Course Paper

Course Paper Draft 1

Course Paper Draft

Xinyue Liu

Department of Child Adolescent Development, San Jose State University

CHAD 150 Development of Communicative Competence

Pro. Lea Lasman

May 13th, 2021

Course Paper Draft 2

Title: Benefits of second language acquisition

I. Introduction

The focus of second language learning is usually on children and adolescents. In fact,

compared with children, adults also have advantages and disadvantages in learning a second

language, and their advantages even outweigh their disadvantages. Although adults have missed

the "critical period" of learning a second language, they are susceptible to psychological

influences and interference from their mother language, and are susceptible to cultural values.

Their memory is not as good as children. However, adults are better at understanding, initiative,

logical thinking and self-supervision. They have great advantages. In fact, adults who learn a

second language can increase their confidence in learning a second language, so that they can use

their strengths in their studies, avoid weaknesses and achieve better results and goals. This paper

will discuss the advantages of learning a second language.

Thesis statement:

Learning a second language can benefit brain development, boost confidence, improve

vocabulary acquisition and social interactions.

II. Body

1. Brain development

a. Chengbin Tan had to learn English because he is an immigrant. He has

been living in America for 7 years now, and he is still learning English

every day. He thinks that learning a second language can bring a lot of

benefits in life. Especially boosting our brains.

Course Paper Draft 3

b. Krystal started learning English at kindergarten. In China, teachers only

teach basic English, and those things would happen in tests. Students only

study for tests in China. According to her, she really started to learn

English is the time when she came to America, which was 5 years ago.

She chose to come to America and learn English because she believes that

she will have a better life here.

i. Effects on General Intelligence

ii. Memory improvement

c. Bilingualism will improve the executive function of the brain. It helps to

ignore distractions, shift attention from one thing to another, and keep

information in mind. Learning another language is one of the most

effective and practical ways to improve your intelligence, keep your mind

sharp and cushion your brain to prevent aging.

2. Self-esteem

a. Chengbin Tan says that learning English gave him a lot of confidence to

communicate with other people. He wasn't afraid of saying anything

wrong because he knows that he can find the correct answers in failures

and mistakes. Only by constantly communicating with others can he learn

English better.

b. Try it out, how much positive feedback you will see when you start

learning a new language. This experience will also get you into other life

and work projects that you might be afraid of.

Course Paper Draft 4

3. Vocabulary acquisition

a. Learning a second language makes Chengbin Tan know that vocabulary is

really important for a second language learner. It's about whether you can

understand what others are saying.

b. Vocabulary learning is an essential part in foreign language learning as the

meanings of new words are very often emphasized, whether in books or in

classrooms. It is also central to language teaching and is of paramount

importance to a language learner. Recent research indicates that teaching

vocabulary may be problematic because many teachers are not confident

about best practice in vocabulary teaching and at times don’t know where

to begin to form an instructional emphasis on word learning.

4. Social interactions

a. Chengbin Tan definitely felt that his social interactions with others

improved after he learned a second language. He said that learning a

second language let him meet different people from different countries.

They can communicate smoothly.

i. Understanding linguistic similarities/differences

ii. Open-minded

iii. Gain more perspective

iv. Make more friends

b. By learning new languages, you can prove that you are a citizen of the

world. You have contributed to international cooperation and

Course Paper Draft 5

understanding. In the modern era, many people seem to be proud of their

isolation from other cultures. No matter how small, any effort made to

promote the cause of international friendship is worthwhile.

III. Conclusion

Learning new languages requires obvious effort from everyone, whether children or adults, but

the younger the easier it is. When considering teaching a child to use a foreign language, it is

important to consider the future benefits of understanding and mastering skills for the child. In

terms of professionalism, I always hope that professionals who can communicate in a second or

third language, because they can take on additional responsibilities and job opportunities.

Personally, the more languages a person speaks, the better his or her connection with different

people and resources from other countries and cultures. In addition, it can help children better

understand other cultures, expressions and communication methods. This can encourage children

to experience the vastness of the world and broaden their horizons-this is always a good thing.

Finally, advanced or fluent foreign language children will be particularly satisfied when they

practice abroad. Discovering that they can communicate with foreigners will enhance their

self-esteem, autonomy and self-confidence.

Course Paper Draft 6

References

Ali, S. (2019, June 1). The Effects of Second Language Acquisition on the Brain.

https://medium.com/swlh/the-effects-of-second-language-acquisition-on-the-brain-c13778b45a.

Connolly, P. (2017, December 15). The Social Benefits of Learning a Language.

https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/social-benefits-of-learning-a-language/.

G. P., N., & Kh.H., U. (2016). SELF-CONFIDENCE AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN LEARNING

LANGUAGES. file:///C:/Users/14156/Downloads/mnj_2016_4(2)__14%20(1).pdf.

MOFAREH ALQAHTANI (2015). The importance of vocabulary in language learning and how

to be taught . International Journal of Teaching and Education, Vol. III(3), pp. 21-34.,

10.20472/TE.2015.3.3.002

Skibba, R. (2018, November 29). How a second language can boost the brain.

https://knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2018/how-second-language-can-boost-brain.