CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background

As we know that all people in the world using

language to communicate with the other. Billion years

ago, philosophers in ancient societies were interested

in how humans acquired the ability to understand and

produce language well before empirical methods for

testing those theories were developed, but for the most

part they seemed to regard language acquisition as a

subset of man's ability to acquire knowledge and learn

concepts.

The philosophers conclude that human learn to

communicate with using imitate of sound. Plato said

that that human learn word-meaning mapping in some form

was innate. Sanskrit grammarians debated for over

twelve centuries whether humans' ability to recognize

the meaning of words was God-given (possibly innate) or

passed down by previous generations and learned from

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already established conventions. In this paper the

writer will discuss about language acquisition, also

the part of language acquisition such as first and

second language acquisition, factors influencing in

first and second language acquisition, stages and

strategy for language acquisition, and the last is the

differences between Language acquisition and learning

language.

B. Limitation of problem

1. What is definition of language acquisition?

2. What is the meaning of first and second language

acquisition?

3. What factors can influence first and second

language acquisition?

4. What stages and strategy for language acquisition?

5. What the differences between language acquisition

and learning language?

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C. Purposes

1. To describe definition about language

acquisition.

2. To describe about the meaning of first and

second language acquisition.

3. To knowing factors can influence first and

second language acquisition.

4. To inform stages and strategy for language

acquisition.

5. To describe differences between language

acquisition and learning language.

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CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

A. 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 and sentences to

communicate. Language acquisition is one of the

quintessential human traits, because nonhumans do not

communicate by using language. Language acquisition

usually refers to first-language acquisition, which

studies infants' acquisition of their native language and

second language acquisition which deals with the

acquisition (in both children and adults) of additional

languages.

1. First and Second Language Acquisition.

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First-language acquisition is a universal process

regardless of home language or native language. A first

language is the language a person has learned from

birth or within the critical period, or that a person

speaks the best and so is often the basis for

sociolinguistic identity. In some countries, the terms

native language or mother tongue refer to the language

of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language.

The examples from first language acquisition are such

as the babies listen to the sounds around them, begin

to imitate them, and eventually start producing words

(in their country language). In first language

acquisition, native speakers are considered to be an

authority on their given language due to their natural

acquisition process regarding the language, versus

having learned the language later in life. This is

achieved through personal interaction with the language

and speakers of the language. Native speakers will not

necessarily be knowledgeable about every grammatical

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rule of the language, but will have good "intuition" of

the rules through their experience with the language.

Second language acquisition assumes knowledge in a

first language and encompasses the process an

individual goes through as he or she learns the

elements of a new language, such as vocabulary,

phonological components, grammatical structures, and

writing systems. In other resources written that

Second-language acquisition is the process by which

people learn a second language. Second language refers

to any language learned in addition to a person's first

language. Second-language acquisition refers to what

learners do; it does not refer to practices in language

teaching.

2. Factors Influencing in First and Second Language

Acquisition.

The factors that influence the acquisition of a

first language are:

1. Age.

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When people run into trouble in language

learning, they attribute this to their age when

it is really something else that can be treated.

Writer think there are a number of ways in which

the adults are advantaged over children. Young

children speaking the new language still speak

like children: relatively small vocabulary,

relatively simple grammar, and generally concrete

topics. Adults, on the other hand, have a higher

level of cognitive development, knowledge of the

world, and experience of how to learn that helps

them achieve satisfactory levels of language

proficiency in remarkably short periods. This

diminishes the influence of the critical period

on language acquisition. A young age can be an

advantage in learning languages faster and

gaining a native-like fluency; however, it does

not hinder the acquisition of new languages for

those who have already skipped puberty.

2. Input.

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The form of the input children get in the

home from their parents seems unlimited, constant

and variable in terms of quality and quantity.

They experience formal, semi-formal, colloquial

and chatty forms of language. As they begin to

speak, they become more competent in using

language as new skills are gained and the degree

of interaction increases as they develop

different strategies of storage and retrieval.

