English Language Acquisition

English Language Acquisition

1. Structuralism

   • Language is a system of arbitrary signifiers. Contrasting signs and signifiers make up the system. The referent is the real thing and is both the thought of a thing and the thing itself; neither can exist without the other. Because of this system of relationships, a community must adhere to the same understanding of language.
     • Teachers can elaborate on words relationships to each other to help EL's build their vocabulary.

2. Critical Period Hypothesis

   • There is a critical period between 2 and 5 for an individual to acquire a second language: the time before lateralization occurs.
     • There are advantages and disadvantages to learning a second language younger and learning it older.

3. Threshold Hypothesis

   • A certain fluency in a first language must be established before a student learns a second language. The better developed a student's first language is, the further developed the second may become.
     • Teachers may use cognates as reference points to help build EL's vocabulary.

4. Comprehensibe Input Hypothesis

   • A student must be able to understand the linguistic input that he or she hears.
     • Challenge EL's with input that is slightly beyond the student's level of competence

5. Three Aspects of ELP

   • 1.) Basic Interpersonal Skills: High frequency vocab and basic grammar that is usually acquired in 2 to 3 years.
     • Emersion is highly beneficial for students at this level.
   • 2.) Discrete Language Skills: The development of rule governed language comprehension. Typically learned in 2-3 years.
     • Here is when comparing language systems based on their similar grammar could help students learn English grammar
   • 3.) Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency: The ability to produce and interpret increasingly complex and low frequency language.
     • The goal in the classroom is to have EL learners achieve the same level of academic reading, writing, and speaking as their non-EL peers.