Problems of English language acquisition: theories of

famous scientists.
A. Akanova
akanovaa00@mail.ru
Undergraduate of the Astana International University, Astana, Kazakhstan
Supervisor- D.Kaharman

ABSTRACT
This article focuses on the problems of mastering English as a second foreign
language. This work is aimed at analyzing and discussing the theories of famous
linguists: N. Chomsky and Sapir-Whorf. For the accuracy of the information, an
experiment was conducted as a survey among school-age children. In the final part
of the article, a number of proposed problems in language acquisition are discussed
as well as suggestions for correcting linguistically unfavorable situations in the
study of a second foreign language. In terms of theories, it argues that some of the
more radical ones are wrong or unworkable, and suggest that more modest
measures are more likely to improve the situation.
INTRODUCTION
From time immemorial it was believed that language is the key to knowledge. Due
to language, a person is able to speak, read, write and think. Language as a science,
has own challenges and difficulties. With the development of science and various
industries, many different minds have appeared offering their own theory. The
theory of the creation of the world, space or language. A special place in linguistics
is occupied by the theory of N. Chomsky “innate knowledge”.
The theory is based on the postulate that a person's ability to learn a language is
congenital. This theory in the science of linguistics is also called "Revolution
without blood". The revolutionary nature of Chomsky's approach consisted of the
fact that he put linguistic science “upside down”. Before him, it was believed that
the text is generated from phonology to syntax, however the scientist offers an
absolutely different scheme: the generation of text descends from syntax to
phonology, that is, activating from the most abstract syntactic structures. Simply
put, the child by himself formulates hypotheses regarding the rules of the linguistic
description of the language to which the sentences perceived by him belong.
According to Chomsky, without the genetic ability to learn a foreign language, a
child will have great difficulty in language acquisition. In later years, Chomsky's
theory was gradually threatened by new theories argued that the child learns
language by distinguishing the language patterns used in the society around him.
Most likely Chomsky believed that a small child unable to analyze the external
world, however analyzing the situation, one can understand that other linguists are
much more inclined to believe that in the child initially laid down a kind of
subconscious program for analyzing the world, rather than language structures.
Every second a person has an incomprehensible number of processes on
subconscious level, and most of them are associated with the analysis of external
conditions. Chomsky argues that the reason for the phenomenally rapid acquisition
of vocabulary in children is that the child has some concepts "even before
acquiring language experience, and, in fact, he or she only learns labels for
concepts that are already part of him or her conceptual apparatus".
For example, the «International Journal of Design and Nature and Ecodynamics»
conducted a study with a black African American and an average white person and
compared their ability to run. It turned out that « African Americans tend to have
longer limbs with a smaller girth, so with the same height their center of gravity
will be higher compared to whites and Asians, who have dense powerful torsos»-
says Adrian Bejan. (N.Podoravnuyk, 2010). This research shows the validity of the
fact that the possibility of Chomsky's theory is quite eventual, because having a
genetic predisposition to even if it is a physical or mental ability to something, it
helps to achieve more successful results than those who do not have these
inclinations.
Regarding to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, it states that the grammatical and more
verbal structure of a person's language impact it is how they see the world. It point
up that language either regular or influences one's thoughts. For instance, different
words mean various things in other languages. The hypothesis of Whorf became
popular in the 1950s after his death and first discussed by Sapir in 1929.
Subsequently decades, most linguists believed only weakly feeling that language
can have a big impact on thought, the reason was the strong attacks of the
followers of N. Chomsky.
In «The idea of linguistic relativity» by Sapir-Whorf the term of hypothesis is, in
fact, a misnomer, for the reason that Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf were
never co-authors and never claimed their ideas as scientific hypotheses. However,
“Linguistic relativity” still commonly known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
According to theory there are two formulations of hypothesis:
1.Strong version: language determines thinking, and, accordingly, linguistic
categories limit and define cognitive categories. The strong version even goes so
far as to say that language determines someone’s perception of reality
2.Soft version: language only affects thinking, and along with linguistic categories,
thinking is also influenced by traditions and certain types of non-linguistic
behavior.
As claimed by their examples «The Inuit can think more intelligently about snow
because theirlanguage contains more sophisticated and subtle words distinguishing
various forms of it, etc». (P Kay, 1984). In other words, Sapir Whorf's theory says
that a person can learn several languages, however this may not change his or her
way of thinking which laid down for him\her by his\her mentality or traditions.
According to the research of the authors, their opinion stops on the fact that each
nation perceives the language being studied in its own way and understanding or
strongly affected by their native languages. For example, this theory may also be
related to the Pirahã language spoken by the indigenous people of the southern
American Amazon, they use phrases to refer to colors, for example, their word
«red» does not just mean "red":blisai≠red; it is phrase with meaning "it is like
blood". It is almost like thinking in English and thinking in Russian - these are
different types of thinking, different methods of describing the world, different
train of thought.
The emergence of «strong» and «soft» versions of the hypothesis is also latest
innovation: despite the fact that Sapir and Whorf never deliberately made such a
distinction, it seems that in their work there is a certain uncertainty in words.
DISCUSSION
