LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Submitted To :Dr. Jay Estrellas

Instructor

Submitted By: Rose Ann Dayon TCP II-C

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION—————————————————————————- I
A. The proponent —————————————————————————— II
B . Factors that influenced /
contribute to the development of his or her theory——————————- III

 THEORY/IES
A. Discussion ————————————————————————————-IV
B. Case Analysis/Situational Analysis—————————————————— V
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT —————————VI
 PERSONAL CRITIQUE———————————————————————VII
 REFERENCES ——————————————————————————-VIII

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I.Introduction
Learning to talk is one of the most visible and important achievements of early childhood. In a
matter of months, and without explicit teaching, toddlers move from hesitant single words to
fluent sentences, and from a small vocabulary to one that is growing by six new words a day.
New language tools mean new opportunities for social understanding, for learning about the
world, and for sharing experiences, pleasures and needs.

Definition
Language development is the process by which children come to understand and communicate
language during early childhood.
Description
From birth up to the age of five, children develop language at a very rapid pace. The stages of
language development are universal among humans. However, the age and the pace at which a
child reaches each milestone of language development vary greatly among children. Thus,
language development in an individual child must be compared with norms rather than with
other individual children. In general girls develop language at a faster rate than boys. More than
any other aspect of development, language development reflects the growth and maturation of
the brain. After the age o f five it becomes much more difficult for most children to learn
language.
Receptive language development (the ability to comprehend language) usually develops faster
than expressive language (the ability to communicate). Two different styles of language
development are recognized. In referential language development, children first speak single
words and then join words together, first into two-word sentences and then into three-word
sentences. In expressive language development, children first speak in long unintelligible
babbles that mimic the cadence and rhythm of adult speech. Most children use a combination
these styles.
What is language?
Noun
The method of human communication either spoken or written consisting of the use of words in
a structured and conventional way .A system of communication used by a particular country or
community.
How children acquire language?

Children acquire language through interaction - not only with their parents and other adults, but
also with other children. All normal children who grow up in normal households, surrounded by
conversation, will acquire the language that is being used around them. –

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The proponent

Rose Ann Dayon is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in English with

Specialization in Communication at Carlos Hilado Memorial State College
(CHMSC).She is 21 years old and currently working at the Carlos Hilado
Memorial State College (CHMSC ) Talisay Campus Registrar Office . She’s
currently residing at Barangay Zone-12 Talisay City Negros Occidental .She
take a detour but she decided to take the Teacher Certificate Program for better
career.

Factors that influenced /contribute to the development of his or her theory

Social

Toddlers infer a speaker’s communicative intent and use that information to guide their language
learning. For example, as early as 24 months, they are able to infer solely from an adult’s excited tone of
voice and from the physical setting that a new word must refer to an object that has been placed on the
table while the adult was away.The verbal environment influences language learning. From ages one to
three, children from highly verbal “professional” families heard nearly three times as many words per
week as children from low verbal “welfare” families. Longitudinal data show that aspects of this early
parental language predict language scores at age nine.

Perceptual

Infant perception sets the stage. Auditory perceptual skills at six or 12 months of age can predict
vocabulary size and syntactic complexity at 23 months of age.Perceptibility matters. In English, the forms
that are challenging for impaired learners are forms with reduced perceptual salience, e.g. those that are
unstressed or lie united within a consonant cluster.

Cognitive processes

Frequency affects rate of learning. Children who hear an unusually high proportion of examples of a
language form learn that form faster than children who receive ordinary input.“Trade-offs” among the
different domains of language can occur when the total targeted sentence requires more mental resources
than the child has available. For example, children make more errors on small grammatical forms such as
verb endings and prepositions in sentences with complex syntax than in sentences with simple syntax.

Conceptual

Relational terms are linked to mental age. Words that express notions of time, causality, location, size and
order are correlated with mental age much more than words that simply refer to objects and events.16
Moreover, children learning different languages learn to talk about spatial locations such as in or next to
in much the same order, regardless of the grammatical devices of their particular language.

Language skills are affected by world knowledge. Children who have difficulty recalling a word also
know less about the objects to which the word refers.

Linguistic

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Verb endings are cues to verb meaning. If a verb ends in –ing, three-year-olds will decide that it refers to
an activity, such as swim, rather than to a completed change of state, such as push off.Current vocabulary
influences new learning. Toddlers usually decide that a new word refers to the object for which they do
not already have a label.

Behavioral Theory

The behavioral perspective states that language is a set of verbal behaviors learned through operant
conditioning. Operant conditioning is a method of changing behavior so that a desired behavior is
reinforced immediately after it occurs. B.F. Skinner is considered to be the father of the modern
behavioral theory. This theory can be applied to many aspects of human learning including speech and
language. The theory centers around the idea that children are conditioned by their environment and the
reinforcement of their communication.Behaviorists believe that language behaviors are learned by
imitation, reinforcement, and copying adult language behaviors. They consider language to be determined
not by experimentation or self-discovery, but by selective reinforcements from speech and language
models, usually parents or other family members. Behaviorists focus on external forces that shape a
child's language and see the child as a reactor to these forces. (Hulit, Howard, & Fahey, 2011)

Imitation and Practice

Two other concepts that are important for understanding the behaviorist ideas of speech and language
development are imitation and practice. A young child will try to imitate sounds and words he hears his
parents say the best he can. When a child says a word that sounds close to what the parents say, they
accept and reinforce it. In other words, they begin shaping the word until the child can eventually say the
word as well as the parents do.

