Relationship Between The Mother Tongue And The Second Language

Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Dennis Baron’s “Who Owns Global English” both highlight important points in regards to language. While Amy Tan discusses her own mother’s native tongue in a more reflective manner, Dennis Baron compares the use of English on a global standard. Though both have similar messages, the two pieces also differ in their overall themes/arguments.

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.

There is a common theme between the two novels, a “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, and “Se Habla Espanol” by Tanya Maria Barrientos. Both novels include an individual that has difficulty speaking another language, either it is their cultural language or English. Having difficulties speaking another language can have a great impact and affect a lot of people’s lives, even those individuals that are surrounded by the people affected. These two novels have abstract agents that teach and regulate literacy. A “Mother Tongue,” is about how Tan’s mother speaks “limited English” which made it challenging for Tan because they started to be judged poorly by others. “Se Habla Espanol,” was to express to other minorities that it is ok to embrace your heritage in a world that sees you differently. Tanya had a struggle speaking her own cultural language. She could not speak Spanish well, even though she was born as a Latino.

English is a just a language not a measure of intelligence. This statement is easy to comprehend but hard to practice. A majority of people are tempted to believe that English is a measure of intelligence and, in particular, an individual's ability to exercise brain power. As a matter of fact, the best that English – as a language – can be used to measure is relevant grammatical knowledge and skill level but not intelligence. According to Ghirlanda et al. (2014), intelligence refers to an individual's ability to not only grasp concepts but also build ideas on them. Knowledge, on the other hand, refers to the facts, information, and skills acquired by an individual through information (Polanyi, 2015). This proves (beyond the reasonable

According to the study of Alba, Logan, Lutz and Stults (2002), this three-generation model of language shift was documented

Therefore, from the behaviourist approach, language acquisition can be seen as a stimulus-response process. Children learn language by immitation and analogy. The roles of imitation, repetition, reinforcement, and motivation are essential in learning the language. The First Language Acquisition is thus the result of nature which based on practicing.

Many second language acquisition theories have been developed over the years. These theories examine the avenues in which second language is acquired and the avenues in which they are

L1 Learners in the native language environment, people in this environment are native speakers. For acquisition of L1, child learners have no pressure and competition. They do not worry about the level of mother tongue reached, because they are native speakers. In contrast, most of L2 learners rarely in such language environment, they are often in a highly competitive, stressful learning environment. They are learning another language in the first language environment. Moreover, L2 learners study language in the classroom, not a best language learning environment. For example, most of the Chinese students learn English in junior school or high school. Except of their weekly English class, students do not have a good foreign language environment. L1learners can learn language anywhere, and actual use first language, they learned the language in the real life. Most of L2 learners lack the regular practice, so they have to learn by rote.

Not knowing how to speak English can be the worst possible thing a person can experience in their lifetime. Not being able to understand and speak makes very difficult for a person to express their thoughts and feelings. Some individuals might think that these individuals are uneducated because of the way they pronounce certain words, but it is not true. A lot of people think that just because someone does not speak proper English, they are not educated. They are treated differently; they are not appreciated because of the way they speak. Some people do not even take the time of their day to try to understand these individuals lives. They do not know how it feels to not being able to speak another language properly, because they never tried.

Language carries the beauty and persona of our thought process and the study of Linguistics helps us develop insights, appreciate and analyze many aspects of this powerful medium of expression. My fascination with Second Language Acquisition (SLA) began with the course ‘Language Acquisition and Learning’ that I took while I was in the 4th year of my undergraduate program at the University of Dhaka. In that course, for the first time, I was introduced to various theories and hypotheses about how people acquire a second language, such as Stephen Krashen’s five main hypotheses on language acquisition (the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis, the input hypothesis, and the affective filter hypothesis), Larry Selinker’s Interlanguage theory, John Schumann’s Acculturation model, and Howard Giles’s Accommodation theory. These theories helped me realize the robustness and richness of SLA research and made a permanent impression on my mind about this field. Besides SLA, I was also acquainted with Psycholinguistics through this course. I have learned about several theories of first language acquisition, e.g. the Behaviorist theory, the Innatist theory, the Cognitive theory, and the Maturational theory. It is worth mentioning here that this course really helped me set my dream to become an academic as well as a researcher in the field of language acquisition and learning.

The first area of difference between first (L1) and second (L2) language learning is input – specifically the quality and quantity of input. It is the idea of the "connectionist model that implies... (that the) language learning process depends on the input frequency and regularity" (5).. It is here where one finds the greatest difference between L1 and L2 acquisition. The quantity of exposure to a target language a child gets is immense compared to the amount an adult receives. A child hears the language all day everyday, whereas an adult learner may only hear the target language in the classroom – which could be as little as three hours a week. Even if one looks at an adult in a total submersion situation the quantity is still less because the amount of one on one interaction that a child gets for example with a parent or other caregiver is still much greater then the adult is receiving.

Learning a new language has many benefits; career advancement, bridging communication gaps, and strengthening life skills. “What theory implies, quite simply, is that language acquisition, first or second, occurs when comprehension of real messages occurs, and when the acquire is not ‘on the defensive’” wrote Steven D. Krashner (1981)

According to Houmanfar, Hayes, and Herbst (2005), the first and second languages are interrelated and the history of the first language is a participatory factor in the acquisition of the second language (L2) and its maintenance. The Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis indicates that the structure and shape of the L1 of an individual are different from those the L2 that could create errors in speaking, reading and writing (Dulay et al., 1982). Similarities and differences between L1 and L2 acquisition will be outlined in terms of various theories.

The Competition Model is based in the assumption that forms of natural language are created to communicate. Thus, second language learners are faced with the conflict between

The issue of finding a complete analysis for the production of foreign language learners is yet not accounted for perfectly. While contrastive analysis provides several attempts at predicting the mistakes that a second language learner may commit, the margin of error remains big by the fact that not all the predicted errors will occur in the produced language. Similarly, although error analysis attempts to provide a better analysis for the error committed the developmental path of