Language Acquisition

    Language acquisition is the way a person can understand, learn, and comprehend a language. There are two types of acquisitions: first-language and second-language. First language acquisition is when a child is learning their native language because of sounds around them. Second language acquisition is learning the elements of a new language while already having a native tongue. In this blog post, I will be explaining the six steps a second language acquisition goes through. 

    The first stage is "the silent period." This is when a child is surrounded by people speaking another language they don't know or understand yet and they just don't talk. These kids won't talk for a couple of weeks till they start getting a little familiar with the language. The second step will be early production. This starts when the student gets familiar with basic words or sentences. The child won't talk unless they are directly spoken to or they need to ask a question. They are still struggling with the language but are getting there. Speech emergence is the third stage. In this stage, the child is speaking more with longer sentences and fewer mistakes. Beginning fluency is the fourth stage and this is when the child starts being more fluent with their peers. Since they are still learning the language they sometimes have cutoff sentences due to not knowing a word or two. In the intermediate fluency stage, the child can be in social discussions and not feel self-conscious. They are starting to grasp the new language. The final stage is advanced fluency and this is when the child is able to understand the language as a whole. 

    These strategies are some that teachers can use in their classroom with a child who is barely learning a language. You can help the students start understanding more by asking them to point at different pictures while you are teaching a new lesson. Another strategy is to ask them simple yes or no questions. The teacher can also change the desks to a group setting so they can do a little bit of group work to encourage the new language learner to speak and interact.

Robertson, Kristina and Ford, Karen. "Language Acquisition: An Overview." Colorin Colorado,18 February 2020, https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-acquisition-overview. Accessed 18 April 2024.