Language Acquisition and learning-key concepts and issues: Language learning process

Group 2 Beatrice Justina Teo Cheong Zi Hoong Hong Yin Yin Lee Li Wen

What is Language?
A system of communicating with other people using sounds, and words in expressing meanings, ideas or thoughts. The systematic, conventional use of sounds, signs, or written symbols in a human society for communication and self-expression (David Crystal)

The communication of information through symbols arranged according to systematic rules (Feldman, 2005)

Language learning in early childhood (The First 3 Years)

Children go through a number of different stages as language develops: The earlier stage:
Crying (when they feel hungry or uncomfortable) Cooing (showing satisfaction or happiness) Babbling

Around 10 to 13 months:
Begin to say single words such as: milk (holophrase stage)

Language learning in early childhood (The First 3 Years)

By the age of 2:
Begin to use two words sentences such as mommy milk , Papa work. telegraphic speech (Function words and grammatical morphemes such as articles, preposition are missing)

Early childhood:
Childrens vocabularies increase rapidly

Language learning in early childhood (The First 3 Years)

Developmental Sequences:
The order in which certain features of a language are acquired by children in language learning.

Grammatical morpheme
Question

Negation

Grammatical morpheme
Morphemes that contain only grammatical features.
Present progressive ing
Plural -s

Mommy running
Two books

Articles
Irregular past forms Regular past -ed 3rd person singular simple present -s Auxiliary be

a/an/the
Baby went He walked Jane runs Jane is coming

Grammatical morpheme
The Wug Test (Jean Berko Gleason)
Testing children's knowledge of grammatical morphemes

In this test, children are shown drawings of creatures or people performing actions.

This is a man who know how to RICK. He is Ricking. He did the same thing

yesterday. What did he do

yesterday? Yesterday he ________________.

Grammatical morpheme
By completing these sentences with 'wugs' and ricked, children show that they know rules for the formation of plural and simple past in English.

Negation
Is acquired by children in language learning to deny, reject, disagree with, or refuse something

Four stages in the developmental sequence of negation (Lois Blooms study,1991)

Negation
Stage 1:
Negation is expressed by the word no Can be expressed either all alone or as the first word in the utterance Example : No, No cake, No money, No comb hair

Negation
Stage 2:
Utterances grow longer and the sentence Subject may be included. The negative word appears before the verb. The negative element dont is often used . Example: Dont touch that Daddy no comb hair

Negation
Stage 3:
The negative element is positioned after auxiliaries (are, is, etc.) or modals (can, may, etc.) verb follow the correct English pattern. Yet no variations for different persons or tenses Example: I cant do it , He dont want it She was not happy.

Negation
Stage 4:
Children able to attach the negative element to the correct form of auxiliary verbs such as 'do' and 'be Example: He didnt go She doesnt want it. Sometimes double negatives are used Example: I dont have no more cakes.

Questions
There is a predictable order in which the 'whwords' emerge (Bloom 1991). What, 'Where' and 'who, Why, 'how' and 'when

Six stages of childrens question-making.

Questions
Stage 1: -using single words or single two- or three-word sentences with rising intonation -Example: Mommy book? Wheres Daddy? Stage 2: -using the word order of the declarative sentence -Example: You like this? Why you catch it?

Questions
Stage 3: -fronting - putting a verb at the beginning of a sentence -Example: Is the teddy is tired? Do I can have a cookie? Stage 4: -subject-auxiliary inversion in yes/no questions -Example: Do you like ice cream? Are you going to play with me??

Questions
Stage 5: -Both wh- and 'yes/no' questions are formed correctly. -Example: Why can he go out? Why did you do that? Stage 6: -Children are able to correctly form all question types

Language learning in early childhood (The Pre-School Years)

By the age of four: -Ask questions, give commands, report events, create stories. -Have mastered the basic structure of their language. -Learn vocabulary at the rate of several words a day. -Acquire less frequent and more complex linguistic structures.

