The capacity to acquire and use language is a key aspect that distinguishes humans from other beings.

1. Linguistc Seminar Created by Joel Acosta
Facilitator: Mirna Quintero
April, 2012

2. language
comprehend
Process
Language
perceive
Acquisition humans
capacity acquire
Produce + use + words = comunicate

3. Successfully use of language
Tools
Syntax Extensive
vocabulary
Phonetics

4. Is the language acquisition process the same for all children?
 Game
 Rules
 Articulate words
 Put together the words to be acceptable and understand
by people

5. Children do not use language like adults
Acquiring language is a gradual process
‘Errors'
Children will learn to speak the dialect(s) and language(s)
that are used around them
Children follow their own rules

6. How do children develop?
Children are individuals
Children are learning how to function adequately in their environment
Much of this learning takes place through language itself

7. Do children copy adults exactly?
Children do not simply reproduce whatever they are exposed to...
 Children are developing physically
 Children are developing cognitively

8. How long does it take to acquire language?
Language acquisition takes time, a long time
Children learn language through natural interaction with caring
people in everyday settings

9. Do all children learn at the same rate?
Language acquisition is not a competitive sport
They are competing only with themselves, on their own terms
Language is only part of what children have to learn
Children won't learn anything which they are not ready for

10. How do children handle the language acquisition process?
Children will develop their own strategies for learning whatever they find
relevant to learn around them, including language
Language is just a tool that gets things done for them
Children may prefer to be expressive through intonation

11. What strategies do children use in learning language?
 Learning strategies:
 Physical ability (Learn in stages)
 Intellectual ability Generalize from past experience

12. How do children acquire pronunciation?
Difficult sounds and easy sounds, and difficult and easy distinctions
between sounds
Children usually replace difficult sounds with sounds that are easier
for them to articulate
Children's spontaneous play also shows a progression from gross to
sophisticated control over their body
Baby-words for 'mummy' and 'daddy'

13. Vowels (the sounds usually spelt a, e, i, o, u in English) are easier than
consonants and are generally learned first
Prolong the vowels

14. How do children acquire words?
Generalization:
Children modify words, replace, add and remove word bits to make them
conform to a general pattern that they find easier to tackle (banana)

15. How do children acquire sentences?
An interesting fact of this learning is the hyperregularization inflections,
or use the same inflections of verbs regular and irregular, showing that
the child looks for patterns in language

16. Where can you learn more about language acquisition?
 David Crystal's book Listen to your Child: A Parent's Guide to Children's
Language (Penguin, 1989) offers a very accessible and very entertaining
account of what children do with their own language learning.
 Eve Clark's book First Language Acquisition (Cambridge University Press,
2003) is a comprehensive -- and more technical -- account of child language
development.
 The Learning Disabilities website lists typical milestones in cognitive,
linguistic and social development.

17. Sources
http://es.scribd.com/doc/16677606/La-adquision-del-lenguaje-en-los-ninos
Bloom, L. (1970) Language Development: Form and Function in Emerging
Grammars.
https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/iverson/www/pinker.html
http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/lang/acquisition.htm