This document discusses several key points about child language acquisition: - Children can learn language remarkably from birth without any prior knowledge by assimilating rules. - Their language develops creatively beyond repetition as they produce new words and structures. - Several questions are raised about the process of rule learning and the stages of language acquisition. - The critical period for language acquisition has been controversial but children's motor development runs parallel to their language growth. - Parents play an important role through repetitive games and interactions with their children.

1. Important Points:

2. Child Language
 A child is a perfect language learner.
 The way it is achieved is crucial to someone who has
an interest in teaching and language learning.
 Humans have a unique developed system of
communication.

3. A remarkable Experience !
 It is a remarkable achievement for an infant to acquire
a language from zero without any previous knowledge
of any language system.
 Compare this experience to 2nd language learning.

4. The Creative Nature of Language
 Children assimilate the rules of the language and
produce new language items which are not built on
merely repetition.

5. Several questions are raised:
 What is the process by which the children learn these
rules?
 What stages be gone through to acquire a language?
 Are these stages the same for all children regardless
nationality?
 Think about Language Universals.

6. Critical age for Language
acquisition
 It has been a controversial issue…
 See Piaget.. & Slobin

7. How does a child react to sound and speech?
Check Villiers & De Villiers “Early Childhood”p. 23

8. See stages of Development in the
acquisition of Language.
 Investigate the relation between language
development occuring parallel with Motor
development.
 Yet Language development does not depend on it.
 The first sound that a baby produce is the cries at
birth.

9. Semantic Development
 The child use of words may or may not correspond to
adult meaning.
 The child give his own features to his language.
 There are two processes :
 A. overextension
 B. Under extension

10. The importance of the parents
Role.
 The mother’s role is crucial.
 Parents play repetitive games.
 There is a tendency not to respond to correction.
 Check also Telegraphic speech ( Brown & Fraser 1963)

11. Two types of Language.
 According to Nelson (1973) , there are :
 Functional & referential Language.
 According to Noam Chomsky ( 1965), we all have
L.A.D.
 Learning about L1 gives insight to teach L2
 Investigate the case of Genie.