extended essay

Running Head: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITION

Children’s Language Development versus Adult Second Language Acquisition

Dylan Djani

Extended Essay Final Draft

Advisor: Mrs. Ford

TOK Teacher: Dr. Cliff

Date: December 14, 2009

Word Count: 3879

IB Candidate Number: 000503-006

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Contents Page

Abstract Page 3

Language Development and Second Language Acquisition Page 4

Introduction Page 4

Aspects of Language Page 5

Language Development Page 6

Theories of Language Development Page 7

Second Language Acquisition Page 10

Theories of Second Language Acquisition Page 12

Comparing Language Development and Second Language Acquisition Page 14

Conclusion Page 16

References Page 17

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Abstract

Being fluent in multiple languages is an extreme asset in today’s society, and the

requirement to be able to speak another language in the workplace is ever increasing. In order to

create an effective language acquisition method, language development as a child should be

compared to acquiring a second language as an adult for similarities and differences that might

aid researchers in creating a language learning method that works for a greater percentage of the

population. Thus, the research question is how does language development as a child compare to

second language acquisition as an adult? By researching language development and second

language acquisition and investigating multiple theories regarding both topics, an important

conclusion can be made: internal and external factors affect both language development and

language acquisition; however, the factors are different for both and also vary. The factors that

allow for language development are no longer there as an adult, making second language

learning as an adult much more difficult. A variety of theories support this, such as the

communication-pressure hypothesis, among others. An ideal language-learning method is one

that works for the most amount of people, and language researchers might be able to become

closer and closer to this goal by singling out the factors of language development that still exist

as an adult.

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Language Development and Second Language Acquisition

Introduction

Foreign languages play a role of ever-increasing importance in today’s society, as more

and more jobs require the ability to converse in languages other than English. As a result

language-learning methods are also becoming more and more important. Psycholinguistics is the

study of speech or language and how it is developed or acquired (Slobin, 1971). Many attempts

have been made using psycholinguistic research to create a program of language learning that

maximizes the learning and consequent performance in the language and minimizes the time

necessary to achieve proficiency, such as Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone. By analyzing the language

development of a child and the process of acquiring a second language as an adult for potential

similarities and differences, a better understanding of the most efficient method of obtaining

fluency in a second language. In other words, a further comprehension of the process of second

language acquisition can lead to improved methods of teaching a second language. Language

development and acquisition are used synonymously, and from some points of view this is

plausible, but in order to compare language development to second language acquisition, the

operational definition of the terms “development” and “acquisition” must be clarified.

“Language development” or “language acquisition” may be used interchangeably, but the term

“second language acquisition” will only be used to refer to the acquisition of a second language

as an adult. How does the development of language as a child compare to the acquisition of a

second language as an adult? Many theories regarding both language development and second

language acquisition have been postulated by various psychological schools of thought. The

underlying difference between the theories is whether or not language development and second

language acquisition are results of nature, or having a biological predisposition or programming

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specifically for that purpose, or nurture, one’s environment, or a combination of the two. Nativist

theories claim that both language development and second language acquisition are a result of

nature, whereas environmentalist theories maintain that they are a result of nurture. Research

regarding bilingualism is also relevant because it provides a basis for comparison for second

language acquisition performance. The development of language as a child has more of an

ease than the acquisition of a second language as an adult because external factors from the

environment and internal biological factors work together to allow for language

development as a child; as an adult external factors and internal factors play less of a role

in second language acquisition because the need to quickly learn a second language does

not arise often in everyday life.

Aspects of Language

The two main aspects of language are production and comprehension, of which the

corresponding brain parts are the Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas respectively (Myers, 2003). At

the base of all languages are phonology, or how the language sounds; semantics, or the meanings

of words; and syntax, or the organization of words and phrases. Phonology can be broken down

into three levels: phonemes, morphemes, and semantics. Phonemes are individual speech sounds

in a language, and morphemes are the smallest unit of meaning in a language (Spencer, 1991).

Examples of phonemes are the sounds of the letters c, a, and t in the word “cat.” Examples of

morphemes are prefixes, suffixes, or stems, such as “pre”, indicating before, or “ed” indicating

the past. The semantics of a language in this case refer to the rules of a language regarding

sentence units and word order and the meaning of them. This differs from the semantics as listed

with phonology and syntax because the semantics under the heading of phonology account for

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the rules of a language, whereas the semantics at the base of all languages refer to the meanings

of words.

