Hi, friends!
This module discuss about language acquisition and language learning.
The factors influencing the acquisition of a language,
like the learner factors, environmental factors and infrastructural factors
are dealt in detail.
Acquisition and learning.
Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquired the capacity to
perceive and comprehend language. As well as to produce and use language.
Acquisition is implicit and subconscious which take place in an informal situation.
According to Stephen Christian 1985, language acquisition does not require
extensive use of conscious grammatical rules and tedious drill.
Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language,
natural communication in which speakers are connected,
not with the form of their entrances but with the messages they are convenient
and understanding.
Language acquisition encompasses the development of
four interdependent systems.
Pragmatic: communicative use of language in a social context;
Phonological: perception and production of sounds to form words;
Semantics: processing of meaning
and grammatical use of syntactic and morphological rules to combine words
into meaningful sentences.
The phonological and grammatical systems constitute the language form.
The pragmatic system describes
how language should be adapted
to specific social situations
in order to convey emotions
and reinforce meaning.
The term acquisition is used for L1
and the term learning is associated with L2.
Children acquire language through a subconscious process
during which they are unaware of grammatical rules,
that is no deliberator for to learn the language.
They pick up language in informal situations.
Language acquisition is implicit, and effortless as meaningful communication
occurs in natural environment.
While communicating the message in the text is given more important
rather than the form.
... connected through feedback or when they hear the correct usages.
Later on, they can cut it themselves
when they become masters of linguistic generalizations.
They will be confident in using the language in the real life situations.
Language learning is explicit and conscious
and takes place in a formal situation.
The rules of the language are taught directly
and learning is the product of formal instruction.
It is learning about a language.
Children have the conscious knowledge of the new language, and can talk about it.
They can memorize the rules to solve a grammatical problem,
but when it comes to the practical level of using the language
it may not work.
In the case of second language,
all the third or the fourth language,
this is what happens.
Whatever that is learned
meaningfully and naturally, is retained and will become acquired.
Factors influencing acquisition.
Language learning is a habit formation,
and so,
if one's acquired it becomes automatic.
According to Paul Roberts:
"When we learn the first language,
we face the universe directly
and learn to clothe it with speech.
When we learn a second language,
we tend to filter the universe through the language already known."
By the time the child learns a second language,
he is familiar with the system of mother tongue.
He has to set aside the rules and sets of his mother tongue
to invite the habits of a new language.
Factors influencing acquisition can be broadly classified into three.
They are:
Learner factors.
Infrastructural factors.
Environmental factors.
The learner factors.
The learner factors influencing the acquisition of a language are mainly:
Psychological, Physiological and Sociological.
Factors like aptitude, attitude, interest, personality,
multivision, age, sex, intelligence and learning styles come under this.
Aptitude
Aptitude refers to the potential for achievement.
According to Carrol,
foreign language aptitude consisted of four independent abilities.
They are:
Phonetic coding ability.
The ability to identify and memorize new sounds.
Grammatical sensitivity.
The ability to demonstrate awareness
of the syntactic patterning of sentences of a language.
Root learning ability.
The ability to learn associations between sounds and meaning.
Inductive ability.
The ability to identify similarities and differences
in grammatical form and meaning.
It is not necessary that successful language learners
are strong in all the envolved components.
Details can identify students requirements,
and select appropriate strategies to accommodate
their differences in aptitude.
Personality
The personality characteristics we can affect
language acquisition are:
Extroversion, introversion,
self esteem, anxiety, etcetera.
Personality may be a major factor in the acquisition of oral skills,
not in reading and writing skills.
Introverted or anxious learners
make slower progress
especially in communication skill.
They try to get away from opportunities to speak,
and express themselves.
The extroverts will take risks.
They will not worry about the mistakes,
and make the advantage of opportunities to interact.
Motivation
This is a strongly favor intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsically motivated learners, try for excellence,
autonomy and self-actualization.
A supportive and non-threatening learning atmosphere,
naturally creates motivation.
Through various activities, tasks and learning materials in the class,
the teacher can increase students interest to learn language.
A felt need, develops both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Learning styles
Learning styles is an individuals natural habitud
and preferred way of absorbing,
processing and retaining new information and skills.
... 1995.
Each individual is different,
and process information in their own unique ways.
Types of learning styles are: perceptual learning style,
and cognitive learning style.
Perceptual learning style include:
visual, auditory and kinesthetic.
Visual learners have a preference for seeing.
