Alina Toni Inácio

Joanes Jorge Daniel

Milagre João Manuel
Mussa Alberto Malfazer

Child and First Language Acquisition

Adult and Second Language Learning
(Bachelor’s Degree in English Language Teaching with minor in Portuguese)

Universidade Rovuma
Higher Institute for Rural Development and Biosciences
Niassa
2024
 Alina Toni Inácio

Joanes Jorge Daniel

Milagre João Manuel

Mussa Alberto Malfazer

Child and First Language Acquisition

Adult and Second Language Learning

(Bachelor’s Degree in English Language Teaching with minor in Portuguese)

Scientific work from the subject of

Psycholinguistics to be delivered in
the Department of Arts and Social
Sciences, for evaluative purposes.
Under the guidance of lecturer:
Matias Quenane.

Universidade Rovuma
Higher Institute for Rural Development and Biosciences
Niassa
2024
Table of contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 3

1. Child and first language acquisition .......................................................................... 4

1.1. What is first language acquisition? .................................................................... 4

2. Theories Underlying First Language Acquisition ..................................................... 5

2.1. Behaviouristic Approach ................................................................................... 5

2.2. The nativist approach ......................................................................................... 5

2.3. Functional Approach .......................................................................................... 6

2.4. Cognitive Theory ............................................................................................... 7

3. Stages in First Language Acquisition ....................................................................... 8

3.1. Pre-talking stage / Cooing (0-6 months) ............................................................ 8

3.2. Babbling stage (6-8 months) .............................................................................. 8

3.3. Holophrastic stage / one-word stage (9-18 months) .......................................... 9

3.4. The two-word stage (18-24 months) .................................................................. 9

3.5. Telegraphic stage (24-30 months) ..................................................................... 9

3.6. Later multiword stage (30+months) ................................................................ 10

4. The acquisition process ........................................................................................... 10

4.1. Developing morphology .................................................................................. 11

4.2. Developing syntax ........................................................................................... 12

4.2.1. Forming negatives .................................................................................... 12

4.3. Developing semantics ...................................................................................... 13

5. Adult and second language learning ....................................................................... 13

6. Acquisition and learning ......................................................................................... 13

7. Factors involved in second-language learning ........................................................ 14

7.1. Psychological Factors ...................................................................................... 14

8.1.1 Explication ..................................................................................................... 14

8.1.2. Induction........................................................................................................ 14
 8.1.3. Memory ......................................................................................................... 15

8.1.4. Motor Skills ................................................................................................... 16

8.1.5. Decline in General Motor Skills.................................................................... 16

7.2. Social factors .................................................................................................... 16

7.2.1. The natural situation ................................................................................. 16

7.2.2. The classroom situation ............................................................................ 17

8. Methods and strategies of second language learning .............................................. 17

8.1. Meaning Learning: Direct Experience vs. Translation .................................... 17

8.2. Grammar Learning: Induction vs. Explication ................................................ 17

9. Methods to second language teaching..................................................................... 18

9.1. The grammar–translation method .................................................................... 18

9.2. The audio-lingual method ................................................................................ 18

9.3. Communicative approaches ............................................................................. 18

10. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 19

11. Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 20

 3

1. Introduction
The present work has got two main focuses, the first one is related to child and first
language learning, thereby different aspects regarding how children acquire their first
language is highly discussed, departing from theories concerning first language
acquisition up to the different stages humans go through in the process of first language
acquisition, on the other side of the coin, adult and second language learning is also
thoroughly discussed, pinpointing aspects such as the difference between acquisition and
language learning, factors involved in second language learning and the process by which
adults go through while learning a second language. In this respect, the researchers
alongside the authors cited provide deep insights into the topics previously mentioned.

The present work aims at analysing the linguistic acquisition process that children
undergo and provide a deep insight into the nature of second language learning undergone
by adults.

For the realization of the present work bibliographical research has been carried out
alongside some researches on websites.
 4

1. Child and first language acquisition

1.1. What is first language acquisition?
The term acquisition is used for the equivalent of the English term acquisition, which is
a language acquisition process that is carried out by the child naturally when he learns his
mother tongue (Dardjowidjojo, 2016).

On the other hand, Varshney (2003, p. 307), states that Language Acquisition is meant
by a process whereby children achieve a fluent control of their native language. Children
all over the world acquire their first language without tutoring.

