Universidad Catlica de la Ssma.

Concepcin Facultad de Educacin Pedagoga Media en Ingls

The first two chapters of the text First Language Acquisition by Brown and Freeman introduce the reader on different theories related to how children acquired their first language, giving detailed examples and evidence on which the quoted authors based their theories, the controversy that surround some perspectives and the reasons of it. The authors develop some theories of first language acquisition on children; whether we are genetically determined to learn it, or if the acquisition of the language it is a response of a stimulus, or of it is the construction of cognitive and affective abilities or the product of social interaction. They make us wonder on the communicative abilities that children start to develop from the first few months of life, starting from babbling, later they utter their first word, then produce two-word sentences to finally evolve into full sentences, all these in an incredible short period of time! This paper is written with the purpose of giving a wide point of view based on the three diverse theories that were presented to us on the assigned chapters. In addition, we will try to make the reader conscious of the main differences among them, presenting it in a creative analysis. The first chapter that we present is the one introduced by the theory of the linguist Steven Pinker, who announces that the acquisition of the language is something instinctive in human beings, and just for being we are predisposed to learn it. He based his theory on childrens ability to learn vocabulary that is important to them so swiftly; due to the necessity of language for social interaction, this phenomenon is called telegraphic; in which children use only key words to express a message. This is also stated on a study by Brown. Through the years, children develop the ability to understand language and its complexity through cognitive processes in a quite overwhelming way, as language development is described as the result of a tension between invention and convention, adults should encourage children to initiate conversations and to sustain them, suggests Wells. As well the linguist, Noam Chomsky, calls the innate knowledge of language Universal Grammar; he developed a theory referred to as generative grammar on which he tried to create a set of rules that could be used to produce any sentence of the language. Chomsky created a model which contained surface and deep structures (what we say or write and what we mean, respectively). The second chapter presents three different approaches; those are the Behavioral one, the Nativist one and the Functional approach. The

main exponent of the behavioral approach is B. F. Skinner, whom in this perspective refers to how children respond to stimulus of the world closer to them, this theory of learning is called operant conditioning, by which children are supposed to acquire language in response of external incentives; however, this theory has been largely criticized due to the little credibility on the fact of language being acquired by stimulus-response, since this will take much longer for a child to learn to manage language and all its complexity. The Nativist approach, as the one presented in the first chapter by Chomsky, supports the premise that human being are born with a genetic or innate capacity to understand the language around us; he also tries to explain childs mastery when is about distinguish and organize linguistic information. The final approach that is presented is the Functional approach; this perspective emphasizes two things: (1) the language as a manifestation of cognitive and affective abilities to deal with the world; according to Bloom along with Jean Pieaget, D. Slobin and others researchers, what children learned about language is determined by what they already know about the world. Besides, they demonstrated that semantic learning depends on cognitive development and that is more determined by semantic complexity; and (2) the language constructed from social and functional

interaction, seeing that language in discourse is used for interactive communication beyond cognitive thought and memory structure. In short, those are the main theories or perspectives presented on the first two chapters of the text First Language Acquisition. The Nativist Approach suggests that First language acquisition is an innate and complex process that does not need instruction. Besides, children`s acquisition of first language is a process that is similar to all children and all languages. According to Pinker, human beings, at earlier stages, have a predisposition to learn any language. Moreover, language is learnt very rapidly between the age of two and three. The months before, they learnt basic nouns and action verbs. They used them to express complex ideas because they can understand more than produce. Children develop syntax that it means that they can recognize the different meaning of a sentence by the order of it, and also they can produce the sentences due to some received input. However the learning of vocabulary is different because it is not systematic nor predictable. What Pinker explains in his theory makes sense to us. Children at early stages learn the language faster than anything else, and without instruction, in most of the cases children do not receive feedback but they receive a limited amount of evidence. That is why Pinker suggest that children have a special cognitive ability for language. Pinkers proposals were a reaction to behaviorism theories that explain how children acquires first languages by imitation and reinforcement. Pinker

proposed that children have a cognitive ability for language learning because of they abilities to learn rapidly and without several examples. Pinker`s theory is supported by a study that was made of childrens possible errors. The results showed that although there are billions of logical generalization of rules, children do not make those mistakes. However, it has not been scientifically proved that we have an special cognitive ability, because this studies have been based on observation. In addition to that, Pinker did not focus in other aspects that may result in the acquisition of the first language, he only analysed the cognitive aspects. There are more factors involve in the process of learning a first language, such as the environmental context, linguistics and grammatical aspects and the communicative competence. Children learn how to use the language appropriately according to the social setting, other theories suggest that human beings have born with a built-in knowledge that allow children to produce a language. All in all, Pinker made an enormous contribution to the understanding of the acquisition of a first language because his studies make us conclude that there is a stage between the ages of two and three in which we learn languages fast and easily. According to neuroscience studies, If a child is exposed to two languages at that stage, he/she is going to be able to be proficient in both language and the main reason is that our brain is more plastic at those ages. As a conclusion, the theories of acquisition of first language give us a clue to understand the processes and factors that are involved in learning a first language. Those theories are Behaviorism, Innatism, and Psychological and Interactionist theories, among others. Human beings acquire a first language unconsciously by a special cognitive ability. Pinker`s theory helped to clarify a mystery about how a first language is acquired. Although there are still some theories that have not been scientifically proved, the special cognitive ability for learning a first language`s theory had been accepted for many linguists, psychologist and sociologist. Studies suggest that human beings have some built.in linguistic knowledge that allow them to learn a language. Human beings are born with a set of rules in our brains about syntax that allow us to identify a noun and a verb and put them in the correct order when speak. However, we learn our mother tongue at early stages although, we need to learn how to speak according to the context. Being proficient in a language involves how we develop ourselves in a community, and in that sense, schools are highly crucial because children increase their vocabulary by learning academic language about different subjects. As teacher of English, we should try to make

students acquire the language, that is to say, to make students learn language unconsciously instead of being concerned about following rules. Consequently, its very important the communicative approach to attain successful in the classroom. Students should have an active role to develop their language skills. It has been proved that students learn better in a communicative instance, by receiving input and producing output.