Language Acquisition

Paper Summary:

This paper provides an overview of language acquisition among very young people. The paper also discusses steps that can be taken to assist them and what interventions should be avoided. The paper further provides a description of the research design, followed by a discussion of the findings.

Outline:
Abstract
Introduction
Research Design
Discussion of Findings
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"While these young learners are getting a handle on the elements of speech at a very early age, there are other important factors that may come into play as well. According to Dixon and Smith (2000), there are two fundamental factors that contribute to the acquisition of language in the very young: (a) attentional control, and (b) stability of neutral affect. "Attentional control appears intrinsically crucial," they advise, "not only for its role in permitting children to attend to linguistic input, but also for minimizing distractions while the input is matched to preexisting semantic networks. Children with more finely developed attentional control also may be better able to enter into bouts of mother-child joint attention" (Dixon & Smith, 2000, p. 417). The authors cite a number of studies to date that have determined that the amount of time devoted to joint attention during free play times in early infancy has been positively related to language productivity in later toddlerhood, and add that maternal utterances that were designed to complement an infant's attentional focus were particularly indicative of linguistic productivity at 13 to 15 months (Dixon & Smith, 2000). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Birdsong, D. (1999). Second language acquisition and the critical period hypothesis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. This book examines reasons why very young learners might be subject to a critical period for language acquisition.
• Costa, A. R., Mcilvane, W. J., & Wilkinson, K. M. (2001). Emergent word-object mapping by children: Further studies using the blank comparison technique. The Psychological Record, 51(3), 343. This study confirmed the usefulness of the blank comparison technique in emergent mapping research and provided the first data set from school-aged children.
• Danby, S. (2002). The communicative competence of young children. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 27(3), 25. The author is a classroom teacher who emphasized the importance of individual differences in learning ability and how these affect the teacher's need for judicious application of classroom management techniques to avoid frustrating early language acquisition.
• Dixon, W. E., Jr., & Smith, P. H. (2000). Links between early temperament and language acquisition. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 46(3), 417. This was a study of mothers and 40 toddlers to investigate relationships between language acquisition and temperamental attentional control and positive affectivity.
• Levy, Y. (1994). Other children, other languages: Issues in the theory of language acquisition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. This cross-cultural investigation concerned the theoretical contributions of cross-linguistic and cross-populations studies to language acquisition. The author reports, "This book presents cross-linguistic and cross-population studies of language acquisition" (p. 1).

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