Language Acquisition - How Language is Acquired

First Language Acquisition

MaceMatluck observes that the circumstances under which children acquire their first language are very different
than when a second or third language is learned. Children acquire their first language in infancy, simultaneously with
many other skills.

Behaviorist Theory (1940-1960)

Behaviorist theory states that, through the processes of stimulus, response, and reinforcement (SR-R), all human
behavior can be explained, including language acquisition.

‘Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced tends to die
out-or be extinguished (i.e weakened)’ (McLeod 2015).

Reinforcement can be positive or negative. Positive reinforcement involves rewarding desired behavior, such as
giving a child praise for completing assignments. Negative reinforcement involves strengthening desired behavior by
withdrawing an undesirable or negative stimulus or situation that is already present.

‘Punishment, on the other hand, differs from reinforcement in that it is intended to weaken undesirable behavior
rather than to strengthen to desired behavior.

Punishment, like reinforcement, can also be “positive” in the sense of applying an unpleasant consequence for
undesirable behavior, or “negative” in the sense of removing something that is desired.

Universal Grammar and the ‘Language Acquisition Device’ (1960-1980)

Noam Chomsky rejected the behaviorist approach as insufficient to explain observations. He noted that ‘children in
every language and cultural community’ are able to learn to speak and understand language at a very early age. He
believed that children are not just mimicking language patterns, but actually producing meaningful utterances on
their own.

Chomsky asserted, there is an innate ability or ‘device’ for acquiring language in the human mind that allows all
humans to learn and use language almost instinctively. This implies that language can be and is acquired in part
because of the human condition, the nature of being human, regardless of the difficulty of the language. This innate
device is what Chomsky referred to as a ‘Language Acquisition Device’ or LAD, an innate human ability to learn,
process and use language.

In addition, Chomsky referred to a ‘Universal Grammar’ (UG) to describe those features that he claimed are shared
by all languages. He believed that humans have the ability to acquire grammar without being taught because these
shared features are innately internalized in the human mind from birth.

Social Interactionism (1990)

The social-cultural theories of Lev Vygotsky, a Soviet psychologist, provide the basis for social interactionist theories.
These theories attempt to account for the role of social interaction in fostering language acquisition. Most obvious is
the influence of language input of parents and family members in interacting with young children, who would not
learn to communicate in their mother tongue without language input.

Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

First language acquisition research has served as a source of ideas and techniques for developing second language
acquisition (SLA) theory. SLA theories generally can be classified into three domains:

(1) theories from the field of linguistics, motivated by Chomsky’s ideas, including Stephen Krashen’s theory of the
importance of meaningful input;

(2) cognitive theories, which examine language in terms of general principles of learning and development; and

(3) sociocultural theories, which draw on Vygotsky’s theory of learning.

Linguistic theories of SLA: from Chomsky to Krashen

Krashen’s five hypotheses, listed below, are based in part on Chomsky’s ideas that humans possess innate language
ability that includes an internal universal grammar.

Krashen’s five hypotheses are as follows:

1.The acquisition-learning distinction. Language acquisition, for Krashen, refers to the process of gaining language
ability in essentially the same manner that children learn their mother tongue. It happens without memorizing
vocabulary or learning grammar rules, and is nearly a ‘subconscious process’.

2. The natural order hypothesis: There is a natural and predictable order of acquiring the grammatical structure of a
second language, moving generally from simpler to more complex, and from more similar to less similar to the
features of one’s first language.

3. The monitor hypothesis: That which has been consciously learned of the form (grammar, spelling rules) of a
second language functions only as a means of monitoring what had naturally acquired before or after an utterance is
produced (written or spoken).

4. The input hypothesis. The most well-known of Krashen's hypothesis states that for language acquisition (not
learning) to advance, there must be comprehensible input.To acquire more of the language, an individual must
understand the meaning of language content .

5. The affective filter hypothesis. "Affective" factors such as emotions and attitudes have a bearing on the success of
second language acquisition (but again, not necessarily on learning). The factors can be placed into 3 categories:

• Motivation

• Self-confidence

• Anxiety

Cognitive Theories of SLA

Cognitive Psychologist John Robert Anderson opposed Chomsky's theory, and instead conceived of language learning
as a very concrete task that could be accomplished through knowledge and practice.

Anderson proposed a model of how skills are learned, called Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R).

