Age and acquisition by Brown

Think about an answer for
these questions.

1. What exactly is the relationship between age and language learning?

The way that the person is going to learn, if is young it could be easier, on the contrary of is older it could be more difficult.

2. Do children learn language faster? What do they learn faster?

Because they are not focus of forms and rules, they internalize what they are listening and watching, for that reason is because they learn faster, because they acquire without analyze.  

3. Is it impossible for adults to achieve fluency?

If they do not use their monitor all the time and if they practice over and over again, they can achieve fluency.

QUESTIONS

1. In your opinion which 3 of the 7 myths are of importance to dispell? Why? (page 50)

1.  The first one because, when we learn a second language is not only by repetition all the time, because we need significant meaning of the concepts that we are learning.

5. Number five, because we can learn how to write a word without listening it before.

7. Number 7 because is important to show some differences of grammatical structures to children, because they might make some mistakes and if we do not explain and try to fix those mistake children will not understand what is wrong.

2. Refer and explain 3 out of the 5 topics from the cognitive psychologist Ausubel. (page 51)

The rote learning practice of audio-lingual drills lacked the meaningfulness necessary for successful first and second language acquisition.  That is to say, even if students memories if there is no significant meaning there is not learning.

Adults learning a foreign language could, with their full cognitive capacities, benefit from deductive presentations of grammar; because they analyze and they are aware of forms and rules.  

The native language of the learner is not just an interfering factor- it can facilitate learning a second language.  Because sometimes students will find similar factors, concepts that they will connect with their first language. 

3. Explain the possible comparisons and contrasts between children and adult acquisition. (page 52)

-First and second language acquisition in children (c1-c2) holding age constant.  –Second language acquisition in children and adults (c2-a2) holding second language constant.  –First language acquisition in children and second language acquisition in adults (c1-a2)   

4. Refer to the CPH according to: (page 54) Lenneberg (1967) and Bickerton (1981) “The over the hill possibility”

This is by age of 12 or 13, when it comes to the possibility of successful second language learning.   

5. Discuss three points about the hemispheric lateralization. (page 54)

Left hemisphere seems to control intellectual, logical, and analytic functions including language functions, while right hemisphere controls functions related to emotional and social needs.

Some scholars contended the lateralization is completed about at the age of puberty, and some said it’s about five.

Thomas Scovel applied this lateralization concept to the second language acquisition.

6. What do we mean by biological accent-related (page 55)

The development of a socially bonding accent at puberty.  According to Scovel; ‘an accent emerging after puberty is the price we pay for our preordained ability to be articulate apes.’  

7. What is the role of the right hemisphere in learning a L2? (page 55)

There is significant right hemisphere participation, and it consist of the ‘strategies of acquisition’; of guessing at meanings and of using formulaic utterances.

Input, interaction and second language acquisition by Rod Ellis

Answer the following questions:

1. How exactly does acquisition take place?

A) Understanding a second language i+1 for (i.e. linking it to a meaning).

B) Noticing a gap between the second languages i+1 form and the interlanguage rule which the learner currently controls.

C) The reappearance of thei+1 form with minimal frequency.

2. Which conversational tactics are used in a Native Speaker – Non Native speaker talks?

The Native speaker – Non Native speaker were much more likely to make use of conversational tactics such as repetitions, confirmation checks, comprehension checks or clarification request.

3. Why is output important in second language acquisition?

Because producing output the students will improve their input, and it is necessary to produce it to know if they are learning or not, which are their mistakes, weaknesses and so on.  

4. Why is the reflective role of output important?

Because it provides them with opportunities to reflect on, discuss and analyse these problems explicitly.  

Match the teacher’s behavior with the proper correction techniques

A: Ignore the mistake.

B: Use finger correction.

C: Draw a time line on the board.

1. - You are working with a class of ten-year-old who are doing a fluency activity. One of the learners is talking to the class about her pet. She says: ‘My rabbit eat lettuce.’ You let her continue talking.

__A__

2. - You are doing a controlled practice activity. One of the learners says: ‘I have been working last week.’ You show her a diagram.

___C___

3. - You are focusing on spoken language and the use of contractions. A learner says: ‘I’m going swimming tomorrow.’ You want to show him where the mistake is. You use your hand.

___B___

Second Language Acquisition Chapter 17,By Yule

1. What is the difference between the terms ACQUISITION and LEARNING?

• ACQUISITION: Development of ability in language.

            It naturally develops in communicative situations.

• LEARNING: Conscious process of accumulating knowledge of a Language

2. Why is motivation important for L2 students?

If students feel motivated they will want to learn more and more, even if they make mistakes, because the motivation will show to them the necessity of realize what they have to improve.

3. Why might foreign talk be beneficial?

Because the message will be easier to understand and if a student feels that can understand what the teacher is talking about he/she will want to learn more, because of the motivation that this will bring to him/her.   

4. What is communicative competence?

Is the way that we use to produce speech, we find three concepts of this which are:

·         Grammatical competence; it is related to the accurate use of words and structures in the L2.

·         Sociolinguistic competence: It enables the learner to discriminate the social context.

·         Strategic competence: This is the ability to organize a message effectively and to compensate, via strategies, for any difficulties.

5. What is Positive and Negative Transfer?

·         Positive transfer: when some concepts from L1 and L2 have similar characteristics, the learner may be able to benefit from the positive transfer of L1 Knowledge. For example; if a student uses the word doctor, even if he/she does not know that this words is equal in Spanish and English.   

