FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

DEFINITIONS

1) “First language” (L1):

2) “Second language” (L2):

3) “Foreign language” (FL)

4) “Target language” (TL)

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN´S LANGUAGE

Their language development shows a high degree of similarity among children all

over the world. • PREDICTABILITY

• LEARNING THROUGH IMITATION• CREATIVITY

Before First Words -

• The earliest vocalizations–Involuntary crying–Cooing and gurgling – showing

satisfaction or happiness

Before First Words -

“Babbling” –Babies use sounds to reflect the

characteristics of the different language they are learning.

First Words

Around 12 months (“one-word” stage): –one or two recognizable words

(esp. content word); –Single-word sentences.

By the age of 2 (“two-word” stage):

1) at least 50 different words2) “telegraphic” sentences (no function

words and grammatical morphemes) e.g., “Mommy juice”, “baby fall down”

3) reflecting the order of the language. e.g., “kiss baby”, “baby kiss”

4) creatively combining words. e.g., “more outside”, “all gone cookie”

By the age of 4

– Most children are able to: ask questions, give commands, report real events, create stories about imaginary ones with

correct word order and grammatical markers most of the time.

–basic structures of the language–less frequent and more complex

linguistic structures.–use of the language in a widening

social environment.

By the age of 4

• Development of Metalinguistic Awareness

• Development of Vocabulary

THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO L1 ACQUISITION

1) Behaviorism: Say what I say

2) Innatism: It’s all in your mind

3) Interactionist/Developmental perspectives:

Learning from inside and outBibliography: Lightbown, Patsy. Spada, Nina. “How languages are learned” 1993

1) BEHAVIORISM: SAY WHAT I SAY

Skinner: language behaviour is the production of correct responses to stimuli through reinforcement.

Language learning is the result of:

imitation (word-for-word repetition), practice (repetitive manipulation of form), feedback on success (positive

reinforcement) habit formation.

The quality and quantity of the language that the child hears

as well as the consistency of

the reinforcement offered by others

in the environment

would shape the child’s language

behaviour.

Children’s imitations are not random

Their imitation is selective and based on what they are currently

learning.

Children’s practice of new language forms

– substitution drills. – It is selective and reflects what they would like

to learn. – They pick out patterns/rules and then

generalize or overgeneralize them to new contexts.