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Gonzalo Alejandro Hernandez--1st Language vs. 2nd Language Acquistion (15) There is a common misconception about 2nd language learners; the older you get the less ability you have about that language. How is that so? Why is it that a child who barely has knowledge about the world around him or her can truly manifest a greater capacity for learning a 2nd language than fully matured adults? Contrarily to popular belief, adults ARE as capable as young children. In the article I researched, it compares first and second language acquisition between a child and adult. It states that “a child learns a 2nd language faster in a less structured way where the main mechanisms of learning are speaking and listening whereas an adult acquires the 2nd language better when it is structured and is related to native language” (Article 1). There are three types of comparisons between child and adults. The first type known as (C1-C2) examines the acquisition of native tongue and second language only among child. The second type known as (C2-A2) compares the abilities of children's second language and an adult's second language. The third and final type is known as (C1-A2) which is a cross-mix of child's native language and an adult's second language. However, linguistic acquisition is influenced by cognitive, affective and physical components. According to the article Comparing and Contrasting First and Second Language Acquisition, “In order to compare and contrast first and second language acquisition, we look at psychomotor, cognitive, affective, linguistic and neurological considerations” (Rehman2). Let's look at each individually. Neurological considerations: The human brain matures and is “lateralized” to the left hemisphere of the brain and certain other functions to the right hemisphere. Intellectual, logical, and analytical appear in the left hemisphere and emotional and social appear in the right hemisphere. Psychomotor considerations: The accent or “speech muscles” are highly related to the neurological component. There are several hundred muscles used in articulation of speech (throat, larynx, mouth, lips and tongue). Cognitive considerations: Human cognition develops rapidly throughout first years of life and then gradually slower after that. Jean Piaget outlines three fundamental intellectual development stages: sensorimotor (ages 0-2), preoperational (ages 2-7), and operational (ages 7-16). Affective considerations: The affective domain includes many factors: empathy, self-esteem, extroversion, inhibition, imitation, anxiety, attitudes. Egocentricity is the case point for human development. Linguistic considerations: People who learn second language in such separate context are referred as coordinate bilinguals and the ones who have one meaning system are known as compound bilinguals. I think this information is relevant to me, because knowing about the different components of linguistics influence the natural growth of an individual. Among the five considerations of language development, cognitive and affective really are pertinent for me. In the classroom, when teaching young children or adults it is imperative to know the cognitive development. From kindergarten to 2nd grade elementary, majority of students will be ‘pre-operational'. This implies that when teaching them language, their brains quickly “accommodate” new words and situations. Teaching post-puberty students, however, operate more abstractly and are more conscience about their surroundings. This is where the affective really relates to me. Students' emotions play a major role in language because of their language development is influenced by the opinion of others. Perhaps the pressure of perfection by their peers or teachers can heavily influence their language acquisition. When teaching adults, however, all the considerations take place. Even though they have a fully mature brain, there is more complexity in their decision making thus affecting their language schema. In my opinion, teaching adults can be relatively easier to teach if we incorporate language schema in their first language. Because, I have studied Korean language, knowing multiple languages such as french, spanish and english, I made the connection between my native languages with Korean so it made learning more complex, abstract ideas easier to comprehend. In conclusion, child and adults CAN learn and second language successfully. However, the methodology of teaching must be considered when preparing a meaningful lesson that relates to them.