The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 1
THE COMPARISON BETWEEN CHILDREN’S L1 ACQUISITION AND ADULT’S L2
ACQUISITION
By [Name]
LIN 510
Professor
ASU
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 2
THE COMPARISON BETWEEN CHILDREN’S L1 ACQUISITION AND ADULT’S L2
ACQUISITION
Introduction
Language acquisition is a complex process that scholars define as the development of the
ability for a person to communicate in either the first language or in a second language.
Therefore, language acquisition applies in two cases which are acquiring the first language as a
child, also denoted as L1 and acquiring a second foreign language also denoted as L2. Cook
(2010, p.138) asserts that over the years, many scholars have come up with various techniques on
how to learn a new language effectively and to bring to light the various questions that have been
raised concerned the mystery surrounding its complexity. All these have been done because
language is a complex process that involves collaboration, discovery and inquiry (Cook, 2010,
p.138). Language acquisition is different in the L1 and the L2 levels because of the various
complexities, the age of the person and other crucial matters that will be discussed in this essay.
The topic for this paper is the comparison of first language acquisition among children and
adult’s acquisition of a second language. It also delves into the differences between the two
processes and an explanation as to why first language acquisition is regarded as the effortless
process when compared to the second language acquisition among children.
The first language acquisition research began as early as the 7th century BCE. However,
formal studies on the topic began later after the development of the child study institutes across
the world in the 18th century. This point out that language has been a topic of research for a long
time. The current research on first language acquisition was pioneered by Naom Chomsky in the
year 1965. Through her study, Chomsky explains about the innateness of the syntax of the
language and over the years, scholars exploring on first language acquisition have increased
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 3
significantly. It has become an inter-disciplinary subject as more researchers gather more data on
the children’s acquisition of the first language. Additionally, in recent years, the subject has been
taken deeply into the exploration of some of its process and models. Moreover, early studies on
this subject emphasized on the various forms that children produce which is the pronunciations,
the mispronunciation, their early misuses and uses of words. To a lesser extent, these researchers
looked into their mastery of the construction of syntactic.
Even though second language acquisition is regarded as an effortless process, people
struggle to acquire it. The intensive research into the first language later sparked the need to
investigate second language acquisition among adults. According to Poshi and Çukani, (2013,
p.5) learners and researchers developed an interest in understanding the language produced by
the learners rather than the target language. This interest led to the emergence of error analysis,
which refers to the second language learner errors in systematic investigations. Since then, the
second language that is produced by learners in the acquisition of a foreign language became a
linguistic system by itself. Thereafter and to date, many studies and theories have been
established on L1 and L2 language acquisitions processes.
A deeper look into the background information concerning language acquisition shows
that it is a very active process which starts at birth and it continues throughout human life. This is
part of the reason why the researcher decided to conduct a study on the topic. The researcher
realized that language acquisition among children and adults has been a topic of debate among
scholars over the years. Also, over time, is a Chinese national and working in a Chinese
educational institution where second language acquisition has been a challenge, the topic was
seen as a cornerstone to the understanding of the complexity of language acquisition.
Additionally, the researcher deemed this topic to be very important because less research has
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 4
been done on the children’s L1 and L2 adults’ acquisition. Furthermore, what makes the topic
quite important is that language is a very important tool. During childhood, a child has to learn
the first language and throughout the teenage years into adulthood, people go to school, meet
new people and they travel to foreign countries. In the process, they encounter various languages
which its knowledge and ability to speak them determines their level of success. This then proves
that a language is an important tool in human life and it determines how successful a person can
be not only in the school setting but also in life in general.
First language acquisition and second language acquisition theories
Language acquisition is a wide topic which has developed over the years. Due to these
developments, first language acquisition and second language acquisition are some of its sub-
categories. VanPatten and Williams, (2014, p.14) says that there are various theories established
and developed by scholars that govern the two categories which give an in-depth understanding
and their structures. These theories are geared towards expounding the topic and giving more
insight into some of the processes involved in the acquisition of the first and the second language
among children and adults respectively. This section of the paper provides an in-depth theoretical
framework on the first and second language acquisitions giving more information that was not
discussed in the introductory part of the paper.