Language Development

Language development occurs in stages that research has shown to be constant for all

races and genders (Myers, 2003). The rate at which the language development occurs is,

however, different for each individual. The stages of language development are the babbling

stage, one-word stage, two-word stage or telegraphic speech, and the development of syntax

(Slobin, 1971). The babbling stage begins anywhere between six to twelve months of age and

consists of the baby uttering sounds that do not correspond to any particular language. The one

word stage occurs between twelve and eighteen months, where the child speaks using mostly

single words. Telegraphic speech normally occurs after eighteen months and consists of the child

speaking like a telegram without any auxiliary words, such as “could,” “would,” “ought,” or

“must.” Evidence of the child learning concepts about language can be seen in this stage. In the

final stage of language development, which begins between eighteen and twenty-four months,

the child develops proper syntax and a greater range of vocabulary. Grammatical development

begins in the two-word stage, but the child’s speech can begin to be characterized by hierarchical

structures once the child speaks phrases longer than two words, regardless if these phrases are

correct.

Overgeneralization of grammatical rules and negative evidence also plays a role in

language development (Farrar, 1992). As language development occurs, the child’s grammar

moves from being incorrect to more correct as morphemes such as “ed” are used correctly, but

overgeneralization of rules such as the use of “ed” also occur, with the result being the child’s

usage of words such as “goed” and “doed.” Negative evidence is provided to a child when a

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child’s grammar is corrected through expansions or recasts, although the exact role of negative

evidence is not certain (Morgan, Bonamo, Travis 1995). Expansions are the responding to a

child’s incorrect grammatical sentence with the grammatically corrected version of the child’s

statement (Shaffer, 1993). Recasts are responding to a child’s incorrect grammatical sentence

with a non-repetitive grammatically corrected statement. According to Farrar’s study children of

the average age of 22.8 months were more likely to use correct grammatical morphemes that

were heard in recasts than to use the same information heard outside of recasts, which suggests

that the negative evidence given by recasting a child’s grammar aids the child’s grammatical

development. On the other hand the study done by Morgan, Bonamo, and Travis shows

contradicting results: the analyses failed to show any relationship between recasts and later usage

of correct grammar or self-corrections, but the cumulative effects of recasts was shown to be

related to the child’s overall correct use of grammar. Morgan, Bonamo, and Travis’s possible

explanation for this is that the recasts have an alternative function, namely to encourage a variety

of usage of the language. Their study was a longitudinal study, which eliminates the confounding

variables that would arise if they had not used the same subjects repeatedly.

Theories of Language Development

Theories regarding language development come from a multitude of psychological

schools of thought (Shaffer, 1993). The learning perspective emphasizes processes such as

imitation and reinforcement, which shape the child’s language as the child progresses through

the stages of language development. The nativist perspective holds that humans have an innate,

biological predisposition or programming to develop language. The interactionist perspective

argues that both environmental influences and biological factors combined result of language

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development. The disagreement between language development being a result of nature or

nurture is clearly seen by the differences between the various theories.

Among the first learning perspective theories for language development was Skinner’s

theory that children learn to speak properly due to being reinforced to speak with proper

grammar (Shaffer, 1993). The parents do so by shaping the child’s language and by correctly

interpreting the message that the child is trying to convey. Roger Brown and Camille Hanlon

found that parents are more likely to correct the semantics of the child’s early speech as opposed

to the actual grammatical correctness, which shows that grammatical reinforcement alone cannot

be solely responsible for language development. According to the communication-pressure

hypothesis children learn to speak more grammatically correct due to the need to communicate

effectively to express other needs. This is supported by multiple studies, such as Hoff-Ginsberg

(1996) and Norman-Jackson (1982), of which the results showed that children’s language

development is affected by the willingness of the parents (or other close figures) to initiate and

maintain conversations with the child, but not necessarily reinforcing grammatical correctness. A

social learning theory for language development argues tat language development is a result of

operant conditioning and imitation (Myers, 2003). Studies such as Rice and Wodsmall (1988)

have shown that children quickly learn the meaning of many words in a short period of time, and

children who grow up in specific regions of the world develop regional accents. This shows that

imitation is an important factor for language development.

