Republic of the Philippines

CATANDUANES STATE UNIVERSITY

Virac, Catanduanes
College of Education

The First Language Acquisition of A Three-year Old

Child

Eng104 Theories and Principles of Language Acquisition

Jollymae M. Gonzales
BSEd-English 1C
 The First Language Acquisition of A Three-year Old Child

Language, in any form, is extremely complex, thus it's incredible how young infants (0-5

years old) can learn or master it on their own. The most intensive period for acquiring speech

and language abilities is during the first three years of life, when the brain is developing and

maturing. These abilities flourish in an environment rich in noises, images, and constant

exposure to other people's speech and language. The first five years of a child's life are the

most crucial for language development, while language development continues throughout

infancy and into adolescence. Conjoining phrases, asking questions, utilizing suitable pronouns,

negating sentences, creating relative clauses, and inflecting verbs and nouns are all tasks that

children subconsciously undertake during their Linguistic stage (1-5 years old) (Fromkin,

Rodman, and Hyams, 2010). Although they begin to make a series of linguistic errors, this is

merely a byproduct of their learning process. Despite the fact that this is a common scenario for

everyone, it will always leave an impression on anyone interested in language learning about

how children learn such complex structures and functions of a language without having formal

instructions from school (Meniado, 2016).

Background of the Subject (Child)

The ideal subject for the L1 learner case study, according to the recommendations of the

class's faculty-in-charge, would be a child aged one to five years old. After all, it is at this age

that a child begins to make significant progress in learning their first language. The subject for

this case is Zhanea Faith M. Gonzales who turned three years old later last year. She is the

second child of a married couple who are both educated up to college and has an older brother

and sister. The whole family and neighbourhood were talking Bikol so it is expected that the

subject’s first language would be Bikol. For her age, she is physically, mentally, and socially
healthy, she was very welcoming and warm to the people around her. According to her mother,

the child was very curious and would always ask about things when she learned how to talk and

use language. She would love to play with her siblings and observe their actions, tried to laugh

with them, and would point the things that she wants. At the end of the day, Zhanea would

welcome their father from work, would love to talk to him even though some words requires

understanding because of errors. She was also socially acquainted, according to her mother,

her child would greet their visitors that it seems like she always wants to be pampered and have

all the attention to herself.

The data was collected through interactions with the subject, and then supplemented

with interviews and questionnaire with the mother of the subject. The subject was chosen since

it was easily accessible and convenient for the researcher. For one thing, the subject and her

parents were personally close of the researcher, which meant that the researcher could reach

the subject and her parents at any time. Another thing was the convenience of the researcher,

since both locations weren’t distant; the researcher had the opportunity to interview the subject’s

mother and interact with the child when necessary.

Case Analysis

The study of language is an enthralling endeavor. 'Language is without a question, the

most monumental and at the same time most mystifying development of the human mind,'

Susan Langer says. Despite years of studying how language is learned, researchers have

struggled to fully explain the myriad of events that surround language. From the case study, the

researcher has made interviews and questionnaires which were analyzed based on the theories

and principles of language acquisition.

How does the child acquire his/her first language?

Nativist/Innateness Theory

This theory's key point is that children are born with an innate knowledge that guides

them through the language acquisition process. The capacity of the children makes acquiring a

first language easier than it would be otherwise. The Language Acquisition Device (LAD), which

conveys the idea that all languages have a universal grammar intrinsically, is central to

Chomsky's nativist theory (Green and Piel, 2016). According to the nativist view, children grasp

linguistic structures and rules, which they employ to generate their own word sequences.

Children don't just repeat what they've learnt; they apply what they've learned to make fresh,

original sentences.

Based on the interview conducted by the researcher, Zhanea’s first language acquisition

is largely innate or biological in nature. According to the mother, at roughly a year old, the child

began stringing together nonsensical syllables, which could be interpreted as an attempt to talk.

At around earlier two, she can be able to say a few basic words like ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ and

contract certain words and group of words like instead of saying ‘kuya’ she would say ‘wa’ or

instead of saying ‘ate’ she would say ‘ye’. These particular words made her distinguish who are

her mother, father, brother, sister, and others. Looking through McNeill’s LAD, the researcher

thus concluded the presence of such linguistic characteristics that confirm Zhanea’s possession

of the device based on the following: (1) She can distinguish speech sounds from other sounds

in the environment (Orillos, 1997). For instance, according to her mother, she would not

respond if someone calls her sister of brother but would respond if someone calls her name. (2)

She has the ability to organize linguistics events into various classes (Orillos, 1997). For

example she knows what are the names and the objects. According to her mother, she would

point out her siblings or their related family and would point her toys if she’s asked to which

means she can distinguish persons from objects. (3) She has the knowledge that only a certain

kind of linguistic system is possible and that other kinds are not (Orillos, 1997). She’s aware of
language that if she would not make any kind of noise or she would not talk she wouldn’t be

understood or be noticed by the people around her that would eventually ignore her wants and

needs. Lastly, (4) She has the ability to engage in constant evaluation of the developing

linguistic system (Orillos, 1997). According to the mother, she was a curious baby; she would

ask numerous questions about things she doesn’t know about. It means she is always

evaluating her own linguistic system in order to enhance it.

