First Language Acquisition Theories

First talking to achievement TheoriesImagine a blank usher, a white sheet of paper, thats how human being starts dispatch. 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 mavin acquires the capability to produce the run-in? Linguists through pop out the jump ons bring forth tried to find out how does atomic number 53 ACQUIRE a delivery, is it a deep structure as claimed by Kimball? Or is it an inwrought ability, a build-in human capacity propagated by Chomsky?Various theories throw a carriage arose since lyric studies came to fore, and the ability to acquire actors line has interested various bring outies since the sink in of man. From the dunes of Egypt,Psammeticus, the Pharaoh during the 7thcentury BC, believed row was inborn and that churlren separate from birth from both linguistic influence would develop the wording they had been born with. Fast forwa rd to the fifteenth century,King James Vof Scotland performed a similar experiment the children were reported to have spoken good Hebrew. Akbar, a 16th century Mogul emperor hardlyterfly of India, desired to learn whether wrangle was innate or acquired through film to the speech of adults. He believed that words was learned by people bear in minding to for each one other and therefore a child could not develop quarrel alone. So he localizeed a house built for two infants and stationed a mute nurse to c be for them. The children did not acquire speech, which seemed to prove Akbars theory that terminology is acquired and does not simply emerge spontaneously in the absence of exposure to speech.Henceforth, modern linguists have been trying hard to crack the codes which g everywheren the skill and erudition of a language. Theories ranging from Jean Piagets Cognitive Theory(1929), skinners Behaviorist Theory (1957), to Chomskys The Innateness Hypothesis, and Lamberts Critical power point Hypothesis(1967) for early language acquisition, and finally Krashens 5 hypothesis of consequence language larn have paved a way for an insight, a way to unravel the way the mental capacity works in acquiring and learning a language -which happen to be distinct from one another-, and here, we go out be flavor at the theories that have been the workhorse of language acquisition and learning.DefinitionFirst phraseology Acquisition is touted by linguist as the process of acquiring a language via exposure whilst young. First language is defined as the primary language -not necessarily mother tongue- which the speaker first acquires and use on a cease slight basis. concord to Lennenberg (1967) the language that one creams up during the critical period will generally be the persons first language. The Canadian census agrees that the first language that one acquires during childhood is the first language.A game language, however, can be a tinged language or a tot ally different one from the first language. Language acquisition is a cognitive process cognitive process (reasoning, perception, judgment and memory) of acquiring a language. It is usually done sub advisedly, with the mind slowly structuring the template to mold the language into shape. Language learning however, means a person is trying to learn the language consciously through practice, training, or experience.Amongst the most handsome theories of language acquisition that has been put forward by linguists is theCognitive Development TheoryAccording to Jean Piagets cognitive theory (1970s), language is a promoter part of cognitive victimisation. Language is mapped onto an individuals set of prior cognitive structures. The principles of language atomic number 18 no different from other cognitive principles. A person becomes fit of abstraction, of formal thinking which excels cover experience and direct perception (Freeservers.com, 2012). Firstly, the child becomes awargon o f a invention, they acquire the words and patterns to convey the concept. Simple ideas are uttered earlier than more complex ideas level off if they are grammatically more complicated. Piaget exposit four distinct stages of childhood cognitive development which include sensorimotor stage, pre- uscapable stage, concrete operational stage and formal operational stage and relates them to a persons ability to understand and assimilate new information (Springhouse Corporation, 1990). First language learners are thought to creatively use their skills of cognition in order to figure out the second language of their own. For adult learners, they have the ability to abstract, classify and interpolate gives them an advantage to systematically solve problems. Adult language learners rely on their cognitive activities of general information processing because their Language Acquisition tress piecemeal becomes unavailable for them (Hadley, 2002).Piaget claims that the human mind has a temp late known as the schema The representation in the mind of a set of perceptions, ideas and /or actions which go together (Atherton , 2011). The schema helps individuals understand the various happenings around them, an understanding of oneself (self-schemata), other people (people schemata), events/situations (event schemata) and roles/occupations (role schemata).According to psychologists, cognitive development starts at adaptation, followed by assimilation and adjustment close after. Assimilation is the process of incorporating new information into pre-existing schema, more often than not leading to overgeneralization. For example, the child refers to a whale as a fish, due to the fact the whales and fish, have fins and lives in the ocean. After assimilation, comes accommodation, whereby the mind is able to differentiate concepts made during the prior phase.Piaget contends there are four stages of cognitive development which are sensorimotor stage (birth-2years), pre-operational stage (2-7 years), concrete operational stage (7-11years) and formal operational stage (11 years and up).The first stage or the sensorimotor stage is the stage where a child learns about himself and his environment through motor and reflex movements. The childs thoughts are derived from movement and sensation (Springhouse Corporation, 1990). They learn and progress by doing simple motor movements such as looking, grasping, crying, listening, touching and sucking. Further down feather the road, they will