The nativist perspective argues that language development is a result of biological

processes, and a major proponent of this is Noam Chomsky (Myers, 2003). He postulated that

humans are born with a language acquisition device (LAD), which is an inborn model of the

structure of human languages and the child only needs to acquire enough vocabulary to be able

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to learn a language. Another nativist, Dan Slobin, disagreed with Chomsky about the LAD,

instead arguing that humans have an inborn language-making capacity (LMC), which is a set of

specialized cognitive and perceptual abilities for language learning (Shaffer, 1993). Evidence for

the nativist perspective includes studies that have shown that chimpanzees are capable of

producing American Sign Language words, but with no command of appropriate syntax that is

clearly different from a child in the telegraphic speech phase of language development. Nativists

argue that this is because only humans are born with an LAD or LMC. Eric Lennenberg is

another nativist who strongly stands behind the critical-period hypothesis, which states that

human beings are most equipped to learn language before they reach puberty. A major critique of

the nativist approach is that it does not actually explain language development, which renders it

incomplete.

The interactionist perspective argues that both biological and environmental, or internal

and external, factors combined are responsible for language development (Shaffer, 1993). The

interactionist Piaget argued that language development reflects the child’s cognitive

development, and all children go through the same stages of language development because they

go through the same stages of intellectual growth. Other interactionists agree that cognitive

development plays an important role in language development, but do not place as much

emphasis on it as Piaget. The interactionist perspective accounts for many observations, such as

the observation that children hardly ever produce hypothetical statements until around the age of

four or five. This is because children under this range of ages do not have the capacity to think

about possibilities as opposed to what is actually going on and do not have the ability to change

the frame of reference in their minds to the past or future to make hypothetical statements. Like

the nativists, the interactionist approach argues that children are predisposed to learning

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language, but place emphasis on cognitive development and social factors, which result in

language development.

Second Language Acquisition

The stages of second language acquisition are not as concrete as those of language

development, and many other factors must be considered when analyzing second language

acquisition. A general set of stages for second language acquisition, which is used by Saville-

Troike to compare second language acquisition to language development, is the flow from an

initial state regarding knowledge of the language to intermediate states and eventually to a final

state (Saville-Troike, 2006). For acquiring a second language as an adult the initial state involves

knowledge of a first language, including how language works. This knowledge of a first

language is necessary for the transfer from the first language to the second language. Other

aspects of this initial state include world knowledge and skills required for interaction, as both

are necessary to learn a second language. Intermediate states vary and involve the transfer of

prior knowledge. Two main types of transfer are positive transfer and negative transfer, or

interference. Positive transfer occurs when a structure or rule of the initial language is used in the

second language, and that use in the second language is correct. Negative transfer occurs when a

structure or rule of the initial language is used in the second language, but that specific use is

incorrect. A necessary condition for a person to progress through intermediate states is language

input, although the input does not have to be reciprocal. Facilitating conditions are feedback,

aptitude, motivation, and instruction. These are not required to progress through intermediate

stages, but aid the progression. The final state is a high level or near native-like competence in

the second language; however, adults who acquire a second language can never reach total native

linguistic competence because the definition of native linguistic competence entails

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simultaneous multilingualism. A major factor affecting second language acquisition is age. If a

child hears and responds in multiple languages before around the age of three, then the child will

develop simultaneous multilingualism, or have two “first languages.” Other studies have shown

that, once past the age of twelve or thirteen, learning a second language becomes more difficult.

The other type of multilingualism is sequential multilingualism, which refers to acquiring the

second language after the first language. Sequential multilingualism is the ideal goal for adults

who wish to acquire a second language. Other factors that influence second language acquisition

must be taken into consideration, such as individual, external, and internal factors (Moyer, 2004).

Schumann came up with a list of individual factors that influence second language acquisition,

the headings of which were neurological factors, personality factors, cognitive factors,

instruction/input factors, and social factors. Among these factors include subtopics such as brain

lateralization, motivation, intelligence, methods of teaching, et cetera. Differences in the process

of and time required to reach proficiency in a second language acquisition are attributed to these

factors, as the factors clearly vary from person to person. (Sanz, 2005).