3. Approaches to First Language Acquisition.

In First Language Acquisition, no

teaching methodology is apparently used in

the pre-school period and children's

acquisition of language comes through unconscious

exposure to an unlimited amount of input from

their parents and elder siblings. The use of a

teaching methodology is not seen as a normal part

of a parental role in most societies in spite

of the conscious attempts parents make to

encourage their young children to talk. Candlin

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and Mercer (2001: 254) give no prominence to

methodology in the pre-school period. They argue

that parents‟ intervention in teaching the

primary language cannot be catalogued under

certain methodologies and children's acquisition

of their first language, in normal cases, is

eventually inevitable. However, linguistic adopt

different points of view on how first language

is acquired.

4. Behaviorism: Say What I Say.

Proponents of behaviorism, such as Ingram

(1989: 58), consider that first language

acquisition is the result of imitation, practice,

habit formation and appropriate feedback. In

their first attempts to speak, children imitate

the sounds and patterns they hear around them

and receive positive reinforcement for doing

so. These imitations are not random. Children

pick out patterns of language mainly through

input from adults and other caregivers and then

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try to create new forms and new uses of words

until they finally figure out how the forms are

used by adults. Their new sentences are often

comprehensible, but not necessarily correct.

5. Innatism: It Is All in Your

Mind.

According to the innatist approach, children

are biologically programmed for language and are

born with an innate special ability to discover

for themselves the underlying rules of a language

system. Piaget (1953) since it neglects the

social side of language acquisition, which

depends on exposure and interaction. Children who

are born with a hearing defect or kept isolated

for any reason are unlikely to develop their

language system in the same way as those who are

surrounded by language.

The factors that influence the acquisition of a

second language are:

Internal factors are those that the individual

language learner brings with him or her to the

particular learning situation.

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1. Age: Second language acquisition is influenced by

the age of the learner. Children, who already have

solid literacy skills in their own language, seem

to be in the best position to acquire a new

language efficiently. Motivated, older learners

can be very successful too, but usually struggle

to achieve native-speaker-equivalent pronunciation

and intonation.

2. Personality: Introverted or anxious learners

usually make slower progress, particularly in the

development of oral skills. They are less likely

to take advantage of opportunities to speak, or to

seek out such opportunities. More outgoing

students will not worry about the inevitability of

making mistakes. They will take risks, and thus

will give themselves much more practice.

3. Motivation: Intrinsic motivation has been found to

correlate strongly with educational achievement.

Clearly, students who enjoy language learning and

take pride in their progress will do better than

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those who don't.

Extrinsic motivation is also a significant factor.

ESL students, for example, who need to learn

English in order to take a place at an American

university or to communicate with a new English

boy/girlfriend are likely to make greater efforts

and thus greater progress.

4. Experiences: Learners who have acquired general

knowledge and experience are in a stronger

position to develop a new language than those who

haven't. The student, for example, who has already

lived in 3 different countries and been exposed to

various languages and cultures has a stronger base

for learning a further language than the student

who hasn't had such experiences.

5. Cognition: In general, it seems that students with

greater cognitive abilities will make the faster

progress. Some linguists believe that there is a

specific, innate language learning ability that is

stronger in some students than in others.

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6. Native language: Students who are learning a

second language which is from the same language

family as their first language have, in general, a

much easier task than those who aren't. So, for

example, a Dutch child will learn English more

quickly than a Japanese child.

External factors

External factors are those that characterize

the particular language learning situation.

1. Curriculum: For ESL students in particular it is

important that the totality of their educational

experience is appropriate for their needs. Language

learning is less likely to place if students are

fully submersed into the mainstream program without

any extra assistance or, conversely, not allowed to

be part of the mainstream until they have reached a

certain level of language proficiency.

2. Instruction: Clearly, some language teachers are

better than others at providing appropriate and

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effective learning experiences for the students in

their classrooms. These students will make faster

progress.

The same applies to mainstream teachers in second

language situations. The science teacher, for

example, who is aware that she too is responsible

for the students' English language development, and

makes certain accommodations, will contribute to

their linguistic development.

3. Culture and status: There is some evidence that

students in situations where their own culture has a

lower status than that of the culture in which they

are learning the language make slower progress.

4. Motivation: Students who are given continuing,

appropriate encouragment to learn by their teachers

and parents will generally fare better than those

who aren't. For example, students from families that

place little importance on language learning are

likely to progress less quickly.

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5. Access to native speakers: The opportunity to

interact with native speakers both within and

outside of the classroom is a significant advantage.

Native speakers are linguistic models and can

provide appropriate feedback. Clearly, second-

language learners who have no extensive access to

native speakers are likely to make slower progress,

particularly in the oral/aural aspects of language

acquisition.

