Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning

(Eng Ed 113)

Name: Date: 11-04-2021

Course: 1BSE-A

I. Activity: Answer the following questions. This activity does not require readings. This
shall measure your perception on the context of languages that you usually speak for
conversation.

1. Does our language influence the way we think and see the world?
- Language is part of our culture that influences our thoughts, perceptions,
values, and beliefs. It speaks our identity. People are sensitive to differences.
If someone hears something peculiar for them, eyebrows rise and start to
question everything. For example, the 'n' word which, is a contemptuous
term used to refer to a Black person, sounds the same as the word 'naega' for
Koreans, which means 'I.' If some people do not belong to the black
community, say this, it would mean racial discrimination.

2. Do speakers of different languages conceptualize events differently?

- Language is diverse, as well as our world. The differences affect the people's
different conceptualization of events from each culture. Each community
has ways to celebrate events or ceremonies. For example, there's a big
difference in how Tiboli's and Muslims conduct their funerals and recite their
prayers. For weddings, perhaps, Maguindanaon's, we call it 'kalilang,' and
for the Tagalog, they call it 'kasal.'

3. Do second language learners adapt to target-language like conceptualization

patterns?
- Yes, second language learners adapt to their target language. I experienced
this myself. When I was in grade six, I went to the province of Mlang for a
Science fair and stayed there for one week. During my stay, I learned some
Ilonggo words and practiced their accents. When I ask questions to my
friends or teachers and even buy food, I speak Ilonggo. I comfortably adapt
their language in my system. When I got home, my parents were surprised
because when I spoke Tagalog, I had an accent of Ilonggo. Ilonggo terms
replaced my Tagalog words. It continued for at least a month and naturally
left my vocabulary. My experience proves how impactful L2's are for second
language learners. We can accidentally apply our knowledge of L2 to our L1
and use some of their features to each one.
Exercise 1: Profiling. Fill out the necessary information to the Form;

Name:

1. Please indicate all languages you can speak.

Tagalog Cebuano English

2. Mother’s Languages/dialects
Tagalog Cebuano English

3. Father’s Languages/dialects
Maguindanaon Tagalog Ilonggo

4. Identify the language you used in the given context

Maguindanaon Church
Tagalog School
Tagalog Canteen
Tagalog Tricycle
Tagalog Home

5. First Language Tagalog Second Language Cebuano