Comparison of L1 and L2 Acquisition Sloan 2012

First Language (L1) Acquisition

Factor Questions to Address

Age: When does language acquisition begin and how does it progress?

Language acquisition begins as soon as birth. As babies begin to hear sounds, they begin their acquisition of language. As parents talk and interact with their child, more and more language is learned. They hear the sounds around them and begin to imitate them and respond to them.

·The first stage is the Pre-speech stage. They make sounds that imitate sounds they hear. ·The second stage is the Babbling Stage. Babies begin to use sounds such as da-da-da or ga-ga-ga indiscriminately. ·In the third stage, the Holophrastic Stage, babies will begin to use one word utterances to name objects. ·In the fourth stage, around 18 months to two years of age, children enter into the Combining Words Stage. By around the age of six, the child’s language is similar to that of adults.

At birth to 6 months, the communication of L1 is simple. Non- verbal interactions continue before learning the actual language. For example, They cry when they need to be fed or changed. They smile or laugh. At this age the child is able to:

Vocalization with intonation

Responds to his name

Responds to human voices without visual cues by turning his head and eyes

Responds appropriately to friendly and angry tones

At 6 to 12 months, the young children begin to acquire a basic understanding of language. They will respond to specific words that they understand and are familiar with. At this age the child is able to:

Uses one or more words with meaning

Understands simple instructions, especially if vocal or physical cues are given

Practices inflection

Is aware of the social value of speech

At 12 to 18 months, the baby will experiment with sound with babbling. Words begin to evolve and one or two words are joined to communicate. These children often over generalize. At this age the child is able to:

Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words

Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns

Some echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over)

Much jargon with emotional content

Is able to follow simple commands

At 18 months to 2 years, Children expand language with more and more

Comparison of L1 and L2 Acquisition Sloan 2012

words. Children begin to illustrate syntax and morphology in their speech and language. At this age the child is able to:

Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings

Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under

Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words

Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words

Rhythm and fluency often poor

Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled

Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often confused

My and mine are beginning to emerge

Responds to such commands as “show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)”

By 36 months, the child should be able to:

Is using some plurals and past tenses

Use pronouns I, you, me correctly

Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under

Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if

not name

Handles three word sentences easily

Has in the neighborhood of 900-1000 words

About 90% of what child says should be intelligible

By 60 months, the child should:

have number concepts of 4 or more

be able to count to ten

speak completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems

have all vowels and the consonants, m,p,b,h,w,k,g,t,d,n,ng,y

be able to repeat sentences as long as nine words

be able to define common objects in terms of use (hat, shoe, chair)

be able to follow three commands given without interruptions

know his age

have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later,

after, while, today, yesterday, and tomorrow

By 7 years, the child should:

have mastered the consonants s-z, r, voiceless th, ch, wh, and the

soft g as in George

handle opposite analogies easily: girl-boy, man-woman, flies-swims,

blunt-sharp short-long, sweet-sour, etc

Understand such terms as: alike, different, beginning, end, etc

be able to tell time to quarter hour

be able to do simple reading and to write or print many words

At 8 years the child should:

be able to relate rather involved accounts of events, many of which

Comparison of L1 and L2 Acquisition Sloan 2012

occurred at some time in the past

complex and compound sentences should be used easily

be few lapses in grammatical constrictions-tense, pronouns, plurals

know all speech sounds, including consonant blends should be

established

be reading with considerable ease and now writing simple

compositions

have knowledge of social amenities and should be present in his

speech in appropriate situations

control of rate, pitch, and volume are generally well and

appropriately established

be able to carry on conversation at rather adult level

follow fairly complex directions with little repetition

have well developed time and number concepts

Sound System: How do young children learn the L1 sound system and the rules of the native language?

Young children learn the sound system by these factors in their environment: ·Imitating people—As young children hear language, whether from television, radio, or other children or adults, they begin listen and imitate those sounds. ·Positive reinforcement—When young children begin speaking, they begin with babbling, the adults around them reinforce those sounds with praise, a smile, or by returning conversation or sounds. ·Interacting with people—as children begin speaking to adults or other children, speech is returned in conversation. The child hears the language used from birth and begins to pick up on patterns. This is also how they learn basic syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Once the child is involved in formal education, the child will go through more advanced grammar that includes grammar/syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

Learning Environment: Where does L1 take place and under what conditions and circumstances does early language learning occur?

Children begin learning their native tongue at birth. Their learning environment would be their own home and the homes of those adults close to them. Some children will learn in environments such as day cares, preschools, and church settings. All of these environments combine to enhance the child’s language learning. The circumstances under which they learn can be vary. In the home environment, learning would be informal usually. Daily talking and reading with children would develop language for that child. More formal learning would take place in day cares, preschools, and schools, where children are targeted for language learning.

Comparison of L1 and L2 Acquisition Sloan 2012

Second Language (L2) Acquisition

Factor Questions to Address

Age: When does second language acquisition begin and how does it progress?

Second language acquisition begins to occur after a first language has been learned. There is no specific age for second language acquisition. This occurs when the student moves to a place where their native language is not the dominant one, usually. There are several stages of second language acquisition: Pre-production, also called “The Silent Period”— Students in this stage may be listening and hearing the new language, but does not speak. Early Production—Students in this stage may begin to speak a few words or phrases, usually with many errors. Speech Emergence— Students in this stage may use simple phrases and sentences. They may be able to ask simple questions that may or may not be grammatically correct. Intermediate Fluency— Students in this stage are beginning to use more complex sentences. They may even begin to express their thoughts and ideas, and ask questions about their learning. Advanced Fluency-- Students in this stage will approximate a native speaker. Most ELL students at this stage will have exited the ESL programs. (Haynes, 1998)

Sound System: How do second language learners learn the sound system and rules of the second language?

Making connections with their first language, students can learn sound system and rules of the second language. They may also use strategies such as use context clues and visual clues. Much of second language acquisition occurs in the classroom for ELL with the Sheltered Immersion approach, they are immersed in the target language throughout the day. Through direct instruction and daily interactions with peers, students are acquiring the new language.

Learning Environment: Where does early L2 language acquisition take place and under what type of conditions?

L2 language acquisition takes place mainly in the classroom setting through direct instruction in an ESL program. ESL teachers or regular classroom teachers use direct vocabulary instruction, as well as games, music, and activities to help children learn the second language in a meaningful way.

Comparison of L1 and L2 Acquisition Sloan 2012

Using hands-on activities, manipulatives, and various visuals will also help students with L2 learning.

Related Factors: What is interlanguage and fossilization and how do these things impact SLA?

Interlanguage is the process that occurs when second language learners create a language system of their own (Module 2 Notes). Fossilization occurs as a result from interlanguage. Fossilization can impact second language learning when errors that are made within a student’s interlanguage are used over and over again and become permanent learning. (Gass, & Selinker, 2001)

Gass, S., & Selinker, L. (2001). Second language acquisition, an introductory course. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Haynes, J. (1998). Stages of second language acquisition. Retrieved from http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/language_stages.php

Huang, Q. (2009). Probe into the Internal Mechanism of Interlanguage Fossilization. English Language Teaching, 2, 75-77.

Linguistics 201: First language acquisition (n.d.).Retrieved from http://pandora.dii.wwuedu/vajda/ling201/test4materials/ChildLangAcquisition.htm Robertson, K and Ford, K. (2008). Language Acquisition: An Overview. Retrieved from Colorin Colorado: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/26751?theme=print