1First term exam.

First language acquisition.

Zaira Bolívar Sandoval

8 de septiembre del 2021

Corporación universitaria minuto de Dios.

Bogotá.

Applied linguistic in ELT.

 Introduction

There is the notion that the first language is acquired through a socially interactive

environment. Vygotsky’s theory states that the development of the child must take place at

the social level within a cultural context. He claims that children develop their own sense of

a word as it is internalized, with sense both developing and being developed by the system

of meaning. (1987, p. 274). This means that somehow children do a much more mental

process about their learning and the terminal, reflecting on their social life.

The acquisition of a first language occurs through social interaction which allows

children to gradually acquire new cognitive skills. These activities can be given in a shared

way since it allows us children as already or mentioned to internalize their experiences and

take ownership of them. Language is the fundamental means of communication and

socialization, since the communicative function is its primary purpose (Martinet, 1978;

Vygotsky, 1973; Bruner, 1975 etc.).

While the first language is the language or language that a person learns in his first

years of life and that normally becomes his natural instrument of thought and

communication. For this same reason, a conscious process is not carried out at the moment

in which it is being acquired, while in the acquisition of a second language different factors

such as autonomous learning and a greater effort to be able to acquire it infer. Erin (2019)

she mentions that adults cannot learn in an implicit way as children do and that their brains

are much more moldable.

Vygotsky proposed the notion of the ‘zone of proximal development’, the region of

sensitivity for learning. The zone of proximal development (ZPD or Zoped) is defined as

the difference between a child's “actual developmental level as determined by independent

problem solving” and the child's “potential development as determined through problem
solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky,

1978). This explains why at certain stages it is much easier for children to absorb and learn

at certain ages, and more difficult to do these same tasks as they grow older.

To conclude, children must be in an environment of constant interaction and

learning is facilitated through watching, sharing individually, and doing the process alone.

Clearly, the role of the educator is also important and it is that he will be a kind of guide,

give instructions and some type of feedback when necessary.

References.

 Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). Problems of general psychology (including the

volume Thinking and speech). In The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky.

Vol. 1 (pp. 39–285). New York, NY: Plenum Press

 BRUNER, J. S. (1975). From communication to language, a psychological

perspective. Cognitive, 3, 255-287.

 Walton, E, (05/08/2019). Por qué es difícil aprender un idioma y cómo

mejorarlo. EF. Recuperado de: https://www.ef.com.es/blog/language/por-

que-es-dificil-aprender-un-idioma-y-como-mejorarlo/

 Mary Gauvain, in Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood

Development (Second Edition), 2020. ScienceDirect. Recuperado de:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/zone-of-proximal-

development