Theories In First Language Acquisition English Language Essay

Theories In First Language Acquisition English Language Essay Since, the second language is an additional language after we acquire the first language, the L2 learning process can be influenced by the L1 learning process This essay will demonstrate the similarities and differences in L1 and L2 acquisition by discussing various theories. Then, draw a conclusion based on the evidence provided and my own experience. Definition First Language Acquisition First Language Acquisition or also known as the Child Language Acquisition is a process whereby children from infancy through early school years acquire their first languages (Lightbown Spada, 2006). The term First Language Acquisition or FLA can be referred to the field that investigates the process by which children develop to use words and sentences in their first language, to communicate with other people (Dictionary of Sociolinguistics, 2004). Second Language Acquisition According to a Dictionary of Sociolinguistics (2004), the term Second Language Acquisition or SLA can be referred to the academic discipline that investigate the process of human when learning second language (L2) or additional languages other than the first language. It involves the ability of people to use and develop a complex system of sound, word, sentence structure, and meaning of any non-native language (Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, 2005). It also tries to understand factors such as environment, individual differences, and social aspect which can be crucial factors underlining the acquire of second language (Ortega, 2009). Theories in First Language Acquisition Various theories and approaches have been developed over the past years attempting to study and analyze how do children acquire their mother tongue. This essay will identify two main theories that explain the learning process of the childs first language: Behaviourism and Nativist or Innateness theory. Behaviourism The behaviorism theory assumes how do children speak that children imitate what they hear, and then continue with positive support, children learn language through conditioning and habit formation (Ellis, 2008). According to B.F. Skinner and his colleagues (Gass Larry, 2008), learning or a change of behaviour on the part of the learner, is brought about by a process known as operant conditioning which is the result of repeated training. Operant means voluntary behaviour which is the result of learners own free-will and is not forced by any outsider or thing (Ortega, 2009). The learner will demonstrate the new behaviour first as a response to a system of a reward or punishment, and finally it will become an automatic response. Behaviourists believe that learning a language is no different from learning anything else. It becomes a habit by the stimulus-response-reinforcement-repetition process (Cook, 2001). The behaviourists also claim that we learn by imitation and by association (Lightbown Spada, 2006). However, psycholinguists argue that imitation is not enough because it is not only the mechanical repetition but also natural exposure that children acquire language (Cook, 2001). Therefore, from the behaviourist approach, language acquisition can be seen as a stimulus-response process. Children learn language by immitation and analogy. The roles of imitation, repetition, reinforcement, and motivation are essential in learning the language. The First Language Acquisition is thus the result of nature which based on practicing. Nativist or Innateness theory Unlike the behaviourist approach that does not take into consideration the childs own cognitive processes, the Innateness Hypothesis proposed by linguist Noam Chomsky supports the idea that language acquisition has a biological foundation (Ortega, 2009). He claims that children learn their first languages through cognitive learning and acquires them by natural exposure (Ortega, 2009). That means both nature and nurture influence the acquisition of language in children. He hypothesized that children are born with a specific innate ability to discover for themselves the underlying rules of a language system on the basis of the samples of a natural language they are exposed to (Lightbown Spada, 2006). This innate endowment was seen as a sort of template, containing the principles that are universal to all human beings. This is called Universal Grammar (UG). As defined by Chomsky (1976, as cited by Cook, 2001 pp181-182) Universal Grammar is the system of principles, conditions, and rule s that are elements or properties of all human languages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the essence of human language. According to Chomsky, there are principles, which allow or prevent a specific structure from occurring in all human languages, and parameters, which govern ways in which human languages differ, usually expressed as a limited choice between two options (Cook, 2001). These principles and parameters are built in the human mind. In other words, children have an innate faculty that instructs them while learning of language (Mitchell and Myles, 2004: 33). Chomsky also introduced the Language Acquisition Device or LAD to explain that there is some innate mental capacity which help the children to process all the languages they hear since they were born (Cook, 2001). Thus, from the innatist approach, language is an innate or in-born process. Children learn language by application. It argued that language learning is