LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.   Term Paper ID:30192 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines the cognitive processes of Hispanic pre-school children to become bilingual in Spanish and English.... More...

7 Pages / 1575 Words 7 sources, 20 Citations, APA Format $28.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Examines the cognitive processes of Hispanic pre-school children to become bilingau in Spanish and English. Contends that the common language base of English and Spanish makes learning a second language earier for very young brains. The process of leanaing lauguage in human development. Relation of cognitive development to mastering a second language. Paper Introduction: This paper is an examination of the cognitive processes by which Hispanic pre-school children master their native language and then become bilingual in English. Acquiring a mastery of one language and then of a second language is an individual process, but it follows similar paths and uses the same distinct parts of the brain in each human being. Because Spanish and English have many semantic and syntactic similarities and because learning a second language is actually easier for very young brains, becoming bilingual at an early age is usually simpler for young children. Learning to master the language of the surrounding environment is an essential process in human development. Brian MacWhinney (1998) observes, "Children learn language gradually and inductively, rather than abruptly and deductively" (p. 199). Langu Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Language acquisition is an important means bywhich the individual joins and participates in the larger society. Nonetheless, all children at thisstage are developing their own versions of three kinds of maps, which areinternal ways of organizing sounds, concepts, and articulations that allowthem to make sense of the communication process. Cognitivedevelopment. 2 2). Nonetheless, children may have adistinct advantage over adults in language learning" (pp. Once the child has built a vocabulary of around 1 words, most thenundergo what researchers term a "vocabulary spurt," during which the childadds many more additional words and the syntactic structures in which theycan be used to his or her understanding. Vocalization begins with cries that signal pain, hunger,pleasure, and other essential emotional needs. The precise timing for optimal bilingual acquisition depends on theindividual. (1998, November).Effects of bilingual cooperative integrated reading and composition onstudents making the transition from Spanish to English reading. The drive to acquire a second (or third or fourth) language is notfueled by the same instinctual needs. As children begin to use simple words and build a small vocabulary,they are strongly influenced by the most significant sounds around them.MacWhinney (1998) writes, "Infants tend to prefer sounds produced by theirown mothers to those produced by other women . (1993). Nor is there much evidence for any tightlinkage before nine months between the form of the child's babbling and theshape of the input language" (p. New insights into how babies learnlanguage. Danuta Bukatkoand Marvin W. . MargaritaCalderon and her colleagues (1998, November) argues, "Hispanic students ingeneral, especially those from Mexican-American and Puerto Rican families,perform less well than Anglos in school . Indeed, research suggests that the successful mastery of a secondlanguage at an early enough stage give the individual more effective toolsto add additional languages later in life. This may be one of the reasons that bilingual mastery is inherentlymore challenging than is the acquisition of a first language. H.; & Miller, S. MacWhinney (1998) notes that babbling is a critical transition to thebeginnings of vocal speech, as children learn which sounds will be mostuseful to them and which to discard: "In effect, children spend much of thefirst year of life losing the ability to make contrasts that are not usedin the speech they hear about them" (p. W. (1997, August 1). . . Boston: Houghton Mifflin. . Locke, J. . Babbling appears to be a critical step in eventual vocalization,allowing the child to begin to refine the sounds that will be needed tobegin to communicate. 199). A. Bukatko and Daehler (1998)note, "The older [students] were before learning English, the poorer weretheir scores on the grammar test . During the first years of life, this complex anddemanding process is driven by the fact that, if they do not master eventhe most basic communication skills, they will be isolated from theirimmediate environment and unable to share more than their most basic needs. Flavell and his colleagues (1993) note thatbetween ten and twelve months the infant's babbling begins to change andthe child starts to speak a few words; research, they observe, "suggeststhat children first use language for expression more than for gettingthings done in the world" (p. As the childgrows and continues to develop cognitive skills and structures, thesurrounding conditions that made the initial acquisition so natural havechanged dramatically. Although they are not yetready to build an understanding of more than one language, they are alreadygetting rid of some of the innate skills that might otherwise facilitatetheir ability to speak languages that are radically different from theirnative language. 2 3). 238). . References Barinaga, M. Therefore, the earlier a second language can beintroduced, the more likely it is to find fertile ground for becoming anintrinsic part of the individual's cognitive structure. . 2 -2 1). In fact, Whinney(1998) observes, "The basic orientation of the child's first words andearly grammar is not toward some objective, nominal, cognitive reality, buttoward the interpersonal world involving people and social roles" (p. (2 , December 9). Models in the emergence of language. and drop out at three timesthe Anglo rate" (p. It is at this point that the individual may be able to begin to add asecond language. (1998). ElementarySchool Journal, 99(2), 153-164. . In order to compete on an equal footing, theyneed to have as complete a mastery of English as possible, even when theirnative language and home environments are entirely Spanish, and suchmastery is unlikely to be provided by parents who are not themselves fluentin English. BecauseSpanish and English have many semantic and syntactic similarities andbecause learning a second language is actually easier for very youngbrains, becoming bilingual at an early age is usually simpler for youngchildren. Science, 277(5326), 641-642. . 238-239). Bukatko, D., & Daehler, M. Tissues further back, in the section known asWernicke's area, process abstract properties of speech and language. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. The initial vocabulary in most Western cultures, "in languages thattend to emphasize nouns" (MacWhinney, 1998, p, 2 2) such as Spanish andEnglish, is heavily weighted toward words for objects. That world then providesdirect responses that help to continue to build vocabulary and start togive the child the syntactic context in which to communicate more broadly.McWhinney (1998) notes the importance of these interactions: "The fact thatfeedback is so consistently available for word learning increases ourwillingness to believe that major determinants of word learning are socialfeedback, rather than innate constraints or even word learning biases" (p.2 3). By 14 months, children are usually beginning to use words and to matchthem to meanings, and, to avoid the confusion of such an overwhelming job,they tend "to disregard information that is not absolutely necessary"(Barinaga, 1997, August 1, p. This paper is an examination of the cognitive processes by whichHispanic pre-school children master their native language and then becomebilingual in English. Therefore, the "best time" to learn a second language isespecially dependent on the individual; too early, and the pressure tobuild maps that accommodate a different lexicon may be too much for thechild to handle, too late, and the structures that would make suchadditional knowledge an integrated part of the child's facility tocommunicate may already have been formed. Although the child who has masteredone language ought theoretically to be able to apply those skills tolearning another language, vocabulary, and syntax, the biologicalimperative is not the same. Learning to master the language of the surrounding environment is anessential process in human development. between closely related lexical items" (p. 287). It appears to be uniquelyhuman, as well, the vital process that makes the individual an effective,involved, participating member of society. 2 2). MacWhinney, B. Language acquisition is a complex process. 435). The ability to master a second language appears to be related to theindividual's cognitive development; if maps are formed at this stage thatallow for diverse meanings, expanded vocabulary, and syntactic diversity,the individual may be more likely to add other languages later in life.Yet, these skills are more often present in the very young, as part of theoverall process of basic language acquisition. B.Bower (2 , December 9) notes that evidence shows that individuals wholearned a second language as an adult store their vocabulary in a separatepart of Broca's area, rather than combining the different languages in onecommon area as do those who became bilingual much younger. AnnualReview of Psychology, 49, 199-127. 153). 2 ).Children learn to speak in order to express themselves and communicate withthose around them. American Scientist, 82(5), 436-445. MacWhinney (1998) notes that linguistic progress "is dependenton the rate of cognitive development, with slower developers having a laterspurt" (p. Locke (1994, September-October)notes that infants as young as eight months may understand specific wordsthat they will not begin to vocalize until they reach the age of two. (1998), Child development: A thematicapproach, 3rd ed. MacWhinney (1998) observes, "The formal structures of language emergefrom the interaction of social patterns, patterns implicit in the input,and pressures arising from the biology of the cognitive system" (p. John L.Locke (1994, September-October) writes, "Vocalization of babies changes tocoherent language due to their need to communicate emotional requirements"(p. Yet, the ability to communicate effectively in English is critical tothe individual's ability to function in American society. As maps begin to form in the child's brain, thestructures are now coming into place that will allow him or her to assignmultiple meanings and build new cognitive associations. L. Broca's area, in the brain's frontal lobe, governs the individual'sproduction of speech, and the meanings of words is stored in the left partof this area of the brain. John H. They also prefer theirnative languages to other languages" (pp. Daehler (1998) write, "Some individuals who learn a secondlanguage in adulthood acquire the phonology, vocabulary, and syntax of thatlanguage with nativelike proficiency . Factors such as length of experiencewith English, amount of formal instruction in English, or identificationwith American culture could not account for the findings" (p. Brian MacWhinney (1998) observes,"Children learn language gradually and inductively, rather than abruptlyand deductively" (p. Language goes beyond sight, sound inbrain. . 2 ). Science News, 158(24), 373-376. Acquiring a mastery of one language and then of asecond language is an individual process, but it follows similar paths anduses the same distinct parts of the brain in each human being. Flavell, J. While babblingoften sounds the same in babies of diverse cultural backgrounds and "mayinclude some strange sounds like clicks that are not found" in the infant'snative language, "it is not true that each child babbles all the sounds ofall the world's languages. 642). 2 4). In other words, the child's first words are those that will help him orher deal directly with the surrounding world. In fact, someresearch suggests that individuals who begin to learn a second languagebefore the age of four use the same part of their brains to store bothlanguages, while adults who became bilingual later store their knowledge indiscrete sections. Phases in the child'sdevelopment of language. Flavell and his colleagues (1993) remark on the daunting challenge thisprocess presents: "It may be necessary to know a fair amount of linguistictheory to appreciate fully the staggering amount of complexly organizedgrammatical knowledge a native speaker of any language tacitly has" (p.276). At this early stage,they find it easiest to focus on one language and one vocabulary: "Thetendency to avoid learning two names for the same object emerges naturallyfrom the competition . 2 1). The bilingual child tends to bemore receptive to becoming the multilingual adult. Bower, B. H.; Miller, P. According to MacWhinney (1998), this progresses at around three monthsto include cooing and, at around six months, to babbling. Calderon, M.; Hertz-Lazarowitz, R.; & Slavin, R. The ways in which languageprogresses at this stage is highly individual, "self-organizing," inMacWhinney's (1998) words: "There is no preestablished pattern for thesemappings and no preordained relation between particular nodes andparticular feature patterns" (p. (1994, September-October). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.