Bilingualism: First and Second Language Acquisition Theorists

Bilingualism:

First and second language acquisition theorists

Experience as a bilingual person

The term bilingual is used for the individuals that are having a command over more than one communication system. The learning process for the second language is elaborated in the work below. The detailed definition of bilingualism and work of first and second language theorists is also presented in the relevant sections. Later, the influence of reading through the literature and my personal experience as bilingual person is also presented. Finally the conclusion provides an understanding of the future desire for learning bilingual process and education system is also presented in the conclusion.

Bilingualism:

According to Baker (2011) bilingualism is denoted as two systems or more than two systems as multilingualism. The usage of more than one communication system in terms of identity, personality, thinking, reading, education, and employment has roots wasted in bilingualism. There are various theorists and aspects of bilingualism. There are also various social, education, and personal perspectives to bilingualism. The integrating theories of two or more than two systems are also considered as relevant perceptive for the subject.

First and second language acquisition theorists:

According to Saville-Troike (2012) the mid-20th century was dominantly associated with the structuralism, phonology, morphology, and syntax. The work done by Bloomfield was dominated in the field of linguistics. Later Skinner applied a behavioral model for cognitive learning of languages. The notion of a habit formation was highlighted through application of S.R.R. Stimuli and reinforcement. The repeated S.R.R sequential and S.R.R Stimuli models fused together to formulate a framework denoted as Audio lingual method. In 1960s Noam Chomsky emphasized on intrinsic factors and highlighted study as an accounting for speakers. The transformational Generative Grammar is regarded as the first linguistic framework presented by Chomsky. The attention is regarded as the logical problem of language acquisition. According to Bhatia, & Ritchie (2012) Cummins also presented the research results in a fashion that the students with less than two years of English as a medium of instruction are more likely to perform batter. These results can be regarded as single dimensional presentation of the findings.

View of bilingualism:

The view of bilingualism is changed after the review of literature. I always thought it is the environment of a person that leads to bilingualism. Either there is a compressing need to learn a second language or one has extensively lived with the community from different language speakers. It is also noted that learning a second language has other factors also influencing the desire for learning as well as the process of learning a second language. The bilingual speakers are also required to follow learning process that is presented by Chomsky or Cummins.

Experience as a bilingual person:

The personal experience as a bilingual person is quite different as I inherited certain environmental factors that influenced my learning. The community that I lived in was Spanish and my mother and father were native Mexicans. Therefore I learnt English in school and Spanish in the community while interacting with neighboring children. The bilingual advantages and positives can be counted in numbers. The increased globalization and in order to understand the dynamics of a different culture it is essential to be acquainted with different languages.