Based on Chomsky (2009, pp. 101-102), language acquisition is a matter of growth and
maturation of relatively fixed capacities, under appropriate external conditions. The form
of Acquisition and use of language that is acquired is largely determined by internal
factors; it is because of the fundamental correspondence of all human languages, because
of the fact that “human beings are the same, wherever they may be”, that a child can learn
any language. The functioning of the language capacity is, furthermore, optimal at a
certain “critical period” of intellectual development.

In addition to that, the term ‘’language acquisition’’ is normally used without

qualification for the process which results in the knowledge of one’s native language (or
native languages). It is conceivable that the acquisition of a foreign language whether it
is learned systematically at school or not, proceeds in a quite different way. Indeed, as we
have seen, the acquisition of one’s native language after the alleged critical age for
language acquisition may differ, for neurophysiological reasons, from the normal child’s
acquisition of his native language (Lyons, 1981, p. 252).

In the language acquisition process, children learn to produce and comprehend speech.
The process started since infants and then continues through some stages until the child
can speak or produce a sentence even a complex sentence. Prior to uttering speech sounds,
infants make a variety of sounds, crying, cooing, and gurgling. Infants everywhere seem
to make the same variety of sounds, even children who are born deaf (Lenneberg,
Rebelsky, & Steinberg, 2000).

According to Pinker (2011), learning a first language is something every child does
successfully, in a matter of a few years and without the need for formal lessons.” The
process of language acquisition is done naturally since an infant is exposed to the
language.
 5

In this respect, the researchers find worthy highlighting the point that, the acquisition of
the first language in children is done naturally and suddenly, without any media or tools
used such as teachers who teach and having classes to learn the first language. First
language acquisition has stages and developments. Still, the ability to learn the language
is inherited genetically but the particular language that children speak is culturally and
environmentally transmitted to them.

2. Theories Underlying First Language Acquisition

2.1. Behaviouristic Approach
Behaviourism is a psychological theory of learning which was very influential in the
1940s and 1950s, especially in the US. Skinner in Brown (2000, pp. 22-23), states that
language learning is a kind of behaviour similar to other behaviours. Language is learnt
in much the same way as anything else is learnt. It is believed that language learning is
the result of imitation, practice, feedback on success, and habit formation. Children
imitate the sounds and patterns which they hear around them and receive positive
reinforcement for doing so. Therefore, it is believed that imitation and practice become
the major process in language development and positive reinforcement and corrections
play a major role in language acquisition. Two important concepts are put forward in
supporting this theory, such as stimulus (S), response (R)

The term stimulus (S) refers to the reinforcement or the environment and response (R)
refers to the activity resulting from behaviour changing. It is believed that stimulus such
as reinforcement can produce response. The stimulus can be in the form of language input.
When a child gets a language input from the environment, he will imitate it and continue
to imitate and practice this input (sounds and patterns) until he forms “habits” of correct
language use. Thus, learning in this case is seen as behaviour change through habit
formation, conditioned by the presence of stimuli and strengthened through practices and
selective reinforcement.

2.2. The nativist approach

The Nativist, also known as innatist, believes that language is not a behaviour learned
through imitation and conditioning as Chomsky and Miler (1957) in Chaer (2003, pp.
169-170) state that children’s minds are not blank slates to be filled merely by imitating
language they hear in the environment. Instead, Chaer (2003, pp. 169-170) claims that
children are born with special ability to discover for themselves the underlying rules of a
 6

language system. Goh and Silver (2004, p. 19) also give emphasis that language is rule-
based and generative in nature, processed and produced through complicated cognitive
processes and mechanism. Children are equipped with L.A.D (Language Acquisition
Devices). L.A.D is a series of syntactic universal, structural properties universally found
in all languages. These syntactic structures are innate.

Another assumption of this approach is that language development follows biological and
chronological program. Just as normal children go through distinct and predictable phases
of psychomotor development at different times during their early years, various
grammatical features are acquired according to natural order or program. It is supported
by Lenneberg (1967) who is popular with his Critical Period Hypothesis in which he
argues that critical point for language acquisition occurs around puberty. Beyond this
point, people who try to learn a language will not acquire it fully.

