MODULE CONTENT AND PEDAGOGY FOR THE MOTHER TONGUE

CHAPTER 5: MOTHER TONGUE AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

OBJECTIVES:
• Define Language Acquisition
• Explain the thought about Language Acquisition
• Discuss the factors that influence in Language
Learning

Acquisition is carried out in the first years of childhood

and leads to unconscious knowledge of one's native
language which is practically indelible. Note that
acquisition has nothing to do with intelligence, i.e.
children of different degrees of intelligence all go through
the same process of acquiring their native language.
Learning (of a second language) is done later (after
puberty) and is characterized by imperfection and the
likelihood of being forgotten. Learning leads to conscious
knowledge.
Language acquisition is a process which can take place at any period of one's life. In
the sense of first language acquisition, however, it refers to the acquisition (unconscious
learning) of one's native language (or languages in the case of bilinguals) during the first
6 or 7 years of one's life (roughly from birth to the time one starts school).
FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION This is the acquisition of the mother tongue. The
degree of competence acquired may vary from individual to individual and may be
checked by later switching to another language. Note that language acquisition is
largely independent of intelligence, although individuals can and do differ in their
mastery of open classes such as vocabulary.
BI- AND MULTILINGUALISM This is the acquisition of two or more languages from
birth or at least together in early childhood. The ideal situation where all languages are
equally represented in the child's surroundings and where the child has an impartial
relationship to each is hardly to be found in reality so that of two or more languages,
one is bound to be dominant.
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION This is the acquisition of a second language
after the mother tongue has been (largely) acquired. Usually refers to acquisition which
begins after puberty, i.e. typically adult language acquisition. Sometimes replaced by
the term further language acquisition.

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OVERVIEW: It begins with an overview of the first stage which is the silent period.
There students basically listen and try to learn. The video ends with the last stages,
known as advanced fluency. That stage ends with a student becoming proficient in
English language.

For More Knowledge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk7_lBaFC5w&list=LLYlmKU6_Xg5xrO
k8t6-jzZA&index=1

3 Competing Schools of Thought About Language Acquisition

Philosophers have always been fascinated by the human linguistic ability, particularly its
initial acquisition.
Ever since Socrates intoned “Know thyself,” we have tried to peek behind the curtain
and find out how we are actually able to learn language and use it for a myriad of
communicative purposes.
Here are some theories on the matter:
1) Behaviorism (B.F. Skinner)
Pavlov noticed that the dogs started salivating as soon as he (or
his associate) entered the room, even when no visible food was
presented. Somehow the dogs learned to associate food with his
presence. They were conditioned to salivate upon seeing him!
B.F. Skinner, an eminent behaviorist, proposed that language acquisition is really one
big and complex case of conditioning. At its core, it’s all pattern recognition—
associating words with meaning.
For example, if a baby hears the word “milk” often enough right before being fed from
the bottle, he’ll soon learn what that word means. If he always hears the word “ball” right
before being handed a spherical object, he’ll begin to associate “ball” with its referent.
Through a process of trial and error, a child (or a second language learner) will be able
to learn correct grammar. Language acquisition, in this view, is a stimulus-response
mechanism. A child will get to the correct form of the language when he observes
reinforcing behavior from those around him—a smile, a nod or being handed a spherical
object when he says “ball.” These all tell him that he’s thinking in the right direction.
2) Universal Grammar (Noam Chomsky)
In the 1960s, the field of behaviorism came under serious attack from
the likes of Noam Chomsky, a man recognized as the father of modern

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linguistics, and about as decorated a scholar as any.

He pointed out that if you really look closer, parents give only very little linguistic input
for tots to run with. Chomsky argued that parent-child interactions are limited to
repeated utterances of things like “Put that back” and “Open your mouth”–not very likely
to make significant dents towards the cause of language learning. And besides, when a
child says, “I swimmed today,” he didn’t really get that from any adult figure in his life.
That’s not imitation.
So how does one account for the fact that children learn to
speak their native tongues in spite of the “poverty of the
stimulus”? One is left with the conclusion, Chomsky argues,
that if not from the outside, external input, then the ability
must have been there all along.
Chomsky asserts that human beings are biologically wired
for language—that we have a “language acquisition device”
that allows us to learn any language in the world. Linguistic ability is innate to us.
Chomsky’s work represented the “nature” side of the “nature-nurture debate,” while the
Behaviorists account for language as part of “nurturing.”
OVERVIEW: How is it that we learn to speak and think in language so easily?
Philosophers have argued about whether or not we have innate ideas. Whether we are
born knowing things, as Plato believed, or rather, as John Locke and other empiricists
argued, the mind is a blank slate on which experience writes. Noam Chomsky, gave a
twist to this debate in the 1960s.

