Language Acquisition

1. HOW CHILDREN
LEARN LANGUAGES
Blanco Manuela,
Monge Valentina,
Morán Ana Belén,
Sarmiento Agustina.
L1 and L2 learning

2. There are a number of stages through which
children pass in the process of acquiring their L1
• Babbling: From birth to eight months.
• The first ‘word’: At about eleven months.
• Two words: Between eighteen months and two years.
• Phonological, syntactic and lexical norms: The third
and fourth year.
• Syntactic and lexical complexity and richness:
Between six and twelve age.
• Conversational skills.

3. DIFFERENT VIEWS OF L1 AND L2
ACQUISITION.
• Behaviourist:
• Audio-lingual approach.
• Imitation and practice of habit formation are key processes in language development.
• Nativist views:
• Children are pre-programmed to learn a language.
• Creativity is an important part of L1.
• Cognitive-developmental views:
• Cognitive language is an aspect of general cognitive growth.
• Motivation and learning conditions.
• Young Children are best in pronunciation than in grammar.
• Social-interactionist views:
• The importance of human social interactions.
• The role of adult and child relationships in learning.
• Imitation and practice are essential in language learning.

4. Are the L1 and L2 acquired in the same way?
SIMILARITY:
• The two processes are very similar since practice and
imitation are common to both.
• Children use past experiences to structure new ones.
DIFFERENCES:
• L2 learner is more cognitively developed than L1 learner.
• In early L1 acquisition, language is highly contextualized
and the learner highly motivated, whereas L2 acquisition
is more decontextualized due to the artificial environment
where learners are not motivated.

5. Does younger mean better?
Critical age for native-speaker-like pronunciation: six (6)
years
Critical age for learning grammar: around puberty and
onwards.
An early start is not automatically an advantage as it is
influenced by many factors:
• Motivation and confidence
• Differences in language aptitude and personality
• Contextual factors (time and exposure)
• The level of resources the governments provide schools
with

6. Bilingualism and multilingualism
• Many children are born in bilingual or multilingual
contexts
• Differences in language learning opportunities and
exposure to the target language:
- Between countries
- Within the same country:
o In the countryside and smaller towns: less
access/exposure
o Urban areas: easy access/exposure  more
motivation/interest

8. Teaching implications
• Teachers always teach in the same way as they
themselves were taught
• How teachers think about children’s learning may
influence their classroom practice

9. How children think and learn
Learner-centred Vs. Learning centred
What is different about teaching children?
• Lot of physical energy  physically active
• Wide range of emotional needs
• Emotionally excitable
• Still developing literacy in their own language
• Learn more slowly and forget things quickly
• Self-oriented and preoccupied
• Get bored easily
• Excellent mimics
• Easily distracted

10. Chronological age is no always the same
as developmental age
 Try not to group all of them according to the same age (different
needs and characteristics)
 Parental support is very important
Physical and emotional differences:
- Developing self-esteem and confidence in learning
- Physical needs
Conceptual, educational and linguistic differences:
- Still developing numeracy and literacy in their L1
- Necessity of opportunities to choose and decide on actions; to
investigate, explore and be curious, etc.

11. All children need stimulating experiences to
make them enthusiastic about learning.
• Metacognition  How children learn to think, plan and remember.
• Role of the teacher: Provide a model of the kinds of strategies that
are useful.

12. Learning and sequential stages
(statement 1)
• Teachers should put emphasis on what children can
reason
• Children can be taught how to extend their powers of
thinking towards more abstract reasoning.
• For teachers, an exciting new move is to teach children
thinking skills .
• For example: in the British Council students are trained
to become aware of the learning points of activities

13. The role of the first language (statement 5)
• All cultures have an oral tradition through which children
learn nursery/action rhymes, traditional tales, songs.
• They are important ways of adapting the child to the
sounds and culture of the L1.
• All these issues are vital to the development of the
child’s L2.

14. Learning, egocentrism and the role of play
• Within the school context children become social beings.
PLAY:
 very important in the first three years of schooling
 Provides important acknowledgement of the importance
of imagination and emotions promoting INTELLECTUAL
development.
 Children fully engaged and interested for some time.
 In young children  SOCIAL development

15. The uniqueness of learners (statement 6)
• LEARNED-CENTRED TEACHING: every child is a
unique individual, with a unique set of experiences and
understandings. Gradually constructs his/her own view
of the world.
• But to respect children’s individualities, it’s equally
important to recognize their similarities.

16. Learning style & Multiple intelligences
• Three kinds of LEARNING STYLES were developed by
the Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP):
1: Visual Learning Style
2: Auditory Learning Style
3: Kinesthetic Learning Style
In addition to the three learning styles, Gardner has
suggested there are also several kinds of intelligence:

17. Multiple intelligences and its language activities
1: Linguistic Int.: good vocabulary acquired through
storytelling, word, reading, writing games, using puppets,
crosswords.
2: Logical-Mathematical Int.: good at using computers,
likes classifying, sequencing. Word, reading, writing
puzzles, computer games.
3: Spatial Int.: a learner enjoys drawing. Using pictures,
charts. Learns through videos and songs.
4: Kinesthetic Int.: learns through moving objects. TPR,
dancing, action rhymes, songs and games.

18. 5: Musical Int.: learns well using rhymes and songs.
6: Interpersonal INT.: learns well from group work
activities, brainstorming, dialogues, interviews.
7: Intrapersonal Int.: likes to reflect through project work,
presentations, creative writing.
8: Naturalist Int.: notices similarities and differences, likes
grouping. Nature project.
Armed with this knowledge, teachers can provide enough
varieties of activities to reach all the pupil’s potential.

19. Thinking about pupils’ learning
• Teacher generate personal theories on children’s
learning in 5 main ways:
1: Through their own memories of childhood learning.
2: Through their teacher training.
3: Through reflection while they are in the classroom.
4: After being in the classroom, talking to colleagues.
5: Through professional development activities.
The more the experience  the more understanding
Children = age but different developmental stages.

20. Teaching, learning and language skills
How to teach English to children
Supporting transfer of language learning skills from the L1 to the
L2
• Provide visual support
• Incorporate balanced repetition
• Use inductive exercises
• Take advantage of children’s skills at guessing and predicting
• Provide opportunities for meaningful communication activities
• Create a balance between providing support and providing a
challenge
• Encourage students to take risks and to experiment
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE PUPILS’ CAPABILITIES

21. Teaching- centred or learning- centred?

22. Types of language teaching approach
• Audio-lingual
• Total physical response (TPR)
• The communicative approach
• Task-based learning (TBL)
*pre-task preparation
*the task itself
*language focus
• Story-based methodology
• Cross curricular

23. Stages in learning
provide the sort of scaffolding which helps children to think
and learn with motivation, success and confidence.
• Meeting a new language
• Manipulating new language
• Making the language your own

24. Task design
• Activities prepare pupils for the language and thinking
demands of a task by providing different kinds of
support.
• Tasks need to be supported by a previous focus on
language forms, skills and strategies developed through
activities.