First language acquisition theories
First language acquisition is defined by Hulya (2009, p. 155) that it is the acquisition of
language through exposure while one is young. The first language refers to the primary language,
which according to scholars is not necessary that it is the mother tongue that a speaker acquires
first and uses it constantly. Yan, and Bing-Jun, (2015, p. 36) states that the reason why it is not
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 5
necessary that the first language is the mother tongue is that the language that a person acquires
during the critical time in life, which is childhood, will basically become the first language for
that person. The Chinese census for instance, contends that the first language a person acquires
through exposure during childhood is referred to as the first language.
i. The Cognitive Development Theory
Cognitive development theory is one of the major language acquisition theories. This
theory was developed by Jean Piaget in 1970s and in this theory he asserts that language is
mapped onto the child’s prior cognitive structures and that the language principles have no
difference from the other cognitive principles. Bjorklund and Causey (2017, p.132) back up this
claim by asserting that a child becomes able to abstract the formal thinking that in turn excels
concrete direction and experience perception. It is further stated in this theory that a child
develops the awareness of a concept and acquires the patterns and words that enable him or her
to convey the concepts. The theory states that during this process, the child is able to express the
simpler ideas first unlike the complex ones. Piaget (1970, p.12) asserts that even if the grammar
of the simple ideas is complicated, the child is still able to capture them.
In explaining this theory further, Piaget explained four stages involved in the childhood
process of cognitive development. These stages of cognitive development are the pre-operational
stage, sensorimotor stage, formal stage and the concrete operational stage. He then relates these
stages with the ability of the child to assimilate and understand new information (Bjorklund and
Causey, 2017, p.132). Also, it is argued that these stages are important in this theory. It is
because children always take active roles in the process of acquisition as they perform various
experiments, learn about the environment surrounding them and make numerous observations.
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 6
a. The sensorimotor stage
Piaget provides various characteristics of this stage. One of them is that during this stage
the child knows the environment or the world through sensations and movements. In this stage
also, children learn about the world around them through various basic actions that include
grasping, listening, sucking and looking. The other characteristic is that as the child advances
through this stage, he or she develops the ability to distinguish objects and people around them
and they even realize that the actions they do can cause various effects (Piaget,1970, p.12)
Therefore, this stage is generally about acquisition of knowledge through manipulation of objects
as well as sensory experiences. These experiences take places through basic motor responses,
reflexes and senses.
b. The preoperational stage
The major characteristics of this stage are that during this stage, a child begins to use
symbols to learn the language. It is because the child starts to learn to use pictures as well as
words to represent various objects. Secondly, children, through the perspectives of other people
surrounding them become egocentric and struggles to see things the way those people see them.
During this stage also, the child still sees things in concrete terms but their thinking and language
have become better. In connection to language acquisition, Piaget asserts that the hallmark of
this stage is the emergence of language (Piaget, 1970, p.13). He concludes that during this stage,
even though children think crucially about the world around them, they still struggle with taking
other peoples’ points of view and logic.
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 7
c. The concrete operational stage
Some of the primary statistics of this stage are that it occurs between the age of 7 years
and 11 years. Children start having logical thoughts about various concrete events around them.
They also start understanding conversational concepts. For instance, if provided with two cups of
the same capacities but different shapes, they can understand that if the cups are full of water,
then the water in both cups are of the same volume. Their thinking also becomes organized and
they begin to use their reasoning and indicative logic in regard to various information. The
egocentrism from the second stage fades away (Piaget, 1970, p.14). They also start thinking
about the feelings and thoughts of others.
d. The Formal Operational Stage
This is the final stage in this theory and it involves major developmental changes. During
this stage, the child is an adolescent and they think about hypothetical problems and think
abstractly. They tend to think extensively about social, moral, political, ethical and philanthropic
an issue which requires abstract and theoretical reasoning. Also, Piaget (1970, p. 14) asserts that
children develop more logic and their ability to apply deductive reasoning increases as well as
their abstract ideological understanding. Their improvement in thinking and reasoning allows
them to learn the language better and use words selectively. At this stage teenagers become
aware of the nature and context of using various words and their impacts.
