psychology of learning a language

8/8/2019 Psychology of Learning a Language

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A. Acquisition of mother tongue:

1. Universality of acquisition

No child fails in learning naturally hismother tongue except the deaf of the dumb.So universal is the phenomenon all over theworld, whatever the language, that one isalmost tempted to believe that the ability tospeak is innate. It is only apparently so;language is actually acquired. Children withoutany exposure to language, for instance, thosewho are brought up by animals or in total

isolation, do not have any language.

Acquisition of a language by children isachieved within a relatively short periodbetween the ages of 1 and 3 in spite of thecomplexity of the task. The result is remarkablefor its perfection. Oral language is acquiredsuccessfully regardless of the level of generalintelligence. When learning is almost completethere is not much difference among illiterates,whatever be their social rank or avocation. Justfaulty pronunciation of some words is

occasionally noticed due to physiologicaldefects in vocal organs. Some children havingpsychological problems develop stammering.

The child picks us language simply bylistening attentively to the language spokento him or around him. Parents want their childto understand what they say to him and theyuse for the purpose a simplified languageknown as caretakers speech or baby talk. Inthe first stage he seems to be interested only

in what is spoken to him. Later he showsinterest in the talk going about around him.

2. Understanding precedes expression

The child, before he knows the meaningof words, even before he is able to realize thatthey could have a meaning, is interested bythe sound combination of words. Each wordhas for him its features, which he is able torecognise; words have life for children. Thespecial relation of the child with words explainshis interest for poetry which is sought to be

satisfied by lullabies and various sorts oftraditional poetical compositions accompanyingchildren plays.

The language heard by the child is storedand remains latent for some time in the brain;it is put to actual use slowly, first forunderstanding. This starts at about 12months. The child is then able to recognise aknown voice or familiar sounds indicatingcertain facts concerning him, l ike thepreparation of his food. His hearing system

gets every day sharper and sharper. Between12 18 months the child is able to follow simplecommands and responds to interdictions. 90%of the comprehension ability is attained at theage of 3. The American psychologist Eric. M..Lenneberg describes the process thus:

Between the ages of two and three years,language emerges by an interaction ofmaturation and self-programmed learning.Between the ages of three and the early teens,

Psychological Aspects of Language Acquisition

David AnnoussamyPondicherry

Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology,

February 2006, Vol. 32, No.2, 84-92. Invited Article


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child in uttering the first words, the first

sentences and even thereafter in sayingcertain unusual words. The apparent easegets explained by the total involvement of thechild in the venture. Speaking is vital for him tosatisfy all his needs which become more andmore varied, including the urge to participatein the family life, to understand it, to be a fullpartner and play his role. So his whole energyis harnessed. It is accompanied by thepleasure arising out of the success in his newexperience of expression. Effort is there, butis not manifest on account of his high

motivation. Language learning without effortby the child is nothing but a myth attributableto lack of close observation.

5. Acquisition of more than a language fromthe start:

A child can pick up more than a languageat a time from the beginning, if placed in amulti-lingual environment. Only one conditionis required: the child should be normal. Itwould be helpful to the child if a particularperson speaks always the same language.

The child being eager to get what he wants,when he has to communicate with personsspeaking different languages, he acquires allof them. Between 3 and 4 the child is able tospeak to each of his interlocutors the languageof the latter. He is even able to serveoccasionally as an interpreter. When a word isnot known, the child does not use the word ofanother language, he resorts instead to aperiphrasis in the language of theinterlocutor.He easily realizes that eachlanguage is a separate entity; he is not tempted

to mix up languages..

People sometimes wonder whether it isnot harmful to expose the child to more than alanguage. Observations so far made have notindicated any harmful effect except in the caseof children having mental defects or linguisticdifficulties. Such children should not subjectedto such an effort. If the child is normal the factof learning simultaneously two languages

entails a better development of mind.

The acquisition of one or more languageby the child by mere exposure and need tocommunicate is a natural operation for thehumankind. However through this way heacquires the skills of understanding andexpression in the oral language only, which thehumankind was satisfied with for millennia.When he goes to school he has to learn thewritten form of a language already known tohim. That takes places according to classroomtechniques.

