2. • Language acquisition is very similar to
the process children use in getting first
and second languages. It requires
meaningful interaction in the target
language natural communication.
(Brown and Hanlon, 1970; Brown,
Cazden, and Bellugi, 1973)
3. • First Language Acquisition: Studies infants’ acquisition of their
native language.
Native Language: A first language (also native language, mother
tongue, arterial language, or L1) is the language(s) a person has
learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person
speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity.
4. Second Language acquisition, or L2 acquisition, generally refers to
the acquisition of a Second Language by someone who has already
acquired a First Language.
Bilingual Language acquisition
Refers to the simultaneous acquisition of two languages beginning in
infancy, or before the age of three years.
5. Bilingualism is an intriguing topic.
• People wonder how it´s possible for a child to acquire two or more
languages at the same time:
• Doesn´t the child confuse the two languages?
• Are bilingual children brighter?
• Does acquiring two languages negatively affect the child´s cognitive
development in some way?
6. Children’s abilities
The ability of children to form complex rules and construct
grammars of the languages used around them in a short time is
phenomenal.
Beginning from birth, babies everywhere follow a similar pattern to
acquire their first language according to their individual biological
timetable- from crying, cooing, babbling to one-word utterances,
two-word phrases, full sentences, and eventually, to complex
grammar.
7. How about stages of children´s Second
Language acquisition?
Individuals learning a Second Language use the same innate
processes that are used to acquire their first Language from the
first days of exposure to the new Language in spite of their age.
They reach similar development stages to those in first Language
acquisition, making some of the same type of errors in
grammatical markers that young children make, picking up
chunks of Language without knowing precisely what each word
means (Collier, 1998).
8. Processes and Phenomena of Second Language
Acquisition
Roseberry-McKibbin(2002)
• Interference: e.g. “this house is more bigger”; “Take a seat”.
• Interlanguage: e.g. “ What Pat doing now? (neither L1 nor L2)
• Silent Period: e.g. when learner listens but rarely speaks in the new
language.
• Codeswitching: Changing languages over phrases or sentences e.g.:
“Me gustaría manejar- I´ll take the car”
9. Processes and Phenomena of Second Language Acquisition
• Language Loss: e.g.: when a child´s first language diminishes.
• Bilingual Code Mixing: Use of patterns from two languages in the
same utterance. e.g.: I´m going with her to la esquina.
10. Children´s Second Language Acquisition Stages and
related linguistic Patterns (Stephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell,
1983)
STAGE 1. PRE-PRODUCTION (Silent Period):
• Minimal comprehension; No verbal production. Up to 500 words in
their receptive Vocabulary.
• They need Repetition.
STAGE 2. EARLY PRODUCTION:
• Limited comprehension one/two- word response. Vocabulary of
1000 words.
STAGE 3. SPEECH EMERGENCE:
• Increased Comprehension; Simple sentences; Some errors in speech.
Vocabulary of 3,000 words.
11. Children´s Second Language Acquisition
Stages
STAGE 4. INTERMEDIATE FLUENCY:
Very good comprehension; More complex sentences and concepts;
Complex errors in speech. Able to synthesize and make inferences.
Vocabulary of 6,000 active words.
STAGE 5 ADVANCED FLUENCY:
Near- native in their ability; From 4-10 years to achieve cognitive
academic language proficiency.
12. Stages of Second Language Acquisition
Approximate Time
Stage Characteristics Teacher Prompts
Frame
Preproduction The student 0–6 months
•Has minimal comprehension •Show me...
•Does not verbalize •Circle the...
•Nods “Yes” and “No” •Where is...?
•Draws and points •Who has...?
Early Production The student 6 months–1 year
•Has limited comprehension •Yes/no questions
•Produces one- or two-word •Either/or questions
responses •One- or two-word
•Participates using key words answers
and familiar phrases •Lists
•Uses present-tense verbs •Labels
13. Stages of Second Language Acquisition
Approximate
Stage Characteristics Teacher Prompts
Time Frame
Speech Emergence The student 1–3 years
•Has good comprehension
•Can produce simple sentences hy...?
