Prof.

:
Olga Galarraga

Metodología y didáctica
de ILE I (FPTLI26)

AGE AND ACQUISITION

Presented by:
Alejandro Barrios
Ornella De La Rosa
Christina Guillén
Greikary Ibarra
Isabella Vanderdys
 Language acquisition
in early childhood

It is the process whereby children

achieve a fluent control of their native
language. (Varshney, 2003)
 basic requirements
1
During the first two
2
or three years of
The child must
development, a child
also be physically
requires interaction
capable of
with other language- the Moskowitz
users sending and
case (1991)
receiving sound
signals in a
language.

(Yule, 2010)
 chronological order of the
process
Phonological Development Semantic Development

Lexical Development Pragmatic Development

Syntactic Development Discourse Development

(Yule, 2010)
 Young-Adulthood L2

Enigma of Age: which is the best A period between 18 and 25

age to learn a language? years whereby the person
learns a second language.

Foreign L vs Second L:
Second language learning.

(Yule, 2017, p. 356)

Acquisition: interaction,
unconscious, no Commitment.
teacher. Environment.
Learning: class, Responsabilities.
conscious, teacher.

Acquisition
and learning
Children are like sponges Maturity of learning
while adults... Conscious.
Grammar.

(Yule, 2017, p. 358)

 Similarities and
differences

“...it is a matter of differences within the

language itself rather than age differences.
Some aspects of language are learnable even
after puberty. This implies that we can benefit
from the acquisition/learning pathway of
children and apply it to adults.”

(Kafri, 2019, p. 84)

 Age factor
All children acquire a language as they
develop, unless they have a mental or
physical illness that prevents them from
developing it.

Due to the mental capacity we are all born

with, children transform the language they
hear into knowledge of the language and
the ability to speak it.

(Harmer, 2007)
 How adults talk to children
Using exaggerated intonation with higher pitch.
Simplifying what is being said.
Using shorter sentences.
Choosing special vocabulary which children can
understand

(Harmer, 2007)
 How adults talk to children
Ussing exaggerated intonation with higher pitch.
Simplifying what is being said.
Using shorter sentences.
Choosing special vocabulary which children can
understand

Children do not possess (yet) the

mental capacity to understand
“sophisticated” lexical items.
(Harmer, 2007)
 Language acquisition
It is the instinctual ability to
absorb language and context,
and to transform them into the
ability to understand and speak.

(Harmer, 2007)
 How it relates to age
The age of the students is a major factor because
people at different ages have different needs,
competences and cognitive skills.

(Harmer, 2007)
 How it relates to age
The age of the students is a major factor because
people at different ages have different needs,
competences and cognitive skills.

Children can acquire a foreign

language through games

Adults use abstract

thought

(Harmer, 2007)
 Children and Adolescents
CHILDREN
Children who learn a
new language early
have a facility with Development of
the pronunciation. cognitive
ADOLESCENTS
abilities
They are better
learners than
younger ones in
terms of
acquisition

(Harmer, 2007)
1. 5. Children show
Children respond to enthusiasm for
meaning even if they learning and
do not understand curiosity about the
individual words world around them.

2. 6.
Children have a need
Children often learn
indirectly
Learning and for individual attention
from the teacher.

Teaching
3. The understanding of 7.
children is thanks to:
How Children Children are strongly
Explanations Learn enthusiastic to talk
What they see and hear
about themselves
Interactions

4. 8.
Children find abstract
concepts such as Children have a
grammar rules difficult limited attention
to grasp. span
(Harmer, 2007)
 NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF
ADULT LEARNING

01 02 03
Many adults worry
Adults may have
Adults can be
that their
experienced failure
critical of a intellectual abilities
or criticism at
teaching method. may be reduced with
school.
age.

(Harmer, 2007)
 recommendations

01 02 03
Teachers need to Teachers of young Teachers need to
provide learning learners need to have good oral
experiences which understand how skills
encourage their students
students think and operate

(Harmer, 2007)
 how to teach children
The classroom should be bright and colorful with
enough room for different activities.

Children may be involved in puzzle-like activities,

drawing things, physical movements, etc.

Teachers need to provide a cheerful and

supportive environment

(Harmer, 2007)
 Teaching to adolescents

Adolescents have a great

ability for abstract thinking

Adolescents may be the

most exciting students

Adolescents are searching for

identity and self-esteem.

(Harmer, 2007)
 Teaching to adolescents

Adolescents have a great Teachers need to do what

ability for abstract thinking they can to boost students’
self-esteem
Adolescents may be the
most exciting students

Teachers also need to encourage

Adolescents are searching for students to develop their critical
identity and self-esteem. thinking

(Harmer, 2007)
 Adult learners
01
Adults can
engage with
abstract thought 02
Adults have
expectations about
03
Adults often have a
the learning
clear understanding
process
of why they are
learning
(Harmer, 2007)
 NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF
ADULT LEARNING

01 02 03
Many adults worry
Adults may have
Adults can be
that their
experienced failure
critical of a intellectual abilities
or criticism at
teaching method. may be reduced with
school.
age.

