Language Acquisition
My Theory and Method for Language Acquisition
Copyright © 2002-2006 by James R. Williams Zavada
Status: In progress...
Contents:
-
Introduction: What's the Best Way to Learn a New Language?
- If Children Can Do It, Why Can't I?
- What Have They Got That I Haven't?
- What Have I Got That They Haven't?
- Some Keys to Language Acquisition
At the age of 21, I decided I wanted to be able to communicate using the
Spanish language. Up to that moment, the only languages I had ever handled
were my native English, my two years of junior high school French
wherein I was an 'A' student, and a year of high school French that
scarcely earned me a 'C'. Being a serious-minded young man at the time, but
without serious means (a hardware store clerk doesn't earn a great deal,
mind you), I could not afford classes. As I analysed my situation, I
realised that children learn new languages, and they do not pay a cent
to do so. This opened the floodgates for a completely new train of thought:
Children appear to be the masters of language acquisition. How do they do
it? They have no prior language experience to rely upon, yet they easily
pick up languages to which they are exposed. What is their secret, and
how could I harness it?
After a time of observation and analysis, I came to the conclusion that
the thought process in every human being occurs at a level prior to language.
To start, I realised that most adults, when faced with the task of
learning a new language learn to translate: That is, they learn to
attach words and phrases in the second language with equivalent words
and phrases in the first language. On the other hand, when children learn
their first language, how can they translate the words in the new language to
some prior language? What could they be attaching these new words and
phrases to, other than ideas of the world around them? The fact that
children recognise Mama and Papa long before they learn words 'Mama' and
'Papa', led me to believe that as children, we learn to apply these newly
encountered language constructs to pre-existing concepts. And if this
were true, then thought must take place at a pre-linguistic level, at
least in children. But what about adults? After giving it a great deal of
thought, I recalled instances in my life where during conversations I had
been at a loss to find words to express thoughts that were crystal clear in
my mind. At other times, a single word would be at the tip of my tongue,
ready to express a complex concept that was plainly outlined in my head,
but I had forgotten that one word that I had known and used on other
occasions. To further corroborate this, every adult that I have ever asked
has experienced the same thing at one time or another. As a matter of
fact, I have yet to come across the person whose face refuses to light up
with an understanding "Me too!" expression when I describe the experience:
"I know what I'm thinking, but I can't put it into words so that I can tell
you."
The second conclusion I arrived at is that a native or extremely near-native
pronunciation of a language acquired as an adult is an entirely reachable
goal. As before, this idea came from my analysis of those language-learning
masters, children. What is it that determines that a child growing up
in Canada learns to speak English 'R' with a curl of his tongue, while a
child growing up in France, growls out his 'R's at the back of his throat?
Is there some physical change that takes place, so that an Adult having
learned English first is no longer capable of speaking a French 'R'? Does
one have muscles that the other doesn't, or does the former grow bones that
the latter never develops? After doing some light reading on anatomy, I
discovered that nothing of the sort had ever been recorded, so it was
apparent that not only are we all born with the same physical equipment
(barring defects, of course), we all retained pretty much the same
equipment on into adulthood. This being the case, the only thing that
would inhibit speaking a language "like a native" would be a weak
muscle here, or an overly developed one there. And as we all know,
exercise does wonders for muscle tone, doesn't it?
At this point, I began to ask myself a new question: Do I as an
adult have any skills or capabilities to apply to learning another
language that a child would not? Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I
have learned to be consciously analytical, and thus can be more
proactive in the process of learning a new language. This means
that, unlike a child, I do not have to learn the rules of the
language (grammar, syntax, diction, etc.) solely by trial and error,
but rather I can also use conscious study and application to enhance
the process.
- Apply a new language directly to concepts, not to an old language.
- Proper pronunciation is possible, and needs to be practiced.
- Some language is habitual. Don't be afraid of "mindless" repetition.
- Language is part of a culture. Some language can only be
understood by understanding the culture that developed it.
- Learning means making mistakes. Don't be afraid to sound foolish:
After all, the primary objective of language is to communicate.
- Language is interactive. Learn to take subtle corrective cues from
those around you.