1. FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION/ LEARNING

2. FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

3. Knowledge of a language involves a number of areas, or levels;
Phonology: pronunciation, combinations
Morphology: prefixes, suffixes
Syntax: sentence structure
Semantics: word meaning
Pragmatics: (in)direct speech acts, implicatures
Conversational rules: turn-taking

4. Were we born with the capacity for language or is it something we develop after birth? It seems as if children are programmed to learn a language, but not a particular one. It is believed that we possess some preknowledge of language. We seem to have some 'operating principles':

5. Pay attention to the order of words
Pay particular attention to the word endings (inflections)
Focus on consistent relationships between expressions and content
Look for generalisations

6. Caregiver speech/motherese/baby-talk/parentese
Exaggerated intonation contours slow and clear articulation high pitch concrete, immediate referents frequent content words few function words few modifiers
personal names (not pronouns) baby talk words (doggie, tummy) frequent questions repetition imperatives

7. Interaction with other language users is absolutely vital
There seems to be a critical period around puberty for language development. If a first language has not been learned by then it may never be completely mastered.

8. Acquisition stages:
Pre-language stage (3-10 months) cooing/babbling: C(onsonant) + C /k g i ʊ/ V(owel) + V CV CV Certain interactive skills; socialization starts

9. One-word stage (12-18 months)
Holophrastic utterances ‘look at that’ /lʊkǝðæt/
> 50 words
Semantics: Overextension: vava = car, bicycle, bus, train
Note only in production, not in comprehension

10. Two-word stage (18-24 months)
Phrasal structure: N(oun) + N N + V(erb) N + A(djective) Daddy shoe, daddy come, daddy nice Produces words

11. Telegraphic speech (24-36 months)
More content words than function words Later on: inflections, prepositions, -ing, plural -s The development of morphology: overgeneralization: go-ed, foot-s, went-ed

12. The acquisition of semantics:
Overextension: all round objects are referred to as ‘ball’; all furry, four-legged animals are referred to as ‘doggie’.

13. SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

14. Some terminology: L1 = first language, L2 = second language
SLA = Second Language Acquisition EFL = English as a Foreign language ESL = English as Second Language Applied linguistics: research on teaching methods, L2 acquisition, involves many other disciplines: pedagogy, sociology, psychology, among others.

15. Differences between learning a 1:st and a 2:nd language:
First language learning means 'starting from scratch', filling all gaps of language knowledge
The surroundings and situation in which the language is acquired
Awareness of language and its social connections
Language awareness (linguistic metaknowledge)

16. Acquisition: development of ability by using language communicatively (“exposure”)
Learning: process of accumulating linguistic knowledge (“study of” ) The affective factors/acquisition barriers: - the surroundings - learning/teaching methods - motivation - inhibition

17. L1 learning vs L2 learning
L1; the child + more motivated + less self-conscious + more time + more one – to –one situations
L2; the adult + has cognitive skills + can read + write + meets more varied situations

18. Why do some people learn new languages more easily?
aptitude (innate talent)
empathy
adaptability
good memory
good at detecting patterns and phonetic differences (stress, melody, vowel quality)

19. Focus on method
Grammar-translation method: the traditional method, exercises on written language.
Audio-lingual method: emphasis on spoken language, spoken ´drills`.
The communicative approach: emphasizes the functions of language.

20. Focus on the learner Error analysis
Transfer: positive transfer and negative transfer.
Interference errors L1 is mapped on L2
Interlanguage: stages of the learner's language
Fossilization: when the learner has stopped progressing.

21. Input/output
= the relationship between exposure and the language produced by the language learner. The input has to be meaningful in order for the learner to be able to improve his/her output.

22. Language skills: Communicative competence: Grammatical competence
Sociolinguistic competence
Strategic competence > a communication strategy