(Harmer, 2007)
 Learner differences
Aptitude and Intelligence

“Some students are better at learning

languages than others” (Harmer, 2007)

Linguistic aptitude tests

 Historical background

They didn’t show to be crucial in

1959: John Carrol’s Modern measuring communicative
Language Aptitude Test competence in context-embedded
(MLAT) situations.
1966: Pimsleur Language
Aptitude Battery (PLAB)
1977: Peterson’s Defense How is one to interpret a
Language Aptitude Battery language aptitude test? Isn’t
(DLAB) such a test likely to bias both
student and teacher?

(Harmer, 2007)
Linguistic aptitude tests flaws

General intellectual ability

Analytic-type learners > Holistic learners

They can't distinguish between the majority of students

who fall between the two extremes of “intelligence”.

(Harmer, 2007)
 Is there an ability or
“talent” that we can call Does aptitude vary by
foreign language aptitude? age and by whether
Is it innate or
learning is implicit or
environmentally nurtured?
explicit?
Language
aptitute
Is it a distinct ability or Can aptitude be reliably
is it an aspect of measured? If so, do such
general cognitive assessments predict
success in learning an L2?
abilities?

(Brown, 2015)
“The view which is supported is that learners with a wide variety of intellectual
abilities can be successful language learners. This is especially true if the
emphasis is on oral communication skills rather than metalinguistic knowledge”
(p. 86).

(Harmer, 2007)
Positive task/Goal
GOOD LEARNERS
orientation CHARACTERISTICS
Students who make
errors work for them

Students who can find not against them

their own way and make

Ego involvement their own opportunities
for practice
Students who use
contextual clues
Ambiguity
tolerance
(Harmer, 2007)
(Harmer, 2007)
 Learners' Errors in Language
Acquisition

Why do errors matter?

“L2 learning is a process that is just like first language

learning in its trial-and-error nature” (p. 248).

(Brown. 2015)
Learners' Errors in Language
Acquisition

Errors vs. Mistakes

Does John can sing?

(Brown. 2015)
 Learners' Errors in Language
Acquisition

Errors vs. Mistakes

An error, a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a

native speaker, reflects the competence of the learner.

An error cannot be self-corrected.

There is a danger in too much attention to learners’ errors.

(Brown, 2015)
The critical period HYPOTHESIS
“A biologically determined period of life when
language can be acquired more easily and
beyond which time language is increasingly
difficult to acquire. The Critical Period Hypothesis
(CPH) claims that there is such a biological
timetable” (Brown, 2015, p. 54).
 The critical period HYPOTHESIS

WILDER PENFIELD LAMAR ROBERTS ERIC LENNEBERG

Professor of Neurology Chief of Neurosurgery at Linguist and neurologist
and Neurosurgery at the University of Florida Author of the book
McGill Medical School Biological Foundations of
Director of the Montreal Coauthor of the book Language (1967)
Neurological Institute Speech and Brain Pioneer in the ideas of
since its founding in 1934 Mechanisms (1959) with language acquisition and
Penfield cognitive psychology
The critical period HYPOTHESIS
Initially connected to Later applied to

L1 acquisition L2 acquisition

GENIE JOSEPH CONRAD

“The case of Genie is one “He wrote novels in English
known example for impaired that became classics of
language acquisition English literature, but whose
following deprivation of English speech retained the
language input during a strong Polish accent of his
critical period” (Friedmann L1” (Yule, 2017, p. 358).
and Rusou, 2015, p. 28).
 what does it mean to be “successful”
in acquiring/learning a second language?
The critical period HYPOTHESIS
Neurobiological considerations
Cognitive considerations
L2 acquisition
Affective considerations
Linguistic considerations

Can an adult overcome all

these issues?
The critical period HYPOTHESIS
Neurobiological considerations

“Processes such as pronunciation are dependent on early-

maturing brain functions, making foreign accents difficult
to overcome after childhood” (Brown, 2015, p. 57).

“We are left, then, with some support for a neurologically

based critical period, but principally for the acquisition of
an authentic accent” (Brown, 2015, p. 57).
 The critical period HYPOTHESIS
Neuromuscular
The plasticity
environment of
sociocultural
influences
Accent
Neurological
development
Sociobiological
programs
(Brown, 2015)
 The critical period HYPOTHESIS
With this in mind...
Neurobiological considerations
Can an adult overcome Cognitive considerations

all these issues? Affective considerations

Linguistic considerations

Evidence shows that they

Is accent the sole and
can overcome all the
disadvantages except for most important criterion
the accent.
for acquisition?
 REFERENCES
Brown, H.D. (2015). Principles of Language Learning Teaching (5th edition). San
Francisco State University.

Friedmann, N., & Rusou, D. (2015). Critical period for first language: the crucial role of
language input during the first year of life. Neurobiology, 45, 27-34.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2015.06.003

Harmer, J. (2007). Practice of English Language Teaching (Fourth edition). Pearson

Education Limited.

Yule, G. (2017) The Study of Language (6th digital ed.) Cambridge University Press.

Kafri, Amer AI. (2019). Similarities and Differences between Child and Adult L2
Learners in the Acquisition of English Reflexives. (Vo. 9 N. 6) Scientific Research.
https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=97014