2.3. Functional Approach

In the viewpoint of Gleason (1998), the primary focus of the functional approach which
is also popular as interactionist model is how language and cognitive development take
place within key contexts of interaction. It means that language development goes along
or is dependent on the cognitive development supported by the environment, (contexts of
interaction). These contexts include care giving, play and joint adultchild book reading
where many communication routines occur. Such routines allow adults to provide a rich
source of language input in meaningful communicative contexts. These inputs, of course
contribute to the language development. Another contribution of adult –child interaction
is that it provides opportunities for young children to use and experiment with language.
Just like adults, children use language for particular communicative function, such as
requests, refusals etc, for example, “Apa ini?” (What’s that), “cucu” asking for milk etc.

The author cited in the paragraph above, states that since the language development is
dependent on the child’s cognitive capacity and attempts and the quality of input,
environment the child’s experience to live, thus, to enhance the acquisition of language
attention to the quality of input is of a very great important. This idea is in line with
Vygotskyan view of cognitive and language in which it is stated that cultural and social
environments and language learning are interrelated. Children learn a language in social
interactions and use it for social purposes. Secondly, cognition is also seen as closely
related to language learning. Children’s cognition is developed through their interaction
with their parents and other people. Adults use language to teach children about their
 7

world by talking to them about everyday routines, naming objects together and teaching
them about appropriate behaviours. However, the relationship between the cognition and
the language learning gradually changes as the child grows older. Through language used
by themselves and the people around them. Children learn to interpret new experiences
which further develops their ability to think.

2.4. Cognitive Theory

Cognitive theorists believe that language is a subordinate part of cognitive development,
dependent on the attainment of various concepts (Gleason, 1998, p.383). According to
this view, children learn about the world first, and then map language onto that prior
experience. Additionally, cognitive theorists believe that language is just one aspect of
human cognition. According to Piaget and his followers in Gleason (1998, p. 384), infants
must learn about world around them, which they do through active experimentation and
construction. For example, the infant crawls around the floor, observes object from all
angels, and slowly develops a sensorimotor (literally, “through the senses and more
activity) understanding of the space in which she lives.

Bolinger (2002, p.3) said that, acquiring a language calls for three things:

1. Predispositions, as well as physical capacities, developed through countless

centuries of natural selection; People have capacities for communicating in a
human way uniquely and capacities for acting such as breathing, grasping and
crying.
2. A pre-existing language system, any one of the many produced by the cultures of
the world; Language persists through time and from speaker to speaker. We are
not born with an instinct to learn language such as English, Indonesian or Chinese
but we learn a language as members of the society, or we want to understand that
society, or to be understood by that speech community. It means that if a language
is not used in any society, it dies out.
3. A competence that comes from applying the predispositions and capacities to the
system through the relatively long period during which the child learns both to
manipulate the physical elements of the system, such as sounds and words and
grammatical rules, and to permeate them with meaning: A child must learn the
rules before use the language creatively.
From the points presented above, it can be concluded that according to behaviouristic
approach, children come into the world with a blank sheet of paper (tabula rasa), a clean
 8

state bearing no preconceived notions about the world or about language, and then
children are shaped by their environment and slowly conditioned through various
schedules of reinforcement. Meanwhile, constructivist makes not only the rationalist or
cognitivist claim that children come into this world with very specific innate knowledge,
predispositions, and biological timetables, but the children learn to function in a language
chiefly through interaction and discourse.

3. Stages in First Language Acquisition

When a human is born, he/she does not have suddenly the grammatical of his first
language in his brain and completely with its rules. The native language is acquired
through some stages, and every stage is passed near to adult’s language. There are six
stages in children’s first language acquisition, but it is crucial bringing the following point
presented by Yule (2010) forward:

One note of caution should be sounded at this point. Child language

researchers certainly report very carefully on the age of any child whose
language they study. However, they are also very careful to point out that
there is substantial variation among children in terms of the age at which
particular features of linguistic development occur. So, we should always
treat statements concerning development stages such as “by six months”
or “by the age of two” as approximate and subject to variation in
individual children (p. 173).

