add two more example and two more reference (must from google scholar).

Two Essential Elements of Second Language Acquisition: Exposure to language and Excellent Language Environment

Jixuan Shao

EAPP-10-01

A. Meyer Sterzik

August 8, 2017

Two Essential Elements of Second Language Acquisition: Exposure to language and Excellent Language Environment

‘Language is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages, not when it is explicitly taught for conscious learning’(Rice, 1989). This analysis is an overview and summary Rice’s article, ‘Children's Language Acquisition’. Language acquisition for children has become an important topic of research and discussion among many professionals and scholars (Schütz, 1998). Rice supposes that the tendency to acquire a language as perceived during the second year in the course of growth of a child has been fascinating for developmental psychologists. The article also develops several themes have been developed for the reason of helping people understand how children consequently acquire linguistic norms (Summer, 2017). This theme incorporates information of how children acquire language as they grow. According to Rice in normal children language as an aspect emerges in a rather spontaneous manner as a way of talking about what they know so that certain goals can be achieved; however, for other children, language has to be taught, and patience has to be the common factor for if certain objectives are to be experienced. In the article ‘Children's Language Acquisition’, Rice (1989) reviews some relevant issues related to language acquisition among children and present dynamics that can help elaborate more about this topic. Language acquisition for children remains an outcome of mutual influence and simultaneous development. In addition, ordinary children either learn language through impulsive development as their way of talking about things that they understand or are important to them; also, they have to be taught (Rice, 1989).

In this article ‘Children’s Language Acquisition’, Rice (1989) also contends that the process of language acquisition is standard and easy to understand, thus they need to internalize its various components. There are three major aspects to bear in mind when discussing language acquisition. There must be a language to be acquired, or task to be mastered, the predispositions and abilities of the child and the environmental influence or setting. When all these factors intertwine, language acquisition might occur, but it is important to realize that external forces have the most weight in such situations. According to Rice (1989), the process of acquiring a language entails four dimensions that encompass the system of the mean (semantics), the system involving sounds (phonology), various rules on the way sentences (syntax) and words (morphology) are formed. Rice (1989) also established that language takes vital social norms that should be observed. The social environment where individuals belong requires some adjustment of both the style and topic of the language used as all of this also determine how language will be interpreted (Rice, 1989). When all these aspects and process of language acquisition occurs, children will become communicative competent. The sociolinguistic setting of the child provides the language a child hears and learns hence remains critical to language acquisition. For example, where a child is exposed to many language role models, they acquire the language faster. Beside this, Rice (1989) also mentions that although children’s language learning is a spontaneous process, it needs to accomplish a higher level of skill by contacting more events, communication and expressing themselves. Some children should be taught because it can be automatically equal in a poor parental skill, limited intelligence, sensory handicap, or pauperized environmental circumstance. Children language learning includes human basic language skills; it is supportive and helpful in formal model language knowledge.

There are many evidences supporting Rice’s (1989) argument that for children who are developing typically, language develops impulsively as a way of talking about what they understand such that social goals important to them are accomplished. McLaughlin in his article, ‘Second language acquisition in childhood: Volume 2: School.-age Children’ supposes that children understand well language through their interactions with environment and nurturing they get from parents and guardians (McLaughlin, 2013). This explains why the intelligence of some children who are more exposed develops highly as compared to others.  To be precise, this argument agrees that children are born in a world that is controlled by different forms of communication. This includes the natural senses to a social world where they require a language as a means of interacting with other individuals within their society (Rice, 1989). However, some children do not acquire language impulsively. Thus, they need to be taught. This requires that a study agenda for assisting those children who have challenge understanding the rudiments of language be established as proposed by Rice (1989). When understanding this idea better, it is important to ponder over the question raised by McLaughlin (2013).  Why do some children find it hard to learn the second language in school, whereas others appear to have learned the language but do not perform well academically?  

What Rice failed to mention is that even though these children need to be taught, it is very imperative to teach them the right way. Teaching children the right way involves offering parental guidance and parental instructions that inculcates to them acceptable behaviors in the society (McLaughlin, 2013). This will provide an opportunity for the children to understand language effectively. In addition, this calls for teachers, parents and guardians to select the right models and strategies of teaching children proper language especially the second language. Nevertheless, if in language acquisition, there must be language acquired or task mastered, why does Rice (1989) believe that the predispositions and abilities of the child and the environmental influence or setting are important factors too? In simpler terms, learning to talk entails more than just learning the words or syntax. Bruner (1985) argues that children must also know how to do things with these remarks. He adds that grammar alone cannot help us fully understand the mystery in a child’s language development. Somehow, Rice (1989) leaves his point hanging because he fails to stress that acquiring language is more dependent on the functions served by the linguistic forms. Therefore, language acquisition starts when a foreseeable format of interaction is established between the mother and the infant. For instance, North American children can acquire language faster if they speak English not only at school, but also at home (Summer, 2017). Thus, we can believe that if children just learn language from school is not enough, because communication is equally important. Note that this interaction serves as a miniature for communicating as well as constituting a shared reality. It is after this that the child can master grammar.   

Conclusively, either it is evidently argued that ordinary children learn language through impulsive development as their way of talking about things that they understand or are important to them, or they have to be taught. Therefore, these articles discuss language acquisition as an important topic of discussion because it presents several themes which are vital regarding ensuring that respective societies understand coherent ways of influencing subsequent generations appreciate communication norms and aspects. The scholars’ ideas are a combination of several themes developed for helping people comprehends how children consequently acquire linguistic norms.  It is noteworthy that many things determine the process of acquiring any form or type of language, but the most important of all is the environmental setting that individuals are exposed to. For children, this is especially because their parents and caretakers should perfect their experience with language if proper communication competence is to be achieved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Bruner, J. (1985). Child's talk: Learning to use language. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 1(1), 111-114.

McLaughlin, B. (2013). Second language acquisition in childhood: Volume 2: School.-age Children. New York, Psychology Press.

Rice, M. L. (1989). American Psychologists. Children's Language Acquisition, 44(2), 149-156.

Schütz, R. (1998, April). Stephen Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition.

Summer, L. Q. (2017). Language Acquisition for the Bilingual Child: A Perspective on Raising Bilingual Children in the U.S. In The NCHAM EBook: A Resource Guide for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI). (1st ed., Vol. 2).