how children learn langages

How

children

learn

languages

Laura Díez Puertas

Silvia Rodríguez Lavín

Lidia Ruiz López

Jesica Fuentes Diego

Psychologists language learning acquisition

theories

Behaviorist theory

Cognitivist theory

Social-interactionist theory

Nativist theory

How children learn their first language?

The process of acquiring the first language

What children want to do with language

Are the first language and the second one acquired in the same way?

Does younger mean better?

Bilingualism and multilingualism

Who learns how much of what language under that conditions?

Psychologists language learning acquisition

theories

Behaviorist theory:

- Main representative: Skinner (1957) Verbal

Behavior

- Main feature behavior is caused by external stimuli “stimulus-response” influenced by the environment

- Importance of positive reinforcement

- Animal studies Pavlov’s Dog

Cognitivist theory:

- Main representative: Piaget “La

formation du symbole chez l’enfant” (1946)

- Main feature: certain thinking skills must first mature in order to create a framework for early language development.

- The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH): there is a specific and limited time for language acquisition.

Social-interactionist theory:

- Main representative: Vygotsky.

- Developed in the late 1970s and 1980s

- Main idea importance of social factor

- Human social interactions children can learn better/faster with the help of someone who knows more than they can do alone

- Creative, imitation and practices are very important

- It’s necessary to propose activities that pose challenges

Nativist theory:

- Main representative Chomsky

- Developed in 17th and 18th centuries

- Main idea innate and therefore universal features of human mind

- Children are pre-programmed to learn a language

How do children learn their first language?

1. The process of acquiring the first language

2. What children want to do with language

0-8 months: babbling. 11 months – 2 years: put names. 18 months – 2 years: join two words.

1. The process of acquiring the first language

1. The process of acquiring the first language

6 – 12 years: syntactic and lexical complexity, and vocabulary. + 12: conversational skills.

3 - 4 years: norms about phonology, syntax and lexis.

1. They want to get attention or information.

2. What children want to do with language

2. Questions about things. 3. Different questions, short sentences.

4. Complex structures to ask or to explain.

5. Vocabulary and

understanding.

2. What children want to do with language

Very similar

Difference in context

Process

Language learning conditions

Are the first language and the second one

acquired in the same way?

Extended idea

There isn’t enough proof

Relationship with the Cognitive-developmental view

Do younger learn better?

“Younger learners learn a second language better than older learners”

True or false?

Bilingual or multilingual

• Children grow up in

different contexts.

• Some schools want to make

their students bilingual or

multilingual (Luxembourgian).

There are differences in language learning opportunities:

• Sweeden, Mexico…

• Countryside, big cities…

The exposure may develop: positive attitudes to

language learning, motivation and interest.

Key question

Who learns? • Individual learner’s differences

• Age

• Motivation

how much of what language? • Goals of language learning

• Curriculum

• Syllabus

under what condition? • Context

Who learns how much of what language

under what conditions?

1. Sequence or general stages

2. Order of language

3. Rate of development

Parts in the development of a

second language

Situational factors

Input

Descontextualized activities

Comprehensible input = key factor

Factors for learning a

second language

Beliefs about how

children learn a

language will

strongly

influence how we

teach them.

A teacher

Conclusions

What do research say?

• Children learn their first language by imitating adults, but also by experimenting and trying out hypotheses about how language works.

• The intelligence quotient (IQ) score does not determinate how fast children learn languages; setting and context are more important.

• A high motivation is an important factor in successful language learning, but it’s not the only one.

Conclusions

4. It’s not always the best to learn when they are below the age of puberty because it depends on all sorts of other factors.

5. To teach languages, teachers can use language structures which have not already been taught if they are contextualized well. In that way, learners often welcome a challenge.

Thank you very much

for your attention!