Language Acquisition Autobiography

Jaline Miranda

ENGL 420 Princ of Lang

Professor Gentry

November 14, 2022

 Language Acquisition Autobiography

Growing up my parents were really involved when it came to us speaking or being

spoken to. Coming from parents who are both educators was something that impacted my life a

lot when it came to developing my speaking. The one thing that I remember from what has

helped me with speaking is being read to and reading out loud. It was something I enjoyed doing

and something that has helped me figure out how to say this out loud. Even by listening to my

mom read, it gave me that chance to hear how the words sounded out and other aspects of each

word in the reading. As I mentioned, my parents were very involved in mine and my siblings'

language speaking. It was mostly my mom that would spend the time with us practicing colors,

shapes, and sounds. It is funny because my mother is actually a PreK teacher and she mentions

that one of the things she likes to focus on sounds so incorporating what she learned from school

and what she teaches, she applies that to us as her children. Some other things that I also did a lot

as a child was spend time in my parents’ classroom, whether it was before, during, or after

school. Just being in that environment help give me more motivation to work more on my

speaking and other school skills.

Thinking about English Language Acquisition and how it is now, I am a little nervous but

curious to learn more about it. The nervous part is because so far from just learning about it the

past two weeks, there is a lot I still need to learn about it and how I have received what I am

learning and pass that on to students I come in contact with. Currently I work at a middle school

and an aide for special education. One of the classrooms I work in is an ELD class and it is a nice

perspective from aiding the class then taking a class related to it. My point being is that

sometimes when the children are learning something, I get confused along the way just because
there are so many details that come with it and sometimes the way I understand things may be

different from what a student may understand. That is my biggest step back is that from learning

as a child and from learning through other experiences growing up, even though I may

understand but how do I take my knowledge and teach it in a way that students may understand.

My experiences led me to my career path today by just working with children. Being able to help

them in their own education and letting them have someone that shows interest in their successes

is what keeps me motivated to do what I do today. When I think back to what I have learned or

how I learned, I could not be more thankful towards my parents and I would like to have that

same effect on other children as they learn from me.

Early language exposure can be very beneficial towards students before entering grade

school. Having that exposure can get kids the idea or preparation of what it is like at school in a

way. In school we learn and at home we should continue that learning. This can help students

start that development by showing that they are willing to learn and this learning can help them

as they enter school so they are not behind where they should be. Having a child develop their

word quantity can be another beneficial aspect of early language exposure. There is this one asset

that I believe is most beneficial, “Improves expressive and receptive language skills” (Emory

University). That word expressive is very key in a child language development. It gives them

opportunities to be able to express themselves and know how to through words. Sometimes I

believe that younger children have a hard time showing expression or simply saying how they

feel and with this language development can help them build that confidence they are needing as

they get older. In one of the videos that we watched from this week’s discussion, I really liked

how one of the speakers, Patricia Kuhl, mentioned how children under 12 months are more

adaptable to learning language because of how their brain functions at that age. Kuhl mentioned
how babies master development at this age so it is better to expose them to it earlier because they

are able to learn more efficiently than when they get older. However, I do believe that it all starts

at home with the parents. Parents have to be willing to be able to expose their children to these

language development. Without my exposure I believe I wouldn’t feel the way I do about

language development than I do now. Parents are the ones who can either stop their children

from learning or open up ideas to having that learning experience. If I take my experience and

apply it to how it can affect a person’s feelings about language, I feel more confident with

speaking to others or even out loud to an audience. It gave me that confidence where I feel

comfortable enough because I know I was thought well and early. There is still so much that

should be learned but the beginning is what matters when it comes to situations like this.

Children can build their confidence in speaking or knowing what to say and how to say it. Even

having a conversation with someone or developing connections through words with classmates.

Thinking about language acquisition and literacy development is kind of hard for me to separate

the two. When I think about how I was exposed to language it was all mostly through reading

from listening or reading out loud. However, to know that their is a big difference between the

two confuses me because knowing what I know and how I learned makes me wonder if there are

different ways I could have or should have learned.

Resources:

Head, L.M., Mahoney, A.D., Stapel-Wax, J. Influence of Early Language Exposure on Children’s

Cognitive and Language Development: A Review. Emory University. Retrieved from

https://sigma.nursingrepository.org/bitstream/handle/10755/602027/2_Head_L_p72443_1.pdf;jse

ssionid=085D3E678913F97D0EBF3E6CBA25B8E4?sequence=1

Kuhl, P. (2010). Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babies [Video]. TED Conferences.

https://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies#t-16294