Language Acquisition

Autobiography

Brooke Rosa-Peterson

ENG 420

Professor Gonzalez

10 November 2019

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 Since the day I was born, I was spoken to primarily in English. I was introduced to the

English language and words by my parents. As a baby, I would imagine paying close attention

to all the sounds that came from the mouths of those I trusted most. I was the oldest child in my

family, therefore I did not have any siblings to look to for language learning. I had to rely on

outside observations of others, besides my parents, to pick up on language development. As a

younger child, I was taught words through pictures and tracing which help assist in the

development of my vocabulary. We listened to storybooks that were shared via tapes while we

laid on our mats and drifted away. Listening to these stories helped me hear different words and

sounds, including the proper pronunciation and helped me gain interest in stories and attempting

to read on my own. Having my parents involved in the learning of language by helping me even

past my youngest years including how to read helped with my confidence in communicating

because they reassured me when I made mistakes and were there to help correct me.

While I young, I started speaking single words, including my name, and single words. I

was able to recite them from seeing images and connecting them with things I have seen and

heard. This process helped me with recall of words. As I learned and mastered single words, I

began creating sentences by putting those words together. Being able to recognize and put

words together to complete sentences help build my communication skills. The older I got, the

more complex the sentences began to develop. Through brainstorming, I was able to begin to

put ideas together to create longer, more complex communication skills. I was also at a young

age by my teachers and parents taught to use a dictionary and a thesaurus which helped extend

my vocabulary when I didn’t know or recognize a word. Around this same time, I was required

to read certain English Language-Arts books and answer comprehension questions to prove an

understanding of the reading. This was a way to push language development because it forced

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me to read and obtain vocabulary and knowledge. English remained a required subject

throughout all my years of education. Each year brought something new that supported my

development in language and communication skills.

I believe language acquisition varies based on many factors. Language is an art and how

one is comfortable expressing themselves using words. As always, when it comes to learning, no

matter what, we should all continue learning late into life by listening, observing, responding and

understanding the feedback and evaluations from others. Language Acquisition is a useful tool

in functional communication, and I believe it starts from a young age. It has been proven that

“infants learn language with remarkable speed, but how they do it remains a mystery. New data

show that infants use computational strategies to detect the statistical and prosodic patterns in

language input, and that this leads to the discovery of phonemes and words. Social interaction

with another human being affects speech learning in a way that resembles communicative

learning in songbirds. The brain's commitment to the statistical and prosodic patterns that are

experienced early in life might help to explain the long-standing puzzle of why infants are better

language learners than adults. Successful learning by infants, as well as constraints on that

learning, are changing theories of language acquisition” (Kuhl). Knowledge is gained from not

only what we experience, but what we obtain through observation, seeing and hearing. Not only

does listening but reading also helps us obtain this knowledge and writing allows us to share

what we know, just as well as communicating it through speech and language. In an article

shared, it stated that an “education affords a discipline that will prepare them for all that life

holds” and sometimes, “we who teach English bemoan declining standards and lack of student

ability” while “other times, our vision is broader and we linger patiently with our students so that

they too may gain the sense of self that an education through writing gives” (Evolution of

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Writing Instructions, pg. 5). With the ever-changing world and ways, we communicate, gather

information and share it, students and teachers alike must adapt to those evolving ways by

modifying standards and finding appropriate ways for students to access their education

appropriately and successfully.

When teaching English, it is difficult for me to choose just one approach to language. I

find aspects of both language as expression and language as development beneficial to learning.

Both are student-centered approaches. While language as expression encourages independence,

language as development promotes both independent and group learning. Language as

expression relies of the needs of the student, as well as their interests and strengths first.

Students can monitor their own learning and be engaged through inquiry. It is the teacher’s role

to allow this, while it is the student’s role to participate in this. Language as expression allows

for respectful constructive help through group discussions, similarly to language as development.

Some examples of this type of learning approach are journaling, poems, peer reviews and sharing

personal stories. Practicing language as development allows students to learn new topics based

on prior or obtained knowledge. Students learn with a goal in mind and have a set of

expectations or guidelines to follow. This technique can be utilized as a great assessment tool

because it encourages feedback from peers and teachers. This approach organizes information

and often occurs in phases. Teachers should be aware of what students already know and check

for understanding before introducing new materials. Teachers create obtainable goals for

students and offer a classroom that is feedback rich, providing helpful evaluations for students to

understand where they can continue to improve on their language skills and how to do so. I think

a combination of both language development approaches creates an open environment that

promotes student’s growth. Language learning is not a process that one should expect to master

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in a short period of time. Language Acquisition requires patience, understanding and a

willingness to learn. Whether we like it or not, we are building upon our language and

communication skills daily, and it is up to us to translate what we learn and apply it to become a

better communicator and English speaker. Even at my age, I have a willingness to continue to

learn and I am confident I will grow in my abilities as an educator and mother. I hope that I am

able to encourage students to have the same open mind and eager attitude when it comes to

developing language and communication skills.

References:

Evolution of Writing Instructions [PDF]. (n.d.).

http://course.uc.apu.edu/pluginfile.php/658179/mod_resource/content/1/Evolution of

Writing Instructions.pdf

Gere, A. R., Fairbanks, C., Howes, A., Roop, L., & Schaafsma, D. (1992). Language and

reflection: An integrated approach to teaching English.

Kuhl, P. Early language acquisition: cracking the speech code. Nat Rev Neurosci 5, 831–843

(2004) doi:10.1038/nrn1533

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