also gain a basic understanding of the relationships of cause and effect. fair game permanence appears around 9 months and further physical development allows the children to bulge developing new intellectual abilities. Piaget contends that some basic language abilities are essential at the end of this stage.Pre-operational stage follows after the child reaches at the age of 2. During that stage, a childs intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, and his language us e matures, locomote to basic sentences. The childs memory and imagination are developed to a certain extend just thinking is done in non-logical and non-reversible manner.The following stage is the concrete operational stage -where the child reaches the age of 7-11- Children then develops seven types of conservation, namely number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area and volume. The childs intelligence is further demonstrated through logical and systematic habit of symbols related to concrete objects, and his operational thinking develops exponentially, however, his thinking at this stage is still concrete.The final stage in the cognitive development is the formal operational stage, where the childs developed intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. This is reflected in his/her speech as in choice of words, and capability of metaphoric usage.Humanistic Approach (Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers)Abraham Maslow proposed the humanistic approach as a method of language acquisition and learning. The theory takes into considerations of the feelings, motivation levels and confidence of a person According to Carl Rogers however, the persons consciousness of their own identity is about behavior of import to oneself. Rogers believed that people could wholly if fulfill their potential for growth if they had basically positivistic self-regard. On the strange Abraham Maslows believed that those who satisfied all their needs might become self-actualizers (Sammons, n.d.).Humanistic approach differs it tries to encourage collateral emotions that help language acquisition such as self-esteem, motivation, empathy and risk taking. It also tries to dampen negative emotions such as low self-confidence, nervousness and mental inhibition (Villatoro, n.d.) and in a sense, it coincides with muleteers Behaviorist Theory.Behaviorist TheoryB.F. Skinner described learning as a behavior produced by learners retort to stimuli which can be reinforced with positive or negative feedback to environmental stimuli. Skinner added that learning can be observed, justifyed, and predicted through observing antecedents and consequences. Both positive documentation and negative reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent behavior will happen again. In contrast,punishment(both positive and negative) decreases the likelihood that the antecedent behavior will happen again. Positive indicates the application of a arousal Negative indicates the withhold of a stimulus. acquisition is therefore defined as a change in behavior in the learner. Punishment is sometimes utilize in eliminating or reducing incorrect actions, followed by clarifying desired actions. Educational effects of behaviorism are important in developing basic skills and foundations of understanding in all subject areas and in classroom management.Skinners Behaviorist approach contends that children learn language through imitation, repetition and the reinforcement of the successful linguistics attempts. Mistakes are considered to be the result of imperfect learning or insufficient opportunities for practice. In such, that a child having a pleasant learning experience (such as rewards or praise) is positive reinforced. Through that positively reinforcing stimulus, a childs learning capacity is triggered. However, unpleasant experiences (such as punishment) serve as negative reinforcements, and cause learners to avoid undesirable responses to stimuli. As such, consecutive reinforcement increases the rate of learning, be it positive or negative a child will respond to different triggers and with experience, remember what is to do and to avoid. Hence, intermittent reinforcement helps a child to a longer retention of what is learned.Skinner contends that both positive and negative reinforcement can shape behavior, and this in turn affects their language acquisition capability, as such, a lack of any reinforcement can also sh ape behavior. If people receive no acknowledgement of their behavior, they will apparent change that behavior until they receive some kind of reinforcement.Behaviorism gave birth to a stimulus-response (S-R) theory which sees language as a set of structures and acquisition as a matter of habit formation. Ignoring any internal mechanisms, it takes into account the linguistic environment and the stimuli it produces. education is an observable behavior which is automatically acquired by means of stimulus and response in the form of mechanical repetition. Thus, to acquire a language is to acquire automatic linguistic habits. According to Johnson (200418), Behaviorism undermined the role of mental processes and viewed learning as the ability to inductively discover patterns of rule-governed behavior from the examples provided to the learner by his or her environment. Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991266) consider that S-R models offer little promises as explanations of SLA, except for whi tethornbe pronunciation and the rote-memorization of formulae (Menezes, V. n.d.).This view of language learning gave birth to research on contrastive analysis, especially error analysis, the important focus of which is the interference of ones first language in the target language. An important reaction to behaviorism was the interlanguage studies, as the simple comparison mingled with first and second language neither explained nor described the language produced by SL learners. Interlanguage studies will be present in other SLA perspectives, as the concern of the area has been mainly with the acquisition of grammatical morphemes or specific language structures.Behaviorist Theory for Second Language LearningUnder this theory, it is believed that the second language learning learner tries to imitate what he proves and practices the second language regularly to