not a behavior but a specific mental process and emphasized on the important role of exposure to language. Theories in Second Language Acquisition Behaviourism Behaviourism gave birth to a stimulus-response (S-R) theory which sees language as a set of structures and acquisition as a matter of habit formation (Larsen-Freeman Long, 1991). By ignoring any internal mechanisms, it takes into account the linguistic environment and the stimuli it produces. It is suggested that learning is an observable behaviour which is automatically acquired by means of stimulus and response in the form of mechanical repetition. Thus, to acquire a language is to acquire automatic linguistic habits. According to Johnson (2004), [B]ehaviorism undermined the role of mental processes and viewed learning as the ability to inductively discover patterns of rule-governed behavior from the examples provided to the learner by his or her environment. Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) consider that S-R models offer little promises as explanations of SLA, except for perhaps pronunciation and the rote-memorization of formulae. This view of language learning emerged research on contrastive analysis, especially error analysis (Ortega, 2009) . It has the main focus of which is the interference of ones first language in the target language. According to Ellis (2008), an important reaction to behaviourism was the interlanguage studies, as the simple comparison between first and second language neither explained nor described the language produced by L2 learners. In this essay, interlanguage studies will be excluded as the concern of the area has been mainly with the acquisition of grammatical morphemes or specific language structures. Universal grammar theory According to Cook (2001), as a counterpoint to the environmental perspective, Chomskys followers try to understand SLA in the light of his universal grammar (UG) theory, a human innate endowment. Chomsky is interested in the nature of language and sees language as a mirror of the mind (Gass Selinker, 2008). Although he is not concerned with SLA, his work has been influencing studies in this area. According to his theory, it can be seen that every human being is biologically endowed with the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), which is responsible for the initial state of language development. The UG theory considers that the input from the environment is insufficient to account for language acquisition. In the same perspective, White (2003:22) says that [I]f it turns out that the L2 learner acquires abstract properties that could not have been induced from the input, this is strongly indicative that principles of UG constrain interlanguage grammars, parallel to the situation of L1 ac quisition. As Mitchel and Myles (2004:94) remind us, The universal Grammar approach is only interested in the learner as a processor of a mind that contains language and not as a social being. Comprehension hypothesis Influenced by Chomskys assumptions on language as an innate faculty, Krashen developed an influential proposal to explain SLA which he first named as monitor model with emphasis on the contrast between learning and acquisition, then called it the input hypothesis (Krashen 1978, cited in Lightbown Spada, 2006). It focuses on the data which feed acquisition, and more recently, comprehension hypothesis emphasizing the mental process as responsible for acquisition (Ellis, 2008). According to Krashen (2004:1), [T]he Comprehension Hypothesis is closely related to other hypotheses. The Comprehension Hypothesis refers to subconscious acquisition, not conscious learning. The result of providing acquirers with comprehensible input is the emergence of grammatical structure in a predictable order. A strong affective filter, such as high anxiety, will prevent input from reaching those parts of the brain that promote language acquisition (Cook, 2001). According to Lightbown and Spada (2006), Kra shens model views acquisition in a linear perspective which not only establishes a cause and effect relationship between input and acquisition but also states that the grammatical structure is acquired in a predictable order. Nonetheless, like in the other theories discussed so far, his theory does not go beyond the acquisition of grammatical structures. Krashens model lacks research evidence. As Cook (2001) points out it makes sense in its own terms but is not verifiable. Interaction theory Other attempts to explain SLA are the different versions of the interaction hypothesis defended by Hatch (1978) and by Long (1981, 1996), who did not accept Krashens Input Hypothesis. Both Hatch and Long consider that input alone is not sufficient to explain SLA. Hatch disagrees that learners first learn structures and then use them in discourse. Hatch considers the reverse possibility. One learns how to do conversation, one learns how to interact verbally, and out of this interaction syntactic structures are developed (Harch, 1978 p. 404). Based on an empirical study, Long (1981) observed that in conversations between native and non-native speakers, there are more modifications in interaction than in the input provided by the native speakers. Long does not reject the positive role of modified input, but claims that modifications in interactions are consistently found in successful SLA. Long (1996) suggests that negotiation for meaning, especially negotiation work that triggers inter actional adjustments by the NS or more competent