Reaction Paper

Gary Torres

March 31st, 201

Summary

Language acquisition has always been a relevant topic at the moment of talking about

skills which develop since our birth. In relation to this, Cook states the implications of

learning a second language which at the same time are directly related with the process

of learning a first language. Even though both processes are almost the same, when

seeing language learning in a classroom many differences appear. Cook points out the

factors of learning a L1 and a L2, and also creates a connection between cognition and

language learning, which is totally remarkable because most of what we learn

throughout our lives has to deal with our cognitive system and how we acquire skills for

speaking a L2.

Krashen attempts to show basically the cause of the errors made by second language

students, what influence them and how first language affects the appropriate acquisition

and performance of a new language. He focuses on ESL students from different

countries, which when producing a second language instinctively tend to fall back to the

first language. This interference considers mainly the student’s linguistic background

and acquisition environment.

Freeman’s text mainly tries to answer the question: Is language acquired naturally or is

it learned through a conscious process? He focuses on the first language learning in

children, which learn not only through repetition and reinforcement, but also creating

their own rules of language usage. ‘‘any satisfactory model of language must be

compatible with how children learn; their ability to perceive, conceptualize, store and

access information; and their motivations’’i Similar ideas are explained by Brown

(1973) which state that children’s earlier utterances are connected with their needs and

interests. The second chapter goes deeper on writing and reading learning and also

considers different ideas and theories focused on Language acquisition, cognition

development and also the production of the language, which helps children to develop

the necessary communicative competences.

Evaluation

Cook’s point of view and ideas about learning are quite convincing, this happens not

only because the well supported arguments he uses, but also because the issues he

covers and the assumptions he makes are mostly true. One of his statements which

stands out is the fact that a child’s language system is not a small part of the adult

system, but one which develops freely. This statement clearly suits with the ideas

showed in Freeman’s text which explain that children create their own set of language

rules as they grow up, and it is not just a question of repeating what adults say.

The ideas which Krashen proposes are even more contextualized. The kind of

interference which a mother tongue causes in students learning a second language is

considerable, and it happens to the majority of people immersed in the process of

learning another kind of language. ‘‘First-language-influenced errors may only occur at

certain stages in development’’ii. It is important to take into account that even though it

is proof of a good usage and management of the first language, it shows that the

acquisition of the new language has not been successfully done.

Freeman’s focus through the text is precisely obvious, how children accurate the

language in their early stages of life. However, the factors which influence this process

are quite numerous. In my point of view, children feel the strong necessity of expressing

their needs that they are forced to find a way to do it, that is why they start babbling.

One impressive fact which calls the attention is that parents tend to simplify the

language when a child is trying to produce their first words, and despite this, children

acquire language in such an easy way that they develop communicative competences

with no difficulty. ‘‘people acquire the ability to read and write in the same way they

acquire the first or second language’’iii At the same time, it is important to take in

consideration that language acquisition relies significantly on our brain’s activity. It is

remarkable how psychology works together with our minds and how a stimulus makes

us respond in all sorts of ways. I strongly believe that children learn language not only

because it is essential for social interaction, but also because it is something innate in

human beings, something which makes us unique among the other species in the world.

i Rice (2002),(p.21)ii Wode (1978)iii Krashen (1993, 1999)