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Tyler Pennington
Oberg B5
English 11
4/29/14
Language Acquisition
The ability to learn and speak new languages is quite interesting for the human race.
Communication by language is the topic of my research paper. I would like to discover why humans are
able to communicate and what theories have risen regarding language acquisition. Personally, I am
interested in the Spanish language, which I started studying in fifth grade. The area I live in is also very
influenced by Latino culture and the Spanish language. For the longest time I have wanted to be able to
speak Spanish fluently. I believe there are many advantages in the ability to speak more than one
language. In my freshman year of high school I took a general world language class in which we explored
cultures and languages from all over the earth. I also took a psychology class in which we discussed
language acquisition and the human brain.
Before I started the research I conducted on my topic, I already knew a few things about human
ability to communicate. I knew there are a few structures in the human brain that allow for linguistic
communication. I had also heard that it was less difficult for a person to learn a new language once they
had already learned another one. In my quest for information I referred to a textbook on psychology and
an interview with my Spanish teacher Mr. Homer. A vast majority of the information I received came
from the latter source.
Today we know that the human brain has many different areas that control different functions.
The cerebral cortex, which contains parts of the brain necessary for linguistic abilities located in the left
side of the brain, is the center for information processing, rational thought, problem solving, and decision-
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making. A section of the cerebral cortex on the left side in the temporal and parietal lobes called the
Wernickes area is the brains center for understanding language. The Brocas area, which enables speech,
is the center for language expression. The angular gyrus allows for the ability to read written language.
The right hemisphere of the brain controls complex thought, processes of special abilities, and some
aspects of musical abilities. The lateralization of the human brain along with hemispheric connections,
mainly by the corpus callosum, allows for the two sides of the brain to communicate. This
communication allows for sensory information, like hearing spoken language or reading words, to be
processed and understood through the various parts of the brain.
There have been brain disorder experiments in which the brains of patients were physically
altered in order to see the effects on language acquisition. Roger Sperry conducted split-brain experiments
in which he severed the corpus callosum so that the two hemispheres in the brain could no longer
communicate with each other. From the experiments conducted on the split- brain patients, it was
concluded that the two hemispheres of the human brain perform different functions and work together to
process information. The half of the brain that processes visual and auditory information communicates
with the other half of the brain that allows for the ability to speak.
Memory is the system that allows us to retain information and bring it to mind. There are three
basic processes of memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. With language acquisition, the recording
would be semantic, or meaning. A goal of language acquisition is to store information in our long-term
memory. When information is stored in long-term memory, it is retained beyond the time span of working
memory and short-term memory. The information is hopefully permanent. A process called Elaborative
rehearsal will help associate new information with familiar and meaningful memories for better
recollection. Fluent language acquisition is achieved in a type of long-term memory called Procedural
Memory in which information can be recalled without much conscious effort.
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The process of language acquisition has been attempted to be explained by many people and is
still theorized. There are many theories and ideas that have become popular and accepted by many
developmental psychologists. Early behavioral views on language acquisition suggest that language is
downloaded into the brain by experiences. A cognitive theorist named Noam Chomsky introduced the
idea of the Language Acquisition Device, which he said was the innate mental structure built into the
human brain (Homer). He said that the Language Acquisition Device contains the basic rules that are
common to all languages and that the progression of learning language was similar worldwide
(Zimbardo). Noam Chomskys idea that the human brain is prewired for language is one that is widely
accepted today.
In the early 1980s, the Input Hypothesis was introduced by Krashen. Input Hypothesis states that
language acquisition is subconscious, but learning is a conscious focus. He said that language learning
best occurs when words are introduced slowly, going from basic to complicated, and the learning
environment has to be at a low level of anxiety. Binding was the idea that learners needed to have an
opportunity to link the meaning of a word with an actual form instead of simply a translation. Through
binding, automized processing could be achieved so that a language learner could reproduce language
without any conscious thought. This idea of automized processing links back to the idea of procedural
memory as a part of long-term memory in the brain.
A hypothesis of interaction was introduced by Long, which basically says that a language learner
must interact with others in order to acquire the language into their long-term memory. Interaction
required actions like input, challenging ideas, asking questions, and offering opinions. Swain said that
learners must have the opportunities to reproduce the language they are learning. Reproduction allows the
learner to discover which pieces of language they lack, actively reflect on what they know, and
consolidate information. These two theories suggest that interaction and reproduction opportunities are
essential in order to learn a language.
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Vigotsky, a socio-cultural theorist on language acquisition, said that language interaction exceeds
personal abilities. He introduced the Zone of Proximal Development, which suggests a learner will
acquire a language more efficiently in an environment in which there are people with varying levels of
knowledge of the subject, interaction, and healthy support (Homer). Scaffolding was his idea of
personalized learning where there was ample support for the learner to continue discovery in a step-by-
step process of new information that could be achieved in an encouraging manner (Homer). A language
learner will learn the most efficiently when ideas and words are introduced in a well-planned structure.
This idea also relates to Krashens Input Hypothesis regarding the introduction of words.
After I conducted all of my research, I learned a lot about the human acquisition of language. I
learned that language acquisition is a very intricate process in the brain that is mostly subconscious. The
human brain is designed with innate structures that allow the human to communicate by language.
Learning a new language requires conscious effort to explore and reproduce what a learner has already
acquired. I also learned that the order in which words and ideas are introduced is very important for a
learners ability to improve in language proficiency. The ideas of Vigotsky suggest that the learning
environment plays a large role in the long-term recording of new information. Now that I know all of this
new information, I am even more interested in language acquisition and what it takes to teach a language.






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Works Cited
Homer, Kieth. Personal interview. 14 Mar. 2014.

Zimbardo, Philip g., Robert L. Johnson, Ann L. Weber, and Craig W. Gruber. Psychology: AP* Edition
with Discovering Psychology. Boston: Pearson, 2010.