Ls’ needs

Individual Differences Do individual differences determine the activation of multiple meanings of ambiguous words (especially the irrelevant ones)? What is the influence of verbal ability and working memory on syntactic processing?

Bilingualism Defined Bilingualism is the ability to master the use of two languages, and multilingualism is the ability to master the use of more than two languages. Although bilingualism is relatively rare among native speakers of English, in many parts of the world it is the standard rather than the exception. For example, more than half the population of Papua New Guinea is functionally competent in both an indigenous language and Tok Pisin. People in many parts of the country have mastered two or more indigenous languages. Bilingualism and multilingualism often involve different degrees of competence in the languages involved. A person may control one language better than another, or a person might have mastered the different languages better for different purposes, using one language for speaking, for example, and another for writing.

Relative activation of the two languages and selectivity of activation Can one language ever be fully turned off? Is L1 grammar always active? Can L2 become the more dominant language? What factors influence the relative activation of the two languages (individual and contextual)?