ii. The Modular theory
According to this theory, the argument brought forward is that the acquisition of language
among children results from the biological aspect of human beings. It further asserts that people
have various talents for the acquisition of language as well as for language use. In this theory,
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 8
also, Chomsky asserts that the brain of a human being is organized into various modules whose
functions differ from one another. Chomsky, further, asserts that language acquisition process is
based on a specific module and it is responsible in the formation of the “universal grammar” that
every human being has since birth (Yan and Bing-Jun, 2015, p.37). In general, this theory
declares that human beings’ acquisition of language at a younger age is an innate process that
occurs unconsciously in the language specific module.
Second language acquisition theories
Second language acquisition is another process that most scholars say it does not need
extensive usage of consciousness in regard to grammar rules and it does not need a tedious drill.
As the first language studies intensified, the need to understand more about the second language
acquisition emerged (Ellis, 2015, p.72). One of the scholars that dealt with this part of language
acquisition is Stephen Krashen who contributed to the field of linguistics considerably. He
specialized in the development of language acquisition theories that investigated various
phenomena about second language acquisitions. One of his theories is discussed in this section.
i. Krashen’s Theory of Second Language Acquisition
This theory by Krashen has five major hypotheses which include the hypothesis on the
acquisition, monitor hypothesis, a hypothesis on the natural order, input hypothesis, and the
hypothesis on the affective filter.
The acquisition-acquisition hypothesis is crucial for all the hypotheses. Krashen argues
that second language performance is based on two independent systems. The first system is the
acquired system and the second one is the learned system (Cook, 2016, p.56). The acquired
system, according to Krashen stems from the subconscious process which is similar to the initial
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 9
process that children go through during the acquisition of the first language. This system requires
that the person acquiring the new language interacts in a meaningful way with the language
being learned. This can happen through natural communication where the speakers of the
language are concentrated. Benthin, (2015, p.23) says the concentration should not be based on
their utterances; it should be through communicative action. The learned system on the other
hand, emerges from the formal instructions where the learner is subjected to a set of instructions
on how to learn the new language. It entails a conscious process that results in the knowledge
consciousness about the language being taught. The knowledge, for instance, could be the one on
the grammar rules. Krashen, however, explains that in this theory, the acquisition is more
important than learning.
The monitor hypothesis provides an explanation of the relationship between acquisition
and learning and describes the influence of acquisition over learning. The function of monitoring
is the practical outcomes of learned grammar. According to Benthin, (2015, p.24) Krashen
asserts that the utterance initiator is the acquisition system while the learning system serves the
editing purpose. The monitor on the other side plans edits and corrects when some conditions are
met. These conditions include the ability of the learner of the second language to focus on
correctness, have enough time and know the language rules. Krashen says that the monitor
ensures that there are no deviations from the normal speech.
The hypothesis on natural order asserts that grammatical structure acquisition is guided
by natural and predictable order. Krashen says that grammar rules are different from one-second
language to the other since in others, they are acquired late and while it is acquired early in
others. Further, he delves into the input hypothesis and describes the acquisition process of a
second language (Benthin, 2015, p.23). Input hypothesis articulates that a person progresses and
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 10
improves along the natural order during the acquisition of the second language which represents
the first stage in linguistic competence. Cook (2016, p57) adds that due to the fact that not all
learners will be in the same level of acquisition at a given point in the process of acquiring a
second language, the designing of a syllabus that guides their acquisition process should be
based on a natural communicative input appropriate to their levels.
The last part of this theory is the affective filter hypothesis. This hypothesis is Krashen’s
perspective that some affective variables facilitate, in a casual way, the acquisition of a second
language. The variables are self-confidence, motivation, a low anxiety level and a good self-
image. These aspects determine the success in the process of acquiring a second language
because if the learner has low motivation, debilitating anxiety, low self-esteem and lacks self-
confidence, then it leads to the formation of mental blocks that greatly prevents the
comprehension and the acquisition of the second language. Benthin, (2015, p.23) concludes that,
if the filter is “up” then language acquisition is impeded. The positive effect, on the other side,
enables the person to learn the language easily.
ii. Behavioral theory
The behavioral theory asserts that the process of acquiring a second language involves
two things. One of them is the habit formation and the second one is strengthening the process.
