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¶ … Language Acquisition" by J. Crawford, covers how people acquire a second language, and some "persistent problems" with how we teach a second language in America today. The author briefly covers a history of language acquisition, and how early Romans used "conversational dialogues" to help teach children many other languages, and how that method gradually altered throughout history, to the "grammar-translation approach" we tend to lean toward today. He also mentions some other less common methods that seem to show good results, such as the "direct" method, and the "audiolingual" method. The author also brings up many differing theories of language acquisition, and asks many questions about how students learn and teachers teach a second language. In fact, the author also raises questions about some techniques, and maintains they may be actually preventing children from learning another language, no matter how well thought of or well-executed they are. Clearly, while there are many theories in language development and acquisition, the author shows these theories do not always agree, and they form a diversity as dissimilar as the students today who need to acquire English skills in the classroom to successfully continue their education.
This article shows there are so many different theories and methods of language acquisition, and this shows how difficult it is for educators to decide on a method, and then implement it. Clearly, language acquisition depends on many different learning and teaching technologies, and it does not look like the experts still really understand just what at least some of those technologies are. In addition, it is clear from this article that even the most highly skilled professionals do not agree on what entails successful language teaching, and how different students acquire languages. Each person is unique, and while there are commonalities in learning styles, this article makes it clear we have a long way to go in the study and dissemination of language, and that we need to continue studies and experiments until we find the optimum way of teaching a second language in our nations' schools.
References
Crawford, J. "Basic Research on Language Acquisition."
The reality is that the universal grammar theory attempts to lay general structures that can be traced among languages. Therefore, if a constant 'X' is true then 'Y' will be equally true. It puts down how all languages expand when subjected to a given set of fundamental principles. With these principles, universal grammar enables us to try out word order prediction in languages, the phonemes, syntax etc. Several linguists hold
The environment that language acquisition occurs in, whether it is a first or a second language being acquired, is also hugely influential on the development of that language. It is only in context that a language with inherent ambiguities can be understood at a level of fluency, and if the environment surrounding the language learner does not help to reinforce the rules and/or vocabulary of that language, then language acquisition
In the final analysis, people have been learning how to acquire language for millennia without the assistance of scientific investigation, but the need for young people to do so quickly in an increasingly multicultural country and globalized marketplace is more important than ever before because they will probably have to learn a second (or third) language at their earliest opportunity. References Birdsong, D. (1999). Second language acquisition and the critical period
Finally, nativists must concede that culture and native language can shape ideas in the long run. After all, a person's cultural surroundings seem to greatly affect their interpretation of experiences over the course of their life (Bowerman and Choi 475-476). The difference in how much those cultural experiences affect an individual and their language, as well as when such effects happen, is what makes up the entire debate between
A good starting point is identifying the factors that influence ELL student performance. According to Mitsutomi & McDonald, these factors include motivation, linguistic and cultural identity, study strategies, tolerance for ambiguity, and sociocultural support. Although these factors provide a generic indication of the difficulties faced by ELL students, it is also recognized that each student is an individual, and enters the school system under widely varying circumstances and with differing
Learning language is not much different from learning other skills, but it can be a highly complex process. For example, if human beings did not communicate using complex systems of language but instead relied on simple nouns and verbs, we would all sound like what we imagine "cave men" sounded like. "Food good," and other simple sentences do not demand mastery of grammar and in theory, such simple languages could