Nativistic Theory

The nativistic theory is a biologically-based theory which states that language is innate, physiologically
determined, and genetically transmitted. This means that a newborn baby is "pre-wired" for language
acquisition and a linguistic mechanism is activated by exposure to language. (Hulit, Howard, & Fahey,
2011). This theory believes that language is universal and unique to only humans and that unless there are
severe mental or physical limitations, or severe isolation and deprivation, humans will acquire language.
The nativistic theory argues that caregivers do not teach children the understanding of language and do
not usually provide feedback about the correctness of their utterances. (Pinker, 1984).

Semantic-Cognitive Theory

The semantic-cognitive theory is a perspective of language development that emphasizes the

interrelationship between language learning and cognition; that is, the meanings conveyed by a child's
productions. Children demonstrate certain cognitive abilities as a corresponding language behavior
emerges. (Bloom & Lahey, 1978). The semantic meaning that a person wants to communicate determines
the words and word order (syntactic form) the person uses. For example, children know what they want to
communicate (cognition) but do not always use the correct semantics or grammar. Also, children may not
know the correct use of a word or understand that a word can have more than one meaning.

Social-Pragmatic Theory

The social-pragmatic theory considers communication as the basic function of language. This perspective
is first seen in infant-caregiver interactions in which the caregiver responds to an infant's sounds and
gestures.

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Discussion

Language development is a complex and a unique human quality that no theory is as yet able to
completely explain. Newer theories will probably develop from what has already been explored. This
could be taken from cognitive to interactionist approach where the relationship of psychology and the
environment needs to be explored in greater depth.

Case Analysis/Situational Analysis

THE COURSE OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Infancy

Language development begins before birth. Towards the end of pregnancy, a fetus begins to hear
sounds and speech coming from outside the mother's body. Infants are acutely attuned to the human
voice and prefer it to other sounds. In particular they prefer the higher pitch characteristic of female
voices. They also are very attentive to the human face, especially when the face is talking. Although
crying is a child's primary means of communication at birth, language immediately begins to develop via
repetition and imitation.

Between birth and three months of age, most infants acquire the following abilities:

seem to recognize their mother's voice

quiet down or smile when spoken to

turn toward familiar voices and sounds

make sounds indicating pleasure

cry differently to express different needs

grunt, chuckle, whimper, and gurgle

begin to coo (repeating the same sounds frequently) in response to voices

make vowel-like sounds such as "ooh" and "ah"

Between three and six months, most infants can do the following:

turn their head toward a speaker

watch a speaker's mouth movements

respond to changes in a tone of voice

make louder sounds including screeches

vocalize excitement, pleasure, and displeasure

cry differently out of pain or hunger

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laugh, squeal, and sigh

sputter loudly and blow bubbles

shape their mouths to change sounds

vocalize different sounds for different needs

communicate desires with gestures

babble for attention

mimic sounds, inflections, and gestures

make many new sounds, including "p," "b," and "m," that may sound almost speech-like

The sounds and babbling of this stage of language development are identical in babies throughout the
world, even among those who are profoundly deaf. Thus all babies are born with the capacity to learn
any language. Social interaction determines which language they eventually learn.

Six to 12 months is a crucial age for receptive language development. Between six and nine months
babies begin to do the following:

search for sources of sound

listen intently to speech and other sounds

take an active interest in conversation even if it is not directed at them

recognize "dada," "mama," "bye-bye"

consistently respond to their names

respond appropriately to friendly and angry tones

express their moods by sound and body language

play with sounds

make long, more varied sounds

babble random combinations of consonants and vowels

babble in singsong with as many as 12 different sounds

experiment with pitch, intonation, and volume

use their tongues to change sounds

repeat syllables

imitate intonation and speech sounds

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Between nine and 12 months babies may begin to do the following:

listen when spoken to

recognize words for common objects and names of family members

respond to simple requests

understand "no"

understand gestures

associate voices and names with people

know their own names

babble both short and long groups of sounds and two-to-three-syllable repeated sounds (The babble
begins to have characteristic sounds of their native language.)

use sounds other than crying to get attention

use "mama" and "dada" for any person

shout and scream

repeat sounds

use most consonant and vowel sounds

practice inflections

engage in much vocal play

Toddlerhood

During the second year of life language development proceeds at very different rates in different
children. By the age of 12 months, most children use "mama/dada" appropriately. They add new words
each month and temporarily lose words. Between 12 and 15 months children begin to do the following:

recognize names

understand and follow one-step directions

laugh appropriately

use four to six intelligible words, usually those starting with "b," "c," "d," and "g," although less than 20
percent of their language is comprehensible to outsiders

use partial words

gesture and speak "no"

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ask for help with gestures and sounds

At 15 to 18 months of age children usually do the following:

understand "up," "down," "hot," "off"

use 10 to 20 intelligible words, mostly nouns

use complete words

put two short words together to form sentences

chatter and imitate, use some echolalia (repetitions of words and phrases)

have 20 to 25 percent of their speech understood by outsiders

At 18 to 24 months of age toddlers come to understand that there are words for everything and their
language development gains momentum. About 50 of a child's first words are universal: names of foods,
animals, family members, toys , vehicles, and clothing. Usually children first learn general nouns, such as
"flower" instead of "dandelion," and they may overgeneralize words, such as calling all toys "balls."
Some children learn words for social situations, greetings, and expressions of love more readily than
others. At this age children usually have 20 to 50 intelligible words and can do the following:

follow two-step directions

point to parts of the body

attempt multi-syllable words

speak three-word sentences

ask two-word questions

enjoy challenge words such as "helicopter"

hum and sing

express pain verbally

have 50 to 70 percent of their speech understood by outsiders

After several months of slower development, children often have a "word spurt" (an explosion of new
words). Between the ages of two and 18 years, it is estimated that children add nine new words per day.
Between two and three years of age children acquire:

a 400-word vocabulary including names

a word for most everything

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the use of pronouns

three to five-word sentences

the ability to describe what they just saw or experienced

the use of the past tense and plurals

names for body parts, colors, toys, people, and objects

the ability to repeat rhymes, songs, and stories

the ability to answer "what" questions

Children constantly produce sentences that they have not heard before, creating rather than imitating.
This creativity is based on the general principles and rules of language that they have mastered. By the
time a child is three years of age, most of a child's speech can be understood. However, like adults,
children vary greatly in how much they choose to talk.

