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Essay on language education
Essay on language education
Essay on language education
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An Article Review of Barry McLaughlin’s
“Myths and Misconceptions about Second Language Learning” In his article, “My and Misconceptions about Second Language Learning,” published in 1992, Barry McLaughlin listed five major myths and misconceptions held by the general public, or specifically by some second language teachers, as well as some contradictory viewpoints about second language learning held by different scholars. In his five main arguments, he puts specific emphases on his suggestions for second language teachers about second language teaching and learning to dispel these five myths and misconceptions. Though diverse and comprehensive, McLaughlin’s synthesis of relevant language teaching and learning studies does not provide enough
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In terms of biological development and cognitive development, he refers to studies that suggest children’s brains work better for language learning and those that suggest adults may make better use of learning strategies and develop meta-linguistic awareness. These two contradictory propositions question whether children are better second language learners or not. In favor of child learners, the Critical Period Hypothesis, supported by Noam Chomsky’s innatist theory about second language acquisition, assumes that language learning is biologically programmed and children do not need to be taught languages. Moreover, one may fail to acquire certain skills or knowledge as long as it misses the period of time it should have acquired them. Therefore, from this viewpoint, children may be more suitable for language learning, concerning their privileged biological functions. However, since adults have more social experiences and further cognitive development, they may take more advantages from the use of learning strategies and meta-linguistic knowledge for learning about vocabulary and grammar. This concept is the opposite of Universal Grammar, which corresponds to the Critical Period Hypothesis, confirming the biological nature of a
There’s a long-standing argument that most people resort to when discussing whether or not children are better suited to acquire a language over adults. The “critical period hypothesis” argues, “that children are superior to adults in learning second languages because their brains are more flexible.” (McLaughlin 2) This argument is true to some extent, however, experimental research has found that adolescents and adults are able to acquire languages better based on their controlled environment. Children, on the other hand, are better able to grasp a better understanding of the pronunciation of languages compared to adults. (McLaughlin
After Lenneberg's (1967) advanced analyses and interpretation of critical period in regards to first language acquisition, many researchers began to relate and study age issue in second language acquisition. In this area of study, Johnson and Newport (1989) is among the most prominent and leading studies which tries to seek evidence to test the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) in second language (L2) acquisition. This study aims to find identifying answers to the question of age-related effects on the proficiency for languages learned prior the puberty.
5. Gibbons, Pauline. Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002. Print.
For a number of years, Noam Chomsky has produced written artefacts relating to the use and acquisition of language. In his works, Chomsky argues that humans have an innate ability to learn how to use language. The question of an innate ability to learn language is a cross-disciplinary one, relating to the fields of psychology, philosophy and linguistics. This essay will review Chomsky’s claim of an innate predisposition to acquire language by first attempting to determine precisely what Chomsky means by this term, before looking at key arguments both supporting and refuting the claim. Finally, a conclusion will be reached as to whether Chomsky’s position can be held as valid based on the evidence reviewed to discuss the claim.
Hurford, James R.. "The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition." Cognition 40, no. 3 (1991): 159-201.
The debate nature/nurture has been a fascinating open question for many years in the field of language development and acquisition. The focus of the dichotomy aspires to understand if language depends on an innate biological endowment or because of the environmental input we receive from the external world. The literature about the nature/nurture debate counts many different theories that have as crucial topics of discussion whether either nature or nurture plays the leading role in language development. One of the most famous theories is the nativist approach, whose father, Noam Chomsky, maintains that language is innate in human because of the Universal Grammar. Actually, according to Chomsky, this ‘gift’ is the child’s initial language faculty and exists prior to any linguistic experience, so that it gives the child the ability to acquire any language (Karmilloff, 2002). In contrast to this theory, the cognitive approach states that language is not innate because we do not have a Universal Grammar, but we learn language through general learning mechanisms. In other words, language is acquired through input and experiences in the environment. Another interesting point of view about the debate nature/nurture are the researches carried out by Lenneberg, who was influenced in his theoretical and practical studies both by Chomsky and by Piaget, father of the cognitive approach that I briefly introduced below. Lenneberg studied atypical language development and carried researches in particular on deaf children, children with focal brain damages and c...
O’Neill,S., Gish, A. (2008). Teaching English as a second language. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
This essay is about a child’s development and learning, focusing primarily on language development. It will describe the main stages of developmental "milestones" and the key concepts involved for children to develop their language skills, discussing language acquisition and social learning theory. The essay will also look into the key theorists involved in language development, primarily Vygotsky and Chomsky, and how these theories have had an impact on the way society views language and their implementation within schools. The essay will describe the factors affecting language development, both biological and environmental. While also discussing key arguments among theorists, one being the nature vs nurture debate, and how these play a part in the teaching in schools.