3. Stages and Strategy for Language Acquisition.

Stages in first language acquisition

1. Pre-speech

Much of importance goes on even before the

child utters his first word: infants learn to

pay attention to speech, pays attention to

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intonation and the rhythm of speech long before

they begin to speak. Infants respond to speech

more keenly than to other sounds. Speech elicits

greater electrical activity in the left side of

the 2 month old infant's brain than do other

sounds.

2. Babbling stage.

Babbling stage begins at several months of

age. In this stage, these vocalizations do not

contain meaning or refer to anything specific.

Human infants are not excited or upset when

babbling, but instead they will babble

spontaneously and incessantly only when

emotionally calm. The sounds and expressions of

babbling are produced before an infant begins to

construct recognizable words. This is mainly due

to the immaturity of the vocal tract and

neuromusculature at this age in life.

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Infants first begin vocalizing by crying,

followed by cooing and then vocal play. These

first forms of sound production are the easiest

for children to use. When reaching an age of 6

months, infants are finally able to control the

opening and closing of the vocal tract, and upon

obtaining this ability, infants begin to

distinguish between the different sounds of

vowels and consonants. This period is known as

the beginning of the canonical stage. During the

canonical stage, the babbling involves

reduplicated sounds containing alternations of

vowels and consonants (e.g.; baba or bobo). By

the time an infant reaches 8–9 months, they

display productions of more advanced sounds

known as variegated babbling. Variegated

babbling differs greatly from reduplicated

babbling. This stage includes more complex

combinations of consonant and vowel syllables

(e.g.; babadoobe)

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3. One word (holophrastic) stage.

Infants may utter their first word as early

as nine months: usually mama, dada (these words

resemble babbling). Deaf babies whose parents

use sign language begin making their first

word/gestures around eight months. This stage is

characterized by the production of actual speech

signs. Often the words are simplified: "du" for

duck, "ba" for bottle. When the child has

acquired about 50 words he develops regular

pronunciation patterns. This may even distort

certain words-- turtle becomes "kurka".

Incorrect pronunciations are systematic at this

time: all words with /r/ are pronounced as /w/.

sick--thick, thick--fick. Children tend to

perceive more phonemic contrasts than they are

able to produce themselves.

The first 50 words tend to be names of

important persons, greetings, foods, highlights

of the daily routine such as baths, ability to

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change their environment-give, take, go, up,

down, open. The meaning of words may not

correspond to that of adult language:

overextension-- dog may mean any four legged

creature, “apple” may mean any round object;

“bird” may mean any flying object. Child can

still distinguish between the differences,

simply hasn't learned that they are

linguistically meaningful. There are two

patterns in child word learning--referential—

names of objects. Expressive personal desires

and social interactions: bye-bye, hi, good, this

is a continuum. Child's place on this continuum

partly due to parent's style: naming vs.

pointing. At this stage, utterances show no

internal grammatical structure (much like the

sentence yes in adult speech, which can't be

broken down into subject, predicate, etc.)

4. Combining words.

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By two and a half years most children speak

in sentences of several words--but their grammar

is far from complete. This stage rapidly

progresses into what has been termed a fifth and

final stage of language acquisition, the All

hell breaks loose stage.

Stages for Second Language Acquisition.

1. Pre-production

This is also called "the silent period," when

the student takes in the new language but does

not speak it. This period often lasts six weeks

or longer, depending on the individual.

2. Early production

The individual begins to speak using short

words and sentences, but the emphasis is still

on listening and absorbing the new language.

There will be many errors in the early

production stage.

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3. Speech Emergent

Speech becomes more frequent, words and

sentences are longer, but the individual still

relies heavily on context clues and familiar

topics. Vocabulary continues to increase and

errors begin to decrease, especially in common

or repeated interactions.

4. Beginning Fluency

Speech is fairly fluent in social situations

with minimal errors. New contexts and academic

language are challenging and the individual will

struggle to express themselves due to gaps in

vocabulary and appropriate phrases.

5. Intermediate Fluency

There will be gaps in vocabulary knowledge

and some unknown expressions. There are very few

errors, and the individual is able to

demonstrate higher order thinking skills in the

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second language such as offering an opinion or

analyzing a problem.

