Learning a Second Language- Bilingualism
Nowadays, many parents are deciding to raise their children bilingually, as this allows the parent’s languages to be preserved. As well, learning two languages allows the child to communicate with more people, whether it be relatives or friends, providing them with more opportunities in life. The approaches taken for parents to this include ‘One parent, one language’, ‘One parent, Two languages’ and many other methods.
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In other families, parents may decide to use one language at home which they speak to the child from birth that is different from the language which the child is exposed to outside home. This means that the child is acquiring one language after the other during childhood. This is termed as ‘consecutive bilingualism.’ |
Children raised bilingually usually acquire their respective languages in a similar way to those who learn a singular language. Below are the major stages for developing simultaneous bilingualism and to some extent consecutive bilingualism:
Stage 1: Children develop a vocabulary consisting of words from both languages. These words are usually not translations of each other. Stage 2: When the child reaches the two-word stage, words from both languages may be mixed and used in the same utterance. This tends to decrease as the child get older. Stage 3: The child’s vocabulary becomes filled out by acquiring words the both languages for the same concept. However, the development of the different subsystems take a little longer. |
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Factors that influence second language learning
- Age factor: The younger a person is, the easier it is for them to learn a language. This is due to physiological factors. In young children, the connections between different concepts in the brain are formed rapidly, but this slows down with increasing age. As well, children are more capable of adjusting their vocal mechanism to incorporate sounds from other languages. - Input: For younger children, the input they receive are simplified and they are not expected to respond to questions appropriately. However, for older learner, the input becomes much more complex and they are expected to respond to questions appropriately, forcing them to try to piece together complex structure before they are ready. - Young children who learn a language from birth take the input as it comes and assimilate it into the systems of language they are developing. However, the way in which older learners process input received is often distorted by the language they have already learnt. - Social and cultural factors: Young children are usually more flexible on taking on additional social and cultural identities as they have not yet developed their own, allowing them to learn another language more easily. |
Similarities between 1st and 2nd language acquisition
- Universal grammar may influence learning in both first and second language acquisition. - Making mistakes and being corrected is a key part in learning any language. - The stages for each language development is still quite predictable. Even though individual may move through these stages at different stages, they still follow a sequential order. - Age is an important factor affecting the acquisition of all languages - Overgeneralisation tends to happen quite often - To increase their proficiency, learners need opportunities to learn language in the correct context. - To understand the language they’re learning, learners use prior knowledge, situation signs and interactions. |