develop habits in the language. This theory also believes that learners try to relate their knowledge of the native langu age to the second language and this could lead to positive as well as negative results. However the imitation of one language with the other is not recommended as this does not help in objective life situations. The behaviorists believe that First language learners (FLL) consists of learners imitating what they hear and develop habits in the first language (FL) by routine practice. In this view, the learners are thought to relate what they know of their first language to what they recognize in the second language. Positive transfer is a result of similarities between the first language and the second language, because habits used in the first language easily transfer to the second language. On the other hand, negative transfer is caused by differences between the first language and the second language, because errors result from using habits from the first language in the second language.Problems with this view of FLL include the fact that imitation does not help the learner in rea l-life situations. Learners are continually required to form sentences they have never previously seen. A finite number of pre-practiced sentences is not enough to carry on conversation, not even with an instructor. another(prenominal) problem with this view is that many of the errors made by FL learners are not based on the first language. Instead, the problems most often encountered by learners agree errors made by children during the period of first language acquisition.The Innateness HypothesisNoam Chomsky believes that children are born with a language acquisition device (LAD) which encodes the major principles of a language and its grammatical structure into the childs wit and thus possesses an inherited ability to learn any human language. He claims that certain linguistic structures which children use so accurately must be already imprinted on the childs mind.Children have then only to learn new vocabulary and apply the syntactic structures from the LAD to form sentences.C homsky points out that a child could not possibly learn a language through imitation alone because the language spoken around them is highly minute adults speech is often broken up and even sometimes ungrammatical.Chomskys theory applies to all languages as they all contain nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels and children appear to be hard-wired to acquire the grammar.Chomsky defends the innate hypothesis in terms of an elaborated linguistic theory which postulates not only a general ability in humans to acquire language, but also the ability that comes from a specific language acquisition device in the brain, equipped already at birth with specific grammatical rules and principles.The main arguments in favour of the innateness hypothesis are first, language acquisition would be dicult or even impossible without an innate grammar How do we come to have such rich and specic knowledge, or such intricate systems of belief and understanding, when the evidence available to us is so mea ger? (Cook, 1985).Chomsky claims that the mere existence of language universals supports the hypothesis that these are innate, and most essentially all humans acquire language, and no other animals do.The LAD is a hypothetical brain mechanism that Chomsky suggested to explain human acquisition of the syntactic structure of language. This mechanism endows children with the capacity to derive the syntactic structure and rules of their native language rapidly and accurately from the impoverished enter provided by adult language users. The device is comprised of a finite set of variables which languages vary, which are set at different levels for different languages on the basis of language exposure. The LAD reflects Chomskys underlying assumption that many aspects of language are universal (common to all languages and cultures) and constrained by innate core knowledge about language called global Grammar. planetary grammar is defined by Chomsky as the system of principles, conditions and rules that are elements or properties of all human languages (Cook, 1985). The language properties inherent in the human mind make up comprehensive Grammar, which consists, not of particular rules or of a particular grammar, but of a set of general principles that apply to all grammars and that break certain parameters open Universal Grammar sets the limits within which human languages can vary.Universal Grammar present in the childs mind grows into the adults knowledge of the language so long as certain environmental triggers are provided it is not learnt in the same way that, say, riding a bicycle or playing the guitar are learnt a central part of what we call learning is actually better understood as the growth of cognitive structures along an internally directed score under the triggering and potentially shaping effect of the environment (Cook, 1985).Language acquisition is the growth of the mental organ of language triggered by certain language experiences. Hence the th eory of Universal Grammar is frequently referred to as part of biology. Indeed the theory is not dissimilar from ideas current in biology on other issues, for instance the view that Embryogenesis may then be seen as the progressive, orderly manifestation of the knowledge which is latent in the egg (Cook, 1985).So, to acquire language, the child needs not only Universal Grammar but also evidence about a particular language he needs to hear sentences of English to know how to fix the parameter for the order of Verb, Subject, and Object. The evidence he encounters can be positive or negative (Cook, 1985).By using the same language principles, a French child constructs a grammar of French, an English child a grammar of English. The two grammars represent different choices within the guidelines set by Universal Grammar, different applications of the same linguistic principles in response to different environments Experience is necessary to fix the parameters of core grammar (Cook, V, 198 5). But the children also have to learn aspects of language that are peripheral, that do not conform to Universal Grammar. The childs mind prefers to adopt rules based on the handy set of principles with which it is equipped they are in a sense