Preschool

Three to four-year-olds usually can do the following:

understand most of what they hear

converse

have 900 to 1,000-word vocabularies, with verbs starting to predominate

usually talk without repeating syllables or words

use pronouns correctly

use three to six-word sentences

ask questions

relate experiences and activities

tell stories (Occasional stuttering and stammering is normal in preschoolers.)

Language skills usually blossom between four and five years of age. Children of this age can do the
following:

verbalize extensively

communicate easily with other children and adults

articulate most English sounds correctly

know 1,500 to 2,500 words

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use detailed six to eight-word sentences

can repeat four-syllable words

use at least four prepositions

tell stories that stay on topic

can answer questions about stories

School age

At age five most children can do the following:

follow three consecutive commands

talk constantly

ask innumerable questions

use descriptive words and compound and complex sentences

know all the vowels and consonants

use generally correct grammar

Six-year-olds usually can correct their own grammar and mispronunciations. Most children double their
vocabularies between six and eight years of age and begin reading at about age seven. A major leap in
reading comprehension occurs at about nine. Ten-year-olds begin to understand figurative word
meanings.

Adolescents generally speak in an adult manner, gaining language maturity throughout high school.

Common problems

Language delay is the most common developmental delay in children. There are many causes for
language delay, both environmental and physical. About 60 percent of language delays in children under
age three resolve spontaneously. Early intervention often helps other children to catch up to their age
group.

Common circumstances that can result in language delay include:

concentration on developing skills other than language

siblings who are very close in age or older siblings who interpret for the younger child

inadequate language stimulation and one-on-one attention

bilingualism, in which a child's combined comprehension of two languages usually is equivalent to other
children's comprehension of one language

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psychosocial deprivation

Language delay can result from a variety of physical disorders, including the following:

mental retardation

maturation delay (the slower-than-usual development of the speech centers of the brain), a common
cause of late talking

a hearing impairment

a learning disability

cerebral palsy

autism (a developmental disorder in which, among other things, children do not use language or use it
abnormally)

congenital blindness, even in the absence of other neurological impairment

Klinefelter syndrome, a disorder in which males are born with an extra X chromosome

Brain damage or disorders of the central nervous system can cause the following:

receptive aphasia or receptive language disorder, a deficit in spoken language comprehension or in the
ability to respond to spoken language

expressive aphasia, an inability to speak or write despite normal language comprehension

childhood apraxia of speech, in which a sound is substituted for the desired syllable or word

Parental concerns

Language development is enriched by verbal interactions with other children and adults. Parents and
care-givers can have a significant impact on early language development. Studies have shown that
children of talkative parents have twice the vocabulary as those of quiet parents. A study from the
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) found that children in high-quality
childcare environments have larger vocabularies and more complex language skills than children in
lower-quality situations. In addition language-based interactions appear to increase a child's capacity to
learn. Recommendations for encouraging language development in infants include:

talking to them as much as possible and giving them opportunities to respond, perhaps with a smile;
short periods of silence help teach the give-and-take of conversation

talking to infants in a singsong, high-pitched speech, called "parentese" or "motherese" (This is a

universal method for enhancing language development.)

using one- or two-syllable words and two to three-word sentences

using proper words rather than baby words

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speaking slowly, drawing-out vowels, and exaggerating main syllables

avoiding pronouns and articles

using animated gestures along with words

addressing the baby by name

talking about on-going activities

asking questions

singing songs

commenting on sounds in the environment

encouraging the baby to make vowel-like and consonant-vowel sounds such as "ma," "da," and "ba"

repeating recognizable syllables and repeating words that contain the syllable

When babies reach six to 12 months-of-age, parents should play word games with them, label objects
with words, and allow the baby to listen and participate in conversations. Parents of toddlers should do
the following:

talk to the child in simple sentences and ask questions

expand on the toddler's single words

use gestures that reinforce words

put words to the child's gestures

name colors

count items

gently repeat correctly any words that the child has mispronounced, rather than criticizing the child

Parents of two to three-year-olds should do the following:

talk about what the child and parent are doing each day

encourage the child to use new words

repeat and expand on what the child says

ask the child yes-or-no questions and questions that require a simple choice

encourage the child to ask questions

read books about familiar things, with pictures, rhymes, repetitive lines, and few words

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read favorite books repeatedly, allowing the child to join in with familiar words

encourage the child to pretend to read

not interrupt children when they are speaking

Parents of four to six-year-olds should:

not speak until the child is fully attentive

pause after speaking to give the child a chance to respond

acknowledge, encourage, and praise speech

introduce new words

talk about spatial relationships and opposites

introduce limericks, songs, and poems

talk about the television programs that they watch

encourage the child to give directions

give their full attention when the child initiates a conversation

Parents of six to 12-year-olds should talk to the children, not at them, encourage conversation by asking
questions that require more than a yes-or-no answer, and listen attentively as the child recounts the
day's activities.