According to Yan and Bing-Jun (2015, p38) the second language learner has to absorb the
language input via the imitation of the right forms of the language from its speakers. The
theorists who developed this theory assert that this is the case because they believe that
acquisition of language is part of human behavior and not a form of imagination. They also claim
that errors in the acquisition of a second language among adults are due to the interference
caused by the first language already in their cognitive systems.
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 11
The difference between children’s L1 acquisition and adult’s L2 acquisition
The features of the acquisition of the first language among children and the second
language acquisition among adults have been researched extensively within the SLA research
field of research. Richards (2015, p.45) affirms that there are many features that create a
distinction between children’s acquisition of first language and adult’s acquisition of the second
language. This section of the paper sheds light into the major issues that make the two different
from one another.
i. Age of acquisition
One major difference is that there is an age gap between the adults and the children which
is a primary factor affecting their ability to acquire the language. According to Hulya, (2009,
p.155) the natural language acquisition always takes place during a critical period in a person’s
life and this is the age of between 2 years and puberty. Piaget on the other hand asserts that
children always complete the first language acquisition by the age of 11 years. In contrast,
Richards (2015, p.45) states that acquiring a new language after puberty is almost an impossible
task even when the person is brought into contact with the language speakers. This is mainly
because the person trying to learn the second language will have passed the age of 11 which is
the crucial stage in language acquisition. This is a major difference that sets the two acquisition
types apart.
ii. Device of acquisition
An important aspect in the language acquisition process is the language acquisition
system. The second language acquisition process is always faced with a similar task as that of the
first language acquisition because both need the systems of acquisition. Naturally, people have
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 12
language acquisition devices. They include the data that a child gets exposed to or the postnatal
materials of language. In children, this is important because they trigger the devices or the
guiding materials in the language acquisition process (Yan and Bing-Jun, 2015, p.37). Therefore,
these materials in children ensure that the child’s acquisition is acted upon by the acquisition
devices allowing them to grasp the language grammar rules. However, this is not the case for
adults because these devices have already been weakened. The brain’s input programs change
beyond the age of 11 years. Poshi and Çukani (2013, p. 56) articulate that adults already have the
system of the native language in their minds and they are faced with two superiorities in the
process of acquiring a new language. These are the problem-solving ability and language
acquisition. Children on the other hand, only have the innate language acquisition which makes
their task of acquiring the first language easier. The coordination of the two superiorities in
adults makes their second language acquisition process more complex.
iii. The modes of acquisition
The second language acquisition process involves two complex processes. It is the
coordination between the problem-solving and the mother tongue cognitive system. These two
processes make the language acquisition process for adults a bit different. Cook (2010, p141)
claims that among children, there is a need to get into contact with objects that help them in the
memorization, imitation and the actual word usage before the establishment of the concepts of
various things. In the language speaking and practice process, children naturally master the usage
of language segments integrally then they acquire the usage of words individually from the
segments and the fragments discriminatively. This is different among adults due to the presence
of the two systems that help in the acquisition of language. Adults master vocabularies from the
second language via the comprehensive analysis processes (Cook, 2010, p.141). The processes
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 13
allow them to perform analysis of speeches and combine it with meaning notes and the code
witching process. A good example is when I began learning English in high school. I needed
guidance from the teachers since it was a second language I could hardly speak.
iv. The environment of acquisition
The environment that triggers the responsiveness to language that adults are exposed to in
acquiring the second language is different from the environment that children are exposed to in
the process of acquiring the first language. According to Unsworth, (2017, p.215) among
children, the process of acquiring grammar rules and the language words is natural as it occurs
without any guidance or teaching. This is not the case for adults because for them, the acquisition
processes need a set of rules and guidelines. Peripheral knowledge in the L2 acquisition is very
important and it has to be done in a controlled and systematic manner for the adults to expand
their grammar as well as develop the writing skills for the language. Contrarily, children are in
constant contact with the first language and their focus is only on the content of the language and
not the form of the language as adults in the second language acquisition process.
v. The difference in the motivation of the acquisition process
The strong acquisition impetus and the successful acquisition of a language are
influenced by the interest and the acquisition goals for the target language. This is a very
important aspect for the development, communication and even for the children to survive in
mastering the first language. However, the second language learners have insufficiency in the
process of the postnatal requirement in the process of acquiring the second language. For
children, the world’s negative or passive stimuli are only a concept and are able to absorb the
knowledge of the language unconditionally without any subjectivity (Unsworth, 2017, p.216).