B- Acquisition of a second languageWhilst acquisition of the mother tongue is

always a success ,acquisition of a secondlanguage through teaching in schools has beenfound to be an immense failure in all countries.The reason is that the second language isbeing considered as a subject like others ,ignoring the natural process of acquisition oflanguage. In natural process, acquisitionfollows the flow of circumstances in actual life.The learner chooses what is of interest for him,whereas in the process of teaching the choiceis not that of the learner but that of the teacher.Exposure to natural language as such is toomeagre. Language is rather presented as aset of formal elements to be apprehendedoutside any communicative context and withoutreal communicative purpose, in the form ofmodel sentences selected with a methodicalprogression. Excessive reliance is placed ongrammatical rules which have no relevance inactual life situation. Language is presented asan artificial construction, something different

from the mother tongue. Students are not madeto react authentically to real language. So,there is low intake and only fragments oflanguage are learnt.. The focus being on theform of language rather than on itscommunicative interest, what is learnt cannotbe put to use for communication, especiallyfor oral communication.

When language is taught, acquisition of

Language Acquisition


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both oral and written languages is

simultaneously attempted which is against thenatural course of language acquisition. Thiscomplicates the process and usually writtenlanguage takes the pride of place. The teacherfinds it easier to teach. Grown up pupils andadults are more at ease with written language.They are keen on having the written support.Oral language appears to them somewhatevanescent. They feel that they have a betterhold on language when it is in its written form.Since they are apprehensive of mistakes, theydo not like oral exercises in which mistakes are

immediately known to all the classmates. Thusteaching slips easily into traditional schoolexercises and acquisition of language as suchcannot take place. James.J.Jenkins, anAmerican psychologist discards this method invery strong words

Language , essentially , is an auditoryproduct; when one takes away the auditory sideof language and is forced to present it in thevisual domain, the innate process that makeslanguage acquisition so speedy and impressive

performance operates extraordinarily poorly.Language through the eye means todemonstrate little power to activate thelanguage-learning mechanisms and to initiatethe necessary system-building activities.

So for learning a new language in schoolone has to pay full attention to thepsychological process of such acquisition andthe various factors involved which aresummarized below:

1) Communication

Language being essentially a tool forcommunication , learning requirescommunication. Teachers and pupils should beengaged in communication activities. Theteacher is expected to speak only in the targetlanguage. He may resort to extra-verbal mediaif necessary. In this way, the learner is placedfrom the beginning in a communicative context.Communication involves more than talking to

students, the latter should be actively involved

by way of answering or executing orders given.What the teacher says should be of interest tothe pupil so as to make him listen to eagerly.Students at the beginning may be allowed torespond in any manner: gestures, singlewords, faulty language, broken language.Teaching would consist of tasks leading tosimulate a situation, to expose the pupil to livinglanguage and provoke communication. Thereis no escape from this way.

The mode of teaching now largelyprevalent can help the student to getsuccessfully through a conventionalexamination. What is learnt has to stand thetest of use in real circumstances of life.Looking from that angle one would find thatmuch of the matter in which he succeeded inthe examination evaporates thereafter. Whatremains is the amount of living language hecame across accidentally in the methodicalteaching. In other words the only worthyacquisitions are rather the side effects of theplanned teaching.

2) Repetition

A word, or sentence pattern hasnecessarily to be met several times for gettingmemorized. The teacher resorts to repetitionand makes it interesting; in that way languageis acquired without conscious effort. Learningby heart and reciting several times is an easyand fruitful exercise which everyone can resortto . Instead of providing one short text on eachtopic, it is preferable to provide several textson the same topic and long texts from the

same book so that the same words are metseveral times. The learner who has reachedthe adequate level would be well advised toread the same book or watch the same filmagain and again, if found interesting

3) Intensity of learning

There are three phases in the processof learning a language, which are:

i. Early exciting phase

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ii. Middle unrewarding phase

iii. Final joyful victory phase.

In the early phase the attraction of noveltykindles motivation. The easy exercises like,listening and reading, doing simple drills ectcan be successfully gone through.

In the middle phase complication starts;pupils are asked to write and to speak. Theyare then prone to commit mistakes not doneearlier. If they are allowed to linger in this phaseregression takes place. It is therefore imperiousto cross quickly the second phase before the

interest for language vanishes. For thatpurpose the minimum of teaching would be 2sessions per day and one session per daywhen the learner is able to avail of individualexposure outside in the class room.

