Teach English in Mianshan Zhen - Jinzhong Shi

Throughout human history, our language has been evolving to be now a complex and distinct system. Today, the existing spoken languages are numbered to about 7000 languages. According to a research, there are at least half of the world’s population being bilingual or multilingual, meaning that they could speak at least two languages at equal fluency. How do these people acquire their first and second language? This article will consider the differences and similarities of the first and second language acquisition. First of all, we will look into their definitions. First language (L1) is often called mother tongue or native language. It is the language learned by a person naturally with little effort, usually during infancy or childhood. This is because of the exposure to the language which is used as a tool to interact and communicate within a cultural and ethnic people. As a result, the child can use and think in that language comfortably most of the time with ease. As for second language (L2), it is referred sometimes as a foreign tongue or a target language. It is usually learned at a later stage after a mother tongue. Everyone has a first language but it may not be the case for a second language. L1 and L2 are the major language categories by acquisition, regardless of the numbers for each one of them. One main difference between first and second language acquisition is their learning process. In many lands, due to different linguistic background many bilinguals simply acquire the languages they are exposed to rather than learning them consciously. Therefore, they might possess two first languages simultaneously and grow acquiring them. It is an in-born, instinctive ability found more prominent in infants and children than adults where they could acquire a language through a subconscious process, even without understanding the rule of grammar completely. Often they would face difficulty when asked to explain the grammar. Nonetheless, their learning can be further reinforced in class where they are taught the knowledge of language concepts and rules. The second language is much more complicated than a first language as the person has to learn from scratch, either in classrooms or in a different linguistic environment. Because L1 lays a basis for learning L2, the mind-set of the person has already shaped and could propose either a learning challenge or an advantage. L2 is learned actively and consciously by studying the grammar rules and concepts of the language. As a result, they are more likely to be able to explain the rules and even it is not the mother tongue, they could be very proficient in the target language. However, the general scientific agreement is that L2 cannot reach the same proficiency level as L1. Besides that the variance in learning process for L1 and L2, the period of learning or age factor differs too. According to the Critical Period Hypothesis rendered by Ehrman, it was found out that there is critical period of time which is between the ages of 2 and 12 to acquire the first language more easily. Learning becomes increasingly difficult beyond the time period. While the notion of critical period was only applied to first language acquisition initially, it was later discovered that second language acquisition also has critical period which is until puberty. The phenomenon of adult resistance to second language learning is then explained by this hypothesis: they do not possess the same plasticity as children anymore to attain a native-like fluency. Therefore the time when one begins his L2 acquisition is more important than the duration of learning. Despite the differences, L1 and L2 do share some common grounds. Numerous studies show that both L1 and L2 acquisition have predictable development stages namely: the silent period, formulaic speech, as well as structural and semantic simplification. During the silent period, learners try to acquire by listening to the language while immediate production may not be required from them. At the second stage which is formulaic speech, learners express words in certain routine and pattern as they learn by memorizing words as chunks. As for the third stage, structural and semantic simplification are applied by language learners. Structural simplifications omits grammatical functors such as auxiliary verbs whereas semantic simplifications drop content words in their sentences. These three stages indicates that L1 and L2 learners experience similar stages of development, regardless of the pace of learning. Another similarity between L1 and L2 is that both need input, hearing or receiving the language to learn. It could take place through one to one verbal interaction and other impersonal sources. The purpose is to expose the learner to the target language as much as possible as insufficient comprehensible input may lead to language incompetency. The level of language input can be stepped up while the language learner progresses. In a nutshell, we can conclude that L1 and L2 acquisition are fairly complicated process. As discussed in this article, they both possess differences (learning process and age factor) and similarities (development stages and the need of input). Understanding them better by means of theories and hypothesis is essential and will definitely enhance the quality of teaching at home and in classroom. However, the researches on this topic are on-going and its arguments have not come to a consensus. Therefore, it is best to incorporate in the teaching the student’s profile itself along with teacher’s knowledge and understanding.