Language Use And Acquisition Is Affected By Social Factors Affecting Language

Purpose: To highlight the difficulties students have at school and at home when it comes down to learning a language which they aren’t acquainted to and the consequences of such, depending on their social background.

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.

Nature and nurture both play a significant role in language development. Language development refers to how children understand, organise, speak and use words in order to communicate at an effective, age-appropriate level (Karen Kearns, 2013, P.105). For centuries, theorists have been debating the roles of nature versus nurture. Although, each child’s language will develop at their own pace and there will be many individual differences based on culture, ethnicity, health and ability. As well as physical, social, emotional and cognitive development in which will contribute to a child’s language development.

Linguistic structure is the “social product of a language faculty” and “a body of necessary conventions adopted by society to enables the members of society utilise their language faulty” (Saussure 2014, p.11).

However, it can be argued with (Bruner 1964) that social interaction doesn’t explain all the complexities of language acquisition. Almost every day the language we hear is often incorrect, poorly defined, incomplete and full of hesitations, mispronunciations and other errors, and yet despite this we still learn to talk following the correct grammatical rules. Again this indicates the idea of Chomsky’s (1968) LAD model that children are born ‘hard-wired’ with the innate knowledge of linguistic rules and so these rules help the baby make estimations and presumptions about the language it is hearing. From these estimations and presumption the child can work out grammatical sets of rules and when more language is exposed to them, the more their language develops. Even within Chomsky’s (1968) LAD theory, undoubtedly he believed the role and promotion of the ‘nature’ aspect is the core foundation on which language can develop. But his theory also requires the role of nurture

According to Lev Vygotsky (1978), language plays a central role in social interaction since it is the primary means for making social

Human beings are unique creatures as we possess the ability to communicate, to learn in more than one language. It is displeasing to say that the day when a gorilla is able to teach a bonobo in the language that a chimpanzee uses, may never arrive. The case was different for Koko, the gorilla and Kanzi, the bonobo as the American Sign Language was involved (Prince-Hughes, 1987). What sets human beings apart is that we are the same species that are inhabiting various regions around the world and thus, we inherit individual languages. Our arterial language is determined by many factors such as, race, ethnicity and even religion. However, the occurrence of a person learning in a non-native language does arise. For example, a child that is raised in Britain who learns English in school might have a family that is from the Philippines and thus, speaks Tagalog. The child may be more fluent in speaking Tagalog than English and thus, may lead to learning difficulties in school as an English Language Learner, which

The author attempts to show the diversity of cultures in the way parents interact with their young children as they learn to speak. Studies by the researchers indicate that cultural values, language ideologies and social practices of a particular community can influence important aspects of the acquisition process of the language, such as the order in which certain grammatical structures learned or even if a particular language is acquired at all. Another interesting point is highlighted that the acquisition of language does not end with childhood, but continues taking new roles in life or learning a second

It was such a pleasure taking this class. I was always interested in linguistics and wanted to dive deeper into the subject. Linguistics is a very broad topic with a lot of information to cover. While taking this class, the information provided refreshed my mind about many concepts and situations that I experience on a daily basis. It’s easy to wake up and take advantage of the day without acknowledging different uses of language. It’s imperative for everyone to become more aware of how everyone communicates; families, friends, employees, public figures, and even companies. Language is apart of who we are as a human race and it’s beautiful to break down the barriers and learn more about it.

The subtlety of language acquisition has been the most fundamental question in the study of linguistics and human development. From Bow-wow Theory to Yo-He-Ho Theory, major theories on the origins and learnability of language have emerged in mid-20th century and heavily debated ever since. Among them, the idea of universal grammar in which is usually credited to linguist Noam Chomsky, remains the most notable and controversial theory over time. He introduced and developed the theory from 1950s to 1970s, as he proposed and championed linguistic nativism in language acquisition. Chomsky supports that language mastery involves knowledge of linguistic rules and conventions, which he later named that as ‘cognizance’. He believes that cognizance

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.

From when a child is born, they are hearing language, and learning skills from their surroundings. Whilst the child’s developmental stage is a factor within language acquisition, the nurturing via social interaction, is vital in this acquisition. The way in which a family communicates is mimicked and through this, the child learns language in an “entirely social context” (Gee, 2011). Therefore, the

Language cannot be devoid of the social context of its creation and use, as this would dislocate it from the field of human interaction, within which language derives the full quality of its meaning. Social context of language is the way in which we understand novels, stories, conversations and other people; as it is embedded in everything about the ways in which we communicate. To view language in the absence of social context creates significant limitations in its real-world application. The reason for this is that for language to have any meaning then context is essential. The source of this context is quite varied, the origin of the language is from the originator with its own context, however, the receiver also places their own

Linguistics has impacted cognitive psychology as the quest to understand language acquisition and the structure of language itself is undertaken. Linguistics is a complex and multifaceted; it includes language structural patterns and language development (Barsalou, 2005). The process of language development is complicated and dense, as the study of language is examined; the role of cognition is inherently examined and analyzed. Sternberg (2006) also explores language as an innate process and presents the idea that humans are born ready for language as a biological and cognitive process.

Suppose we have two children. Child A is an American child in a Spanish-speaking environment. He lives with his parents, both of whom are of American roots trying to adjust and cope with a language unfamiliar to them. None of them have sufficient knowledge in Spanish to be able to converse effectively with their neighbors. Child B, on the other hand, is an American child living in an English-speaking environment. He, like Child A, also lives with his parents, who are also both English-speaking and of American descent. Let us compare their situations, and figure out who will most likely be the first to acquire bilingualism.