Teach English in Mingtong Zhen - Chongqing

First Language versus Second Language AcquisitionLearning language is part of the developmental process for children. They are constantly surrounded by language, and thus they are constantly producing the language. Language is important for children to be able to express themselves to others and make sense of the world around them. When children experiment and create, they are expanding their knowledge and language abilities. To be able to do all of this in one language is natural, but to do it in a second language would take more work. Those who acquire a second language do it the same way they did with their first language, however there is more variation in how quickly these people will gain a second language. Most experts say that children who do not learn a second language by the age of seven will struggle much more later on when trying to acquire a second language. This is because of the lack of ability to hear all of the different phonemes. A study conducted on infants showed that infants could hear and produce all phonemes. This means that at one point, all phonemes are universal and every person of any race can produce the same sounds. However, when constant exposure to a select few occurs during language exchange from an infant to his/her surroundings, the infants learns to produce only those sounds. Because the sensory receptors in the ears hear only these, the muscles in the mouth produce only these phonemes. What results is that the child looses the ability to have a native-like second or third language. Another study conducted on adults showed that adults could not distinguish between many phonemes that infants or young children could hear. Some say that acquiring a second language means the young learner creates a separate dictionary for the second language. If this were to happen, language acquisition for both languages would have a delayed start, but would pick up to normal developmental speed after a few years. The reason for the delay is because the child must store two titles for each object labeled. The two dictionaries take up a lot of brain space for a new brain, but level out as it becomes easier to pick up words and meanings. The acquisition and use of the languages would be the same in both. Others argue that if a child is to learn a language at too young of an age, the child will forget the first language while learning the new one at a rapid pace. This would not be beneficial for a child who needs to speak the first language as their native tongue. However, with constant exposure to the first language, the child should not have too much issue with forgetting their first language. As stated earlier, it is important for those who want to learn a second language to learn as early as possible. The window for language is short lived, and by the time a child reaches the age of seven it becomes difficult for a child to learn a second language. Adult learners face the most challenges because of the difficulties that arise. Not only will they have difficulty distinguishing the different sounds, but their muscles will also be too weak in the needed areas and too strong in others. This is not to discourage anyone of any age from learning a second language. It is possible to be fluent in another language no matter the starting age at learning. Learners need to understand this before they set their second language acquisition goals as to not become disheartened when they find things too difficult to grasp. With enough practice, exposure, and production a person will be able to produce second language at a native to near native level. As long as learners are able to apply the second language to the same language extending situations as they do with their first language, there should not be any impossibility in second language acquisition.