Additional recommendations for parents and care-givers, by the American Academy of Pediatrics and
others, include:

talking at eye level with a child and supplementing words with body language, gestures, and facial
expressions to enhance language comprehension

talking in ways that catch a child's attention

using language to comfort a child

using correct pronunciations

using expressive language to discuss objects, actions, and emotions

playing with sounds and words

labeling objects and actions with words

providing objects and experiences to talk about

choosing activities that promote language

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listening carefully to children and responding in ways that let them know that they have been
understood, as well as encouraging further communication

using complete sentences and adding detail to expand on what a child has said

knowing when to remain silent

reading to a child by six months of age at the latest

encouraging children to ask questions and seek new information

encouraging children to listen to and ask questions of each other

Television viewing does not promote language development.

When to call the doctor

Parents should call the pediatrician immediately if they suspect that their child may have a language
delay or a hearing problem. Warning signs of language delay in toddlers include:

avoiding eye contact

neither understanding nor speaking words by 18 months of age

difficulty learning nursery rhymes or simple songs

not recognizing or labeling common objects

inability to pay attention to a book or movie

poor articulation, such that a parent cannot understand the child more than 50 percent of the time

A TYPICAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Age Activity
Two months Cries, coos, and grunts.
Four months Begins babbling. Makes most vowel sounds and about half of consonant sounds
Six months Vocalizes with intonation. Responds to own name.
Eight Combines syllables when babbling, such "Ba-ba."
months
Eleven Says one word (or fragment of a word) with meaning.
months
Twelve Says two or three words with meaning. Practices inflection, such as raising pitch of voice
months at the end of a question.
Eighteen Has a vocabulary between five and 20 words, mostly nouns. Repeats word or phrase over
months and over. May start to join two words together.
Two years Has a vocabulary of 150–300 words. Uses I, me, and you. Uses at least two prepositions
(in, on, under). Combines words in short sentences. About two-thirds of what is spoken is
understandable.
Three years Has a vocabulary of 900–1000 words. Uses more verbs, some past tenses, and some

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plural nouns. verbs, some past tenses, and some plural nouns. own name, sex, and age.
About 90% of speech is understandable.
verbs, some past tenses, and some plural nouns.
Four years Can use at least four prepositions. Can usually repeat words of four syllables. Knows
some colors and numbers. Has most vowels and diphthongs and consonants p, b, m, w,
and n established. Talks a lot and repeats often.
Five years be perfect. Should have all vowels and consonants m, p, b, h, w, k, g, t, d, n, ng, y. Can
repeat sentences as long as nine words. Speech is mostly grammatically correct.
Six years Should have all vowels and consonants listed
above, has added, f, v, sh, zh, th, l. Should be able to tell a connected story about a
picture.
Seven years Should have consonants s–z, r, voiceless th, ch, wh, and soft g. Should be able to do
simple reading and print many words.
Eight years complicated stories of past events. Easily uses complex and compound sentences. Reads
simple stories with ease and can write simple Compositions.
SOURCE : Child Development Institute. 2004. http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com.

BILINGUALISM AND SECOND-LANGUAGE

LEARNING

This chapter provides a broad overview of the findings of research on bilingualism and second-language
learning and analyzes how theories in these areas have been reflected in thinking about the education
of language-minority children in the United States. The literatures associated with these traditions are
diverse in their methodologies and epistemologies and have undergone dynamic changes over the
course of their history, extending back well over a century. They have developed largely independently
from the educational and programmatic concerns that are the focus of this study, but they provide the
fundamental science for the linguistic aspects of our inquiry. By necessity, a broad overview of these rich
traditions involves a high level of synthesis.

State Of Knowledge

The following review of the state of knowledge in bilingualism and second-language learning begins by
distinguishing the various types of bilingualism. It then briefly examines the consequences of
bilingualism. The third section looks at linguistic aspects of acquiring a second language, while the fourth
addresses individual differences in second-language acquisition. The phenomenon of language shift—in
which ethnic minority groups shift their primary language to that of the dominant majority—is then
examined. The final section reviews findings on educational conditions for second-language learning.

Types of Bilingualism

Bilingualism is pervasive throughout the world, but it varies according to (1) the conditions under which
people become bilingual, (2) the uses they have for their various languages, and (3) the societal status of
the languages. For example, in postcolonial Africa, students may be educated in English or French while
another language is spoken in the home, and yet another (e.g., Swahili in eastern Africa) may be used in
public encounters and institutional settings, such as the courts (Fishman, 1978).

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Individual Level

Weinreich (1953) distinguishes among compound, coordinate, and subordinate bilinguals, who differ in
the way words in their languages relate to underlying concepts. In the compound form, the two
languages represent the same concept, whereas in the coordinate form, the concepts themselves are
independent and parallel. In the subordinate form, the weaker language is represented through the
stronger language. These different forms are clearly related to the social circumstances in which the two
languages are learned, but the distinction also reflects an individual's mental makeup. .

Social Level

Typologies of bilingualism based on societal variables have focused mainly on the prestige and status of
the languages involved. Fishman et al. (1966) draw a distinction between "folk" and "elite" bilingualism,
referring to the social status of the bilingual group. The "folk" are immigrants and linguistic minorities
who exist within the milieu of a dominant language and whose own language is not held in high esteem
within the society. The "elite" are those who speak the dominant language and whose societal status is
enhanced through the mastery of additional languages. As Fishman observes, "Many Americans have
long been of the opinion that bilingualism is 'a good thing' if it was acquired via travel (preferably to
Paris) or via formal education (preferably at Harvard) but that it is a 'bad thing' if it was acquired from
one's immigrant parents or grandparents" (pp. 122-123).