Behaviorist Theory

Psychologists such as Pavlov, Thorndike, and Skinner were leading proponents of

behaviorism. The behaviorists fully believe in John Locke's "tabula rasa" explanation, according

to which a child is born with an empty slate-like mind that is filled in by outside events. The

development of correct reactions to stimuli is considered effective language behavior by

behaviorists. Language is uttered in reaction to stimuli, which stimulates the need to utilize

language (Brown, 2007). It has been suggested that children are conditioned to respond to

specific stimuli with language as a result of their environment.

While acknowledging the importance of biological elements in language acquisition and

learning, the researcher emphasizes the importance of environment in Zhanea's early language

development. While the ability to pick up language may be innate in humans, it must have been

learned someplace, and that somewhere would be the child's immediate surroundings. The

researcher reviewed some environmental issues such as imitation, correction and

reinforcement, and structured input to the child which added to the development of her first

language acquisition. Based on the researcher’s interview to the mother, these acquisition

mechanisms were done executed to Zhanea for her language development and also for

communication. According to the mother, Zhanea often imitates actions and words she sees

and hears on her siblings, parents, and significant others in the surroundings. She would do
some actions and words that she understands and use it to satisfy her needs and wants at such

times. For instance, if she seen her siblings ask for money to her mother, she would also imitate

their actions (handing out the hand/palm) and words (‘hm mo’ short for ‘mahagad ako ning imo).

Despite the fact that she struggles to imitate exact phrases due to her developing process, she

is clear about what she wants to say and how she is attempting to express herself.

Sometimes, some of her words slipped away. According to her mother, there are

moments when her daughter, Zhanea, uses language incorrectly, makes mistakes or

incoherent. For instance, she overheard Zhanea asks her older daughter ‘hain ka?’ when it

should be ‘mangain ka?’ since the older daughter was going out. Her mother would correct her

by repeating the question/words slowly enough for her to understand them completely. Zhanea

can master the proper words/sentences after a series of repeats and corrections. However, on

the use of structured input (motherese or baby talk), in the interview, her mother revealed that

when Zhanea was younger, they simply used basic, accessible, easy-to-understand language,

especially when they were trying to persuade her to do something, such as bathe, eat, etc. This

is due to the fact that children cannot develop a complete knowledge of language on their own.

As a result, simplifying the language may aid the child's acquisition of his/her native language.

What difficulties the child encounters in language acquisition?

Basically, in Zhanea’s age (3) language learning difficulties includes grammatical and

discourse aspects of the language. Although her language acquisition is backed up with LAD

and environmental reinforcements, she still has minor deficiencies in acquiring language which

are obviously a part of development and progress of her language learning. Based on the

interview of her mother, Zhanea cannot explain what she wanted to express sometimes that she

would just express it in actions (limited words). Some of her words and sentences were also

produced with incorrect pronunciation, according to her mother; she’s unable to pronounce ‘g’

(‘hinog’ were pronounced as ‘hinok’) which is also explained by Krashen’s theory that
lateralization is complete at the age of 5 and it is only after 5 that a child masters the authentic

pronunciation (Orillos, 1998). As mentioned above, she is still confused of similar speech

sounds, as such ‘mangain ka?’ from ‘hain ka?’ when her sister was going outside. Her linguistic

experience is still restricted due to her young age. As a result, in comparison to adults, her

linguistic ability and performance are still lacking. However, in comparison to other children her

age, she is still regarded as a typical child who is still learning her first language and going

through several stages.

What are the observable progressions the child exhibit in his/her first language acquisition?

As a young child learning her first language, Zhanea is surely a fast learner despite

having trouble in responding meaningfully, choosing the right words, and has limited vocabulary.