6. Advanced Fluency

The individual communicates fluently in all

contexts and can maneuver successfully in new

contexts and when exposed to new academic

information. At this stage, the individual may

still have an accent and use idiomatic

expressions incorrectly at times, but the

individual is essentially fluent and comfortable

communicating in the second language.

There are the strategies that can be apply in every

stages of language acquisition:

Pre-production

Emphasize listening comprehension by using

read-aloud and music.

Use visuals and have students point to pictures

or act out vocabulary.

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Speak slowly and use shorter words, but use

correct English phrasing.

Model "survival" language by saying and showing

the meaning. For example, say, "Open your

book," and then open a book while the student

observes.

Gesture, point and show as much as possible.

More advanced classmates who speak the same

language can support new learning through

interpretation.

Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce

learning by modeling correct language usage

when students make mistakes.

Early Production

Continue the strategies listed above, but add

opportunities for students to produce simple

language.

Ask students to point to pictures and say the

new word.

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Ask yes/no and either/or questions.

Have students work in pairs or small groups to

discuss a problem. Have literate students write

short sentences or words in graphic organizers.

Model a phrase and have the student repeat it

and add modifications. Teacher says, "This book

is very interesting." The student repeats it

and says, "This book is very boring." Continue

with as many modifications as possible.

Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce

learning by modeling correct usage.

Speech Emergent

Introduce more academic language and skills by

using the same techniques listed above, but

beginning to use more academic vocabulary.

Introduce new academic vocabulary and model how

to use it in a sentence.

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Provide visuals and make connections with

student's background knowledge as much as

possible.

Ask questions that require a short answer and

are fairly literal.

Introduce charts and graphs by using easily

understood information such as a class survey

of food preferences.

Have students re-tell stories or experiences

and have another student write them down. The

ELL student can bring these narratives home to

read and reinforce learning.

In writing activities, provide the student with

a fill-in-the blank version of the assignment

with the necessary vocabulary listed on the

page.

Provide minimal error correction. Focus only on

correction that directly interferes with

meaning. Reinforce learning by modeling the

correct usage.

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Beginning Fluency

Have students work in pairs and groups to

discuss content.

During instruction, have students do a "Think,

pair, share" to give the student an opportunity

to process the new language and concept.

Ask questions that require a full response with

explanation. If you do not understand the

student's explanation, ask for clarification by

paraphrasing and asking the student if you

heard them correctly.

Ask questions that require inference and

justification of the answer.

Ask students if they agree or disagree with a

statement and why.

Model more advanced academic language

structures such as, "I think," "In my opinion,"

and "When you compare." Have students repeat

the phrases in context.

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Re-phrase incorrect statements in correct

English, or ask the student if they know

another way to say it.

Introduce nuances of language such as when to

use more formal English and how to interact in

conversations.

Have students make short presentations,

providing them with the phrases and language

used in presentations ("Today I will be talking

about") and giving them opportunities to

practice the presentation with partners before

getting in front of the class.

Continue to provide visual support and

vocabulary development.

Correct errors that interfere with meaning, and

pre-identify errors that will be corrected in

student writing, such as verb-tense agreement.

Only correct the errors agreed upon.

You may want to assist in improving

pronunciation by asking a student to repeat key

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vocabulary and discussing how different

languages have different sounds.

Intermediate Fluency

Identify key academic vocabulary and phrases

and model them. Ask students to produce the

language in class activities.

Use graphic organizers and thinking maps and

check to make sure the student is filling them

in with details. Challenge the student to add

more.

Help the student make connections with new

vocabulary by instructing him or her in the

etymology of words or word families such as,

"important, importance, importantly."

Create assessments that give students an

opportunity to present in English after they

have an opportunity to practice in pairs or

small groups.

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Introduce more academic skills, such as

brainstorming, prioritizing, categorization,

summarizing and compare and contrast.

Ask students to identify vocabulary by symbols

that show whether the student "knows it really

well, kind of knows it, or doesn't know it at

all." Help students focus on strategies to get

the meaning of new words.

Have a "guessing time" during silent reading

where they circle words they don't know and

write down their guess of the meaning. Check

the results as a class.

Introduce idioms and give examples of how to use

them appropriately. For example, "Let's wind up

our work." What's another way you could use the

phrase "wind up?"