Auditory learners best learn through listening.
And tactile or kinesthetic learners preferred to learn through experience;
That is:
moving, touching and doing.
Cognitive learning style, are the mental mechanisms
that process the incoming information through different sources.
Each individual learner has his own way of processing information
or approaching a task.
This is known as his cognitive style.
According to Ellis:
"Cognitive style is a term used to refer
to a manner in which people perceive
conceptualize, organize and recall information.
While designing learning activities,
the teacher has to consider the students with valid learning styles.
Age
Age is one of the characteristics which affect language acquisition.
Learners who have a solid skill in their own language,
are found to acquire a new language more easily.
Motivated adults learn language more easily,
but struggles to achieve correct pronunciation
because of the problems of the transfer
of the habits of native language.
They feel it difficult to recognize the sounds of the ... in language.
Young children show greater flexibility
in identifying the sounds of the language,
remembering them and reproducing them.
They are less conscious about the mistakes made,
and already to correct the mistakes without hesitation.
This will foster language acquisition.
Sex
Girls are found to excel voice in language learning.
They start talking earlier than boys,
and uses grammatically correct
and complex sentences.
Auditory sensitivity and all behaviour
is not the same for boys and girls.
The fact that girls mature earlier than boys,
has direct implications for language acquisition.
Attitude
Language attitude is the feeling one has about language learning.
It is greatly influenced by the learning situation.
Teacher, language, classroom, books, friends, homework,
and the school as such determine students' attitude towards language learning.
Spolsky says,
"In a typical language situation there are a number of people
whose attitude to each other can be significant:
the learner, the teacher,
the learner's peers and parents, and the speakers of the language.
Each relationship might well be shown to be a factor
controlling the learners' motivation to acquire a language.
A positive or a negative attitude towards language learning
can be developed in children by the influence of these factors.
Positive attitude for language learning
has to be created through a congenial and motivating environment in school.
Interest
Teachers need to design creative activities
to evoke student interest in language learning.
Clarity and relevance of the language learning goals.
Extend of feature and pure support,
learning language through fun and games,
all creates interest in learner.
As Einstein said,
interest is the best teacher,
without interest, the best learning situations will prove to be ineffective.
Intelligence
Intelligence plays a very important role in language acquisition.
Kinesthetic intelligence is the ability to use the physical actions
with linguistic responses to express ideas more clearly.
While taking part in group discussions,
the learners are using interpersonal intelligence.
Grammar analysis
falls into the logical intelligence.
The stress timed rhythmic nature of English language,
the need to communicate using melody, and rhythm in a language class
points to the need for musical intelligence.
Learning language through the knowledge about self
focuses to intrapersonal intelligence.
Linguistic intelligence involves the sensitivity
to spoken and written language.
The ability to learn language, and the capacity to use language
to accomplish certain goals:
The opportunities for learning,
the motivation to learn,
the individual difference in intelligence,
aptitude, personality,
and also, learning styles
play an important role in the rate of learning
and success in learning.
The teacher should consider learners individual aptitudes,
personalities and learning styles
into account to create a learning environment conducive to all.
The environmental factors
The environmental factors include both
school and family.
The classroom should provide a favorable
democratic environment for language learning.
Maximum exposure in target language
has to be given in the schools.
Cooperative rather than competitive atmosphere,
free from tension has to be maintained in the classroom.
A felt need to learn the language for real life communication
has to be evoked in students.
The teacher should be aware of the individual difference
and has to provide learning experience suitably.
The week and the gifted
has to be considered according to their language needs.
A tolerant attitude has to be adopted
to student errors while using language.
There is a marked relationship between the child's linguistic development
and socio-economic status.
The teacher should also consider this aspect of the students
while planning for language learning programs.
The infrastructural factors
The infrastructural facilities
it's magnitude and quality
depends upon the strength, interest and vision of the organization
which manages the institution.
Facilities to use the equipments like audiovisual aids,
language laboratories, libraries, etcetera.
which provides maximum exposure and practice in the target language
has to be arranged in schools.
First time experience to use the target language
as interacting with the native speakers,
spacious classroom with facilities to contact learning activities like roleplay,
discussions debates, dramatization, etcetera.
where the students use the language
has to be provided.
Problems in acquiring English as a second language.
Learning a second language is always a challenge
in a place where people hardly use it in their daily life.
Second language learners face several difficulties to gain
good command over a foreign language.
English presents a number of issues to non native speakers
because of their