the easy way out, and need only triggering experience to be learnt. By listening to the language around him, he can decide how to fix the parameter of sentence order as SVO or SOV, for instance. His mind prefers not to adopt peripheral solutions, as they fall outside his pre-programmed instructions they are more demanding. This may be interpreted through the concept of markedness the child prefers to learn unmarked knowledge that conforms to Universal Grammar, rather than marked knowledge that is less compatible with it.Chomskys work has been highly controversial, rekindling the age-old debate over whether language exists in the mind in advance experience. Despite its few limitations, The Innateness Hypothesis is rich enough to provide a sub stantial idea of how a child acquires his/her first language.The Critical Period HypothesisAccording to Eric Lennebergs Cirtical Period Hypothesis in 1967, the hypothesis theorized that the acquisition of language is an innate process that determined biologically. The design of critical period was connected only in the first language acquisition (freeservers.com, 2012). Lenneberg assumed that the structural reorganizations within the brain were developed only from just about the age of two to puberty which was around thirteen or fourteen. Language skills which were neither learned nor being taught during this age would remain permanently undeveloped (Schouten, 2011). Lennebergs hypothesis claimed that the absence of language was very limited in the first language acquisition during the early childhood exposure (citizendium.org, 2009). He believed that the brain would lose the plasticity after two sides of the brain has developed specialized conks.The Critical Period Hypothesis is Lennebergs response to the long-standing debate in language acquisitionover the design to which the acquirelanguageisbiologicallylinked to age (citizendium.org, 2009) Lenneberg proposed that the ability of brain to acquire a language is stopped at puberty with the onset of brain lateralization. He refers that brain lateralization, which is a process which the both sides of brain develop specialized function, in which after the process, the brain would lose its plasticity as the function of the brain is set.Lenneberg stated that if the child did not learn the language before the puberty, the language could never be learned in a full and available way. He proves his theory by referring to cases of feral children, such as Genie. Discovered in the age of thirteen and a half in 1970 in an isolated and neglected living condition, Genie did not had any form of communication, and she was neither able to speak nor print. After being saved from her ordeal, she began to learn language slow ly, but she never regained full language capabilities.According to Lenneberg, first language learners should receive exposure on their first language prior to puberty for the best acquisition results. He contends that the critical period for learning a first language would same apply to acquiring a second language Studies have shown that before the brain is fully developed a second language can be learned more easily. However, while many people have been able to master the syntax and vocabulary of a second language after puberty, not many achieve native-speaker fluency, compared to first language learners, or bilinguals who start off at a young age. A notable trait for FLL is that their phonological is the most obvious evidence for the critical period hypothesis, as their learning a second language would be impacted by their first language accent.Lennebergs works is still highly regarded as one of the most well regarded psycholinguistic argument of language acquisition.Krashens Theo ry of Second Language AcquisitionStephen Krashens theory of second language acquisition has been of much debate in the psycholinguistic circles. His theories are well regarded, and provide a different insight into how the mind works in learning a second language.The first of the five of Krashens theories is the Natural ordination Hypothesis. Based on a powerful analysis of research results, Krashens natural order hypothesis suggests that the acquisition of language, especially the rules of language, follows a predictable natural order. For any given language, some grammatical structures tend to be acquired earlier than others. This idea reflects Noam Chomskys revolutionary notion that have a built-in Language Acquisition Device (LAD), which within the first year of the children lives begins to enable them to understand and acquire language.Because of the nature of the LAD, children tend to learn different structures at different levels as young children. Researchers have found that the same pattern occurs for older learners not a surprise to seasoned language teachers This is the predictable natural order of this hypothesis.Secondly, is the Acquisition or Learning Hypothesis. The distinction between acquisition and learning is the most fundamental of all the hypotheses in Krashens theory, since it suggests that language comes to children in two rather different ways. Acquisition is one. Language can be acquired by using it for real communication while learning, which he describes as knowing about language, is quite a different thing.Acquisition is the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first language. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language-natural communication, in which speakers concentrate not on the form of their utterances, but in the communicative act. Learning, on the other hand, provides conscious knowledge about the target language. It is therefore less important t han acquisition for basic communication, but it still plays an important role in language learning. In short, learning is likely to occur in the deal segment of an English lesson, while acquisition takes place during language activation.Thirdly, is the Monitor Hypothesis. The fundamental distinction between acquisition and learning leads directly to the next hypothesis. The varan hypothesis relegates language learning (that is, a students responses to what the teacher teaches) to a secondary place in the scheme of language learning.The admonisher hypothesis is the idea that conscious learning that is, the outcome of grammar instruction and other activities that were the