Language learning in early childhood (The Pre-School Years)

Here are some of the things your preschooler might do as her language and communication skills.
Understanding Phonology and Morphology
Changes in Syntax and Semantics

Advances in Pragmatics

Understanding Phonology and Morphology

Sensitive to the sound of spoken words and capable of producing all the sounds. Produce complex consonant clusters -Example: str- and mpt. Notice rhymes, enjoy poems, make up silly names by substituting one sound for another. -Example: bubblegum, bubblebum, bubbleyum

Understanding Phonology and Morphology

Begin using the plural and possessive forms of nouns. -Example: dogs and dogs Put appropriate endings on verbs. -Example: -s when the subject is third-person singular and ed for the past tense. Use prepositions (in, on), articles (a, the), and various forms of the verb to be (I was going to the store).

Changes in Syntax and Semantics

Preschool children also learn and apply rules of syntax. (Lidz, 2010; Tager-Flusberg & Zukowski, 2009) Show a growing mastery of complex rules for how words should be ordered.

Changes in Syntax and Semantics

Sentence and Grammar Early Pre-school -use more complex sentences -understands the basic rules Late Pre-school -increasingly complex sentences

Changes in Syntax and Semantics

o Consider wh- questions
o Example: Where is Daddy going? / What is that boy doing? o wh- must be added at the beginning of the sentence. o auxiliary verb must be inverted-exchange with subject of the sentence. o learn quite early where to put the wh- word but take much longer to learn the auxiliary-inversion rule. ( Where daddy is going? )

Changes in Syntax and Semantics

Vocabulary Early pre-school Thousands of new words -By listening and guessing from context. -From new experiences and from listening to stories read out loud. -Using connecting words (because, if), names for groups of things (vegetables, animals), family terms (aunty, brother), colours(red, green) and contrasting concepts (longer, bigger).

Changes in Syntax and Semantics

Late-preschool Around 1500 different words but understand even more. -connecting words (when, but) -words that explain complicated emotions (confused, upset, delighted) -words that explain things going on in his brain (dont know, remember).

Advances in Pragmatics
Young children begin to engage in extended discourse. (Akhtar & Herold,2008). -Example: They learn culturally specific rules of conversation and politeness, and increasingly adapt their speech in different settings. Able to talk about things that are not here (Grandmas house) and not now (what happened to them yesterday or might happen tomorrow).

Advances in Pragmatics
Develop a remarkable sensitivity to the needs of others in conversation. -Example: Use of the articles the, an, a. - When adults tell a story to describe an event, they use an or a when they first refer to animal or an object and then use the when referring to it later. (Two boys were walking through the jungle when a fierce lion appeared. The lion lunged at one boy while the other ran for cover.)

Advances in Pragmatics
Learn to change speech style to suit the situation. -Example: Even 4-year-old children speak differently to a 2-year-old than to a same-aged peer.

Language learning in early childhood (School Years)

Pronunciation

Reading Adventure games

Home Study

Listening

Pronunciation

Children will start to practice pronouncing words by repeating after teachers

Reading

Encourage them to read storybooks, comics, magazines based on their interest

Listening

Enhancing their listening skills through audio books, recordings

Playing games Home Study

When playing adventure games, children can pause the game frequently to jot down any new words.

Children are encouraged to learn through learning software

 http://repository.usu.ac.id/bitstream/123456789/19132/5/Chapter %20I.pdf Language And Society By Humphrey Tonkin http://www.globaled.org/issues/178F.pdf Cognitive Development http://peoplelearn.homestead.com/BEduc/Chapter_2.pdf First and Second Language Acquisition http://fulbright.state.gov/uploads/e3/34/e33490e8249c453e1fc8a6 878e23f6fe/First-and-Second-Language-Acquisition.pdf Early Morphological Childhood Development | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5294964_early-morphologicalchildhood-development.html#ixzz1yXauNehi http://www.kau.edu.sa/Files/0008718/Files/93898_Chapter%201s mall.pdf http://www.american.edu/cas/tesol/pdf/upload/WP-2002-AhmadDevelopmental-Sequence.pdf