First Language Acquisition and Second Language Acquisition

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First Language Acquisition and Second Language Acquisition Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language, as well as to produce and use words and sentences to communicate. Language acquisition is one of the quintessential human traits, because nonhumans do not communicate by using language. Language acquisition usually refers to first-language acquisition, which studies infants' acquisition of their native language. This is distinguished from second-language acquisition, which deals with the acquisition (in both children and adults) of additional languages. First Language Acquisition There are three main theoretical approaches to child language acquisition: * Cognitive theory (Piaget) * Imitation and positive reinforcement * innateness of certain linguistic features (Noam Chomsky) Stages in child language acquisition—Universal * Pre- Speech Stage * Bubbling Stage * One word Holoprastic Stage * Two words Stage The children will highly acquire the native language by age of six. Second Language Acquisition Stages in SLA: * Pre-Production * Early production * Speech Emergence * Intermediate Fluency * Advanced Fluency Stage 1: Pre-Production * This is the silent period. * The learners are not really producing language but are parroting. * Teachers should focus attention on listening comprehension activities and on building a receptive vocabulary. * English language learners at this stage will need much repetition of English. Stage 2: Early Production * This stage may last up to six months and students will develop a receptive and active vocabulary of about 1000 words. * Students can usually speak in one- or two-word phrases. Suggestions for Working with Learners in this Stage: * Ask yes/no and either/or questions. *
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