4) Maturation

Though the teaching should be intensein the initial stage, one cannot expectimmediate result, such is the complexity of thelanguage acquisition process. One has tolisten and read a lot before attempting to speak

or to write. Short answers and simple exercisesare possible and desirable, but for actualspeaking and writing one has to wait. Interstitialrest is necessary for the maturation process.Sometimes, language is used by the learnerin silent form when he thinks or dreams. Butcompelling too early to express orally or inwriting will prove counter-productive. Thelearner should not be asked to search his brainfor what proves elusive. Understanding wouldsuffice for some time. This may beaccompanied by a large amount of preparatory

exercises with slow progression and easyenough to be done always with success. Soone has to wait till what is sought to be learntis assimilated perfectly and becomes readilyavailable for natural use. Expression will springin due course if the intake is looked after. Thetake off comes all of a sudden on a fine day.One gets the impression that he has crossedthe border, that he has jumped into a new world.

5) Continuity in learning

What has been memorized with great effortis susceptible to be forgotten. Some kind ofcontinuous practice is necessary especially aslong as the teaching consists mostly of orallanguage. Interruption in learning a languageis disastrous. Therefore, it would be extremelyuseful for beginners to have language classesor any other form of exposure during thevacation time as well.

Once he has decided to learn, the pupilshould do it continuously till he reaches the

stage of relative fluency enabling him to keepcontact with the language by himself in oneform or other. When actual use after learningis not in sight, the easiest way to keep contactwith the language is reading. Acquiring readingability during the period of learning is essential.

Oblivion is variable according to age, thelevel obtained and the way in which thelanguage was acquired. Children forget moreeasily than adults. The easier you learn, thequicker you forget. But when studies areresumed, acquisition is found easier.Language units remain hidden in the brain,available for use, quick progress is noticed ascompared to fresh beginners. The sooner theresumption, the better the result.

6) Effort feeding success

One of the secrets of nurturing motivationis to make room for success which releasesenergy and sustains the effort. Since the realintake, which is the amount of input that isabsorbed, depends on motivation, the teachershould carefully avoid creating failure complex.

Certain teachers have a liking for vicious andtrap questions. They are totally to be bannedbecause they reduce motivation. One makesprogress in the language when he comes intocontact with the level of language that is a littlebeyond his current level of competence. Heapprehends the extra input with the aid of hisentire linguistic knowledge and the range ofhis acquired experience in life. Language



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difficulties should be limited in words and

sentence patterns. Stumbling through a difficulttext does not yield any result. Too manydifficulties discourage. The progressionshould be slow. One should take care to offera large number of texts with imperceptibleincrease in difficulty rather than few ones withsharp ascent requiring a lot of explanations.Language learning is not a matter ofunderstanding alone, but it is process of slowimpregnation.

7) Tolerance of irregularities

Learning a second language requiresopenness of mind and tolerance . The rigidityof mind is fatal. Some learners, specially adultlearners, are prone to find fault with thelanguage, for not obeying the kind of logic theyare accustomed to. Each language has gotits own logic which is different from that of themother tongue and that logic will appear to thelearner only when all the rules of the languageare sufficiently mastered. Even then, therewould always remain exceptions. Thoseexceptions have got their explanations in the

history of the language that are better left tophilologists. The learner has to take thelanguage as it is with humility and love, if hewants to progress. Idiomatic forms ofexpression constitute the charm of eachlanguage. Language is essentially a matterof usage. It is to be learnt by patient exposureand practice.

8) Selection

The speed of acquisition is not the samein respect of all words, sentence patterns and

phrases. Some of them, one has been in needof, are apprehended at first appearance andeven stored. But words not at all related toones experience, past and present, are hardto store. Even if stored by way of special effort,they get out of mind soon. Some words arestored for their musical value, even if themeaning is not well known. Even when a largeportion of a language is stored, there is for

each one of us a preference vis--vis some

words and patterns, which surface readily forthe purpose of expression. Others are not atour command, even though encounteredseveral times; but for the purpose ofunderstanding they are familiar. So, each oneof us has got an active and a passivevocabulary, the latter being of course larger.

9) Trial and error

From the data available to him, the learnerformulates hypotheses regarding the rules ofthe language. That operation forms part of the

strategy of learning. Elaboration of rules byway of generalisation of a pattern, recourse toanalogy, shaping the corresponding verb,substantive, adjective, adverb, when one ofthem is known is something that everyone istempted to do. In that process the learnerunavoidably commits mistakes inpronunciation, in the form of the words or inrespect of grammar on account of theignorance of irregularities and exceptions inthe language. These mistakes aremanifestations of the learning activity. They

are normal and unavoidable in the process oflearning. At no cost the teacher should allowthe classmates to laugh at a mistake. Of courseno mockery by the teacher himself. If mockeryis resorted to, nothing can be obtainedthereafter from the pupil who would remaindecidedly silent.

