How Is Language Acquired?

  Research confirms that language acquisition is enhanced when:

Attention is given to background knowledge and experience.

"Familiarity breeds understanding." Tapping into student prior knowledge and experience is a highly effective way of developing understanding, and therefore language. Students connect and apply what they already know to new learning. When requisite background knowledge is lacking, greater time and effort must be spent to build and expand background.

It is also important to note that students with strong educational backgrounds tend to acquire language faster, and at higher levels, than their less educationally advantaged peers (Cummins, 1981). This (primary language) background knowledge transfers to English, making instruction in English more understandable and meaningful.

The context and language are real and purposeful.

Students acquire language when they use it for real purposes. The language used must be relevant, meaningful and authentic. The focus is always on the functional aspect of language (i.e., getting things done) rather than its form (i.e., grammatical structures).

As students are actively engaged in enterprises, they are using language to complete a task, exchange information, or solve a problem that is of interest and relevance to them. The result is both language and cognitive development (Long and Crookes, 1992).

Language is made comprehensible.

Language is acquired when messages are understood (Krashen, 1981; Krashen and Terrell, 1983). Students must understand the intent of the message, not necessarily every word that is spoken. This understanding is not based solely on words. Students also obtain meaning from such things as context, visuals, body language, and real objects and interactions.

Krashen suggests that language acquisition is the result of receiving these understandable messages, or "comprehensible input." Comprehensible input connects the known to the unknown and enables students to comprehend more than they can produce ("input + 1") actually propelling them to higher levels of language proficiency.

Anxiety is low.

Students acquire language when they are engaged in meaningful activities and their anxiety level is low. The classroom must be a safe and supportive environment in which students feel free to take risks and recognize that these risks will be rewarded.

Interaction is high.

A wide range of research affirms the idea that active participation and interaction increases learning. This is particularly true for language development, as language has function, use, and social interaction as its core. Language must be used to be acquired. Communicative interaction and the negotiation of meaning between users of the target are essential to the process of acquiring language. Communicative interaction reefers to the negotiation of meaning through conversations as well as written texts (Cummins, 1993).

Students should be given daily opportunities to use language and interact with a variety of people for a variety of purposes. For example:

1. Primary Language: to clarify ideas, concepts, vocabulary.

2. English Learner: to modify or 'shelter' instruction or preview/review a lesson.

3. Heterogeneous Groups: for cooperative/collaborative activities, discussions or learning centers.

Note: The effective language classroom will probably not be a quiet one!

Krashen's Affective Variables

Krashen (1981) notes three "affective variables" that influence language acquisition:

1. Self-esteem: Students with high self-esteem view themselves as capable learners and are more apt to take risks.
2. Motivation: Motivated students are more focused and take greater risks.
3. Level of Anxiety: Anxiety inhibits language acquisition. Anxious students tend to focus on form rather than on communication, and take fewer risks.

What Else Influences Language Acquisition?

Personality

Personality traits such as shyness, risk taking behavior, inhibitions, and confidence influence interaction and language acquisition.

Age

Students of all ages can and do acquire language. Current research shows, however, that older children and adults can acquire language faster than younger children (Collier, 1987; Krashen et al., 1979). This is largely due to the fact that cognitive/academic proficiency is more fully developed in the primary language of older students (Cummins, 1981). Younger pre-adolescent students do have an advantage in one aspect of language acquisition: they are more likely to develop native0like pronunciation skills than their older counterparts.

Attitudes

Students attitudes can affect language acquisition in the following three areas (Richard-Amato, 1988):

1. Attitudes toward self: This involves self-esteem, self-confidence and self- perceptions regarding one's ability to learn in general.
2. Attitudes toward language and those who speak it: this is largely shaped by experiences and interactions with those close by. Negative or positive attitudes (regarding both the first and second language) rub off as a result of first-hand experience, or the strong influence of peers or family members.
3. Attitudes toward the teacher and the classroom environment: This too is largely due to personal or family experiences in school. positive and negative experiences facilitate the development of strong attitudes that either encourage students to fully participate in the school experience (including acquiring English, the language of school), or create in students a feeling of alienation, leading to ambivalent feelings toward English and education.

Classroom Climate

The overall class climate is one that will either enhance or inhibit language acquisition. The classroom must be one in which students feel respected and valued, able to take risks, and free to experiment with language.

References

Collier, V. (1987) "Age and Rate of Acquisition of Second Language for Academic Purposes." TESOL Quarterly, 21(4): 617-641.

Cummins, J. (1993) The Acquisition of English as a Second Language. Presentation article/handout for California Elementary Education Association, San Diego.

Cummins, J. (1981) "The Role of Primary Language Development in Promoting Educational Success for Language Minority Students." In Schooling and Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Framework. Sacramento: California State Department of Education.

Krashen, S. and Terrell, T. (1983) The Natural Approach. Hayward: The Alemany Press.

Krashen, S. (1981) "Bilingual Education and Second Language Acquisition Theory." In Schooling and Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Framework. Sacramento: California State Department of Education.

Krashen, S., long, M., and Scarcella, R. (1979) "Age, Rate and Eventual Attainment in Second Language Acquisition." TESOL Quarterly, 13(4): 573-582.

Long, M. and Crookes G. (1992) "Three Approaches to Task-Based Syllabus Design." TESOL Quarterly, 27-56.

Richard-Amato, P. (1988) Making It Happen. White Plains, NY: Longman.

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