Age and Second Language Acquisition
Age and second language acquisition
For over sixty years scientists and linguists have been doing the researches about the second language acquisition and bilingualism among children. It has been discovered that second language acquisition is a parallel of the first language acquisition but also there are a lot of differences.
At the beginning it must be said what the bilingualism and second language acquisition are. SLA (Second Language Acquisition) refers to the process by which people learn second language that means that they know one language and then start learning the other one. On the other hand, bilingualism refers to the ability to use two languages with equal fluency. But some scientists believes that even though those abilities are nearly equal, one language will always dominate above the other. There are three types of bilingualism: * Simultaneous: learning both languages as the first one. So a new born child who does not speak any languages goes directly to the phase that it speaks two languages; * Receptive: it means that children are able to understand two languages but express themselves only in one; * Sequential: refers to the acquisition of the second language after establishing the first one.
As for the second language acquisition, there is main theory elaborated by the psycholinguist, Stephen Krashen, which consist of the five hypothesis: 1. The Acquisition-learning hypothesis. There are two independent systems: the acquired system and the learning system. Acquisition is the product of subconscious process, needs natural conversation in which speaker is focused on the communicative act, not on the form. It can be compared with the acquisition of the mother tongue by the child. Learning, on the other hand, is the product of formal instructions, so it is the conscious process. This is represented by the norms grammar, vocabulary and so on. It demands effort and attention. Krashen emphasizes that acquisition is more important
For over sixty years scientists and linguists have been doing the researches about the second language acquisition and bilingualism among children. It has been discovered that second language acquisition is a parallel of the first language acquisition but also there are a lot of differences.
At the beginning it must be said what the bilingualism and second language acquisition are. SLA (Second Language Acquisition) refers to the process by which people learn second language that means that they know one language and then start learning the other one. On the other hand, bilingualism refers to the ability to use two languages with equal fluency. But some scientists believes that even though those abilities are nearly equal, one language will always dominate above the other. There are three types of bilingualism: * Simultaneous: learning both languages as the first one. So a new born child who does not speak any languages goes directly to the phase that it speaks two languages; * Receptive: it means that children are able to understand two languages but express themselves only in one; * Sequential: refers to the acquisition of the second language after establishing the first one.
As for the second language acquisition, there is main theory elaborated by the psycholinguist, Stephen Krashen, which consist of the five hypothesis: 1. The Acquisition-learning hypothesis. There are two independent systems: the acquired system and the learning system. Acquisition is the product of subconscious process, needs natural conversation in which speaker is focused on the communicative act, not on the form. It can be compared with the acquisition of the mother tongue by the child. Learning, on the other hand, is the product of formal instructions, so it is the conscious process. This is represented by the norms grammar, vocabulary and so on. It demands effort and attention. Krashen emphasizes that acquisition is more important
References: 1. Genesee Fred, Neuropsychology and Second Language Acquisition, New York, 1988. 2. Gitsaki Christina, Second Language Acquisition Theories: Overview and Evaluation, Journal of Communication and International Studies, volume 4, 1998, p. 89-98, retrieved from Internet at http://espace.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:9550/L2-theories.htm, last revised on November 27th 2012. 3. Grisel Aloin, Child-Adult differences in Second Language Acquisition. Part 1, 2010, retrived from Internet at http://www.examiner.com/review/child-adult-differences-second-language-acquisition-part-1, last revised on December 1st 2012. 4. Grisel Aloin, Child-Adult differences in Second Language Acquisition. Part 2, 2010, retrived from Internet at http://www.examiner.com/review/child-adult-differences-second-language-acquisition-part-2, last revised on December 1st 2012. 5. Krashen Stephen and Terrell Tracy, The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the classroom, Michigan, 1983. 6. Schütz Ricardo, Stephen Krashen’s Theory of Second Language Acquisition, retrieved from Internet at http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html, last revised on November 28th 2012. 7. Tabors Patton, One child, two languages, Baltimore, 1997, p. 12. 8. Website of the European Commission, retrieved from Internet at http://ec.europa.eu/languages/orphans/faq_pl.htm, last revised on December 2nd 2012.