First Language Acquisition: Key Issues

Issues in First Language Acquisition

• Competence is an idealized capacity located as a psychological or mental property or function
• Competence involves "knowing" the language
• Performance is the production of actual utterances
• Performance involves "doing" something with the language
• Performance involves "using" the language
• Example: "We swimmed in the ocean this weekend" demonstrates a performance error

Comprehension and Production

• Comprehension refers to the words and word combinations children understand
• Production refers to the words and word combinations children use
• Observational and research evidence suggests a general superiority of comprehension over production in child language

Nature vs. Nurture

• Nature is how we develop due to genetic inheritance and biological factors
• Nativists argue children are born with innate knowledge or predisposition toward language (the LAD, language acquisition device)
• Nurture involves acquiring traits through experience and learning after conception
• Connectionist, emergentist, and behaviorist perspectives emphasize the importance of environmental factors like language school, teachers, and "motherese"

Systematicity and Variability

• Language acquisition follows a systematic process, progressing from simple to complex
• There's a lack of agreement among researchers on defining specific "stages" of language acquisition, even in English

Universals

• The Universal Grammar (UG) hypothesis shares some fundamental similarities and that deep down, there is only one human language

Language and Thought

• Cognitive development and language development are intertwined
• Piaget believed cognition supersedes language, meaning language development relies on cognitive development
• Bruner emphasized the influence of language on cognitive development.

Imitation

• Surface-structure imitation involves repeating or mimicking surface strings, focusing on a phonological code rather than a semantic code
• As children recognize the importance of semantic level during language acquisition, they pay more attention to semantic level i.e the deep structure of language

Practice and Frequency

• The role of language practice in children and how the frequency of hearing and producing words affects its acquisition is an area of inquiry.
• Self-talk and thinking aloud may contribute to language practice

Input

• Input plays an undeniably crucial role in a child's language acquisition
• Young children primarily hear speech in their homes, mostly parental speech or speech from older siblings
• Motherese is emotional infant-directed speech used by parents
• Pedagogese is teacher talk

Discourse

• While conversation is a universal human activity, the way children learn to participate is complex.
• Sinclair and Coulthard (1975) suggested analyzing conversations through initiations and responses
• In a sentence-based model, sentences, clauses, etc are transactions where the child doesnt just start a conversation but also how to respond to another's initiating utterance.

Language Teaching Methods

• Teaching approach is a way of looking at teaching and learning which looks at theoretical views of language and how it can be learnt
• A teaching method derives from an approach teaching, and the method incorporates classroom activities or techniques to help learners

Strategy, Technique

• A strategy is a specific plan or action taken to achieve a goal
• Technique the unique way or style a teacher handles their class

Grammar-Translation Method

• Classes use the mother tongue
• Vocabulary is taught as lists of isolated words
• Little attention to pronunciation
• Reading difficult texts begin early
• Long, elaborate explanations of grammar are given

Direct Method

• Classroom instruction happens only in the target language
• Everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught
• Oral communication skills are built up in a graded progression of Q&A exchanges between teachers and students in small classes
• Grammar is taught inductively (students infer rules through examples)
• New teaching points are introduced orally
• Concrete vocabulary is taught through demos, objects, pictures, whilst abstract vocab is taught by associating ideas
• Speech and listening comprehension are both taught
• Correct pronunciation and grammar are emphasized

Audio-Lingual Method

• New material is presented in dialogue form
• Dependent on mimicry, memorization of set phrases, and overlearning
• Structures are sequenced via contrastive analysis and taught one at a time while repetitive drills are used to teach structural patterns
• Grammar is taught by inductive analogy, where there is little to no grammatical explanation

Audio-Lingual Method (Approach: Behaviorism)

• Vocabulary is strictly limited and learnt in context
• There is much use of tapes, language labs, and visual aids
• High importance is attached to pronunciation
• Use of mother tongue by teachers is limited/not permitted
• Successful responses are immediately reinforced
• There is effort to get students to produce error free utterances
• There is a general tendency to manipulate language and disregard content

Gouin and the Series Method (Natural Approach)

• Focuses on speaking and comprehending L2
• Emphasis on connecting the language to reality
• Attempts to mimic natural language acquisition