His theory about “Universal Grammar” is very important when considering the genetic role in language acquisition. Chomsky thinks of the Universal Grammar as model that all languages follow and he says that it defines the various sections of grammar and the relation between them (Fromkin 14). Also, Chomsky believes that this innate ability controls the laws of language (Fromkin 15). “Poverty of stimulus” is an argument supporting the innateness of language where children receive a sequence of sounds and not different structures of the sentences, but they are still capable of reaching the rules, understanding them, and elaborating on these rules (Fromkin 396:397). For example, children may hear their parents saying, “give me the cup” without learning or analyzing the components of this sentence (declarative form, verb noun…etc) they are capable of using it again, but in different meaning as in “give him the tissue”. This illustrates how the genetic factors, innateness, affect language acquisition.
Wilder Penfield and Lamar Roberts first introduced the idea that there is a “critical period” for learning language in 1959. This critical period is a biologically determined period referring to a period of time when learning/acquiring a language is relatively easy and typically meets with a high degree of success. German linguist Eric Lenneberg further highlights Roberts and Penfield’s findings and postulated the Critical Period Hypothesis in 1967. According to the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), certain biological events related to language development can only happen in the critical period. During this time, the brain possesses a degree of flexibility (ability and ease of learning a language) and becomes lateralized (assignment of language functions becomes concrete – either in the left or right hemisphere) (Marinova-Todd, S; Marshall, D & Snow, C. 2000 9-10). This critical period lasts from childhood through the onset of puberty (usually at around 12 years of age). Once this period is over, it is more difficult to learn a language because language functions in the brain have become concrete. This hypothesis can be seen with the case of Genie, a woman who was isolated from human interaction and language up to the age of 13. By the time she was rescued, she was well after the critical period for language acquisition, and as such, she did not have a full command of the English language. Had she been rescued before the age of 13, she may have had more linguistic capability. However, this accounts for firs...
When humans are young, they can hear the sounds better because they aren’t completely fluent in their mother tongue. High schoolers are going to have a harder time understanding the pronunciation. When children are young, they don’t know what learning a language is. They have a better time learning the grammar and sentence structure because their native grammar isn’t engraved into them yet. Children don’t question why the grammar is the way it is.
Still today, it is the commonly held belief that children acquire their mother tongue through imitation of the parents, caregivers or the people in their environment. Linguists too had the same conviction until 1957, when a then relatively unknown man, A. Noam Chomsky, propounded his theory that the capacity to acquire language is in fact innate. This revolutionized the study of language acquisition, and after a brief period of controversy upon the publication of his book, Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, in 1964, his theories are now generally accepted as largely true. As a consequence, he was responsible for the emergence of a new field during the 1960s, Developmental Psycholinguistics, which deals with children’s first language acquisition. He was not the first to question our hitherto mute acceptance of a debatable concept – long before, Plato wondered how children could possibly acquire so complex a skill as language with so little experience of life. Experiments have clearly identified an ability to discern syntactical nuances in very young infants, although they are still at the pre-linguistic stage. Children of three, however, are able to manipulate very complicated syntactical sentences, although they are unable to tie their own shoelaces, for example. Indeed, language is not a skill such as many others, like learning to drive or perform mathematical operations – it cannot be taught as such in these early stages. Rather, it is the acquisition of language which fascinates linguists today, and how it is possible. Noam Chomsky turned the world’s eyes to this enigmatic question at a time when it was assumed to have a deceptively simple explanation.
The critical period hypothesis for language acquisition was popularized by neurologist Eric Lenneberg. The hypothesis suggests that if an individual is not exposed to language during a specific period in their childhood then they will have great difficulties acquiring language later in life (Redmond, 1993). I believe the two “wild children” cases of Genie and Victor provides evidence to support the critical period hypothesis. Genie’s case supports the hypothesis because although she developed a vocabulary and despite all of her intense therapy sessions, she still was not able to create meaningful and grammatically correct sentences (Garmon, 1994). Genie’s inability to create real sentences may indicate that she endured the extreme deprivation during her critical period and it prevented her from acquiring language. Victor’s case also supports the critical period hypothesis. The professionals in the documentary The Secret of The Wild Child stated: “While Victor knew how to read simple words, he never learned how to talk” (Garmon, 1994). This quote implicates that similar to Genie, Victor developed a vocabulary,
A linguist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology named Chomsky, declared that we have the ability to learn language not only because somebody taught us, but also because we are born with the principles of language in our genes. Chomsky also said “We have language because of nature, not just nurture” (Everywhere Psychology, 2012). Chomsky was one of the people that believed Genie still had a chance to learn language since everybody is born with the ability to learn. A neuropsychologist named Eric Lenneberg, agreed with Chomsky about humans being born with the ability to learn a language as nature, but believed there is a deadline for learning language. Lenneberg believed that if a first language isn 't learned by puberty it could be too late. What Lenneberg proposed is called the "critical period hypothesis," (Everywhere Psychology,
...rtant point for speaking; critical period hypothesis. If a child starts to learn a second language before the age of 6, s/he will be definitely successful. If a child starts to learn a second language between the age of 12 and 15, s/he will have a chance to be successful but it is very hard to do. In our country, students start to learn a second language at the age of 9(minimum) and it produces poor results.