Similarly, Lambert (1975) distinguishes "additive" from "subtractive" bilingualism. This distinction
focuses on the effect of learning a second language on the retention of the native language. In additive
bilingualism, the native language is secure, and the second language serves as an enrichment. Canadian
French immersion programs for the English-speaking majority are a prime example of additive
bilingualism. In subtractive bilingualism, the native language is less robust; society assumes that it will be
used only temporarily until replaced by the Bottom of Form

dominant language as the group assimilates. Most immigrants to the United States, Canada, and
Australia experience this latter form of bilingualism.

Consequences of Bilingualism

A commonly expressed fear about childhood bilingualism is that it could confuse the child, both
linguistically and cognitively. This fear is rooted in an extensive literature on intelligence testing from the
early 1900s (see Diaz, 1983, for a review), when psychometricians compared the performance of
bilingual immigrant children and U.S.-born children on various measures of intelligence and found that
the monolinguals outperformed the bilinguals. Two explanations for this discrepancy were offered: that
the bilinguals (who at that time were predominantly from southern and eastern European countries)
were genetically inferior to the western European monolinguals, or that the attempt to learn two
languages caused mental confusion.

Another tradition of research comes from case studies of individual children exposed to two languages
at home. The earliest among these can be credited to the French linguist Ronjat (1913), but the seminal
work even to this date is by Werner Leopold, who published a four-volume study of his German-English
bilingual daughter Hildegard (1939, 1947, 1949a, 1949b). Ronjat's and Leopold's detailed studies of their
own children gave rise to a rich tradition of linguists following their children around with notebooks (and
later, tape recorders and video recorders). This literature has been reviewed most recently by Romaine

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(1995). Generally, the studies suggest that children can become productive bilinguals in a variety of
language-use settings, though exposure to a language for less than 20 hours a week does not seem
sufficient for a child to produce words in that language, at least up to age 3 (Pearson et al., in press).
Very few cases of what might be considered language confusion are reported.

Linguistic Aspects of Second-Language Acquisition

The theoretical and empirical work in second-language acquisition serves as the basis for defining what
one means by "proficiency" in a second language. Some researchers have defined it narrowly around the
control of grammatical rules, others around the ability to use language in accomplishing cognitive tasks,
and still others around the social and communicative aspects of language. This section describes how
such broad definitions of language have influenced work on second-language acquisition. The
theoretical assumptions underlying the construct of language proficiency have direct implications for the
assessment of language proficiency, a topic addressed in Chapter 5.

Much of the research on second-language acquisition borrows heavily from the dominant paradigm in
first-language acquisition, and thus has focused on the problem of how linguistic structures are
acquired. Many studies, for example, have examined the acquisition of morphological and syntactic
features of language that are fully in place in native speakers by the age of 5 or 6. Among these features
are the grammatical aspects of language identified by Brown (1973) in his classic study of Adam, Eve,
and Sarah, called Stage I through V speech; they include function words, sentence modalities, sentence
embedding, and sentence coordination.

One important characterization of research on second-language acquisition relates to the researcher's

definition of language. A narrow definition comes from formal linguistics, in particular from Chomsky's
(1965) characterization of the logical problem of first-language acquisition as resolved by a "Language
Acquisition Device" that enables the learner to derive abstract linguistic knowledge from limited
linguistic input. By showing the end-state knowledge to be deep and abstract and demonstrating that
this knowledge is not accessible through induction (i.e., observation of "surface data") or extrapolation
from more general cognitive principles, one arrives at the logical conclusion that linguistic knowledge
must be innate and highly specific to the task of language acquisition.

Thus we must conclude that second-language acquisition is a complex process requiring a diverse set of
explanatory factors (Bialystok and Hakuta, 1994). Developing an inclusive theory of how a second
language is acquired therefore necessitates moving beyond the description of plausible acquisition
mechanisms for specific domains to an explanation of how those mechanisms work together to produce
the integrated knowledge of a language that enables its use for communication.

A second important dimension of second-language acquisition is the extent of involvement of the native
language in the acquisition process. Are native speakers of Spanish different from native speakers of
Vietnamese in their acquisition of English? In the early 1960s, the answer would have been a definitive

Individual Differences in Second-Language Acquisition

The most striking fact about second-language learning, especially as compared with first-language
learning, is the variability in outcomes. Many individual and group variables have been examined in
attempts to explain success or failure in second-language acquisition. This section reviews the literature
on various individual differences in second-language acquisition. In looking at this literature, it is

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important to appreciate that the definition of the outcome of the second-language acquisition process
has itself been variable, as discussed in the previous section (see also Chapter 5 on student assessment).

Age of Learning

One frequently cited factor is the age of the learner, with the assumption that younger learners acquire
a second language more quickly and with a higher level of proficiency. Periodic reviews of this literature
(Bialystok and Hakuta, 1994; Collier, 1987; Epstein et al., 1996; Harley and Wang, in press; Krashen et al.,
1982; Long, 1990; Snow, 1987) have not supported this claim very well. Even though there is a critical
period in the learning of a first language, this does not imply there is one for second-language learning.
The following observations might be made:

• More mature learners generally make faster initial progress in acquiring morphological, syntactic, and
lexical aspects of a second language.

• An increasing age of onset for second-language acquisition is correlated with declining ultimate
attainment in the control of phonological, morphological, and syntactic aspects of language across age
groups, beginning typically by age 6-7 in childhood and continuing into adulthood. In adult learners, this
association between onset age and declining outcomes is most strongly manifested in oral aspects of
second-language proficiency (maintenance of an accent).