·         Negative transfer (or interference): L1 and L2 are too different, and it is not effective for L2 communication. For example; if a student says this is my carpet, referring to say folder, in Spanish, but the similitude between both languages make the student do this negative transfer.  

Put on the box, the words with the correct information

GTM	Audiolingual method	Communicative competence
grammatical rules	spoken language	creation of communicative experience

GTM / Communicative competence / Audiolingual method / grammatical rules / creation of communicative experience / spoken language

Interlanguage and Latent Structures.

1.      Explain the five central processes with your own words.

• Language transfer, this process occur in our IL performance. It is refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from their native language to a second language, can occur in any situation when someone does not have a native-level command of a language.
• Transfer of training, when language teaching creates interlanguage rules that are not of the L2 and which result in the way the learners were taught.
• Strategies of second language learning, e.g. simplification
• Strategies of second language communication, when learner omits grammatically redundant items in an utterance, producing ill-formed sentences.

• Overgeneralization of TL linguistic material, where the learner tries to use TL rules and semantic features in the way there would not be used by a native speaker. 

           2.   Which of these processes can be apply to you in terms of your L2 acquisition?.

Language transfer and Transfer of training 

     3.  Which aspects have you fossilized?.

•  Pronunciation: because sometimes is unconscious to pronounce words with sounds of my first language
• Grammatical: the common mistakes that someone make when use a mixture of first language rules with the foreign language

True of false (justify the false)

a)     ___F__ Unsuccessful second language learning refers to the generalization problem.

The generalization problem is found not only in second language but first language too.

b)    __F__ Storage refers to the process of recalling information that is stored in memory

Retrieval In psychology, retrieval refers to the process of recalling information that is stored in memory, and storage refers to the process of storing information in the brain, those are mental processes.

     c) __T___ some conditions that affect in the process of learning a new language are anxiety, shifting    attention and second language performance.

     d) __T___ Fossilization cannot be reversible.

How language is shaped

Indicate if truth or false, provide the correct info.

Chomsky claimed that:

1. We have a predisposition to speak ... T
2. We have not been genetically programmed with mental structures... F
we have been genetically programmed with mental structures.
3. Nouns, adjectives and adverbs are not use in our universal grammar... F
Nouns, adjectives and adverbs are used in all languages but their differences are where they are situated in the grammar structures.
4. We are able to learn an Alien's language... F
We do not know if we are able to learn an Alien's language, if their language violates the principles of our universal grammar, we couldn't be able to understand their language because it couldn't be understandable, because it could have different codes.
5. Skinner, Chomsky and Piaget agreed on their theories... F
They had different theories about how human being developed their language.
6. Skinner believes that a language organ can develop regarding the environment... T
He claimed that all our learning could develop it with training and experience.

Match the following pictures to the corresponding theory, and therefore author.

PIAGET... C
CHOMSKY... A
SKINNER... B

The Innateness Hypothesis

2.- Complete with the correct meaning the following words.

Isolation: To be in a place or situation separate form others

Innateness:Belonging to the essential nature of something

Sleep spindle: Represent periods where the brain is inhibiting processing to keep the sleeper in a tranquil state

3.- Complete the sentences.

1.-  Genie explored her new enviroment

2.-  Genie could not speak because she had all ready pasted her critical period

3.-   With Genie case what Chomsky holds is refuse.

First Language Acquisition by H. Douglas Brown

The strength of each theory.

Behaviorist

This theory is undeniable the oldest one, but getting through this theory

people opened their mind and get the comprehension of language acquisition. Out of

the behaviorist point of view that regards human way of thinking is similar as an

animal, this approach left one crucial thing. That is the stage of repetition which is

believed it gives a strong role in not only acquiring language but also the activity or

behavior demanded.

As the given case above of a well-known childhood game, bye-bye hello

game, the child is both learning about separation and return. The learning of children

here cannot be separated from the ritual. In this case we may reflect the ritual as a

repetition.

Nativist

This theory is believed to be the transformer in first language acquisition

study. The finding of LAD promoted by Chomsky is likely to be the answer of how a

child acquires the first language without any difficulty. This LAD is definitely to be

an innate that only possessed by human being. Thus human is different from animal.

It should be underlined that this LAD will give the miracle work on crucial ages of a

child.

13

Functional

Because this theory revises the previous theories, Functional approach tend to

be the most rational one in first language acquisition. In the development of this

study, it was found that a brain doesn’t work step by step but a brain processes one

thing or information by linking it to million other cells which each cell carried

different information.

The capacity of the brain in processing information leads into an assumption

extended by functional approach from the previous theory. The assumption that a

brain processes language one by one renewed to be a complex simultaneous process.

Thus a brain of a child is able to take all the language and the situation around the

language.

CONCLUSION

This paper has explained the theories of first language acquisition or how

the children acquire their first language that amazingly in few years later they are able

to communicate ideas.

Basically there are three major theories. The first is the idea suggested by

behaviorist that emphasizes the result of the research on the environment gives a great

influence to the children language development. The next is nativist. The nativist

researchers believe that the children are not born as a white paper but they are gifted a

genetic capacity that lead us to a systematic perception of language around us,

resulting in the constructional of an internalized system of language. The third is

functional approach which brings the study of the language acquisition into

constructivists, social interaction, cognition and language, function of language and

discourse.