For More Knowledge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cgpfw4z8cw&list=LLYlmKU6_Xg5xr
Ok8t6-jzZA&index=3
3) Cognitive Theory (Jean Piaget)
The psychologist Jean Piaget is a major proponent of this
cognitive model, which sees language acquisition in light of the
developing mental capacities. The idea here is that we’re able
to learn language because of our ability to learn. It’s because
of our cognitive development. Our brains become more
complex, and we learn so many things so fast.
Babies initially don’t talk because their brains and mental
capacities still lack the experience and scaffolding necessary
for language. But as babies grow, as they interact with adults,
as they gain more experience, as they observe more things and as they learn more
concepts, language becomes the inevitable result.

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Piaget believed that the understanding of concepts must first come before language.
When a child says, “Ball is red,” he must first understand what a ball and the color red
are before he can comment.
So, if you notice how language develops, it follows the complexity of our thinking.

The 5 Characteristics of a Language

1. Syntax is really just another word for grammar. Languages are governed by rules.
Without them, language would be a jumbled mess of words, phrases and concepts that
would be very difficult to understand and therefore barely useful.
2. Semantic is all about meaning in a language—what words, phrases and sentences
actually mean. Semantics works hand in hand with syntax because different
arrangement of words can create different meanings.
3. Morphology is about the form of words. It’s best observed in the written form of a
language. Change in form often brings with it a change in meaning.
4. Phonology is the study of linguistic sounds. And if ever you want to be considered
fluent in your target language, you have to be very familiar with the intonations,
stresses, pauses, dips and tones of the language.
5. Pragmatics is concerned with how meaning is negotiated between speaker and
listener. When your boss, after reading your submitted proposal, tells you, “This won’t
work. Go back to square one,” You don’t take his words literally and look for “square
one.” You start again.
. The Four Language Skills

Listening
We know that listening is the first language skill
to be developed. Before babies can even talk,
read or write, they’ve already logged in serious
hours listening.
Speaking

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Speaking is probably what you think of when we mention “language acquisition.” It is,
after all, the most vivid proof of your linguistic chops.
Reading
Being able to read in a second language opens up a whole world of literature to you.
Writing
Writing, in many respects, can actually be easier than speaking the target language.
With the written form, language learners actually have a visible record in front of them.
Written texts are more malleable than spoken words.

Stages of language acquisition

✓ Babbling
Within a few weeks of being born the baby begins to
recognize its mothers’ voice. There are two sub-
stages within this period. The first occurs between
birth – 8 months. Most of this stage involves the baby
relating to its surroundings and only during 5/6 – 8-
month period does the baby begin using its vocals.
✓ Holophrastic / One-word stage
The second stage of language acquisition is the holophrastic or one-word stage. This
stage is characterized by one-word sentences.
✓ Two-Word Stage
The two-word stage (as you may have guessed) is made of up primarily two-word
sentences. These sentences contain 1 word for the predicate
and 1 word for the subject.
✓ Telegraphic Stage
The final stage of language acquisition is the telegraphic stage.
This stage is named as it is because it is similar to what is seen
in a telegram; containing just enough information for the
sentence to make sense.
Overview: How do babies get so good at language so quickly? Because they already
know a lot from the beginning about how language works. In this week's episode of The
Ling Space, we talk about Universal Grammar and evidence that babies are little
language acquisition geniuses.

For More Knowledge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLNFGWJOXjA&list=LLYlmKU
6_Xg5xrOk8t6-jzZA&index=2

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Factors that Influence Language Learning

• Motivation
When a child understands the importance of understanding a language and can
see how it directly applies to their life, they learn faster.
2. Support at Home
3. Prior Linguistic Knowledge
Once a child has studied and acquired a language, their
skill at learning another will increase.
4. Learning Environment
Another key factor is how comfortable students feel in their language learning
environment.
5. Teaching Strategies
The strategies a language teacher uses have a big impact
on language learning.
6. Comprehensible Input
Linguist Stephen Krashen is known for developing the input
hypothesis of second-language acquisition. In this context,
the titular “input” is the language curriculum. Krashen wrote
that teaching at just any level of difficulty isn’t sufficient: the
input received by a student must be comprehensible.
7. Student Personality
A student’s personality can affect how they learn a second language.
8. Age
While students of all ages can learn a foreign language, there is consensus that certain
aspects are affected by the age of the learner.

REFERENCES:

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/what-is-language-acquisition/
https://www.whitbyschool.org/passionforlearning/9-factors-that-influence-language-
learning
https://www.uni-due.de/ELE/LanguageAcquisition.htm
https://enlsac2max.wordpress.com/stages-of-language-acquisition/

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