• Some adult learners are nonetheless capable of near-native, if not native-like, performance in a second
language, while some children are unsuccessful in achieving native-like performance.

• There is a general lack of evidence that acquisition processes differ across age groups, i.e., that radically
different types of errors are made or that there is a different sequence to the acquisition of structures
for learners of different ages (Harley and Wang, in press).

Many researchers have assumed that the best explanation for the age-related decline in oral ability with
a second language is a biological one, based on a critical or sensitive period in brain development
(Johnson and Newport, 1989, 1991; Oyama, 1976; Patkowski, 1980). However, the behavioral evidence
is not consistent with evidence about periods of brain growth, and serious methodological problems
have dogged even the most sound of existing studies (see Snow's 1987 review of critical period theory,
and Bialystok and Hakuta's 1994 review of Johnson and Newport's study). For example, proficiency
assessments often focus on tasks such as judgments about grammatical or morphological correctness—
matters in which younger learners have likely received formal instruction. Studies of age as a factor in
the acquisition of English appropriate for academic use are consistent with the studies cited above in
that children who start learning English in kindergarten in English-only educational settings take longer
to achieve age-appropriate levels of performance on academic tasks than children who start in grades 2
through 6 (Collier, 1987). This age difference may simply reflect the general finding that initial
acquisition is faster for older learners with more cognitive skills, but it has also been interpreted as

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supporting the claim that second-language acquisition is faster and easier if continued development in
the first language is supported through mastery of the basic grammar in the first language, around age
6.

Cummins (1979) has interpreted such findings as validating the importance of continued development of
first-language grammar, although other researchers disagree (Rossell and Baker, 1996; Porter, 1990).

Intelligence

Another factor in second-language acquisition may be general intelligence. This factor has been
addressed mainly in the arena of foreign-language learning in the classroom (Carroll, 1986; Gardner,
1983; Oller, 1981). For immigrant learners and those in immersion settings, second-language learning is
evidently not impeded by learning disabilities or low intelligence to the extent it would be in formal
learning settings (Bruck, 1982, 1984; see Genesee, 1992, for a review). In the field of bilingual education,
second-language acquisition has not been tied to questions of general aptitude, although educational
practitioners commonly observe that second-language acquisition is easier for students with a history of
formal education and higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Furthermore, correlational studies that
examine relative proficiencies in the two languages of bilingual children show that native-language
proficiency is a strong predictor of second-language development (Cummins, 1984; Hakuta, 1987).

Attitudes

Studies investigating the predictive power of language attitudes and motivation for second-language
acquisition have been limited, by and large, to students who study a foreign language that is generally
used only in the classroom (Gardner and Lambert, 1972). Such studies have shown that a positive
attitude and motivation are significant factors in predicting oral communicative skills in a second
language, whereas language aptitude predicts proficiency in knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. It is
therefore clear that attitude and motivation are important factors in second-language learning in some
contexts. Yet the few studies that have looked at the importance of these factors in the acquisition of
English among immigrants to the United States have had largely negative findings. For example, Hakuta
and D'Andrea (1992) studied Mexican-American attitudes toward English and Spanish and administered
tests of English and Spanish proficiency.

Personality

Many studies have attempted to isolate factors related to individual predisposition, over and above
basic intelligence, toward second-language acquisition. Most of this work is focused on learning a
foreign language rather than on learning a language in the society where it is used. A review of this
literature shows a serious failure to address issues of construct validity (Bialystok and Hakuta, 1994).
Given the inordinate difficulty of validly measuring personality constructs cross-culturally, this is
probably not a very fruitful area for future research, although it will continue to be a source of
speculation because of its intrinsic interest.

Language Shift

Language shift refers to the sociolinguistic phenomenon in which an ethnic group gradually moves its
preference and use of language from its original ethnic language to the sociologically dominant

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language. Attempts to explain language shift range from macro-level population perspectives to micro-
level analyses of language change within individual members of those communities.

The shift from non-English to English that occurs may be both intra-individual and intergenerational in

nature. That is, during the course of their lifetime, individuals shift their primary language preference
from their native language to English, and ethnolinguistic communities in successive generations will
likewise shift their linguistic preference.

An understanding of basic questions about language maintenance and shift could well provide input
needed to address practical issues such as the degree to which heritage languages can serve as reservoir
of bilingualism for the United States, the kinds of language instruction that would be useful to second-
generation minority language speakers, and whether there are risks associated with the loss of familial
languages by young children.

Educational Conditions for Second-Language Learning

Often, interactions with peers and teachers provide the primary source of input to child second-
language learners. For some children, this experience begins in preschool and child care environments;
for all others, their first real exposure to English is in kindergarten. The nature of these linguistic
environments and their possible influences on English acquisition or on native-language maintenance or
development have typically not been the focus of the basic research studies described thus far in this
chapter. However, as theories of second-language acquisition have expanded to incorporate the social
conditions under which learning takes place, there has been increased interest—over and above the
concerns of program evaluation—in understanding the linguistic environment of the classroom setting
and how it might relate to linguistic outcomes..

Research Needs

2-1. Research is needed on the factors that account for variation in second-language acquisition.
Variability in the degree of English acquisition can be attributable to variation in individual and group
characteristics. More work is needed in particular on the latter factors.