There is an understandableapprehension in the mind of the teacher thatdefective forms may become habits and wouldthen become hard to eradicate. So, teachers

react violently to mistakes. But that is not agood strategy. Censuring of mistakes in oneway or other will only cause inhibition and nopositive results. On the other side, initiallydefective forms do not necessarily becomehabits, if some precautionary measures aretaken. The pupil is to made aware that hisexpression has not reached perfection in form,that it is provisional. If he remains alert enoughto apprehend the correct pronunciation and

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the important distinctive features of the target

language, his expression will become more andcorrect. Mistakes will diminish in course of time.If the pupil does not have such an attitude hewill not make much progress in language,punishment notwithstanding.

10) Interference of the acquired language.

The second language used to be taughtformerly through the mother tongue or anotherlanguage already known. This created severaldifficulties which have been perceived longback. Educators have even gone to the extent

of saying that one has to forget ones languageto acquire another. There is some truth inthis sally. On account of the natural lazinessof the mind, one has some repugnance tosearch for another way of expression whenhe has already got one. The old form is thefirst to appear in the mind at least till suchperiod as the second language is not masteredenough. At any rate, one has to take stock ofthe fact that the known language acts as ascreen. We have to study how such knowledgeoperates in order to evolve a strategy. The

learner is tempted to resort to a large extentto words and sentence patterns of his mothertongue. By a close comparison of both thelanguages it is possible to predict the areasof learning difficulty. One can take also cluesfrom the mistake usually committed by learnersand evolve elaborate corresponding correctiveexercises.

Advantages and difficulties arising out ofa language known would depend ondifferences between the two languages in

respect of script, sounds and sentencepatterns. When the script is different it has tobe learnt; but mistakes in pronunciation areless. For a second language learner, whousually had already a good intellectualdevelopment, learning a new alphabet is quitean easy task. On the contrary if the script isthe same, the learner will be tempted to readthe target language in the same may as hismother tongue. In such a case it is imperative

to start reading only after a long exposure to

oral language. Otherwise words met for thefirst time in written from and not heard earliersufficiently will be pronounced as in the mothertongue.

C- The age to start the study of asecond language

1) Psycho-physiological factors

The general perception is that childrenlearn more easily a second language thanadults. Before assessing to what extent ageaffect results let as have a peep on the findings

of science regarding the way age operates inthe acquisition of language. Brain maturationstudies show that during the first years of lifethe process is very rapid. Maturation isachieved to 60% when the child starts speakingand then slows down progressively. The mostfavourable period appears to be between 2and 5. During that period, there is aninteraction of maturation and self-programmedlearning. At the age of 5, the brain is sufficientlydeveloped to tag general principles with rulesof exceptions. Passage from coordination tosubordination takes place. The child movesprogressively from juxtaposed utterances toorganized, coherent and cohesive speech. Atthe age of 8, the child is able to cope upabstractly with the language and to acquirequickly without difficulty the concepts andcorresponding vocabulary. As regards theexact process, Kenji.Hakuta, an Americanpsychologist would observes thus:

One should not be fooled, however, bythe developmental order in which their

characterizations of language emerge, fromcommunication to meaning and grammar. Itwould be rash to conclude that there is aprogression with grammar developing outmeaning and communication. Grammar,meaning, and communication are distinct levelsof language and cannot be interchanged.Each has its own course of development, andit is still unclear how they are related to eachother



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At the age of 12 the mind is shaped for

formal operations and the essential of mentaland linguistic structures is constituted. Thebrain is now programmed. There is no moredocile assimilation of the first years of life, whenbrain was plastic an d receptive to all languageunits and when units of different languagescould be deposited at the same time. Thiscapacity slows down with age, because thebrain is turned progressively towards otherpurposes. Speech units of the mother tongueare well anchored and appear to stand in theway of units other language. Acquisition of a

second language is no longer instinctive; itbecomes intellectual. Acquisition of writtenlanguage becomes easier, there is somehandicap in picking up oral language

2) Motivation

Motivation plays a big place in any workor learning. It is indispensable for acquisitionof a second language. The word motivationis quite commonly used, but its nature is onlyconfusedly perceived. Motivation arises outof need or interest, it is sustained by external

factors and is easily subject to variations. Inits manifestation, it is the will to learn..

Among pre-school children the exposureto language would be only through activities,and the motivation would depend on theinterest those activities generate. It maybecome equal to that for the mother tongue.

