1. 1 U210B Chapter 1: ENGLISH AS A FIRST LANGUAGE Presentation: Dr. Faisal Al-Qahtani

2. 2 Introduction  How children learn English as a first language. collaborative learning, social activity  children learn to use the linguistic forms and structures of English to achieve certain ends.  Michael Halliday (1973) Functional approach to the development of meaning:  implies a social foundation for the development of language: understanding of language development based on analysis of the functions of utterances.

3. 3 Development of the sounds of language  Vocal development: 5 stages (Book 3, p.9)  Factors influencing speech development: Role of caregiver in early speech development:  baby talk; motherse; CDS: child directed speech. Sounds made by infants have some cross-cultural similarities,  but by the end of the first year differences based on the linguistic environment start to take place. Language environment provided by caregiver contributes to the language development but not essential to it:  Heath’s study: Black working class does not use “baby talk” with their children.

4. 4 First Words  Age of acquisition  Rate of acquisition  One word structure  Hear and now words  First words in English may not be recognizable as words: involve systematic use of a sound to convey meaning.  Comprehension precedes production  Role of ‘motherese’ in rate and style of language development: research has proved this role.

5. 5 Grammatical Development  The sequence of development of the standard English tense and aspect systems: No tense or aspect marker. Appearance of the past tense forms of irregular verbs Appearance of the past tense forms of regular verbs References to the past  use verbs with a past tense inflection /ed/ even those irregular verbs which had been acquired by the child before this time.

6. 6 The Development Of Narrative And Humor Skills  the development of joking: Requires both  linguistic development and social awareness. Social awareness  Cultural/social rules + linguistic rules  Telling a story:  Development of metalinguistic ability: the ability to think about and reflect on language itself. playing with language: telling jokes