Research on individual factors in second-language acquisition, including age of the learner, intelligence,
and attitudes and motivation, has already yielded many answers. On the other hand, less is known about
group effects, such as whether some groups of immigrants are more likely to acquire English rapidly or
to higher levels than others, or whether certain sociolinguistic or educational conditions lead to more
rapid acquisition of English than others. There has been insufficient research systematically relating rich
information about the settings for learning English—such as how much direct instruction is provided, the
order in which structures are taught, and the use of written versus oral modes for provision of input—to
information about the rate and process of acquisition for individual learners. Furthermore, the individual
factors that have been investigated may interact with group effects in ways that can yield new
theoretical insights.

2-2. An important contribution to understanding variability in second-language acquisition would be an

enhanced understanding of the components of English proficiency and how these components interact.
Also important is the question of how proficiencies in the two languages of bilinguals are interrelated.

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The above questions have a direct bearing on the appropriate assessment of English-language
proficiency with respect to socially and academically valued outcomes (see also Chapter 5).

2-3. Assessment of second-language learners should involve analysis of unstructured, spontaneous

speech in addition to more structured instruments. An important research goal is thus to create a
common pool of spontaneous speech data for use by researchers.

The analysis of spontaneous speech could become systematized and routinely incorporated into the
research culture if data sets were made widely available through the Internet. Such a system already
exists in the field of child first-language acquisition through the Child Language Data Exchange System
(MacWhinney, 1991). Expansion of this system to include data on second-language acquisition and
bilingual children would greatly increase the vitality and productivity of the field.

2-4. It is essential to understand the interaction between language and other domains of human
functioning.

Research reviewed here on the consequences of bilingualism has concluded that there are no negative
consequences of learning two languages in childhood and that there are some positive correlations
between bilingualism and general cognitive ability. This research should move beyond seeking macro-
level effects and begin looking for more detailed and specific relationships between linguistic
representations on the one hand and cognitive and social representations on the

2-5. Macro-level questions about language shift in the United States have amply demonstrated the
short-lived nature of non-English languages. Research is needed to help in understanding the dynamics
of language shift.

Such research would include examining how messages concerning the value of native languages are
conveyed, how children and youth understand such messages, what the effects are on the children's
identities and their school achievement, and what the likelihood is of maintaining the native language
while learning English. We need also to develop a more specific understanding of what is meant by
language attrition, such as the relationship between language choice (choosing not to use one's native
language) and the loss of language proficiency. Moreover, compared with current knowledge on the
types of educational services provided to English-language learners to meet their needs in English, there
is very little systematic information available on language programs for native-language development
(such as courses in Spanish for Spanish speakers that are available in some high schools and
universities). Finally, large-scale survey research is needed to determine Americans' attitudes toward
both languages other than English and their speakers, and whether those attitudes are shared by the
minority language speakers themselves.

THE DEVELOPMENTAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT

Do thoughts influence language or does language influence thought? Find out what recent research
shows about this topic.

The question of whether language has any influence on the workings of human thought has been
puzzling researchers in various fields of studies since the beginning of the 1900s. With the development
of interdisciplinary areas that range from neuroscience and robotics to artificial intelligence, cognitive
psychology and philosophy of language, the debate on the interaction between language and thought

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has recently emerged afresh. Is language just a tool we use for communication purposes only? Or is it a
mold that shapes what and how we think? The answer to these questions is the key to one of the
deepest mysteries of the human race. Once found, it will undoubtedly open up new ground in numerous
research fields.

The relationship between human language and thought has mainly been studied along two major
opposing paradigms. The communicative conception of language (Carruthers and Boucher, 1998)
postulates an independent relationship between language and thought, language being simply a tool
humans use to communicate what they think. By contrast, according to the cognitive approach, (native)
language has the power to shape the human mind to various degrees, hence the interdependence
between language and thought. The latter theory revolves mainly around the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
(Hoijer, 1954), also known as linguistic relativism or determinism (i.e. language and thought are relative
or determinant to one another). After a brief period of popularity in the mid-20th century, it lost most of
its ground to Noam Chomsky’s thesis of universalism (Chomsky and Ronat, 2011), which defines
language as learnable on the basis of a preset cognitive software, present in all children’s minds.

An increasing number of socio-linguistic studies and reports testify on behalf of the changes triggered in
the mindset of people by the language they speak. There is research that focuses on different ways of
expressing time, numbers and spatial orientation in order to pinpoint fundamentally different ways of
perceiving these concepts by speakers of different languages (Boroditsky, 2011; Boroditsky and Gaby,
2010; Levinson and Wilkins, 2006).

Bilinguals often confess to feeling more uninhibited in their non-native tongue, where they experience
an easiness to swear or to say “I love you”, which they completely lack in their first language (Collins,
2016). Studies show that Asian languages like Japanese or Korean, that display more complex systems of
expressing politeness than Western languages, are matched by a (collective) mindset that is
comparatively more sensitive to the interlocutor than to the speaker, and more focused on the
relationship between interlocutors than the Western self-centered (individualistic) view on the world
(Yamamoto, 2006).

Significance of the learning environment

Language is an important skill that allows a person to communicate. A child begins to develop language
even before she can use words, as seen by a baby who cries to get her needs met. A delay in language
skills can cause frustration for a child as well as miscommunication about what she may be trying to
convey. Language development is important to a child in order to adequately exchange information with
others in a meaningful way. Children must develop language skills to relate with their parents and peers,
as well as to grow into a person who can socially interact with others through life. A parent can
encourage the development of language skills with a child by interacting regularly, singing songs and
reading simple stories. As a child grows, she can talk about her day or explain her likes and dislikes. A
parent can play games with a child, such as naming objects or practicing concepts of direction; for
example: in, out, over and through. Visiting a library encourages reading storiesTeachers play an
important role in the language development of children in early childhood classrooms. Your efforts in
building a relationship where communication is valued, and in implementing strategies that deliberately

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expand children’s vocabulary, make a lasting impact over their educational years., and a parent can
teach a child simple stories and rhymes to encourage repetition and language.

