Language Acquisition

The Linguistic Society of America
How do children acquire language? Do parents teach their children to talk?

No. Children acquire language quickly, easily, and without effort or formal teaching. It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not.

Although parents or other caretakers don't teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role
by talking to their children. Children who are never spoken to will not acquire language. And the language
must be used for interaction with the child; for example, a child who regularly hears language on the TV or
radio but nowhere else will not learn to talk.

Children acquire language through interaction — not only with their parents and other adults, but also with
other children. All normal children who grow up in normal households, surrounded by conversation, will
acquire the language that is being used around them.

And it is just as easy for a child to acquire two or more languages at the same time, as long as they are regularly interacting with speakers of those languages.


It's far easier for a child to acquire language as an infant and toddler than it will be for the same child to
learn, say, French in a college classroom 18 years later.

http://www.linguisticsociety.org/files/Language_Acquisition.pdf

Language environment in learning English

According to the most recent research, English Language Learners need ample opportunities to interact with those beyond their own level of proficiency, as well as to hear and participate in language and cognitive activities within (context).
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2012/10/04/20121004states-education-english-inadequate.html?nclick_check=1

死偏心

Good start

The School Foundation fundraises for and helps support Florence 1, and director Debbie Hyler said early childhood education is one of the organization’s top priorities because there is such a need in the community and it yields better results for students down the road.

“When they start off behind, they stay behind and require remediation later,” Hyler said. “It is critical when you hear that children of poverty have heard 30 million fewer words by the time they’re 4 and that’s difficult to compensate for later on because that’s the time when brains develop and neurons are connecting.”

http://www2.scnow.com/news/pee-dee/2012/oct/03/early-childhood-education-under-microscope-florenc-ar-4680382/

Exposure to loving chatter = explosion of language skills

Brain connections that begin to form in the first months of life are critical. Young children who are exposed to lots of loving chatter will experience an explosion of language skills as toddlers. Without early stimulation, the architecture of the young brain won’t develop in the same way and will provide a much poorer foundation for the future ability to learn.

Dr. Jack P. Shonkoff, director of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, met with Colorado policy makers on Thursday and spoke to children’s advocates at the annual luncheon for the Colorado Children’s Campaign.

His message was clear: intervene early; intervene now; and pool your resources.

http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2012/10/05/49206-early-experiences-smoking-gun-for-school-success

Early childhood development

Early childhood development is a fragmented system in Australia and in need of an integrated approach, warns a Canadian academic.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-25/australia-urged-to-boost-child-development-efforts/4278874?section=sa

THEORY ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN

In the half-century since Chomsky's theory was first proposed, debate about the origins of language has shifted away from an emphasis on innate capabilities and toward a greater awareness of the role of learning. Language acquisition is now perceived as a process more complex than binary choices that requires more cognition, or thinking.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/224250-chomskys-theory-on-language-development-in-children/

Early experience affects brain development

By Simon J Makin | October 1, 2012 |  

Humans are born to a longer period of total dependence than any other animal we know of, and we also know that mistreatment or neglect during this time often leads to social, emotional, cognitive and mental health problems in later life. It’s not hard to imagine how a lack of proper stimulation in our earliest years – everything from rich sensory experiences and language exposure to love and care – might adversely affect our development, but scientists have only recently started to pull back the curtain on the genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms (which is strongly affected by early experience) that might explain how these effects arise in the brain.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/10/01/the-story-of-a-lonely-brain/