First Language Acquisition

First Language AcquisitionFirst Language Acquisition

orHow Do Children Learn to Speak?

Bridget Green MFWI Extension Linguistics 2007; based on a handout by Maggie Dale

L1


First stage Babbling 5-10 months Consonant + vowel

input

You are such a beautiful

baby.

output

Ba!At first, all babies babble in the same way no matter what language they hear!

Begins to demonstrate comprehension…“Silent Period”

Kisses! (Does.)Where’s your belly? (Points.)Wanna go bye-bye? (Gets her coat.)Where’s the fish/kitty/birdie? (Points.)Get a book and I’ll read to you. (Does.)

No, thank you! (Stops doing what she’s doing.)

Not silent!Baga bow ri? Dada

mama baba!


Now, babies babble only in sounds that they hear in their language!

Second stage Begins production 12-18 months One word ‘sentences’ like “Mama”, “Dada”, “Baba” become real words…

(14 months) Echoes:“Say, More please.” Nya Nya!“Night, night.” Nie Nie.(On the ‘phone’) Doh?(Seeing a hot fire) Ta!


Third stage 18 months - 2 years Two word sentences

Da mohk! Ah dun. Ah gahn.Wa pipuh?Ah me peez.Towtee.Who da peepoh?

The milk! All done. All gone.Where’s the paper?Help me, please.It’s dirty.Who are those people?

But what does it mean?


Third stage 18 months - 2 years Two word sentences

Nouns and verbs are

first!


Da mohk! Ah dun. Ah gahn.Wa pipuh?Ah me peez.Towtee.Who da peepoh?

Fourth stage 2 years - 5 years Full sentences

Is it Papa van? Where’d Papa go? Papa goed away in Papa van.


Wow! They make a lot of

mistakes don’t they?

ALL children go through the SAME stages in ALL languages.

They all go through in the same order.


Babbling in all sounds

One word sentences

Two word sentences

Full sentences

(Demonstrates comprehension) Babbling in L1 sounds

the ‘silent’ period


They all go through in the same order.


nouns/verbs

Tcont Mommy running

plural -s books

irregular past

He went.

‘s Daddy’s hat.

articles It’s a ball.

+s She runs.

How Languages are Learned Patsy Lightbown and Nina Spada, OUP, 1993

This is called the

order of acquisition.



BUTHow do children learn a

language?

IMITATE?


Children imitate their mother(or their caregivers).

Polly want a cracker? Polly want a

cracker?

IMITATE?


Children imitate their mother(or their caregivers).

Papa went to the store. Papa went to

the store.

Remember this?

Is it Papa’s van? Where’d Papa go? Papa goed away in Papa’s van.

Is that Papa’s van? Where did Papa go? Papa went away in his van?

Really?Really?

Parents never say ‘goed’. Why do children?

Children have a ‘language acquisition device’?


Children don’t just imitate their caregiver.

…like a computer in their brain…They learn a language by trying to

understand the rules, by experimenting.

What’s happening?

Papa goed away?


cry criedlove lovedgo goed

This is called

‘over-generalization’.

It means that you learn a rule and then you apply that rule every time.

What’s happening?

Zeke: (Holding up a shirt) Is this my clo’?


boy boyspath pathsclo clothes

‘over-generalization’

The child tries new things to see if they

work, to see if people understand.

Bridget: Ceilan, you are beautiful!Ceilan: Why arm I?


he is is he?they are are

they?you are are I

are my arm I

‘over-generalization’

Eventually, the child learns to speak correctly.

But correcting doesn’t work!

The most important thing is the message, not the grammar or pronunciation.

Ceilan: I can’t pit it in.Bridget: Put it in.Ceilan: I can’t!


correcting her pronunciation…

continues with her message

Correcting doesn’t work!

The child doesn’t give up; she ‘talks around’,

she explains her message.

Children use learning strategies…

Ceilan: Izit dafai, Mama?Bridget: What’s a dafai?Ceilan: Da fai! Da fai! Da bug? A bug?

Izat a fai?Bridget: Yes, that’s a fly.

The listener doesn’t understand.


So…

First Language AcquisitionFirst Language AcquisitionSo a child just needs

input to learn a language?

No! A child needs

interaction and communication

with humans!

How do adults learn a second language?

L2

SecondSecond Language Language AcquisitionAcquisition

Is L1 the same as L2?


Yes!No!

Yes and no!

Is L1 the same as L2?


Some things are the same

• Adults need interaction and communication.

•Adults learn slowly.

•Adults make a lot of mistakes while they’re learning.

•Adults also have an order of acquisition.

Really?Really?

ALL adults go through the SAME stages in ALL languages. They all go through in the same order.


Babbling in all sounds

short sentences

longer sentences

(Demonstrates comprehension) Babbling in L1 sounds

Demonstrates comprehension

the silent period?

ALL adults go through almost the SAME stages in ALL languages. They all go through in almost the same order.

They all go through in (almost) the same order.


nouns/verbs

Tcont Mommy running

plural -s books

irregular past

He went.

‘s Daddy’s hat.

articles It’s a ball.

+s She runs.


This is called the

order of acquisition.

It depends a little bit on your L1.

1.I was fighting with one of my friend. 2.Here are some flowers for your anniversity. 3.How much o'clock is it? 4. I don't have nothing to say. 5. I don't like that one - it's unpretty. 6. I readed it last night. 7.Mermaid is fish and girl. 8.Phew! I'm exhausting! 9.What he is doing in Africa? 10.You are not understand why they are doing that.

L2 - adult

L1 - child

L1 - child

L2 and L1!

L1 - child

L1 - child

L1 - child

L2 and L1!

L1 - child

L2 - adult

L1 or L2? Can you guess who said it?

A child learning a first language (L1) or an adult learning a second language (L2)?



But children can learn a language better

than adults do, right?

Not really!Except pronunciation!

Adults can learn from correction…

Adult: I can’t pit it in.Teacher: Put it in.Adult: Put it in.


correcting her pronunciation…

making the correction

Correcting works!



Adult’s advantagesAdult’s advantages

• No ‘babbling’ time

• Can organize information (=study!)

• Wants to learn from corrections

Children’s advantagesChildren’s advantages

• Surrounded by input

• Not afraid of making mistakes

• Always trying

• ‘Play’ with language

Adults who act ‘child-like’ learn the fastest!


Adults who act ‘child-like’ learn the fastest!

This is where personality comes in…

Learners who make mistakes

learn from their mistakes,

so they learn faster.

Learners who are afraid to make mistakes

can’t learn from their mistakes,

so they learn more slowly.

Learners have to make mistakes to learn.


personality

opentalkative

riskyunembarrassed

curiousoutgoingunafraid

But what if that’s not

ME?


personalityI can do THAT!systematic

hard-workingvery observantwilling to learn

a reader

First Language AcquisitionFirst Language AcquisitionSecondSecond Language Acquisition Language Acquisition

What are the stages of first language acquisition?

What are the stages of second language acquisition?

What is the ‘order of acquisition’?

Is it the same for L1 and L2? What is one difference?

What is ‘over-generalization’?

What advantages do adults have learning an L2?

How important is personality?

Documents

First Language Acquisition