TESOL 104 Lesson 1 (Part 2)

Practice Exercise (30 minutes)

Ponder the material presented in the assigned readings, power point, and video
segments, then answer the following questions according to your own
experience/understanding.

1. Why do we say that language has a critical period for learning?

First of all, I would say that brain development is different, and more
amenable to learning until the latter teen years. Kids learning their first
language take at least 5 years to achieve a native level of fluency and many
more than that to attain an educated native level of fluency.
Additionally, kids tend to have less distractions or hang-ups in life so
they can spend more time focusing on language in many cases than an adult
who is working full-time. So sometimes it’s a matter of perception and lifestyle.
So, while kids do have some physiological advantages, given the right
circumstances, adults should be able to effectively learn languages almost as
well as kids. If an adult could spend as many hours a day as a one-year-old
trying to figure out how to communicate and practicing doing it with a native
speaker, the gains would probably be pretty impressive.
It is well recognized that there is a critical period between the ages of 5
and 10 when learning a foreign language can be done in a matter of a few
months. If you are fluent in a second language before the age of 10 it also
becomes quite easy to become a polyglot. However, with persistence you can
learn a language at any age. It just takes longer and requires more persistence.

2. How do infants hear speech differently than adults?

At birth, the baby brain has an unusual gift: it can tell the difference
between all 800 sounds. This means that at this stage infants can learn any
language that they're exposed to compared to adults.

3. What is “motherese” and how might this type of language be

considered universal?
4. How important is human interaction in L1 and L1/L2 (bilingual)
acquisition? Explain why this might be important to adult L2 learners
as well.
Human interaction in L1 and L/L2 facilitates language
acquisition because it connects input (what learners hear and read); internal
learner capacities, particularly selective attention; and the output. It is
important to adult L2 learners as well because learning of new language
material is developed when the language is experienced during social
interaction with a live person.
5. Do you think the girl who speaks English, French, and Spanish
learned them simultaneously or sequentially? Defend your opinion

I think she learned the three languages simultaneously. She was

consistent, treated each language as a whole. When people start mixing
languages while speaking to the child, the child may learn to understand the
languages, but will likely not speak them properly.