2. Definition
• Language is the ability to acquire and use complex systems
of communication
• Includes any system of formalized symbols, signs, sounds,
gestures, or the like used or conceived as a means of
communicating thought, emotion etc.
3. Language Rule Systems
Phonology Sound System of language i.e. how the sounds are
used and combined - phenome is the smallest unit
of sound
Morphology Morphemes are units of meaning involved in word
formation
Syntax Ways words are combined to form acceptable
phrases and sentences
Semantics Meaning of Words and Sentences
Pragmatics Appropriate use of language in context; can be very
complex
4. Brains Role in Language
• Particular regions of brain predisposed for
language acquisition.
• Most comprehend syntax in left
hemisphere; emotion and intonation
comprehended in right hemisphere.
• Aphasia- Language disorder resulting from
brain damage; loss of ability to use words.
• Broca’s Area:
Area of the brains left frontal lobe involved in speech
production
• Wernicke’s Area:
Area of the brains left hemisphere involved in
language comprehension
5. Theories of Language
Development
The Learning Perspective – B. F. Skinner
adults shape the speech of their children by
positively reinforcing the babbling
accounted for language development by
means of environmental influence.
6. Theories of Language
Development
• The Nativist Perspective –
Noam Chomsky
Humans are biologically
programmed to gain knowledge
All humans have a Language
acquisition device (LAD)
The critical period essential for
first language acquisition
7. Theories of Language
Development
The Interactionist Theory - Lev Vygotsky
Language development is both biological and
social
language learning is influenced by the desire to
communicate with others
Collaborative learning
8. Language Acquisition
• During childhood language
acquisition is a natural
consequence of prolonged
exposure to a language.
• ability to acquire spoken language
without deliberate effort begins to
diminish sharply at about the age of
puberty (12-14 years of age).
• Language acquisition by adults is a
deliberate, painstaking, intellectual
process
9. Language Acquisition
• A child who never acquires a first language will still have
problems acquiring a language after puberty
presence of one language is actually not the critical factor that
slows down a person's ability to acquire other languages
10. Language Acquisition
• Diminution of language acquisition
ability is probably the consequence of
an evolutionary adaptation. The
brain is a greedy organ, using a great
deal of energy. It is assumed that a
larger portion of the neural capacity in
a child's brain is structured to
participate in the acquisition of
language. Later, most of those
neurons are rerouted for other uses
• By puberty, the language function
becomes localized in specific areas of
the brain
11. Critical Age Hypothesis – Eric
Lenneberg
• Changes in language acquisition
abilities are linked to stages in brain
maturation
• Lateralization,
• localization of language skills into the
left hemisphere of the brain, is
completed (begins age two, completed
by puberty )
• Hypothesis is however yet to be
proven for sure
12. Adult Language Abilities
• Differences in adult ability to
master the grammar of a second
language seem only in part
connected to individual differences
in general intelligence
• the ability to learn languages in
adulthood seems to be a talent apart
from what we usually label as general
intelligence.
• Adult language learning aptitude
seems to be a separate ability, like
musical or artistic talent.
13. Adult Language Abilities
• Differences in adult abilities to learn
languages are even more apparent at the
phonetic level:
• some adults have a natural talent for
imitating the voices of other people; other
adults do not have this talent at all
• People of very limited intellectual abilities
sometimes have amazing abilities to
imitate people's voices
• Exceptional memory
• Memory is also in part an inborn talent
separate from general intelligence
14. Factors Affecting Adult
Language Learning
• Time
• Opportunity
• Desire
• Motivation
• Successful adult language
learners usually learn language
through conscious effort--
deliberate learning-- rather than
acquire it passively without a
significant amount of deliberate
intellectual effort as do children
15. Language Teaching
Approaches
• Contrastive hypothesis; first language is
viewed as a powerful linguistic helping
device
• Audio-lingual method
• Identity hypothesis; tries to minimize the
difference between first and second
language acquisition
• Natural Approach
• A compromise philosophy of language
emphasizes learner differences