3.1. Pre-talking stage / Cooing (0-6 months)

Yule (2010, p. 13) says that ‘’the earliest use of speech-like sounds has been described as
cooing’’. To Bolinger (2002, p. 283), pre-talking stage or cooing is the vowel-like sound
responding to human sounds more definitely, the babies turn head or eyes and seem to
search for speaker occasionally some chuckling sounds. For example, Miles (at the age
of 4 months) demonstrating the cooing stage of language acquisition. He is producing
vowel-like sounds (especially, the back vowels [u] and [o]) in the sounds of “oh”, “uh”,
and “ah”, typical of "cooing". He still finds difficulties in producing the vowel sound [i]
except when he is screaming in “hiii”. Moreover in producing the consonant sounds like
[b], [p], or [m], she is not able to produce them yet.

3.2. Babbling stage (6-8 months)

Babbling is the sounds which infants produce as consonant-vowel combinations,
Steinberg (2003, p. 147). The sounds which are produced by infants but not all the speech
sounds are the same in language of the world such as [ma-ma-ma] or [da-da-da] and [ba-
ba-ba] or [na-na-na].
 9

3.3. Holophrastic stage / one-word stage (9-18 months)

Fromkin (1983, p. 328) defined holophrastic from holo “complete” or “undivided” plus
phrase “phrase” or “sentence”. So holophrastic is the children’s first single word which
represent to a sentence. Children using one word to express particular emotional state.
For example, Debby’s mother recorded the words she had pronounced during the 8
months after the appearance of her first word at 9 months (this was [adi], used both for
her "daddy") During the two weeks from 17 months - 17 months and a half, she more
than doubled her vocabulary. On the other hand, Yule (2010) diverges with the author
aforementioned as for the age, as he says,

Between twelve and eighteen months, children begin to produce a variety

of recognizable single-unit utterances. This period, traditionally called
the one-word stage, is characterized by speech in which single terms are
uttered for everyday objects such as “milk,” “cookie,” “cat,” “cup” and
“spoon” (usually pronounced [pun]), (p. 174).
3.4. The two-word stage (18-24 months)
Two-word stage is the mini sentences with simple semantic relations. As Fromkin (1983,
p. 329) states that children begin to form actual two-word sentences, with the relations
between the two words showing definite syntactic and semantic relations and the
intonation contour of the two words extending over the whole utterance rather than being
separated by a pause between the two words. Basically, a child at this age is already able
to produce the consonant sounds like [j], [p], [b], [d], [t], [m], and [n]. That is, the child
not only produces speech, but also receives feedback confirming that the utterance
worked as a contribution to the interaction. Moreover, by the age of two, whether the
child is producing 200 or 300 distinct “words,” he or she will be capable of understanding
five times as many, and will typically be treated as an entertaining conversational partner
by the principal caregiver. By the time the child is two years old, a variety of
combinations, similar to baby chair, mommy eat, cat bad, will usually have appeared. The
adult interpretation of such combinations is, of course, very much tied to the context of
their utterance. The phrase ‘baby chair’ may be taken as an expression of possession (=
this is baby’s chair), or as a request (= put baby in chair), or as a statement (= baby is in
the chair), depending on different circumstances (Yule, 2010, p. 174).

3.5. Telegraphic stage (24-30 months)

Telegraphic is merely a descriptive term because the child does not deliberately leave out
the non-content words, as does an adult sending a telegram, Fromkin (1983, p. 330).
 10

When the child begins to produce utterances that ere longer than two words, these
utterances appear to be “sentence-like”; they have hierarchical, constituent structures
similar to the syntactic structures found in the sentences produced by adult grammar. In
this respect, Yule (2010), emphasizes that the salient feature of these utterances ceases to
be the number of words, but the variation in word forms that begins to appear. This is
characterized by strings of words (lexical morphemes) in phrases or sentences such as
this shoe all wet, cat drink milk and daddy go bye-bye. The child has clearly developed
some sentence building capacity by this stage and can get the word order correct. While
this type of telegram-format speech is being produced, a number of grammatical
inflections begin to appear in some of the word forms and simple prepositions (in, on) are
also used.

3.6. Later multiword stage (30+months)

According to Bolinger (2002, p. 283), this stage is fastest increase in vocabulary with
many new additions every day; no babbling at all; utterances have communicative intent.
There is a great variation among children, seems to understand everything said within
hearing and directed to them.

After having discussed about the stages involved in language acquisition, it can be stated
that the language acquisition process, starts from the smallest units of speech up to more
advanced and accurate forms of language, which evolve from the first months of life up
to adulthood.

