Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition

Bilingualism Bilingualism means being fluent in two languages Approximately ½ of the people in the world are native speakers of more than one language It is natural for children acquiring more than one language to mix the languages as they are acquiring them Bilingual children appear to acquire both languages in the same stages and at same rate as monolingual children

Bilingualism (con’t) Metalinguistic awareness = consciousness about language including a better understanding of symbol-object relations and sociolinguistic practices Bilingual children have better metalinguistic awareness than monolingual children Code-switching = moving back and forth between two or more languages during a single speech event Bilingual individuals code-switch when speaking to other bilingual individuals

Theories of Bilingual Language Acquisition Unitary System Hypothesis Children first construct one lexicon and one grammar, and then later add another. Separate Systems Hypothesis Children simultaneously develop two lexicons and two grammars, one for each of the languages.

Second Language Acquisition (L2’s) The acquisition of a second language AFTER the first has been completely acquired. Fundamental Difference Hypothesis = the process of second language acquisition is different than bilingual language acquisition process. L2’s go through predictable stages in acquiring the second languages that are intermediate between their first and second languages. Many L2’s never reach full fluency, and/or frequently retain systematic errors in their second language. About 8 years old appears to be the boundary for complete fluency (phonetically, morphologically and syntactically) in a second language. Each year delay makes a significant difference in fluency

Methods of Teaching L2’s Grammar Translation Involves memorization of vocabulary, morphological and syntactic rules. The Direct Method Involves immersion in the second language without any memorization or study of phonology or syntax.