Going further with multilingualism, Weinreich also identified types of bilingualism in

1953 (Vetter, 1969). In the first type of bilingualism each language is treated as a separate

system, and each word has its own separate significance and meaning within each language. In

the second type of bilingualism words from both languages have the same significance. This type

is called coordinate bilingualism. The third type of bilingualism is where the speaker learns the

second language by means of the first language and is referred to as compound bilingualism. An

example of the different types of bilingualism can be shown through the words “casa”, which is

Spanish for “house”, and the English word “house.” In the first type of bilingualism the

connection is not made between the words casa and house, and they are treated as separate

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entities. In the second type of bilingualism the word casa and the word house call to mind a

similar picture, and in the third type of bilingualism the speaker associates casa with the word

house, assuming the speaker is natively English and is learning Spanish. Coordinate bilingualism

parallels simultaneous multilingualism, and compound bilingualism parallels sequential

multilingualism. With this in mind, the same factors that determine whether a person develops

simultaneous or sequential multilingualism also determine whether the person has coordinate or

compound bilingualism. Moreover, adults with the goal of acquiring a second language have a

better chance of success with compound bilingualism as the goal.

Theories of Second Language Acquisition

Theories about second language acquisition come from different schools of thought, as

do the theories of language development (Saville-Troike, 2006). Nativist theories, such as Noam

Chomsky’s universal grammar or Krashen’s Monitor Theory, assert that humans are predisposed

to acquiring language, as well as developing it (Larsen-Freeman, Long, 1991). Other theories

involve neurocognitive approaches such as the Declarative/Procedural Model.

The nativist perspective has a similar approach to second language acquisition as to

language development in that both are believed to be a result of humans being biologically

programmed to learn language. Two major nativist theories of second language acquisition were

put forth by Noam Chomsky and by Stephen Krashen (Saville-Troike, 2006). Noam Chomsky’s

argues that all human languages have a common characteristic: Universal Grammar. Humans

possess an innate knowledge called the language faculty, which contains Universal Grammar and

allows children to acquire a second language by building upon the first language. A major goal

of Universal Grammar proponents was to determine whether or not the utilization of the

language faculty is available to adults learning a second language. Universal Grammar is

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conceptualized as a set of principles that are common to all human languages. Some principles of

Universal Grammar have parameters, where the grammar is limited in certain situations based on

the language being spoken. Universal Grammar guides children in language development, and

the beginning stages of second language acquisition involve using parameters for the first

language in the second language, as guided by Universal Grammar. This, however, often leads to

mistakes. As a result vocabulary acquisition is required to reset the parameters in Universal

Grammar so that they are in accordance with the new language. Krashen’s theory of second

language acquisition is called the Monitor Model and incorporates Chomsky’s LAD. The model

consists of five hypotheses about second language acquisition: acquisition-learning hypothesis,

monitor hypothesis, natural order hypothesis, input hypothesis, and affective filter hypothesis.

The first hypothesis states that the difference between acquisition and learning is that acquisition

is subconscious and involves the LAD, and learning is conscious and is used in classrooms to

learn a second language. The second hypothesis states that what is learned can only be used as a

monitor for editing what has already been produced. The third hypothesis says that humans

acquire rules of language in a predictable order. The fourth hypothesis states that language

acquisition occurs because there is comprehensible input, and if the input is understood, the

required grammar naturally follows. The last hypothesis states that input may not be processed if

there is an affective filter up, such as conscious learning. This theory had an impact on language

teaching by changing the way second languages were taught in the past, but failed to answer key

questions of second language acquisition.

A main cognitive neuroscience theory on second language acquisition is the

Declarative/Procedural Model. Lexicon and grammar are two main parts to the theory: lexicon

refers to information that must me memorized, such as all simple words and word-specific

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information, and grammar refers to the regularities of language. The main premise of this model

is that differences between lexicon and grammar are tied to the difference between the

declarative and procedural memory systems. The declarative memory system is tied to the

mental lexicon, and the procedural memory system is tied to the mental grammar. Regarding

second language acquisition as an adult, the expectation is that the acquisition of grammar with

procedural memory will be more problematic due to a variety of factors, such as a reduced

procedural memory due to a somewhat enhanced declarative memory that comes with age.

Basically a tendency to rely on the declarative memory system to memorize certain things that

should be done with procedural learning occurs, but as a speaker reaches higher levels of ability

in the second language, practice leads to procedural learning and an acquisition of grammar.