4. The acquisition process

As the linguistic repertoire of the child increases, it is often assumed that the child is, in
some sense, being “taught” the language. This idea is not really supported by what the
child actually does. For the vast majority of children, no one provides any instruction on
how to speak the language. Nor should we picture a little empty head gradually being
filled with words and phrases. A more accurate view would have the children actively
constructing, from what is said to them, possible ways of using the language. The child’s
linguistic production appears to be mostly a matter of trying out constructions and testing
whether they work or not (Yule, 2010).
 11

4.1. Developing morphology

1. ING forms

By the time a child is two-and-a-half years old, he or she is going beyond telegraphic
speech forms and incorporating some of the inflectional morphemes that indicate the
grammatical function of the nouns and verbs used. The first to appear is usually the -ing
form in expressions such as cat sitting and mommy reading book (Yule, 2010).

2. Regular plural

The author cited above provides further insights by saying that the next morphological
development is typically the marking of regular plurals with the -s form, as in boys and
cats. The acquisition of the plural marker is often accompanied by a process of
overgeneralization. The child overgeneralizes the apparent rule of adding -s to form
plurals and will talk about foots and mans. When the alternative pronunciation of the
plural morpheme used in houses (i.e. ending in [-əz]) comes into use, it too is given an
overgeneralized application and forms such as boyses or footses can be heard. At the same
time as this overgeneralization is taking place, some children also begin using irregular
plurals such as men quite appropriately for a while, but then try out the general rule on
the forms, producing expressions like some mens and two feets, or even two feetses. Not
long after, the use of the possessive inflection -’s occurs in expressions such as girl’s dog
and Mummy’s book.

3. Regular and irregular verbs

At about the same time, different forms of the verb “to be,” such as are and was, begin to
be used. The appearance of forms such as was and, at about the same time, went and came
should be noted. These are irregular past-tense forms that we would not expect to hear
before the more regular forms. However, they do typically precede the appearance of the
-ed inflection. Once the regular past-tense forms (walked, played) begin appearing in the
child’s speech, the irregular forms may disappear for a while, replaced by overgeneralized
versions such as goed and comed. For a period, the -ed inflection may be added to
everything, producing such oddities as walkeded and wented. As with the plural forms,
the child works out (usually after the age of four) which forms are regular and which are
not (Yule, 2010).
 12

4. Third person -s

In the same perspective, Yule (2010, p. 177) says that ‘’finally, the regular -s marker on
third person singular present-tense verbs appears. It occurs first with full verbs (comes,
looks) and then with auxiliaries (does, has)’’.

4.2. Developing syntax

Two structures that seem to be acquired in a regular way by most English-speaking
children have to do with the formation of questions and the use of negatives, there appear
to be three identifiable stages. The ages at which children go through these stages can
vary quite a bit, but the general pattern seems to be that Stage 1 occurs between 18 and
26 months, Stage 2 between 22 and 30 months, and Stage 3 between 24 and 40 months
(Yule, 2010).

In forming questions, the child’s first stage has two procedures. Simply add a Wh-form
(Where, Who) to the beginning of the expression or utter the expression with a rise in
intonation towards the end, as in these examples:

Where horse go? Sit chair?

In the second stage, more complex expressions can be formed, but the rising intonation
strategy continues to be used. It is noticeable that more Wh-forms come into use, as in
these examples:

 What book name? You want eat?

In the third stage, the required movement of the auxiliary in English questions (I can have
⇒ Can I have …?) becomes evident in the child’s speech, but doesn’t automatically
spread to all Wh-question types.

 What did you do? Why kitty can’t stand up?

4.2.1. Forming negatives

In the case of negatives, Stage 1 seems to involve a simple strategy of putting No or Not
at the beginning, as in these examples: no fall or no sit there.