According to her mother, Zhanea can produce two-to-three-word sentences when she was 2

years old such as ‘gaano ka’ or ‘ma(i)ba man ako’. At her current age (3), she can be able to

use three or more words in a sentence, for instance, ‘mainom ako (ning) gatas’ or ‘ye,

ma(k)awat kita ni wawa’. As the examples shown above, she cannot thoroughly say some

words when using in sentences, but when she say the word alone (e.g. ‘makawat’) she can say

it properly (based on observation). Furthermore, according to her mother she can produce 2-3

English syllables (e.g. straw-ber-ry, pen-cil) but unable to say ‘royal’ and ‘ruler’ correctly. As a

socially acquainted child, she also fancy talking to the visitors and would ask ‘sisay ka?’ or

‘anong (pa)ngalan mo?’ making herself comfortable to the person and vice versa. Sometimes,

visitors would ask her age which she would immediately answer in two ways: by showing her

hand with three-sign and by mouthing ‘three’. Moreover, non-verbal communication seems to be

an advantage to her also. According to her mother, when Zhanea finds it difficult to express

herself successfully in words, she will compensate by using nonverbal communication. When

she wants or needs something but can't quite put her finger on it, she'll simply point to it or

demonstrate it with action.

Conclusion

Two major elements shape and influence first language acquisition: innate capability

(nature) and environment (nurture). These two significant elements are both important in first

language learning, as some research imply that "human fluency in his mother tongue is

dependent not only on his natural aptitude, but also on his surroundings" (Galore, 2014). As

manifested in the case of the subject in this study, Zhanea basically acquired her first language

with the presence and aid of her Language Acquisition Device (LAD). It would have been

impossible for her to learn her first language, Bikol, without such mental abilities. The

researcher confirmed Zhanea’s possession of the device based on McNeill’s LAD: (1) She can

distinguish speech sounds from other sounds in the environment, (2) has the ability to organize

linguistics events into various classes, (3) has the knowledge that only a certain kind of linguistic

system is possible and that other kinds are not, and (4) has the ability to engage in constant

evaluation of the developing linguistic system (Orillos, 1997). Despite the fact that her capacity

to learn her first language appeared to be intrinsic, her immediate surroundings influenced its

development and enhancement. These external forces were imitated, corrected, and reinforced,

as well as structured input that the subject had provided.

Acquiring first language was sure not an easy work since humans gone through difficult

phases while acquiring language. The study's participant also had some language issues.

These challenges were mostly induced by environmental factors, rather than biological ones.

Her low vocabulary, poor pronunciations, and confusion over similar speech sounds were more

of an environmental issue due to her still limited language exposure. Moreover, Zhanea also

showed progression in her verbal and non-verbal language as a way of communication. In her

age, she can produce and comprehend sentences that she can use in communicating with her

family and their visitors. These proven that the subject shows progress and development in her

first language acquisition.

 Language is a fascinating and complex aspect of the human experience. Children may

face challenges learning their first language, but with their parents' full knowledge and support,

learning their first language will be easier and more enjoyable for them. Language learning can

be complicated and difficult, but with the right guidance and understanding from parents, it can

be pleasant and entertaining.

References

Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching. 5th ed. New York:

Pearson Education.

Fromkin, V., Rodman, Rodman, R., and Hyams, N. (2010). Introduction to Linguistics.

Albany: State University of New York Press.

Galore, R. (2014). Case Study on First Language Acquisition. Trying To Make Sense.

WordPress.com

Green, M., & Piel, J. (2016). Theories of human development: A comparative approach

(2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

Meniado, J. (2016). First language acquisition: A case study of a three-year old

Lebanese child. Journal of Child Language Acquisition and Development – JCLAD,

4(3), 98-112.

Orillos, L. Q. (1997). Language acquisition theories, principles, and research. Quezon:

UP Open University.

Orillos, L. Q. (1998). Language acquisition theories, principles, and research. Quezon

City: UPOU.
Appendices

 Letter of Consent

PARENT’S/GUARDIAN’S PERMISSION AND WAIVER

I, ____________________________________do hereby grant permission to my

(Name of Parent and Guardian)

son/daughter _______________________________ to participate in their

Case Study in Eng104 Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition known as

___________________________
(Title of Event)

on _____________________ at the ___________________________________________.

(Date of Event) (Venue of Event)

It is understood however, that precautionary measures shall always be considered to

ensure safety. Should any untoward incident happen beyond human control. I hereby
waive my right for civil, criminal actions or otherwise against the Catanduanes State
University and any of its officials.

Done this ________ day of ___________________, 20___

at Catanduanes State University Virac, Catanduanes.

____________________________________ ___________________________________
(Signature over Printed Name of Student-Trainee) (Signature over Printed Name of Parent/Guardian)

Noted:

ROSANA S. ABUNDO
Eng104 Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition Teacher
  Interview Guide

Questionnaire

1. How does the child acquire his/her first language? Does he/she acquire the language
through the following?
a. by him/herself
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
b. by imitation
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
c. by correction and reinforcement
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
d. by structured input
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. What difficulties the child encounters in language acquisition?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. What are the observable progressions the child exhibit in his/her first language
acquisition?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
 Documentation