Paola Vega Tapia

EDUC 413

04/11/16
Dr. Jos Morales Sousa

Select one of the following writing prompts:

1) Offer some thoughts about what you see as a relationship between behavioral, nativist,
and functional approaches to studying first language acquisition and your own
experiences in learning a second language.

I see as a relationship between behavioral, nativist and functional approaches to studying

first language acquisition is that all requires social interaction. For a child to know what to
say, he needs to listen other people talking in order to imitate the words they are saying. Each
approach is a step, we need first to listen and imitate; behavioral and nativist, why both?
Because children are able to differentiate the sound of a word with a regular sound. Once we
are able to say the words, we look for the meaning of them in order to interact with them.
In my experience learning a second language is that, since I was a toddler, I was going to
visit family in New York every summers and holidays. That kind of exposure help me learn how
to speak it, and the fact that my family was always encouraging me and helping me. I think that,
that exposure at a young age help me learn the language. They start teaching me small words and
the meaning of them in Spanish, and then move to full sentences. So you can see that social
interaction is a big part in the learning process.