In the second stage, the additional negative forms don’t and can’t appear, and with no and
not, are increasingly used in front of the verb rather than at the beginning of the sentence,
as in these examples:
 13

 He no bite you I don’t want it

The third stage sees the incorporation of other auxiliary forms such as didn’t and won’t
while the typical Stage 1 forms disappear. A very late acquisition is the negative form
isn’t, with the result that some Stage 2 forms (with not instead of isn’t) continue to be
used for quite a long time, as in the examples:

 I didn’t caught it He not taking it

 She won’t let go This not ice cream

4.3. Developing semantics

In the perspective of Yule (2010),

One interesting feature of the young child’s semantics is the way certain lexical
relations are treated. In terms of hyponymy, the child will almost always use the
“middle”-level term in a hyponymous set such as animal – dog – poodle. It would
seem more logical to learn the most general term (animal), but all evidence
indicates that children first use dog with an overextended meaning close to the
meaning of “animal.” This may be connected to a similar tendency in adults,
when talking to young children, to refer to flowers not the more general plants,
or the more specific tulips (pp. 179-180).
The author cited above states that despite the fact that the child is still to acquire a large
number of other aspects of his or her first language through the later years of childhood,
it is normally assumed that, by the age of five, the child has completed the greater part of
the basic language acquisition process. Hence, the child is in a good position to start
learning a second or foreign language.

5. Adult and second language learning

Second language learning is a process of internalizing and making sense of a second
language after one has an established first language. (Krashen, 2002).

6. Acquisition and learning

Before describing second language learning it is important to differentiate acquisition
from learning in the following terms: ‘’the term acquisition is used to refer to the gradual
development of ability in a language by using it naturally in communicative situations
with others who know the language. The term learning, however, applies to a more
conscious process of accumulating knowledge of the features, such as vocabulary and
grammar, of a language, typically in an institutional setting ‘’ (Yule, 2010, p. 187).
 14

Based on the points presented above, it can be said that language acquisition happens in
subconscious system, while language learning happens in conscious system. Learning a
second language is different from learning first language. Learning first language has
been started since one is just a baby who does not have the ability to speak and only able
to deliver messages by babbling, cooing, and crying. However, second language is learnt
after one is able to speak and has absorbed knowledge, which influences him/ her in
learning a second language.

7. Factors involved in second-language learning

7.1. Psychological Factors
 Intellectual Processing: Explication and Induction

Intellectual processing discusses about the ways to learn syntax of second language.
According to Steinberg (2001) it can be explained by someone to us which is called as
explication or it can be understood by our self which is called as induction.

8.1.1 Explication
Explication is the process of the rules and structures of second language explained to a
learner. The explanation is given in the learner’s first language. Then, the learner is
expected to understand, learn, and apply the rule in second language. The explication is
not given in second language because the learner has no know enough that language yet.
It can only be given in second language for very well advanced second language learners.
Staats (1993) states that explication is rarely done by parents or other children acquire a
native language, but 4 or 5 native children can understand and speak most of their native
language quite well. They have learned language by self-analysis, called as induction.

From the points above, the explanation above means that the ability of explication
increases with age. Children in age of fewer than 7 years have great problems in
understanding about a second language.

8.1.2. Induction
Herschensohn (2007) states that induction is learning rules by self-discovery children
who are exposed to second-language speech and remember what they have heard will be
able to analyse and discover the rules underlie the speech. With the rules, the learners are
in process to be able to use and understand the more complicated rules. Such phenomena
as pronominalization, negation, and the plural are learned by induction become part of a
 15

young native speaker’s language knowledge quite early, long before the child enters
school.

Based on the explanation above, we can see that insofar as induction is concerned, this
ability remains at a relatively high level with age, except with certain individuals in old
age. This ability allows us to make new discoveries in our everyday life, even to the extent
of being able to analyse the syntactic structures of a second language.

8.1.3. Memory
Memory is important to learning. It is inconceivable that people with severe memory
impairment can ever learn their native language, much less a second language. The
learning simplest words require memory. The greater the number of related occurrence
needed for learning, the poorer is someone’s memory. It is why second-language learners
and teachers are always talking of practice and review.

8.1.3.1. Sharp decline of memory

Memory seems to begin its sharpest decline around the age of puberty. Undoubtedly this
is due to some change in the brain. Typically, second-language learning becomes more
difficult for the 15- or 20 – years – old than 5 – or 10 – years old. In the normally aging
of brain, previously acquired long-term memories seem relatively unaffected; one’s
knowledge of the world which is built up over decades is not forgotten and remains intact
(Salthouse, 1982). It is in the acquisition of new learning, particularly language learning,
where problems occur. The change in ability for the older adult can be explained as a
deficit in linguistic processing rather than a problem with memory. Since adults continue
to engage in higher thinking and analysis well beyond their forties and fifties, there is
little reason to believe that they would not be able to analyse syntactic structures. The
decline in memory ability is the more likely hypothesis. Having to remember sentences
and situations and then the analyses which are assigned those sentences, even when such
data are presented in classroom situation, becomes more difficult with age.

