Language Acquisition, Summaries of Communication

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How did you learn to speak a language? What's the first word you learn to speak? WHAT IS LANGUAGE ACQUISITION? «Language Acquisition Is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language as well as to produce and use words; sentences to communicate. * i.e. gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand it. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE EARLY STAGES “Crying The sole mechanism babies use for communication. (week-old) e.g. hungry, wet, get up LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE EARLY STAGES “* Babbling By the duration of 4-6 months the baby starts to utter not just the vowel sounds but also the consonant sounds. EXAMPLE: A BABY MIMICKING HER MOTHER AS SHE BABBLE. a TWINS COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OTHER LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE EARLY STAGES “* Single-word For over a year, the child then begins to utter his/her first words. *Holophrase- one word as if a sentence. *Overgeneralization- apply to all as similar. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE EARLY STAGES * Fast-Mapping- this is the part of the telegraphic speech in which a child aged 2-6 years old has the ability to perfectly copy and use a word correctly even when he/she just heard it once. * This ability however will be lost over time as a child grow into an adult. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE EARLY STAGES * Overregularization- children include rules that don't apply to the rules of grammar. Many have been always fascinated with the human linguistic ability, particularly on where it started; or some call it the initial acquisition. Numerous studies have conducted to find out how humans are able to learn language and use it for day to day communication. Thus, here are some of the many theories that have emerge to understand how we learn the language we speak of today. THE COMPETING SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ABOUT LANGUAGE ACQUISITION * Behaviorism/Behaviorist Theory * Innateness/Nativist Theory (Universal Grammar) ¢ Learning/Cognitive Theory ¢ Social/Interactionist Theory