Vanessa Vinasco – Valentina Munera Agudelo

Language acquisition

Comparing and contrasting first and second language acquisition

The critical period theory explains that there is an age limit when acquiring a
second language. Some authors look beyond this and consider that there are
five important considerations when it comes to language acquisition.

Neurological Psychomotor Cognitive considerations Affective considerations Linguistic considerations

considerations considerations

This consideration takes into
account the functions of the brain.
There is a process called
lateralization that divides the
brain into two hemispheres, the
right one focused on emotions and
social needs and the left one
focused on logic and analysis.
Language learning is usually
focused on the left hemisphere.
Lenneberg suggests that the
lateralization process is finished
around puberty. This completion
can lead to difficulties acquiring a
second language after twelve or
thirteen years of age as mentioned
by Scovel. Some investigators
believe that lateralization is
finished at an early age, Krashen
thinks that this process is
completed by the age of five.
There is still no solid evidence on
which theory is correct.
It explains how different
parts of the body like the
throat, tongue, lips, and
mouth are used to produce
language. Not all body parts
are completely developed
since we are born, some
take more time than others
and this can affect speech. It
is important to note that the
accent is not a criterion
related to how well one
person is speaking a second
language.
Jean Piaget considered that there are many
stages of cognitive development which interact
with language acquisition.
-The sensorimotor stage (0-2)
-The preoperational stage (2-7)
-The operational stage (7 to 16)
Piaget thinks that the most important moment is
when a child is eleven years old. This is when
he passes from the concrete operational stage to
the formal operational stage. Rosansky states
that children start to learn a language when they
start having common sense.
Another important aspect that Piaget mentions is
equilibration where children are constantly
learning about the world around them and want
to know what is unknown to them. This allows
for children to have strong motivations for
learning their target language.
Ausubel confirms that rote learning is not as
effective as meaningful learning. Meaningful
learning uses the connections that children have
about a certain subject to better understand other
topics. These connections make it easier to
acquire a second language rather than learning
through repetition.
human beings are highly influenced by emotions.
The affective domain includes many factors such
as empathy, self-esteem, extroversion, inhibition,
imitation, anxiety, and attitudes.
There are many relevant aspects to consider in
second language learning, for example,
egocentrism in children who at a certain age
believe that the world revolves around
them. Babies who are not very self-aware, and
preadolescents who become aware of their
individuality and identity and develop inhibitions,
fears, or doubts.
The researcher Alexander Guiora proposed the
term language ego, and how this can affect the
learning of a second language, for example, the
child’s ego does not represent a threat, unlike
puberty or adulthood where a defensive attitude or
inhibition can be developed as a way of self-
protection.
Finally, the attitude is crucial, a negative attitude
affects the success of the process. Also, peer
pressure works differently in children than in
adults, children want to be equals with their peers
and adults are more tolerant of linguistic
performance differences.
children learning two languages at the
same time use similar strategies, and the
success of this task lies in determining
different contexts for each language
(coordinate bilinguals) and having two
meaning systems.
Children who learn a second language
shortly after beginning to learn the first
(compound bilinguals) have a meaning
system in which both languages operate.
Studies have revealed that the linguistic
and cognitive processes of children
learning the second language are similar
to those of the first language.
in the case of adults, they can make
similar mistakes to children when trying
to discover the rules of the second
language, also as they have more solid
foundations in the first language, and this
can interfere with the second language
learning, however, it is not always the
case, and on the contrary, it can be a
great help, a facilitator.

The five considerations led to the understanding of the role of lateralization in the functions of the brain and obviously, language, how the
various muscles work to carry out the psychomotor act, the stages through which human beings go through when learning/acquiring a language,
how emotions influence learning and how linguistic and cognitive processes work in the first and second language.