In this respect, it can be assumed that memory ability of under 7 years children is in high
level. Such ability, memory ability declines with age. Therefore as old we are, as decrease
our memory ability.
 16

8.1.4. Motor Skills

Motor Skills is a term which psychologist use to describe the use of muscles in performing
certain skills from the general like walking, writing, and speaking (Snow and Hoefnagel-
Hoehle, 1977).

8.1.5. Decline in General Motor Skills

The authors previous mentioned state that around the age of 12 years or so, there is a
general change throughout our body that affects all of our motor skills. Most persons
experience a decline. The reason for the decline in the fine control of the muscles of the
body is yet unknown, although, since the decline is such a general nature, involving all
parts of the body, it seems likely to be due to some change in central functioning in the
brain. Hormonal changes prior to puberty may have something to do with this but this is
only speculation on our part.

7.2. Social factors

There are many social situations in second-language learning. Steinberg (2001) states that
basically, the social situation is divided into two important categories. Those are natural
situation and classroom situation. The natural situation is situation where second language
is learned in situation which similar to the first language is learned such as family, play,
and workplace. Meanwhile, classroom situation involves the social situation of the school
classroom.

7.2.1. The natural situation

A natural situation for second-language learning is one where the second-language is
experienced in a situation that is similar to the native language is learned. Steinberg
(2001) states that children can learn second language faster than adults in natural
situation. However, the reason why adults cannot be better than children is uncertain, it
is caused by the declining memory and motor skills factors or not.

It is important to note for adults that social interaction happens through language. Preston
(1989) states that few native speaker adults are willing to devote time to interact with
someone who does not speak the language, with the result that the adult foreigner will
have little opportunity to engage in meaningful and extended language exchanges. In
contrast, the young child is often readily accepted by other children, even adults. For
young children, language is not important to social interaction. It is called as ‘parallel
play’. They can be content just to sit in each other’s company speaking only occasionally
 17

and playing on their own. Older children can play games. Adults rarely find themselves
in situations where language does not play important role in social interaction.

7.2.2. The classroom situation

The classroom for second-language learning is a planned situation. There is an isolated
room from the social life. In the room there is a teacher and a number of students. The
teacher is the one who knows the second language and the students are there to learn the
language. In the space of the classroom, nothing happens unless the teacher makes it
happen. In the classroom students do not act as they want. They should follow the
directions from the teacher. All activity is related to language learning. It is very different
from their home or community where they can walk around doing things (Ellis, 1992).

8. Methods and strategies of second language learning

8.1. Meaning Learning: Direct Experience vs. Translation
In providing the meaning of target language items, translation may be used, as is
commonly the case with the GT method. For example, English-speaking students
studying Italian may be told that ‘libro’ means ‘book’, or that ‘¿Come sta?’ means ‘How
are you?’ Thus the native language (in this case, English) is used to provide the meaning
for the target language (Italian). The meanings of single vocabulary items and entire
phrases and sentences may be learned in this way. This is very different, though, from
acquiring meaning by being exposed to actual objects, events, or situations in which the
target language is used. For example, the learner can be shown a book and hear the teacher
say ‘libro’, or see two persons meet, with one saying to the other ‘Come sta?’ The
meaning here is to be learned through direct experience and not by the use of the native
language to provide translation (Steinberg & Sciarini, 2006).

8.2. Grammar Learning: Induction vs. Explication

Explication involves explanation, in the native language, of the grammatical rules and
structures of the second language. For example, a teacher can explain to Japanese students
in the Japanese language that English has a Subject + Verb + Object ordering of basic
sentence constituents. (Japanese has a Subject + Object + Verb ordering.)

In learning the same by induction, however, students would have to discover the order of
constituents on their own. It would be necessary for them to hear sentences of the sort,
‘Mary caught the ball’, while experiencing a situation in which such an action (or a picture
of the action) occurs. In this way they would discover for themselves, through self-
 18

analysis, i.e. induction, that English has a Subject + Verb + Object ordering (Steinberg &
Sciarini, 2006).

