Academic knowledge and development "transfer from the first language to the second language" (Collier, 1994) making it more efficient that academic work is developed through the first language of the student with teaching of the second language occurring during other times of the school day and through "meaningful academic content." (Collier, 1994) the fourth component in Collier's model is the component of cognition which, according to the work of Collier "has been mostly neglected by second language educators in the U.S. " (1994) These four components are so closely inter-dependent that "if one is developed to the neglect of another, this may be detrimental to a student's overall growth and future success." (Collier, 1994) Research has shown that development, both in terms of cognition and academic development in the first language has a profound effect upon second language acquisition as the "academic skills, literacy development, concept formation, subject knowledge, and learning strategies...will all transfer to the second language." (Collier, 1994) the work of Cynthia Brock relates that the work of Erickson and Shult (1981) suggests that "competence within social contexts can vary due to factors such as participants' cultural backgrounds and developmental levels." (1998)
III. EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE PRESENTED
Mondada and Doehler (2004) in the work entitled: "Second Language Acquisition as Situated Practice: Task Accomplishment in the French Second Language Classroom" states that research has provided empirical evidence "...suggesting that the social realm cannot be reduced to a mere background factor in relation to which activities, including cognitive processes, take place, but is an integral part of cognitive development itself." (2004) it is related in the work of Beverly Clark entitled: "First- and Second-Language Acquisition in Early Childhood that "Being exposed to a second language is obviously not enough, wanting to communicate with people who speak that language is crucial if acquisition is to occur." (Clark, nd) Furthermore, the social skills of the child who is acquiring a second language is important in learning that language. Children...
If these children are given lots of opportunity of interact positively with others who speak the target language, their language learning is promoted." (Clark, nd)
SUMMARY and CONCLUSION
It is clear that the most fertile ground for second language acquisition is a social setting in which children are able to learn to speak the second language in real-time and in a manner that is important to them for communicating between one another. Second language acquisition, which occurs within the social setting results in cognition and more effectively use of the language as well as a better grasp of the language which can be applied to writing in the second language and a better overall mastery of the second language..
Bibliography
Berk, L., & Winsler, a. (1995). Scaffolding children's learning: Vygotsky and early childhood education. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. (ERIC Document No. ED384443)
Brock, Cynthia H. (nd) No Habla Ingles: Exploring a Bilingual Child's Literacy Learning Opportunities in a Predominantly English-Speaking Classroom. Bilingual Research Journal Spring 1998.
Clark, Beverly (nd) First and Second Language Acquisition in Early Childhood. Online available at http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/pubs/katzsym/clark-b.pdf.
Collier, Virginia P. (1995) Acquiring a Second Language for School. Directions in Language & Education. National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Vol. 1 No. 4. Fall 1995.
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Mondada, Lorenzo; and Doehler, Simona P. (2004) Second Language Acquisition as Situated Practice: Task Accomplishment in the French Second Language Classroom. The Modern Language Journal 88(4), 501-518.
Thorne, Steven L. (2000) Second Language Acquisition Theory and the Truth(s) about Relativity. In James Lantolf (ed) Sociocultural…