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 14
Hence, for children it is a natural need that does not require any coercion or subjectivity unlike in
adult’s acquisition of the second language that is motivated in a more complex way. Some adults
have the integration motivation, other instrumental motivation while others may have the
intrinsic interest to acquire the second language. For me, as an adult English learner, I was
motivated by the need to pass in my education which required me to master English.
The reasons why the L1 acquisition among children is considered to be effortless
The various SLA researches have shown that the acquisition of the first language among
children is one of the most effortless processes. There are various reasons for this claim
discussed in detail in this section of the paper. It expounds more on the differences discussed in
the previous section of the paper that explained the few differences between L1 and L2
acquisition.
One of the reasons for this claim is that among children, language acquisition takes place
naturally. According to MacSwan and Pray (2015, p.653) language acquisition among children
occurs naturally between the age of 2 years and the age of 11 years. It is referred to as the critical
period beyond which language acquisition becomes a difficult thing to achieve. Yan and Bing-
Jun (2015, p.38) assert that beyond the age of 11 or puberty, it becomes very impossible for a
person to acquire a new language in a natural manner as children do. The reason why it is
possible for children to acquire a language naturally is due to the plasticity of their brain. An
adult’s brain has completed the lateralization, the brain has matured and probably will never
achieve the attainment like that of the first language acquired during childhood.
The other reason why the acquisition of the first language among children is effortless is
that it does not need any guidance or teaching. Patkowski (2014, p.450) declares that for adults,
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 15
they have to be subjected to peripheral knowledge and they require an apparent or a systematic
way to be able to establish their speaking, develop their vocabulary as well as the writing skills.
This requires a lot of effort, interest and motivation to accomplish unlike among children where
there is no effort since it occurs naturally. According to Snow and Hoefnagel-Höhle (2018,
p.1114) children also acquire the language unconsciously from the parents or those around them
which means they get enough exposure to the language and learn the various fragments of words
effortlessly without any guidance. Naturally, children also develop the communicative ability of
the language with the help of the environment and the culture. To support the idea that children
learn naturally, I have a neighbor who is not a native Chinese. She has a three-year-old daughter
who speaks Chinese which amazes everyone. The child was raised by a Chinese house-help who
exposed her to the language and she can speak it fluently than her mother.
Conclusion
The research conducted in this study considerably shows that language is a very
important tool for human existence. It is one of the motivations that drove the researcher to work
on the topic of L1 and L2 acquisition. The research also proves that language acquisition is a
very complex topic to discuss and it is part of the reason why many scholars have emerged with
various theories to help in explaining the complexity of the process. This research discussed the
various theories such as the cognitive development theory for first language acquisition
developed by Piaget in 1970s. Most scholars use these theories in their explanation of how
children acquire their first language. It also discussed the Krashen’s theory of second language
acquisition expounding more on his theory’s hypotheses on second language acquisition among
adults. Further, it highlighted the various differences that exist between the L1 acquisition and
the L2 acquisition processes. Some of these differences include the acquisition age, the devices
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 16
of acquisition, and the modes of acquisition, the motivation and the environment. The natural
acquisition of the L1 language is a major factor that makes it effortless as compared to L2
acquisition process that needs guidance, motivation and a lot of effort from the acquirer. In
general, it is apparent that first language acquisition is quite easier and even though the second
language is painstaking, it is also important to learn them because language determines how one
interacts with others, how one forms relationships and the level of success in life.
The Comparison Between Children’s L1 Acquisition And Adult’s L2 Acquisition 17
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