Personal Critique

The limits of my language means the limits of my world – Ludwig Wittgenstein .A child needs to develop
cognitive and social skills alongside language skills in order to continue developing most young children
develop language rapidly, moving from crying and cooing in infancy to using hundreds of words and
understanding their meanings by the time they are ready to enter kindergarten. Language development
is a major accomplishment and is one of the most rewarding experiences for anyone to share with a
child. Children learn to speak and understand words by being around adults and peers who
communicate with them and encourage their efforts to talk. As I observed As children grow and
develop, they’re developing their language skills. Some children learn to speak and comprehend faster
than others. Language development is important because it is the way we communicate and exchange
information with others in our everyday lives.There are many different components of language
development. Language impacts the daily lives of members of any race, creed, and region of the world.
Language helps express our feelings, desires, and queries to the world around us. Words, gestures and
tone are utilized in union to portray a broad spectrum of emotion. social skills and pragmatics—how we
interact with someone to receive a message and the unique and diverse methods human beings can use
to communicate through written and spoken language is a large part of what allows to harness our
innate ability to form lasting bonds with one another I think it is important to learn other languages,
other forms of communication besides our own because it helps us to learn about other peoples and
cultures. The most important one, however, that we can learn is our own mother tongue as this is one
of the most basic parts of our identity. If we were to lose our own tongue, for example, if we were to
grow up in a country which is not our own, someplace that is not our home, in my opinion, we would be
losing a part of ourselves.

References

BOOKS

Bochner, Sandra, and Jane Jones. Child Language Development: Learning to Talk. London: Whurr
Publishers, 2003.Buckley, Belinda. Children's Communications Skills: From Birth to Five Years. New York:
Routledge, 2003.Oates, John, and Andrew Grayson. Cognitive and Language Development in
Children. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.

PERIODICALS

Howard, Melanie. "How Babies Learn to Talk." Baby Talk 69, no. 3 (April 2004): 69–72.

Tsao, Feng-Ming, et al. "Speech Perception in Infancy Predicts Language Development in the Second
Year of Life: A Longitudinal Study." Child Development 75, no. 4 (July/August 2004): 1067–84.

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Van Hulle, Carol A., et al. "Genetic, Environmental, and Gender Effects on Individual Differences in
Toddler Expressive Language." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 47, no. 4 (August
2004): 904–12.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Academy of Pediatrics. 141 Northwest Point Blvd., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007. Web site:
http://www.aap.org.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Web

site: http://asha.org  .

Child Development Institute. 3528 E. Ridgeway Road, Orange, CA 92867. Web site:

http://www.cdipage.com/index.htm.

WEB SITES

"Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development." American Speech-Language-Hearing

Association. Available online at http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/Parent-Stim-
Activities.htm (accessed December 29, 2004).

Dougherty, Dorthy P. "Developing Your Baby's Language Skills." KidsGrowth. Available online at

http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=714 (accessed December 29, 2004).

Genishi, Celia. "Young Children's Oral Language Development." Child Development Institute. Available

online at http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/oral_language_development.shtml
(accessed December 29, 2004).

"How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?" American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Available online
at http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/child_hear_talk.htm (accessed December 29,
2004).

"Language Development in Children." Child Development Institute. Available online at

http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_development.shtml (accessed
December 29, 2004).

Lorenz, Joan Monchak. "Common Concerns about Speech Development: Part I." KidsGrowth. Available
online at <www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=965< (accessed December 29, 2004).

Rafanello, Donna. "Facilitating Language Development." Healthy Child Care America , Summer

2000.Available online at http://www.healthychildcare.org/pdf/LangDev.pdf (accessed December 29,
2004).

Margaret Alic, PhD

Baetens-Beardsmore, H.
1986 Bilingualism: Basic Principles. 2nd ed. Clevedon, England: Tieto.

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Bailey, N., C. Madden, and S.D. Krashen
1974 Is there a "natural sequence" in adult second language learning? Language Learning 24:235-243.

Bates, E.
1976 Language and Context. New York: Academic Press.

Bayley, R.J.
1991 Variation Theory and Second Language Learning. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, School of
Education, Stanford University.

Bialystok, E., and K. Hakuta

1994 In Other Words. New York: Basic Books.

Brown, R.
1973 A First Language: The Early Stages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bruck, M.
1982 Language-disabled children performance in additive bilingual education programs. Applie

Boroditsky, L. (2011). How language shapes thought in Scientific American, 304 (2), 62-65.

Boroditsky, L. & Gaby, A. (2010). Remembrances of times east; Absolute spatial representations of time
in an Australian aboriginal community in Psychological Science 21 (11), 1635-1639.

Carruthers, P. & Boucher, J. (1998). Language and Thought: Intredisciplinary Themes. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Hoijer, H. (1954). Language in culture: Conference on the interrelations of language and other aspects of

culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Chomsky, N. & Ronat, M. (2011). On Language. New York: New Press.

Collins, L. (2016). When in French: Love in a Second Language. London: Penguin Press.

Elman, J., Bates, E., Johnson, M., Karmiloff-Smith, A., Parisi, D., & Plunkett, K. (1996). Rethinking
innateness: A connectionist perspective on development. Cambridge: MIT Press/Bradford Books.S

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