Edi Brata

Mathla’ul Anwar University

Psycholinguistics 2: Language Acquisition(16th Session of Introduction to Linguistics)

Language Acquisition

We have features for every step of the way

First Language

Acquisition

Second Language

Acquisition

Foreign Language

Acquisition

First LanguageAcquisition

The process of how children acquire their native language

First Language Acquisition

•A child’s mind is like a blank slate

•All knowledge comes from experience

•Environment shapes learning and behavior

•Children react to their surroundings

•Children learn language from

• Input

•Trial and error

•Error correction

Behaviorist

•Children do not need any kind of formal teaching to learn to speak.

•Children are born with a natural capacity to learn language.

•The brain contains systems for recognizing patterns of sound.

•Children are biologically programmed for language.

•Chomsky’s theories and “critical period” theories are important in nativist theories.

Nativist

Noam Chomsky’s L-A-D

Chomsky’s theory of the LAD(Language Acquisition Device) states that every human is born with innate principles of language.

Children learn language spontaneously and speak creatively.

The “poverty of the stimulus theory” states that what children hear is incomplete and often ungrammatical, and cannot account for the creativity of their utterances.

Language Stage Beginning Age

» Crying! Birth

» Cooing! 6 weeks

» Babbling! 6 months

» Intonation patterns! 8 months

» One-word utterances! 1 year

» Two-word utterances! 18 months

» Word inflections! 2 years

» Questions, negations! 2 1/4 years

» Rare and complex constructions! 5 years

» Mature speech! 10 years

Critical Period of Age

Lan

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age

Acq

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ceLAD can prevent the children from using incorrect rules oflanguage and can discover language rules in the process ofacquiring language.

Autonomous Learner

Second Language Acquisition

o Similar to first language acquisition (L1)o Hypotheses makero Sufficient exposure and opportunities to

use the languageo Native language interference in second

language learning (L2)

Foreign LanguageAcquisition

Chomsky states:“… Language learning is not something that a child does but it is something that happens to the child placed in an

appropriate environment,…”

Children can acquire any

language since they also possess several qualities

owned by L1 and L2 children.

They need environment that provide sufficient exposure to the

language and opportunities to

use it.

These preconditions

make the learning of EFL similar to

that of English as L1 and L2

Foreign Language Acquisition

o UG wired in the brain

o (For children) critical period of agein learning language

o Environment/language community

o Sufficient exposure to thelanguage

o Social beings

o Sufficient opportunities to use thelanguage for communicativepurposes

o May take longer time

Qualities possessed byLearners in FLL:

ForeignLanguage Acquisition

Second and Foreign Language Acquisition

Fundamental difference between L1 and L2/FL Acquisition:

• All children learn their first language easily and wellwhereas adults vary in their ultimate mastery of a secondlanguage.

• Children do not need to be taught their first languagewhereas adults benefit from formal instruction.

• Children are intrinsically motivated to learn their nativelanguage whereas adult mastery of a second language isdependent upon attitude, motivation, and aptitude.

Second and Foreign Language Acquisition

Despite the disadvantages of learning a second language inadulthood, adults are naturally endowed with important L2learning abilities:

• mature problem-solving abilities

• general understanding about the nature of humaninteraction

• competence in native language

» Analytical learners» Language inhibition, self-

esteem/confidence» Insufficient time in learning» Insufficient exposure» Insufficient opportunities to use

the language» Motivation» Way of learning at school» UG?» Critical period?

Adult Learners

Language Learning

Second Language

Acquisition

Foreign Language

Acquisition

Learning Types

Signal Learning

Stimulus-Response

Chaining

Verbal Association

Multiple Discrimination

Concept Learning

Principle Learning

Problem Solving

Learning Strategies

Transfer

Interference

Generalization

Simplification

Personality

Sanguine

Phlegmatic

Melancholic

Choleric

See You!!!Thank You