Starting at this level, students need more

correction/feedback, even on errors that do not

directly affect meaning. They should be

developing a more advanced command of syntax,

29

pragmatics, pronunciation, and other elements

that do not necessarily affect meaning but do

contribute to oral fluency.

It may also be helpful to discuss language

goals with the student so you can assist in

providing modeling and correction in specified

areas.

Advanced Fluency

Students at this level are close to native

language fluency and can interact well in a

variety of situations. Continue to develop

language skills as gaps arise by using the

strategies listed above. Although the student

may seem completely fluent, he or she still

benefit from visual support, building on

background knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary

and making connections between content areas.

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Offer challenge activities to expand the

student's vocabulary knowledge such as

identifying antonyms, synonyms and the use of a

thesaurus and dictionary.

Demonstrate effective note-taking and provide a

template.

Offer error correction on academic work and on

oral language. Because students at this stage

have achieved near-native fluency, they benefit

from support in fine-tuning their oral and

written language skills.

4. The Differences between Language Acquisition and

Learning Language.

Language Acquisition

Language acquisition refers to the process of

natural assimilation, involving intuition and

subconscious learning. It is the product of real

interactions between people in environments of the target

language and culture, where the learner is an active

31

player. It is similar to the way children learn their

native tongue, a process that produces functional skill

in the spoken language without theoretical knowledge. It

develops familiarity with the phonetic characteristics of

the language as well as its structure and vocabulary, and

is responsible for oral understanding, the capability for

creative communication and for the identification of

cultural values.

In acquisition-inspired methodology, teaching and

learning are viewed as activities that happen on a

personal and psychological level. The acquisition

approach praises the communicative act and develops self-

confidence in the learner.

A classic example of second language acquisition are

the adolescents and young adults that live abroad for a

year in an exchange program, often attaining near native

fluency, while knowing little about the language. They

have a good pronunciation without a notion of phonology,

don't know what the perfect tense is, modal or phrasal

32

verbs are, but they intuitively recognize and know how to

use all the structures.

Language Learning

The concept of language learning is linked to the

traditional approach to the study of languages and today

is still generally practiced in high schools worldwide.

Attention is focused on the language in its written form

and the objective is for the student to understand the

structure and rules of the language, whose parts are

dissected and analyzed. The task requires intellectual

effort and deductive reasoning. The form is of greater

importance than communication. Teaching and learning are

technical and based on a syllabus. One studies the theory

in the absence of the practice. One values the correct

and represses the incorrect. Error correction is constant

leaving little room for spontaneity. The teacher is an

authority figure and the participation of the student is

predominantly passive. The student will be taught how to

form interrogative and negative sentences, will memorize

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irregular verbs, study modal verbs, etc., but hardly ever

masters the use of these structures in conversation.

Language-learning inspired methods are progressive

and cumulative, normally tied to a preset syllabus that

includes memorization of vocabulary. It seeks to transmit

to the student knowledge about the language, its

functioning and grammatical structures, its contrasts

with the student's native language, knowledge that

hopefully will produce the practical skills of

understanding and speaking the language. However, the

effort of accumulating knowledge about the language with

all its irregularity becomes frustrating because of the

lack of familiarity with the language.

Innumerable graduates in Brazil with arts degrees in

English are classic examples of language learning. They

are certified teachers with knowledge about the language

and its literature but able to communicate in English

only with poor pronunciation, limited vocabulary and

lacking awareness of the target culture.

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CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

A. CONCLUSION

Based on this paper our group conclude that language

acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the

capacity to perceive and comprehend language. Language

acquisition defines into two categories: first-language

acquisition and second-language acquisition. First-

language acquisition is a universal process regardless of

home language. Babies listen to the sounds around them,

35

begin to imitate them, and eventually start producing

words. Second-language acquisition assumes knowledge in a

first language and encompasses the process an individual

goes through as he or she learns the elements of a new

language, such as vocabulary, phonological components,

grammatical structures, and writing systems. There are

stage and strategy for learning language acquisition, but

it does not depend on what the stage and strategy but it

depends on the individual. Learning acquisition is really

different with language learning, if learning acquisition

is more likely to practice and language learning more

towards to learn language using theory.

B. SUGGESTION

Based on this paper, the writers realize that this

paper is far from perfect, but criticism and suggestion

is needed for the better paper in the future. it will be

more focused and details in above paper describes the

sources are of course more can be accounted.

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