Comparing Language Development and Second Language Acquisition

Both language development and second language acquisition theories have in common

the typical nature versus nurture arguments; however, neither the nature nor the nurture argument

seems to be held in higher regard or as a correct and satisfying explanation. Taking each

perspective into account, both language development as a child and second language acquisition

as an adult require the interplay of external and internal factors. However, the interplay of factors

that trigger language development as a child seem to fall into place accordingly, independent of

individual factors and situations. On the other hand the interplay of factors connected to second

language acquisition include individual factors, which account for differences in ability in the

second language over time. This makes sense when considering the communication-pressure

hypothesis because once a child can effectively communicate in one language the need to be able

to express his or her needs is met, which would logically cause at least some of the factors

allowing for the rapid learning of a language to cease to exist due to lack of importance. If both

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biological and environmental factors are responsible for language development, as suggested by

the various theories for both language development and acquisition, then the possibility also

exists that some of the unimportant factors are biological or internal, which would mean that the

brain stops viewing the need to gain language as necessary, which would contribute to the

difficulty of acquiring a second language later on in life. This coincides with the individual factor

of age in second language acquisition and how the difficulty of learning a second language

increases after a certain critical window. This also helps explain why stages of language

acquisition have been shown not to be as orderly and common across cultures as the stages of

language development. The declarative/procedural model of second language acquisition

supports how age is a very important factor that separates language development from second

language acquisition by postulating that reliance on declarative memory comes with age.

Interactionist theories come the closest to covering the wide breadth of results of various studies

in that they acknowledge external and internal factors of language development; however, this

should be extended to second language acquisition. Individual factors play more of a role in

second language acquisition than in language development, which is a possible contributing

factor to the differences in the stages. In other words, the interaction of external and internal

factors that allow for children to develop language does not occur for adults because a certain

amount of the factors are no longer there, which causes a rise in difficulty for second language

learners as adults and prompts language researchers to find solutions!

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Conclusion

As described by the various nature versus nurture and miscellaneous theories regarding

language development and second language acquisition, a variety of factors account for both

language development and acquisition, albeit different factors for each. Examples of factors that

affect language acquisition, but not development, are age and motivation. Factors that affect

language development, but not acquisition, are not a far-fetched idea due to the way children

quickly develop language. As per the communication-pressure hypothesis, children develop

language out of a need to communicate, and as adults this need is already met, and so the

pressure no longer exists, which eliminates specific factors relevant to language development.

Interactionist theories for language development support the idea of a variety of external and

internal factors causing language development, which is the most logical idea due to the vast

amount of results of studies that cannot be explained through a strictly nature or nurture theory.

By extending and incorporating ideas from other second language acquisition theories, an

interactionist theory explaining second language acquisition and its intricacies might be able to

aid language researchers in creating an effective language acquisition method. Furthermore,

singling out the factors of language development that still exist as adults may provide a key to

unlocking future language learning methods. Advancements in language learning methods have

already been attempted through programs such as Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur; however, neither

method works for every individual.

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References

Farrar, M. J. (1992). Negative evidence and grammatical morpheme acquisition. Developmental

Psychology, 28(1), 90-98.

Larsen-Freeman, D., & Long, M. H. (1991). An introduction to second language acquisition

research. Malaysia: Longman Group UK Limited.

Morgan, J. L., Bonamo, K. M., & Travis, L. L. (1995). Negative evidence on negative evidence.

Developmental Psychology, 31(2), 180-197.

Moyer, A (2004). Age, accent, and experience in second language acquisition. Great Britain:

Cromwell Press Limited.

Myers, D. G. (2003). Psychology. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Sanz, C. (Ed.). (2005). Mind and context in adult second language acquisition: methods, theory,

and practice. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Saville-Troike, M. (2006). Introducing second language acquisition. United Kingdom:

Cambridge University Press.

Shaffer, D. R. (1993). Developmental psychology: children and adolescence. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth Inc.

Slobin, D. I. (1971). Psycholinguistics. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman and Company.

Spencer, A. (1991). Morphological theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Limited.

Ullman, M. (2005). A cognitive neuroscience perspective on second language acquisition: the

declarative/procedural model. In C. Sanz (Ed.), Mind and context in adult second

language acquisition: methods, theory, and practice (pp. 141-178). Washington, DC:

Georgetown University Press.

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Vetter, H. J. (1969). Language behavior and communication: an introduction. Itaska, IL: F.E.

Peacock Publishers, Inc.

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