Anderson designates the simpler units of declarative knowledge and the cognitively complex as procedural
knowledge:

1. Declarative knowledge, is essentially factual knowledge that one gains typically by verbal or other communication.

2. Procedural knowledge, is contrast to declarative knowledge, seems only to be partially possessed. It is acquired
gradually by performing a skill. It cannot be communicated verbally.

Learning begins with the declarative stage, where information is stored in memory as facts. Next is the associative
stage, where learners begin to make associations, to understand relationships between things they have learned as
factual. They ‘compose general procedures and make generalizations’ based on the factual information they know.
Thirdly is the autonomous stage, where the procedures become automated.

Sociocultural Theories of SLA

Sociocultural theories in language acquisition were motivated primarily by Vygotsky's idea of the zone of proximal
development (ZPD).

The ZPD marks the boundary between the level of development that a learner can reach alone and which can only
be reached with the help of a tutor-someone at a higher level of development with whom the learner can interact in
order to advance.

Language Proficiency (Cummins)

Jim Cummins proposed the theory of Common Underlying Proficiency, or CUP, which states that proficiency in a
learner's LI, such as literacy skills, are universal in the sense that such skills can be applied, or transferred, to an L2.

Cummins distinguishes basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) from cognitive academic language proficiency
(CALP).

Language Proficiency (Cummins)

BICS include skills such as basic grammar and sociolinguistic rules for communication. This domain of interaction
include greetings, for example, or asking for directions, or dialogue necessary when shopping, where interpersonal
cues such as gestures, facial expression and intonation also communicate meaning.

CALP, refers to more cognitively demanding, context reduced tasks such as understanding lectures; or recognizing,
understanding and communicating in different genres of writing (informative reporting, persuasive writing, etc.)

Language Proficiency (Cummins)

Children must reach a 'threshold level of

proficiency' in their L1 or CALP before academic
achievement can succeed in second language.
Without sufficient development in L1, it is unlikely
that proficiency in L2 will advance beyond the
pupil's proficiency in L1.

Ellis' Ten Principles of the SLA Classroom

Rod Ellis recommends the following ten basic principles for teachers to reflect on and to consider in the classroom
with second-language learners:

Principle 1: Instruction needs to ensure that learners develop both a rich repertoir of formulaic expressions and a
rule-based competence"

Formulaic expressions are common phrases or expressions that are learned and used as a whole unit rather than a
single words. For example:

How are you? I don't know. What is your name? I don't want...

Principle 2: 'Instruction needs to ensure that learners focus predominantly on meaning.'

Providing opportunities for learners to communicate in a natural way, focused on what the learner wants to say
(meaning) rather than on how to say it (form).

Principle 3: 'Instruction needs to ensure that learners also focus on form.'

Principle 4: 'Instruction needs to focus on developing implicit knowledge of the second language while not
neglecting explicit knowledge.'

Theorists agree that learners need to participate in communicative activities to develop implicit knowledge. Explicit
knowledge, on the other hand, has value in assisting language development by facilitating the development of
implicit knowledge.

Principle 5: 'Instruction needs to take account the learner's built-in syllabus'

Studies demonstrated that learners, whether instructed or not, master grammatical structures sequentially and
following 'a relatively fixed and universal order, but instructed learners could achieve a higher level of competence.
Principle 6: 'Successful instructed language learning requires extensive second language input.'

It is expected that in a second language acquisition situation, learners will have access to a meaningful amount of
input outside the classroom.

Principle 7: 'Successful instructed language learning also requires opportunities for output'

Learners might be interested to contribute to taking turns in long conversations to help develop discourse skills.

Principle 8: The opportunity to interact in the second language is central to developing second language
proficiency.

Five key requirements for creating a classroom rich in that kind of interaction, as given by Ellis.

To create an acquisition-rich classroom, teachers need to:

 Create contexts of language use where learners have a reason to attend to language,

 Allow learners to initiate topics and to control topic development

 Provide opportunities for learners to use the language to express their own personal meanings

Principle 9: 'Instruction needs to take account of individual differences in learners.'

Principle 10: 'In assessing learners' second language proficiency, it is important to examine free as well as
controlled production,'

Four types of measurement have been identified by Norris and Ortega (2000 cited by Ellis, 2008 b);

• Metalinguistic judgement (e.g., a grammatically judgement test [metalinguistic judgement or

metalinguistic awareness refers to the ability to reflect about or think about language somewhat
analytically]

• Selected response (e.g., multiple choice)

• Constrained constructed response (e.g., gap-filling exercises)

• Free constructed response (e.g., a communicative task)