Republic of the Philippines

BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Graduate School

How children and adults learn languages

Learning is a method in which individuals learn to develop or acquire
information. Second language learning is a process of internalizing and making sense
of a second language after one has an established the first language. Using a
language, we can communicate and absorbed knowledge. However, it is different to
learning a second language from learning a first language. Second language is
acquired, which influences us to learn a second language. Language acquisition in
children begins very early in life from the time the child learns to interact with his
surroundings. The first contacts to initiate the process are usually the parents and
later the immediate family members who form the social qualification regarding the
classroom situation. This is usually a period of self-discovery and children come with
preconceived thoughts that later develop to accommodation of language. In learning
the language, a lot of us agree that children are better at second language learning
than adults. This statement is supported by a common observation that young
second-language learners seem to be able to learn another target language without
teaching but by exposure.

In this paper, we will try to differentiate how children and adults in second-
language learning based on factors involved in it. Steinberg (2001) states that there
are three factors involved in second-language learning. The first is psychological
category. It includes intellectual processing which consists of explication and
induction process, memory, and motor skills. As mentioned by, Cherry, a
psychologist who has done research on Language development, refers to studies that
have shown that children from infancy have the ability to comprehend many
languages they are spoken to, separately from their native language. This ability
disappears with age and later the child will only be able to understand their local
language. As she indicated that the works of Skinner who attributes the origin of
language to be associated with reinforcement of child actions. In addition, Cherry
stated that the role of parents in helping children acquire language. This she terms
as the language used by parents that are targeted at the child that recognizes the
limitation of children, use easier language, and easy words that are later improved to
suit the parents' standard. (Cherry, 2014). The second factors involved in in second-
language learning, it is social situation consists of natural situation and classroom
situation. And the last is other psychological variables.

In Chomsky study, explaining the history of language. The first three years of
life are regarded as the most vital in allowing the child to develop language (Crabtree,
1999). During this time, their minds can accommodate more, and they should be
allowed to fully utilize their ability to acquire language. Chomsky's second argument
points to the child's immediate environment as contributing to shaping the verbal
skills through listening. This does not have to be reinforced. Lastly, he recognizes
that parents should not seek to correct the child's language since these later changes
with time and is partly influenced by the stage and age in which the child learns.

As eloquently study by Eric Lenneberg (1976) hypothesized that language

acquisition in human beings was affected by biological growth (i.e. as a person ages).
In his claims, the age of adolescence (after puberty, about 13 years old) is a
transitional point at which the brain reaches a biologically mature state. Because of
this, there is a firm localization of language processing in the left hemisphere of the
brain (i.e. language processing has already been ‘fixed’ in a particular part of the
brain) after puberty. This then, causes difficulties in language acquisition after
puberty.

Second language learning in adults may happen in a naturalistic or formal

classroom setting. A naturalistic way would be within a target language speech
community although this is usually rare. More commonly seen is learning in a formal
classroom setting. Adults usually receive explicit instructions and less input while
children tend to receive more “enjoyable” language activities (Nikolov, 2009). Also, in
classroom contexts, adults are usually required to talk and learn. They do not go
through the same learning stages children do and they are less likely to go through
the silent period children do (Stewart, 2003). In naturalistic contexts, adults are
usually forced to communicate for survival. For example, when a refugee flees to
another country, he is forced to adapt to their language and is able to because of his
need and motivation.

In the results of the study by Valeh Valipour & Hanieh Davatgari (2014),
revealed that the children had higher scores on the given test in pronunciation parts
 Republic of the Philippines
BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Graduate School

of test in comparison with the adults while adults got higher scores on the part of the
test consisting of grammatical questions than children after analyzing and measuring
t-test as the statistical measurement. As argued by the by Boston College, Harvard,
and MIT suggests that the so-called “critical period” is much later than this. The team
of researchers looked at data from about 670,000 native and non-native English
speakers and found that the best time to learn a foreign language is before 17.4 years
of age. However, it’s still possible to become fluent as an adult. Unlike children, adults
usually have an important reason for learning a foreign language: either for work,
study, or social purposes. This can motivate them when the learning process becomes
difficult. The study found that adults who learned by immersion – living in an
English-speaking country more than 90 percent of the time – were twice as likely to
become fluent, compared to classroom learners.

Moreover, adults learned more quickly in immersion environments than

children. This may be because adult speakers can notice other elements of language,
such as cultural expressions and non-verbal communication, and use that
information to improve their understanding. Perhaps the most important thing to
remember is that each language learner is different. Regardless of age or experience,
everyone learns in a unique way. For this reason, it is helpful to understand your
strengths and weaknesses in order to become a more proficient speaker.

PREPARED:

VERONICA T. ESCABILLAS

ELE 501 DESCRIPTIVE AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS