Language Learning and Acquisition

Section A: Language Learning

• Language defines meaningful human life, enabling daily fulfillment.
• Language is the "blood of the soul," facilitating the expression of thoughts into actions.
• Arakanese is similar to Burmese, spoken by about 2 million people in the Arakanese state of Myanmar.
• Half of Arakanese speakers are native speakers; the other half from other ethnicities.
• Native speakers from different regions have differing accents.
• Arakanese has regional dialects, which differ from Standard Burmese, incorporating loan words from Bengali, English, and Hindi.
• Examples of hard-to-pronounce Arakanese words can be frustrating to learners, but this is typical.

First Language Acquisition

• Vygotsky posits that language and thought intertwine from an early age.
• Language acquisition begins in the environment the child is born into and continues development during their lives.
• First language acquisition is how the child develops the ability to speak and use their native language.
• Acquisition occurs before birth, in society, through interactions with others.
• Six stages of language acquisition are described: prelinguistic, babbling, first words, two-word, telegraphic, and beyond telegraphic.

Prelinguistic Stage

• This stage (birth to 6 months) consists of involuntary sounds like crying and noises.
• Sounds are not considered language but a form of pre-production.

Babbling Stage

• Infants make various sounds, regardless of the language around them.
• The sounds involve opening and closing the mouth in different combinations.
• Bilabial and alveolar sounds are prominent examples (e.g. Ba, Ma, Na are from Arakanese).

First Words Stage

• This stage spans from age 1 to 2.
• One word can be substituted for an entire sentence.
• Consonant-vowel combinations are used (e.g., Mar, in Arakanese).
• Holophrastic stage is another term for this.

Two-Word Stage

• This stage generally develops around 1.5 to 2.5 years old.
• Two-word sentences are formed (e.g., red apple).
• Verb-noun and adjective-noun combinations are common.

Telegraphic Stage

• This stage develops around 2.5 to 3 years of age.
• Children construct short sentences combining more than two words, often in telegram-like form (e.g., go to park).

Beyond Telegraphic Stage

• This stage continues into fully developed language skills.
• More complex sentences, grammar, and speech emerge.
• Vocabulary expands through learning and practice.

Arakanese Language Dialects - (Detail on page 4)

• There are three dialects recognized in Arakanese (Sittwe-Marma, Ramree, and Thandwe).
• Sittwe-Marma is often the dialect initially focused on due to its relative familiarity to the speaker.

Language Learning in the Classroom (based on pages 5 & 6)

• Biases, prejudice, and vanity can influence communication, particularly when the listeners are focusing solely on favored aspects.
• Traditional teaching methods (e.g., rote learning, teacher-centered) have their drawbacks although some elements are valuable and essential.
• Modern teaching methods like task-based language teaching (TBLT), giving learners more agency, focus on students' needs are effective.
• Using a more student-centered methodology, with activities such as listening, reading and speaking, will increase participation and understanding.

Explore the intricacies of language learning and the first language acquisition process. This quiz delves into the significance of language, focusing on Arakanese and its comparison to Burmese. Understand the theories of Vygotsky and how children develop language skills.