Error Analysis : First Language Acquisition

Many popular theories of second language acquisition have been analyzed throughout history. The socialization of L2 learners, their present emotional state that is present at time of acquisition, as well as the comprehensible input and output with the use of scaffolding play a major role in second language acquisition. Let us also not forget the importance of written expression as well as reading comprehension with these L2 learners. Each play a role in language development. However, I believe that in acquiring a language, one must use a variety of techniques that work together to create a balance within the learning environment. Furthermore, all L2 learners learn differently and so a variety of resources will need to be used based on the ability of each student. There are many theories that have been developed by highly qualified experts in the field on linguistics. However, I will address those areas that I agree with as I present my personal theories on second language acquisition.

The number of English Language Learners (ELLs) is growing in schools in the United States of America (Thomas & Collier, 2001). The United States had about 11 million school-aged children of immigrants in 2005. This was more or less one-fifth of the school-aged population (Rong & Preissle, 2008). Belonging to immigrant families and born outside or inside United States of America, these children are from different racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It is their diverse backgrounds that greatly impact the way they are able to cope with the challenges at school. One major factor that determines their overall school performance is proficiency in the English language. ELLs who arrive in the United States at an adolescent age tend to develop social communication skills and absorb cultural trends quickly.

Since, the second language is an additional language after we acquire the first language, the L2 learning process can be influenced by the L1 learning process This essay will demonstrate the similarities and differences in L1 and L2 acquisition by discussing various theories. Then, draw a conclusion based on the evidence provided and my own experience.

Many popular theories of second language acquisition have been analyzed throughout history. The socialization of L2 learners, their present emotional state that is present at the time of acquisition, as well as the comprehensible input and output with the use of scaffolding play a major role in second language acquisition. Kirsten Hummel states, “The one most effective way to increase L2 competence was by exposure to ‘comprehensible input’.” (Hummel, 2014, p. 73) Let us also not forget the importance of written expression as well as reading comprehension with these L2 learners. Each plays a role in language development. However, I believe that to acquire language one must use a variety of techniques that work together to create a balance within the learning environment. Furthermore, all L2 learners acquire language differently and so using a variety of resources that are based on the ability of each student is neccesary. There are many theories that have been developed by highly qualified experts in the field of linguistics. However, I will address those areas that I agree with as I present my personal theories on second language acquisition.

Researchers, such as Corder (1967) define the word ‘error’ when people do not follow grammatical rules or structures. At the basis of the accuracy-fluency controversy is the question of error. Once thought to be deviant behavior, error is now seen as a neutral phenomenon in learning of all kinds; learning to ice skate, to type, to analyze literature, to speak a first or second language. Of course, errors in written language can be due to intonation, memory lapse, or indifference and in an in-class writing situation, NES (Native English Speaker) as well as EFL (English as a First Language) students will make hasty performances errors. Generally, EFL errors are neither random, nor sporadic or deviant, instead they are systematic, regular and

How can language and content instruction be coordinated to generate acquisition of social and cognitive academic languages?

Students in the pre-emergent stage of language acquisition have a vocabulary base of approximately 500 receptive words (Hong, 2008, p. 61). However, these students may be experiencing the “silence period” or parrot others thought they produce limited language output. Therefore, the read aloud strategy, a method of reading a book audibly either as a class or in small groups provides English Language Learners the opportunity to hear English spoken in a clear slow manner while participating in a classroom activity (Grand Canyon University School of Education website, n.d., expression 2). By reading aloud, the teacher provides a model of proficient reading and a means to provide content for ELLS who cannot yet read at the level of the text (Levine, Lukens, & Smallwood, 2013, p. 94) Also reading aloud “builds students background knowledge and develops academic vocabulary along” with proper enunciation which is vital for this stage of English development (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2013, p. 76).

Numerous theories try to explain the process of language acquisition. These theories fall into one of two camps. The environmentalist (or connectionist) theory of language acquisition asserts that language is acquired through environmental factors (Halvaei et al. 811). Theorists in this camp believe that a child learns language by gaining information from the outside world and then forming associations between words and objects. The nativist (or rationalist) approach, on the other hand, asserts that it is innate factors that determine language acquisition. Noam Chomsky, often described as “the father of modern linguistics”, falls into this camp as he believes that speech is the result of hidden rules of language that are hidden somewhere in the brain (Rahmani and Abdolmanafi 2111). Steven Pinker, a colleague of Chomsky, is a renowned psychologist, cognitive scientist and linguist who discusses his own theories on language acquisition in his book Words and Rules.

The Affective Filter Hypothesis captures the relationship between affective variables and the process of second language acquisition by positing that acquirers vary with respect to the strength or level of their Affective Filters.

In the same vein, Keshavarz (1994) discusses that during the 1950s and 1950s, CA was considered as the ultimate panacea for language teaching problems: predicting and solving learner’s errors and difficulties. Based on the assumption that second/foreign language learners tend to transfer the formal features of their L1 to their L2 utterances, structural linguists set out to identify aeas of difficulty for second language and produce appropriate teaching materials to overcome these linguistic obstacles. In effect, on the one hand the task of a contrastive analyst was to pinpoint the items in learners L1 which are in line with the similar items in learner’s L2 (positive transfer) so as to facilitate language learning process. On the other hand, the contrastive

In our everyday lives, the origin of our ability to communicate is usually not often taken into consideration. One doesn't think about how every person has, or rather had at one time, an innate ability to learn a language to total fluency without a conscious effort – a feat that is seen by the scientific community "as one of the many utterly unexplainable mysteries that beset us in our daily lives" (3).. Other such mysteries include our body's ability to pump blood and take in oxygen constantly seemingly without thought, and a new mother's ability to unconsciously raise her body temperature when her infant is placed on her chest. But a child's first language acquisition is different from these

First language acquisition (FLA) is defined as the acquisition of a single language in childhood, regardless of the number of languages in a child’s natural environment. Second language acquisition (SLA) is the language learned after the first language (L1) where the language is used widely in the speech community.

There are predominantly two forms of errors which account for the precision and the accuracy of the results- these are random errors and systematic errors.

Language acquisition is a piece of the greatest parts of human advancement. However, the process of learning a language faces a lot of difficulty. First language acquisition is the process whereby children acquire their original languages. All humans have an ability to gain a language（or languages, for many learn more than one in the environment in which they are raised.）. All normal humans have the probability to learn extra languages, similarly with other field of study such as math or science, some people are better at learning second languages than others. Rather than obtaining, learning happens effectively and intentionally through explicit instruction and education. As such, older children and adults past the critical period

“During the first two or three years of development, a child requires interaction with other language-users in order to bring the general language capacity into contact with a particular language such as English.” (Yule, The Study of Language, 2010)