Language Acquisition 3.

23
Grace Shekinah L.M.S
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1. Definition of Language
 Language is a symbol system based on pure or arbitrary conventions.
Infinitely extendable and modifiable according to the changing needs and
conditions of the speakers. (Robins)
 Language is purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced
symbols. (Sapir)
 Language is the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with
each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols. (Hall)
 Language is a system that consists of the development, acquisition,
maintenance and use of complex systems of communication, particularly the
human ability to do so; a language is any specific example of such a system.
 Language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and
written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region
for talking or writing.

2. Definition of Linguistics.
 Linguistics is a growing and interesting area of study, having a direct hearing
on fields as diverse as education, anthropology, sociology, language teaching,
cognitive psychology and philosophy.
 Linguistics observes language in action as a means for determining how
language has developed, how it functions today, and how it it currently
evloving. (G. Duffy)
 Linguistics is concerned with the nature of human language, how it is learned
and what part it plays in the life of the individual and the community. (S.Pit
Corder)
 The scientific study of human language is called linguistics. (Victoria A.
Fromkin)
 Linguistics is the scientific study of the structure and development of language
in general or of particular languages.

3. Definition of first language.

  First language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the
critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for
sociolinguistic identity.
 First language is a language that a person has been exposed to from birth[1] or
within the critical period.
 The first language of a child is part of that child's personal, social and cultural
identity.
 Language acquisition usually refers to first language acquisition, which studies
infants acquisition of their native language.
 First Language 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
constant basis.

4. Definition of second language.

 The definition of second language acquisition and learning is learning and
acquisition of a second language once the mother tongue or first language
acquisition is established.
 Second language acquisition or SLA is the process of learning other languages
in addition to the native language.
 A person's second language, or L2, is a language that is not the native
language (first language or L1) of the speaker, but is learned later (usually as a
foreign language, but it can be another language used in the speaker's home
country). For example, there are two official languages of Canada (English
and French) and some people use both.
 Term second language to refer to a second language or a foreign language
that's being studied.
 'Second language' is used to refer to the level of language command in
comparison with a primary or dominant language. In this second sense,
'second language' indicates a lower level of actual or believed proficiency.
Hence 'second' means also 'weaker' or 'secondary.'" (H. H. Stern, Fundamental
Concepts of Language Teaching. Oxford University Press, 1983).

5. Definition of mother tongue.

 The term "mother tongue" refers to a person's native language — that is, a
language learned from birth. Also called a first language, dominant language,
home language, and native tongue.
 Mother tongue, the language first learned by a child, a language from which
another has evolved.
 Mother tongue is the first language that you learn when you are a baby, rather
than a language learned at school or as an adult.
 The term "mother tongue" or "mother language" is used for the language that a
person learned as a child at home (usually from their parents).
  Mother tongue, the language spoken in a region, which enables the process of
enculturation, the growing of an individual into a particular system of
linguistic perception of the world and participation in the centuries-old history
of linguistic production."

Bibliography
Rangkuti, Rahmadsyah. Understanding General Linguistics Book I. Medan.
Diamond, A.S. 1995. The History and The Origin of Language. Citadel Press.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/linguistics
https://www.brighthubeducation.com/language-learning-tips/70729-defining-second-
language-acquisition/