Father: Does she speak English?
Tololy: Yeah, she studied in the states.
This is a “snippet” of a conversation that took place last night. As soon as those words left my lips I realized how ridiculously pseudowise they are. Linguistic proficiency could be aided by your presence among native speakers, but it is not the most definitive factor in your acquiring the language.
Factors such as age, motivation, and environment affect language acquisition. Some theorists - coined Nativists - prefer to allude to the cognitive abilities of each individual to grasp a novel language. They have it that each individual, with emphasis on the early stages of life, is equipped with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD). This built-in mental instrument, if I may call it so, plays a major role in language learning.
Non-Nativists claim the matter is linked to social interaction. To break this down into comprehensible English, they state that a child learns a language simply because those around him or her encourage him or her to do so. Therefore the stress here is on the external elements to supply input in the course of language acquisition. This theory is highly debatable, should we feel like a good argument. Think of the many times parents speak to their children in the same way their children speak to them, yet these children develop a correct linguistic system.
There are a number of theories and schools trying to explain the nature of the somewhat obscure process of language acquisition, I hope this brief entry opens the doors for my readership to look the matter up. I will be posting about language acquisition in the near future, I think the issue highly educational.
[quote]Father: Does she speak English?
Tololy: Yeah, she studied in the states.[/quote]
i think this conclusion makes perfect sense, and is not as ‘ridiculous’ as u try to describe it.
other factors do contribute, but syudying in the states is a ’suffient’ tip to reach that reasonable conclusion.
sure it a suffient, but not nessary!
talking of how we learn languages, it should be noted that a child learns through associative logic, and patterns. actually thats how everybody learns anything at such a primitive state of mind.
I suppose that it is much easier for someone to learn languages when they are young…but isn’t that true with most things because the person loses quick aptitude for new education as one gets older…think of a returning college student…you might think they are better at quickly grasping information but I believe it is more due to their maturity of knowing they need to learn it and getting down to some serious studying…younger students barely study because they don’t need to as much and find that the information attaches to their brain like a sponge…That is why when people get older they need more proximity to what they are learning because they a have lost some of the ability to let information just sink in…
Factors such as age, motivation, and environment affect language acquisition.
I’ll drink a large cup of tea for that.
I’ll come back for more later.
Toly how I could skip your previous post,yet your box gose on open and hospitable to catch up with my ode to Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto,The Nobel Prize in Literature 1971
his poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent’s destiny and dreams”
Pablo Neruda
(pen-name of Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto) I add to your portray of the salt saga,
“I want to know, salt of the roads,
show me the spoon - architecture, let me
scratch at the stamens of stone with a little stick,
ascend the rungs of the air up to the void,
scrape the innards until I touch mankind.”
(from ‘The Heights of Macchu Picchu’)
He was once referred as the Picasso of poetry, alluding to his protean ability to be always in the vanguard of change. And he himself has often alluded to his personal struggle with his own tradition, to his constant need to search for a new visions in each book.”he is the ocean of human dreams ,i stand as a child in the majestic works of Pablo Neruda the moon of south america .
Devil’s Mind,
I respect your opinion. Yet I have personally met people who studied in the states,and when I say studied I mean they obtained Masters degrees and PhD’s, and they cannot pronounce a single English word properly.
I have heard that some Arab communities in the states, particularly in Michigan, are a bit closed. Those Arabs huddle together, they speak Arabic most of the time, and expose themselves to very little culture. This does not help them acquire the language.
I still think my deduction in that conversation not entirely correct. You think it is logical, I am pleased :)
Dustywood;
You are right. Learning a language is easier when one is younger.
In Language Acquisition theory, there is such a thing as a “Critical Period Hypothesis”.
This basically means that a person is able to acquire a language, as fully as a native speaker, up until the age of 12.
After this time barrier, language acquisition tends to be slower and to have less than perfect results, i.e a learner after the age of 12 will not be able to arrive to a degree of proficiency in that language as that of a native speaker.
I hope this makes sense, I will post about the Critical Period Hypothesis soon. I am in love with Language Acquisition theories.
Hatem Abunimeh,
I await your remarks.
Anonymous person,
Amazing poetic verses!
I enjoyed your comment but kindly refrain from leaving comments for a particular post in the place designated for another. I ask you to refer to my Commenting Policy present in the sidebar, should you have any confusions in this regard. Nonetheless,thank you for a beautiful comment :)
umm, actually, i thought that u meant she studied high-school in the states… anyways, i wouldnt expect someone who lived in america who couldnt tell the butcher what type of meat he wants to get.
i had an implicit assumption that someone who studied in the states needed the english language to manage own’s life… so if that assumption fails, the conclusion may fail too.
nonetheless, i would find studying in the states ‘enough’ proof of profiency in english.
I think that acquiring the basic language skills is a very easy task, I think that one can carry a conversation with merely knowing about a 1000 words in that particular language, however, if one wants to write thesis, do presentations, or read scholarly books, one would need to acquire language knowledge at an intermediate or even at an advanced level. I think that it takes a long time for one to become very proficient in any language even his native tongue, there are many rules and regulations that need to be followed before one can perfect his essay, his speech, his pronunciation, and his listening abilities. I think that intensive reading, writing, and interacting with natives helps on improving one’s language, attending workshops, looking up vocabularies and memorizing them and using them also helps on enriching ones language. Diversification in reading is also important, one shouldn’t dwell on reading romantic novels and hope that his/her knowledge is increasing, one should read in every field without exception. The more the person diversifies the more that his knowledge will increase. Building language proficiency is like building a house, it doesn’t come over night, it is a slow step by step process. It is the same as if you are putting Jigsaw puzzle together, if all the pieces aren’t put and matched together the final picture will look deformed, but if all of the pieces are placed in the right place, the final product will look beautiful.
It will be interesting to see how it works for us. My wife is Arab and speaks Arabic and English at home and most of the people who visit our house speak Arabic and English. We are hoping that the children speak Arabic and English as native speakers. We are going to send the kids to the local Saudi Academy, so they will get the Arabic there as well, we will just have to put up with the Riyadh accent. lol