Among school children, there is nopersonal desire to learn a second language.But the desire to please parents and to beacknowledge by the teacher as a successful

pupil is present. At the same time there isalso more docility to class-room activity andspontaneous enthusiasm for learning. Thenovelty of the sounds and of exotic wordspleases. But school children get easily bored;their attention lasts only for a short span, so,variety in the exposure to language isnecessary. It is essential to nurture motivationtill the learner experiences a permanent appealfor the language.

If the content of the text to be studied is

familiar to pupil with something new, it will kindlehis interest. It is therefore necessary to linklanguage lessons with the personal experienceof the learner instead of selectingauthoritatively the series of topics to becovered. If both the content and the languageare alien to him, the pupil gets discouraged.Good results can be obtained by selectingtopics from class room experience and fromamong what the pupils have already learnt inother subjects. Language lessons would thenact as a repetition of a lesson in another

subject. Pupils will realise that the secondlanguage is another manner of expression butnot altogether a new subject to be learnt foritself.

Among higher school children and adults,motivation is necessarily present, otherwisethey will not undertake the study of a newlanguage. They are ready to deploy asustained effort because they have some goalin mind; they are also able to concentrate onlanguage study for a long stretch of time.

3) Assessment of results

a- Learning by picking up a language

This relates to oral language only. Theobservations so far made by research scholarsreveal that children reach a ceiling lower thanthe adults and that such a ceiling is reachedfaster. Almost all children succeed in learningthe language they are exposed to, whereassome adults do not. Subjects in their 20sresemble the adolescent group more closelythat the subjects in their 30s and 40s. The

capacity to learn declines with old age.The younger the age of learning the

quicker the acquisition fades away, if there isno continuity. If the practice of language iscontinued up to the intellectual period of 12and beyond, the result is more durable. Evenotherwise speech units acquired in the youngage are easy to recover at a later stage. Thereis also greater facility in reproducing sounds

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specific to the targeted language

b. Language taught in class room

Teaching a language through classroommethods usually includes both its written andoral aspects. Such a teaching is possible onlyafter two years of schooling when pupils havelearnt to some extent reading and writing inthe mother tongue. It has been found thatchildren who have not mastered well readingand writing in the mother tongue. make littleprogress in the second language Even amongthose who make a good start, many reach soon

the ceiling. They can acquire ability in simpleconversations, but they cannot get the skill inunderstanding texts in second languagedealing with serious matters nor do theybecome able to write.

In most of the countries it has been foundthat teen-agers above 12 and even youngadults were better learners than those below13. They make faster progress. This is quitenatural because when written language isattempted to be learnt along with oral languagethe nature of the matter to be learnt changesconsiderably. Malleability of mind of theyounger children which helps them storequickly in their brain speech units of orallanguage is not of much avail when whatassumes importance is written language forthe acquisition of which mental developmentplays a bigger role.

As far as adult professionals areconcerned, recent experiences have shownthat those adults having already a goodcommand of their mother tongue acquire as

working knowledge of the second language forgeneral purposes, the ability to read andunderstand the technical literature of theirprofession, all just within a period of intensive

coaching of six months. The best among them,

upon continuing to peruse technical literaturein the second language, acquire even theability of writing thesis in their subject in thatlanguage.

In conclusion young age is physiologicallymore favourable for acquiring the orallanguage, it does not prove to be an asset forthe acquisition of written language for whichmaturity of mind of those aged 13 and plus isan advantage. It has also been found that onecan acquire or improve any skill in the secondlanguage at any age if he is talented andmotivated. But late starters have sometimesdifficulty to get the exact pronunciation. Iflearning is started early and is not continued,what is learnt fades away. It would be wise tostart the study of a language when the needthereof is felt.

It is essential to bear in mind that languagelearning is not conditioned only by age. Thereare several other factors whose combinationcould override age. They are the competenceof teachers, the knowledge of the language

by the parents, the time allotted for teaching,the aptitude of the pupils, the skills soughtafter. These are formidable factors which canovershadow the age factor. Therefore, itwould be wise not to start teaching a secondlanguage when the required conditions are notfavourable. Study of a second language madecompulsory on a mass scale at a low age wouldrequire a large number of competent teachers,which is difficult get .Results will prove definitelybetter if started later with competent teachers.

David Annoussamy, PhD, is former Judge, High Court of Madras, Chennai. He is theauthor of the book Answers to language problems PR Books, Delhi, 2001.


psychology of learning a language

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