FIRST AND SECOND

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
OBJECTIVE:
To talk about
the different conceptions
of first and second language
acquisition.
What does that cartoon mean?
WHAT IS
APPLIED
LINGUISTICS?
 WHAT DOES APPLIED LINGUISTICS
MEAN?

Applied linguistics is an
interdisciplinary field of
linguistics that identifies,
investigates, and offers
solutions to language-
related real-life problems.
When does
the term
"APPLIED
LINGUISTICS"
appear?
 THE DEVELOPMENT
OF LINGUISTICS

The term 'applied linguistics' refers to a broad

range of activities which involve solving some
language-related problem or addressing some
language-related concern.

• Officially recognized as an independent course at the

University of Michigan in 1946.

• used both in the United States and in Great Britain to

refer to a 'scientific approach' to teaching foreign
languages, including English for nonnative speakers.

• During the late 1950s and the early 1960s, the use of
the term was gradually broadened to include what
was then referred to as 'automatic translation'.

• The International Association of Applied Linguistics

usually referred to by the French acronym AILA was
founded and its first international congress was held
in Nancy, France.
Who is considered the father of
Linguistics?
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE

The founder
of Linguistics and
the father of the
Structuralist
approach to
linguistics.
 FATHER OF LINGUISTICS
BORN Geneva, Switzerland
on November 26, 1875

ERA 19th Century Philosophy

SCHOOL Structuralism, Semiotics

MAIN INTEREST Linguistics

NOTABLE IDEAS Language and Parole

Synchronic analysis
Arbitrariness of the linguistic
sign

FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE
 SOME IMPORTANT TERMS
Synchronic Linguistics focuses on
a specific state of language at a
given time.
Example:
ROMEO: Is she a Capulet? Dear account! my life
is my foe's debt.

Diachronic Linguistics is the focus

of language and the changes to
the language over time.
Example:
Looking back at the meaning of words during the
Elizabethan time period.
 LANGUE AND PAROLE
Saussure also proposed his famous distinction
between langue and parole:
“In separating language (langue) from speaking (parole) we are
at the same time separating: (1) what is social from what is
individual; and (2) what is essential from what is accessory and
more or less accidental.”
 THE LINGUISTIC SIGN
The part of the sign
Saussure calls the
‘concept’ or ‘meaning’
(mental impression/
association of the ‘thing’)
he named, ‘signified.’ The
part he calls the ‘sound-
image’ (the mental
‘linguistic sign’ given to
the ‘thing’) he named the
‘signifier’.
 DO WE USUALLY HAVE THE SAME
IDEA OF SIGNIFIED AND SIGNIFIER?
STRUCTURE

The relationship
existing between
several elements is
what is meant by
“structure”. The
elements themselves
are not the most
important thing within
a structure – rather the
relationship existing
between them is what
is important.
 LEVEL

Linguistics defines the levels of

structure based on analysis
across and within languages.
As shown in the figure, the
major levels of structure here
are phonological,
morphological, syntactic,
semantic, and the pragmatic
(or discourse) level.
COMPONENT
The notion of
component is used
to characterize the
phonetic and
semantic levels of
the language.
The phonemes are units formed by a number of
distinctive features and lexical items consist of
several semantic elements. The word chair shares
some features with armchair but these two
lexical items also show some differences.
What is acquisition?
ACQUISITION
First language acquisition
refers to the way children
learn their native language
while Second language
acquisition refers to the
learning of another
language or languages
besides the native
language.
WHAT ARE THE FEATURES
OF FIRST LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION?
FEATURES OF
FIRST LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
Their language development
shows a high degree of
similarity among children all
over the world:

 Predictability

 Learning through imitation

 Creativity
SO HOW
DOES
LANGUAGE
LEARNING
TAKE PLACE?
LANGUAGE
LEARNING
It is the result of:
 Imitation (word-for word
repetition)
 Practice (Repetitive
manipulation of forms)
 Feedback on sucess
(positive reinforcement)
 Habit formation
What does
that mean?
 They are NOT RANDOM .

Children's
imitations Their imitation is selective
and based on what they
are currently learning.
FIRST AND SECOND
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
OBJECTIVE:
To talk about
the different conceptions
of first and second language
acquisition.
PRACTICAL ACTIVITY
Research about the different conceptions of First and
Second Language Acquisition and prepare a summary
about them. Focus on the differences and similarities of
at least 5 different authors.