Taking a course in linguistics and studying the features of language has changed my perception of language and sparked my interest in some of major topics of linguistics. This class has affected me because it has increased my knowledge of many of the aspects of language which I previously had little to no knowledge. Origination of language, human language and animals, and second language acquisition are just a few of the major topics I learned about. Some other topics I found interesting and would like to learn more about are the different types of linguistics and how they are used and the experiments done involving teaching animals human language. Overall, this course challenged me and help me gain a better understanding of language and its …show more content…
I learned about the origin of language and how there is not a definitive answer of how language came to be but rather there are many theories of how language developed. In my opinion, I believe the Biblical source accurately explains how language originated.
Another topic I learned about is how the properties of human language are so complex that it is unlikely that animals could ever understand it. Many attempts were tried to teach different animals human language, but in the end, the animals specifically chimpanzees were never able to use human language on a level comparable to a human child. Even though chimpanzees could never speak the language, they were able to learn sign language at a basic level and understand questions they were asked through signing.
Lastly, I found second language acquisition very interesting to learn about and how age plays an important role in learning a second language. I learned that once the critical period has passed, which is usually around puberty, it becomes much more difficult to acquire a second language. While it is still possible to learn another language after the critical period, there are more factors affecting how proficient one can become in the new language. I was surprised to learn that babies can not pick up a second language through videos or audio but they have to learn from an actual person. The topics covered in this course were all very interesting and a few I would like to learn more
The film goes into basic information about many of the worlds’ countless distinct languages and language families and how they are diversified throughout the world. The film highlights how a single ancestor language can evolve into a variety of unique languages. These languages divide and change until eventually they become mutually. Many of these languages can be traced back and included in language families. Not all languages can be traced back so easily and because the mutually unintelligibility is so high, similarities to other languages cannot be found.
To fully grasp the importance of these elements, you need to have an understanding of Cormac McCarthy’s essay “The Kekulé Problem”. His piece delves into the origin of language, and the role the unconscious mind played in the development of language. The main point Cormac continually raises throughout his paper is that language did not fulfill a need. Thousands of other mammals
The prehistoric times stand evidence to the power of language as a tool for communication and growth. Language has proven to be an effective medium and factor surrounding the evolution of man. Language has played a big role in the development of individuals and societies. What is spoken and/or written, help in the initiation of imagination, expression of feelings, and conveyance of thoughts and ideas.
The theory that had most impact on my understanding of the process of language acquisition, development and learning was the Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis. The Acquisition/Learning hypothesis was developed by Stephen Krashen. According to the textbook, he is a seminal researches in the innastis tradition, who developed five hypotheses about second language acquisition. All these hypotheses are relevant to educating English Language Learners and how they learn. The Acquisition/Learning hypothesis really made most sense to me and I was able to relate to it. It really helped me understand the process of acquiring a language and how different it can be from learning.
As a second language learner I have never expected myself to be a perfect writer throughout the semester. Even If English was my first language still, I would not be a perfect writer. It is not about first or second language, it is about how well I understand the learning objectives. Then organizing and writing with my own ideas and putting them in my paper. I am going to be honest, I am not good at English subject and English subject is my strongest weakness than the other subjects. In this paper I will discuss and analyze my own writing, reflecting on the ways that my writing has improved throughout the semester.
Over the course of time the topic of language has been a catalyst for many discussions and debates as to if it is learned throughout one's life, or is it a hard copy instinct the one is born with. Many scientists and writers in the humanities field have their own opinions as to what they believe about language and its plight in human society. One writer challenges many of our educators and scholars today by expressing his thoughts on the instinct to understand, learn, and speak language.
Teaching strategies of a foreign language class have evolved from a long history of useless methods that do not fulfill the goal of language acquisition. The main goal of a foreign language class in terms of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards is that the students be able to communicate using the foreign language. Communication refers to the student’s ability to converse with a native speaker of the language that has been studied. In the past, it was assumed that students must first learn the rules of grammar and then use those rules to construct sentences and communicate, but there have been several linguistic theories that have refuted this methodology.
Richards, J. C., Platt, J., & Plat, H. (2000). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied linguistics. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
To continue with the key features, language is known to be special because of how children are able to learn in ways that are different from learning other things. (Willingham, 2007). Strong evidence shows how prepared the human brain is to learn language with very little stimulation. The results that show this point of view to be true is known to be the worldwide consistency of language learning.
The process of learning a second language has many difficulties, but my process of learning another language reminds me to when I was a child trying to learn the alphabet and accomplishment the skills of speech to be able to communicate with others. Today, after the process I already did when I was a child, I have to start again in order to learn another language. First, I start to learn the alphabet that was not difficult at all; however, as I was learning more advance terms, learning English began to become more complex, but “The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell” (Douglass 101). In my English class the professor made me to learn ten simple words every single week although the problem was that every single word I had to know the correct spelling, pronunciation, and the use of the word. The process of learning new vocabulary was not as tough as being able to make coherent sentences. I remember, I joined into a conversation club with others students who want to learn English too, but some students had a higher or lower knowledge of English ; as a result, we exchanged our knowledge with the other students; learning from each other like Douglass when he learned from the other white boys; in contrast, he exchanged bread
Language is a part of our everyday lives, and we can describe the meaning of language in many ways. As suggested in Gee and Hayes (2011, p.6 ) people can view language as something in our minds or something existing in our world in the form of speech, audio recordings, and writings or we can view language as a way of communicating with a group of people. Language can be used to express our emotions, make sense of our mental and abstract thoughts and assists us in communicating with others around us. Language is of vital importance for children to enable them to succeed in school and everyday life. Everyone uses both oral and written language. Language developed as a common ability amongst human beings with the change
When I reflect back to the beginning of this semester I am astonished at how much I have learned. English 124 has been a real eye opener for me. Not only have I grown as a writer, but it has challenged me to become more of a critical thinker. In the class we have read many articles on diverse topics, studied theories of history’s greatest philosophers of education, and wrote various styles of papers.
Learning a new language may take its own time and dedication. Once if you learn second language and being fluent in second language offers numerous benefits and opportunities. Second language learning is exciting and benefit in all ages. It can surely provide practical, intellectual and many aspiration
In high school, English was my strongest and favorite subject. I never had to work as hard in English as I did in math or any other subjects I took in high school. My peers would cram all night for a Literature test we were going to have but not I. I excelled in writing essays about Moby Dick and his white Whale or Beowulf and Grendel. My confidence in my ability to write was always high and when I enrolled at Chattahoochee, I assumed my confidence would not waiver. When I received my grade for my first paper, I was in shock of all the red ink that covered it. English 1101 taught me the skills I needed to have to be able to write a great paper and prepared me for what was to come for English 1102. English 1102 have taught me to rethink my abilities as a writer and to work harder and spend more time on my essays and think outside the box.
For decades, foreign language teachers wandered in a scientific abyss. Until 1983, there had been little real research dealing with the ways in which someone acquires a second language. Teachers mostly used the audiolingual classroom model that had been in place for the past twenty years (or, even worse, the literally ancient grammatical translation model that had been used by civilizations millennia old). Clearly, language teaching methodology was in a poor situation. In 1983, however, Krashen published the results of an unprecedented body of research and paved the way for a revolution in our field. His five-point hypothesis focused on the difference between the acquisition of and the learning of a second language. Krashen has his detractors, of course, not the least of whom are American school districts, which have been reluctant to implement his teachings. Most experts agree, however, that his ideas are the most meritorious of the theories in circulation now, and schools that refuse to incorporate them are doing their students a disservice.