•Makes grammar and
pronunciation errors ow...?
•Frequently misunderstands
jokes xplain...
Intermediate Fluency The student 3–5 years
hrase or short-
•Has excellent comprehension •What would happen
sentence answers
•Makes few grammatical if...?
errors •Why do you think...?
Advanced Fluency The student has a near-native 5–7 years • Decide if...
level of speech. • Retell...
Source: Adapted from Krashen and Terrell (1983).
14. RESEARCH AND STUDIES
Early Research:
-Two languages were learned independently and the knowledge of
learning one did not transfer into the other.
-As more was learned in one language, less could be learned in the
other. This gave the idea of having an amount of language
acquisition.
15. Recent Research
- Two languages influence each other.
- Example : *Concept of adding
*Recognition of spoken language which is represented in
writing.
16. Meaning of words:
When children are fluent in two languages, they know more than
one word for the same concept, this can add cognitive flexibility in
the children which allows them to build a more complex
understanding of the word at a younger age.
17. According to:
Ellen Bialystok and Kenji Hakuta the benefits for being bilingual go
much further than simply knowing two languages. Because the
structures and ideas of the two languages are so different it forces
the child to think in more complicated ways than if they learning
only one language
18. • Other benefits of language acquisition is a greater sensitivity to
language in general and greater awareness of meaning and
structure in language.
• Children receive more linguistic input, requiring a greater amount
of language analysis.
Cummins suggested that if L1 has not reached a certain
competence, the child may develop “semi-linguistic” or “limited
bilingualism”, a situation of lower competence in the various
languages acquired, in comparison to monolingual children.
19. Dr. Janet Werner of the University of British Columbus carried out a
phonological study because she considers that every aspect of
language including sound system is essential for getting the full
message from the speaker.
In her study Dr. Werker proposed the following question :
Can early bilingual achive native competence in phonetic perception
in both languages or is there language dominance even in infance?
20. - To address this question she used a prior research conducted by Dr.
tracey Burns. In this research a bilingual mother was exposed to 2
languages prenatally over five year period.
.
- After that period, she concluded that both languages are equally
dominant at birht in the infants. Newborn of bilingual mother keep
both familiar language active
22. Types of childhood
bilingualism
Simultaneous learning
of two languages.
The parents' ability
parents' use of
language with the child
other
family members’ language (s)
the language the child
uses in the community
Sequential or successive
bilingualism.
23. Simultaneous learning
of two languages.
Strategies:
• One parent, one language.
• Both parents speak one language in the home and a
second language is used at school.
24. Simultaneous learning
of two languages.
Strategies:
One language is used in the home and at
school and the second language is used in the
community.
Both parents speak both languages to the child
but separate the languages according to
speaking situations or alternate days.
26. Individual differences
Stability and mobility.
Relationships within the family affect bilingual language
development.
Attitudes toward each language
29. Conclusion:
• Research into bilingualism is crucial today. Although it
plays out differently in other parts of the world, research
on bilingualism does serve to elucidate an
understanding of the human mind and an
understanding of social possibilities of other cultures,
and how these can be used to educate children to
prepare them to be citizens of the world.
31. Bibliography
Dr. Fred H. Genesee. Early childhood bilingualism: Perils and possibilities
Vol. 2, Special Issue, Article 2, April 2009
Journal of Applied Research on Learning 1
Rose Li and Associates, Inc.
January 2005. Childhood Bilingualism
Current Status and Future Directions 2004
Workshop Summary.
Marsha Rosenberg. “Raising Bilingual Children”.Reprinted from: The
Ambassador, The American School in Japan Alumni & Community
Magazine. Spring 1996
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 6, June 1996
ARTICLE TAKEN FROM: The Internet TESL Journal http://iteslj.org/
Link: http://iteslj.org/Articles/Rosenberg-Bilingual.html
