| Hand-out: First Language Acquistion |
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Please find below the hand-out our member Samah has prepared to go along with the talk about first language acquisition she held in the March 07 network meetigs.
Common questions and useful information for L1 (first language) acquisition
When do sounds change into words? At the beginning, babies read the feelings and emotions being expressed by mothers. It’s not the words it’s the intonations or the melody mothers produce that the baby understands. We have high-pitch and low pitch melodies for instance. Parents believe that the more they allow imitation to the child the more their ability increases to acquire the language. In fact, children who do little overt imitation acquire language as fully as those who imitate a lot. This is what we define, the biological endowment that brings the source of language and the environment is just a factor. What’s LAD? It is a language acquisition device that each child is born with. It makes it possible for children to learn any language anywhere. It is a neurological structure in the brain that requires social interaction. It is activated by primary linguistic data received from the environment. Therefore, acquisition is subconscious. Interaction Babies learn language from what is around them, they do not learn language abstractly. The input they receive is from what is around them, but the way the receive input is importantly to be visual at the early stages of learning languages. Thus, mothers focus their babies’ attention to what is suitable for them. They bring the world to them. Babies spending hours infront T.V. cannot acquire language because of the lack of interaction. · All learners go through the same stages but not with the same rate. · Some people have slow maturation which means they are slow learners. This is all related to the child’s cognitive development. Others have fast maturation, which means they are quick learners. · Child language data reveals that children’s errors are systematic and show that children are actively involved in the construction of their linguistic system rather than being passive recipients of input. Universal Grammar is very abstract ideas that give us ability to produce grammar. Children can use correct word order because of UG. Telegraphic stage is the stage when correct word order is produced (without articles, auxiliary verbs, etc) following a certain pattern. Universal grammar serves as input to the LAD. e.g. I falled down I breaked glass according to Chomsky there’s imitation in the structure only Give me cookie Show me hand Do children imitate? The choice of what to imitate and practice seemed determined by something inside the child rather than by the environment. Many of the things children say show that they use the language creatively not just repeating what they have heard. Language acquisition may use imitation as a strategy but it does not depend primarily on it. Children’s language in the early stages is so different from adult language that it cannot be the result of mere imitation and habit formation. Therefore, languages are mainly learned from whats inside the child (Chomsky innatist perspective) and part of the learning environment (imitating) is only a factor that plays role in learning languages. If children imitate their parents then why this dialogue is common: Child: he taked my toy Mum: no say he took my toy Child:he taked my toy Mum: now listen carefully..he took.. my ..toy Child: oh, he taked my toy What are prerequisites for language learning? 1) NATURE In-born capacity; which is the ability born with each child that equips him with acquisition device, system, and language pattern. LAD/ UG 2) NURTURE Sociocultural factors; such as the motherese/care taker language, one-to-one directed language, indirect input from the surrounding,etc. The type of interaction must be visual at the early stages of speaking and learning languages. Thus, mothers bring what they want to their babies.
Information gathered by: Samah Sabbagh, member of the Multilingual Network E-mail:
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