The procedure of learning the primary language can be elaborated very simply: children first produce single words, then they learn to unite words into phrases, and with time they learn to combine phrases into sentences. This developmental procedure is driven by the urge to converse, which is part of every child’s biological inheritance. Right from the birth, children communicate with the people in their instant surroundings – initially through eye contact, then through gesture and posture. It has been rightly said that young children are natural language acquirers. They are self-motivated to choose a language without conscious learning, unlike adolescents and adults.
It declares that learners have two different and detached approaches of improving their capacity in the target language. The first approach is language acquisition , which is a procedure analogous to the way that kids learn their source language. Language acquisition is a subconscious procedure , the effect of language acquisition is acquired efficiency , which is also subconscious. In general , we don’t have enough information about the rules that we have acquired , but we have a spontaneous feeling to correct the mistakes which we have picked up through the speech that we have heard. Other approaches of describing acquisition contains , implicit learning , informal learning , and natural learning.
Which is the best approach to be implemented? This question relates to a long-standing debate among language teachers in the context of EFL/ESL, since the two had their own significances for Particular learner progress. On one side, deductive approach can be effective with students of a lower level, who are beginning to learn the basic structures of the language, or with students who are accustomed to a more traditional style of learning (Goner, Philips, and Walters,1995,p.134). Also, Deductive approach goes straightforwardly to the point and can, therefore, be time-saving for the teacher and the class. Robinson (1996) proved that learners performed grammatical tasks better and reacted faster in deductive rather than inductive teaching.
Why Universal Grammar? The logical problem of language acquisition The agreement on the type of biological basis to the first language acquisition are widely well known. Also, the capacity of the language is specific. The ability to acquire the languages or the child's first language is independent of intelligence. The acquisition pattern is comparatively orderly across children, different cultures and different languages.
This entails delving into the many intricacies of human cognitive capacity, paradigms of language and gradual learning among others. It is no exaggeration to say that a person initiates language learning from the cradle, being exposed to it on a daily basis he or she subconsciously accustoms to and acquaints oneself with the rules and nuances of what we call: one’s native language. This natural learning is later on supplemented with didactic approach to ensure proper use and fluency. Depending on the region of birth, a person will ,in most instances, find himself or herself learning the so called second and foreign languages. Second language is a language used in the locale of the speaker and is taught along with the native one, which we call the first language.
First and second language acquisition arises from natural and not academic techniques; in other words, children acquire them by means of exposure and interaction in environments where the target languages are spoken. Children are conscious that language is used to communicate; however, they are unable to explain its grammatical rules. For this reason, the acquisition of a language is considered a subconscious process. Throughout this part of the study, different perspectives concerning the acquisition of both linguistic systems will be presented. First, language acquisition is understood as the process in which the mother tongue is acquired.
For example, learning vocabulary, learning structure, pronunciations, learning to communicate in a language and even passing though the stages of automaticity & thought are considered as language learning. He was amazed that all of the stages are influenced by motivation as well. The third point that he wanted to see from the contextual views; Educational Context and Cultural Context. Studying a second language is not the same as studying most other subjects as it involves with the elements of different culture while most other school subjects involve the element common to one’s own culture. Educational Context is for any school subject while Cultural Context is for something not relevant to most school subjects.
As I mentioned above, language is just a tool in assisting the thought. Language does not alter or change the perception of the nature and content. On the other views of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the relationship between language and thought can be based on the individual’s experience. Since I am a bilingual and learn the second language at a very young age, comprehension in my second language is sometimes based on my first
Learning a foreign language nowadays generally focuses on the four learning skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing in order that the students will be able to master their language competences in everyday life . For effective communication in any language, we need these four skills. The natural way of learning our first language begins with listening, then speaking, after that reading, and finally writing. (Richards, Platt & Platt, 1992) One of the important skill to start learning a foreign language is listening skill. We notice that we use the same theory to learn any foreign language; the learners listen first the language and then imitate what they heard.
They all concentrated on the components of the English language, namely words, structures, word-order, grammar etc. The communicative method almost ignored this function of the language and succeeded in imparting knowledge of language forms and rules. Communicative methods followed by: The method is function-based and task-centred While conveying the message is primary, accuracy is secondary Judicious uses of the mother tongue are translation is allowed to help student to perform the task Pair work and group work are frequently used in the classroom. The Bilingual Method: This method was first adopted by Dr.C.J. Dodson who also experimented it on students and achieved good results.