9. Methods to second language teaching

9.1. The grammar–translation method
To Steinberg and Sciarini (2006) Grammar–Translation (GT) essentially involves two
components: (1) the explicit explanation of grammatical rules using the native language,
and (2) the use of translation, in the native language, to explain the meaning of vocabulary
and structures. Yule (2010) states that Vocabulary lists and sets of grammar rules are used
to define the target of learning, memorization is encouraged, and written language rather
than spoken language is emphasized. This method has its roots in the traditional teaching
of Latin and is described as the grammar–translation method.

9.2. The audio-lingual method

Based on Yule (2010) it involved a systematic presentation of the structures of the L2,
moving from the simple to the more complex, in the form of drills that the student had to
repeat. This approach, called the audio-lingual method, was strongly influenced by a
belief that the fluent use of a language was essentially a set of “habits” that could be
developed with a lot of practice.

9.3. Communicative approaches

This kind of teaching stresses communication and allows anything into the classroom so
long as it will further the communicative ability of the student. This can include GT-type
translations and grammatical explanations in the native language. Or, if a teacher feels
that an Audio-lingual technique such as drilling a phrase a number of times might help a
student, then the teacher does it, so long as the practised phrase or sentence is later used
in a meaningful situation (Steinberg & Sciarini, 2006).

As for the methods and strategies it can be said adult learners go for different strategies
to learn a language so as to speak and learn the language as efficiently as possible, in the
same way, different teaching methodologies have been proposed along the history of
language teaching, departing from Grammar-translations to more recent communicative
approaches, in this respect, it is essential to say that all these changes have been put
forward aiming to find the best path to follow for second or foreign language learning.
 19

10. Conclusion
After a deep research and critical thinking on Child and First Language Acquisition and
Adults and Second Language Learning, it could be concluded that the process of language
acquisition and language learning are distinct in nature, in the sense that, to acquire a
language means subconsciously and without formal instruction learn to speak a language
through exposure to a community where the language is used for communication, on the
other side of the picture, learning means going through the process of formal instructions
through conscious learning. In short, it can be assumed that children start acquiring a
certain language from their early months of life, whereby they continue improving their
skills up the time that they go to school, where they start absorbing grammatical rules that
enable them to become competent language users, but for different reasons, humans feel
the need of learning a second language, it may be for professional reasons or
communicative reasons, for those immersed in a context where the second language is
highly spoken.
 20

11. Bibliography
1. Angkasa, G. & Maria, T. (2002). The Language Acquisition: The Growth of
Grammar. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2. Brown, D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. New York:
Pearson Education.
3. Clark, H. & Eve, C. (1977). Psychology and Language: An Introduction to
Psycholinguistics. New York: Harcourt.
4. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
MIT Press.
5. Cook, V. (2008). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. London:
Hodder Education.
6. Brace, J. Fromkin, V. (1983). An Introduction to Language. Third Edition. New
York. CBS College Publishing.
7. Dornyei, Z. (2009). The Psychology of Second Language Acquisition. New York:
Oxford University Press.
8. Dulay, H. and M. Burt. (1973). Should we teach children syntax? Language
Learning 23: 245-58.
9. Ellis, R. (1989). Are classroom and naturalistic acquisition the same? A study of
the classroom acquisition of German word order rules. Studies in Second
Language Acquisition. 11:3.
10. Goh, C.M. & Silver, R. (2004). Language Acquisition and Development. Jakarta:
Pearson Education.
11. Guasti, T. (2002). The Language Acquisition: The Growth of Grammar.
Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
12. Krashen, D. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language
Learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press Ltd.
13. Snow, C., & Hoefnagel – Hohle, M. (1978). The critical age for language
acquisition: evidence from second-language learning. Child Development, 49,
1114 – 28.
14. Staats, A. (1993). The study of cognitive process in second language learning.
Applied Linguistics, 2, 117 – 31.
15. Steinberg, D. (1993). An Introduction to Psycholinguistics. New York: Longman.
16. Steinberg, D. & Aline D. P. (2001). Psycholinguistics: Language, Mind, and
World. Malaysia: Pearson Education.
 21

17. Yule, G. (2010). The study of Language. New York: Cambridge University press.