traditional stock in trade of the language teacher serve only as a monitor or an editor for the language student. Real acquisition takes place as meaningful interaction in the target language natural communication in which speakers is concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they a re conveying and understanding.Following that is theInput Hypothesis. The input hypothesis suggests that people acquire language in only one way by understanding messages, or by receiving comprehensible input. According to the input hypothesis, learners progress by receiving second language input that is one step beyond their current stage of linguistic competence. Acquisition for learners with language knowledge i can only take place if they are assailable to comprehensible input at a slightly higher level, which Krashen describes as level i + 1.And last but not least, the emotive Filter Hypothesis. Finally, the Affective Filter Hypothesis proposes that a mental block caused by affective or horny factors can prevent input from reaching the students language acquisition device. The affective filter hypothesis says that affective variables like self-confidence and anxiety play a role in language acquisition. When the filter is up, that is, when negative emotional factors are in pla y, language acquisition suffers while when the filter is down, language acquisition benefits.Similarities between First Language Acquisition and Second Language LearningThere have been many arguments about language acquisition, some claims that acquisition and learning is the same process, whilst some beg to differ. Here are some similarities between first language acquisition and second language learning that have been argued before.Physical process wise, the learners of both first language and second language hear the spoken language and begin to understand how it sounds, the mind works to grasp the basic sounds, which in turn, facilitates learning. The learners pick up words and phrases in the language and begin to build up a vocabulary, this is then followed up by grasping the grammatical structure and learning how to form simple and complex sentences in the language. later the learners are eventually able to understand new words by context and they are able to express complex ideas and thoughts in the language, and finally, learn to pick up writing and reading skills in the language (Panse, 2010).Universal grammar mayinfluence learningeither independently or through the first language in second language learning. For both first language acquisition and second language learning there arepredictable stages, and particular structures, are acquired in a set order. Individuals may move more slowly or quickly through these stages, but they cannot skip ahead.Making errors is a part of learning. Learners need to make and test hypotheses about language to build an internal representation of the language. In the initial stages of learning, learners may use orbs of language without breaking them down or processing them as independent units. In later stages, they may make new errors as they begin to process the parts of each chunk according to the rules of their language system. For example, a learner may start out using the correct form of an irregular verb as part of a language chunk, but later overgeneralize and place a regular affix on that same verb.Differences between First Language Acquisition and Second Language LearningMany studies addressed the distinction between first language acquisition and second language learning. The first distinction is the natural process in which first language learners acquire their knowledge naturally and the conscious process in which second language learners learn their second language.First language acquisition is a natural process which is genetically triggered at the most crucial stage of the childs cognitive development in which children subconsciously process and develop the linguistic knowledge of the setting they live in and are unaware of grammatical rules.In contrast, second language learning takes place where the target language is the language spoken in the language spoken in the language community that differs from the first language. Second language is not genetically triggered in any way u nless the child grows up bilingually in which case, it is not considered second language learning at all.Firstlanguage acquisitionis mostly passive. Children usually listen to the people around them, their speech melody, their sounds, their words, and their sentence structures. Before the child can even read or write a single word in his first language, he is already using an impressive vocabulary and many important grammar structures. Some people never learn how to read or write but can still speak their first language fluently. most babies learn rules while listening to the people around them. They are able to get a line sentence structures at the early age of seven months as experiments have shown. They also pick up new words from their surrounding people. At the age of six, most children have acquired their native language(s) without any effort.Second language learning, on the other hand, is an active process. Second language learners need to learn vocabulary and grammar in ord er to achieve their goals. Most people will need an instructor, either a teacher at school or the instructions of a course book or audio course. For those learners to achieve fluency or near fluency in a second language, it requires years of studying and likely a long stay in another country. Many people will never reach anywhere near fluency with any second language. Most experts see the ages between three to four years as thecritical agewhen first language acquisition ends and second language learning begins.Another area of difference between first language acquisition and second language learning is input specifically the quality and quantity of input. Language learning process depends on the input frequency and regularity. The quantity of exposure to a target language a child gets is immense compared to the amount an adult receives. A child hears the language all day every day, whereas an adult learner may only hear the target language in the classroom which could be as little as three hours a week. Even if one looks at an adult in a total submersion situation the quan