1.According to results of my survey figure 1 shows that a total of 129 interviewees
responded to this survey. The respondents were divided into 51,2 % of female,
27,9% of male, another part 20,9% preferred not to say the gender. Age between
responders was 61,2% of 14-18 years and 38,8% of 10-13. It turned out that 73.6%
had problems learning English. The statistics of those who did not encounter
problems in learning English was only 24%.
Problems in learning a foreign language can be related to two previously discussed
theories. According to
Chomsky's theory, problems in
mastering a foreign language
in 73.6% of people may be due
to the fact that they most likely
do not have a genetic
predisposition to learning
languages, however this may
also mean common "problems"
which already worked out, because it is impossible to learn something without
mistakes or challenges.
Conforming to the Sapir-Whorf theory, problems in mastering a foreign language
may arise due to a different perception of words, rules, phrases, and the language
as a whole. In other words, the student will learn and understand the language
through the prism of his\her native language, and due to the difference in
languages, he\she will most likely have problems even in translation. For example,
in French there is no concept of the usual number "20", according to the rules of
French «twenty» is «quatre-vingts» means «4х20». Therefore, most likely a native
French learner of English will have problems understanding the usual «twenty».
2. Figure 2 shows that respondents was asked about what qualities they possess.
They asked if they have the ability to analyze the situation, it turned out that 47.3%
have similar qualities. The
ability to analyze the
information received helps the
child to better master the study
of a new language, based on
previous examples and studies
of two theories, Chomsky's side
claims that each person has a
grammatical structure of the language pre-built in his brain, according to
Chomsky, the child does not start speaking "from scratch" on the contrary, he
remembers and resumes the processes of learning to speak this language.
The Sapir-Wurf side says that the child acquires language in the process of
growing up, and that language affects the perception of the world and the thinking
of the child. It turns out that, according to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, wars
between peoples can be the cause of a different understanding of being, different
fundamental principles of worldview, different corresponding spiritual principles
and values. Half of the survey participants are teenagers studying in high and
secondary schools, this is the age when a child sees the world through the prism of
his own consciousness and not according to the "opinion" of his parents, so
adolescence is called the "transitional" period.
3. According to the results of survey figure 3 shows that 69% of schoolchildren are
not interested in English that is taught at school, the number of children who are
satisfied with the English taught at school was 28%. At this point, we can refute
Chomsky's theory of genetic predisposition language acquisition, because the
probability that out of 25 students 25 do not have a predisposition to the language
is seldom or even impossible.
If Chomsky's theory is not
suitable, then the Sapir-Whorf
theory is most likely
appropriate, because according
to experiments each child perceives language differently, and just as the teacher
explains the language in the way he understands, this proves the fact that the
teacher and students most likely don`t add up on understanding and the teaching
methodology of the teacher is also plays big roles.
4. By figure 4 it turned out that 64.3% of schoolchildren have to take additional
classes outside the educational institution and only 18.6% don't see the need for it.
The results of the answers to
this question also mildly refute
Chomsky's theory, because
most likely a child who acquires
languages quickly and
successfully will not need extra
classes outside of school.
Due to the “not interesting”
English classes at school, children receive knowledge in paid educational centers
with qualified and different selection of teachers, respectively, each of them can
choose a teacher they like with the same visions of the world. Logically, this
converges with the Sapir-Wurf theory of how language affects our minds.
Limitations
The main problem at the time of writing the article was the lack of resources and
information on the topics of Sapir-Whorf theories. Another problem was that the
survey was conducted among schoolchildren, whose average age was 10-18 years
old, the difficulty was in a frivolous attitude to the survey. According to some
reviews from respondents, questions were quite difficult to understand. For those
who had below average English, they had to translate every time. Next time it
would be better for interviewer to translate into the native language of respondents.
Recommendation
For the main question «Have you ever had problems in learning english?» The
number of people who had problems reflected to 73.6%, and people who didn`t
have was 24%. For those who are faced with a problem in learning English, the
best solution would be to study the methodology and find a teacher with such a
methodology. Consider the theories of Chomsky, Sapir Whorf and other linguists
to determine the problem that has arisen in learning language. According to the
survey statistics, the majority had problems with part of speaking English. Not
surprisingly because they have a lack of practice with native speakers or good
speakers. Watch movies in English, practice the language in your head, make
English-speaking friends, repeat words regularly.
Conclusion
The research was aimed at determining the causes of problems in mastering an
English language. The theories of three linguists, whose contribution to science is
invaluable, were considered analyzed and discussed. Discussion and analysis of
theories helped to delve into the problems of mastering a foreign language, the
experiments conducted by scientific linguists are discussed, as well as examples
related to other languages. In addition, a survey was conducted among secondary
and high school students. The results of the survey showed a general
dissatisfaction with teaching English at school, which becomes a demotivation in
mastering the English language.

LITERATURE

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swim slower. Gazeta.ru.(pp.1)
4.O`Neill. (2015). The international encyclopedia of language .Wiley Online
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5.P Kay, W. K. (1984). American anthropologist. Wiley Online Library.(pp.4-5)