interlocutor, facilitates acquisition because it connects input, internal learner capacities, particularly selective attention, and output in productiveways. However, Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) argue that the interactionist views are more powerful than other theories because they invoke both innate and environmental factors to explain language learning. Similarities and Differences between FLA and SLA Age: a key factor differentiate L1 from L2 Age can be regarded as another key factor displaying the differences between L1 and L2 acquisition. Since, in the L1 acquisition, children normally complete the process by four to six years old, while the age range in acquiring the L2 can be varied wildly (Ortega, 2009). Moreover, according to Ellis (2008), age is recognized as being important owing to the assumption that older learners tend to be less successful in regard to SLA than younger learners, which may be owing to the fact that target-language norms do not pose as much of a threat to younger learners identities. However, there are two issues that many theorists have been arguing about the relationship between age and L2 acquisition. That the age effect can be approached from biological explanations or from non-biological explanations (Ortega, 2009). From the biological perspective (Gass Selinker, 2008), there is the Critical Period Hypothesis in L2 learning which is proposed by Penfield and Roberts (1959) and Lenneberg (1967). On the other hand, from the non-biological perspective, some researchers have emphasized on the influence of socio-educational and affective-motivational forces (Ortega, 2009).

Aging in Society

Exam 2 * Question 6 * The Sandwich Generation is where many caregivers are taking care of an elderly parent, while at the same time caring for their own children, and sometimes holding down a full-time job. As a concerned social worker the suggestion of better social support assistance I would suggest is a certified nurse that stays with the elder person to help with mobility as well as actual personal needs if needed. The nurse would have to stay for at least a half a day whether it is the beginning of the day or the end of the day. Most elders require home care rather than home health care, so obtaining home care would be my focus.Obtaining home care can be tricky but the suggestions for my ideas would be as followed so that this person could receive the best possible results that require the most attention. Me being the social worker would have to determine the needs of the elder person, interview and selecting caregivers, create a written contract to insure the following care is provided, following a activity log, Supervision, communication and problem-solving, social security and insurance coverage. For many, the use of long term care has minor financial impacts.For others, the impact of long term care use can be catastrophic. It can cause the depletion of lifetime savings, dramatically reduce one's standard of living, or force someone to purchase less care than they need. Economic considerations also sometimes force people to enter a nursing home even though they would rather be home, just because it is easier to qualify for Medicaid coverage in a nursing home than at home. * In the world of the elderly, ethical issues have an even greater significance because they usually involve an elder who is likely to be more vulnerable that the average adult.For that reason, in many ways the elderly are taken advantage of by people in whom they have misplaced their trust. For the elderly, ethics is about how they want to be treated and allowed to make their own deci sions. For family members as caregivers, ethics is about doing what is right even when no one is looking. The financial effects of long term care use are different and vary according to the type of services used such as the extended time of care, and the level of financial resources available to pay for care.Depending on the interaction of these variables a individual's long term care use can have little or no impact, very small impact, or a horrible consequences * Question 7 Whether we want to or not, each of us will die someday. And with every year we only get older and as we get older there will be more and more problems with health. As you get older if I were a healthcare professional I would insist that at whenever there is a moment something does not feel right or there is pain. That person should contact their doctor and make an appointment, only because the situation will only get worse.Many elderly, because they have been dealing with a life threatening illness, will know t hat â€Å"the end† is coming. Helping patients and their families in their adjustment to the reality of a person about to die or one with an acute illness is an important part of planning ahead and to begin if they have not to change their living arrangements. I don’t think it would be good for an elderly person to live alone. But some elderly persons are stubborn and choose not to have help. This could hinder them if they had been having very bad pain or felt something was wrong and never got it checked out.The situation could get worse and the possibility of someone not getting to that person in time. Measures to help the elderly in the aging in place would be to send a nurse to go maybe three days a week for a couple of hours every day. These workers would try to counsel and educate patients and their families during the patient’s illness or aging so that all the family is on the same page. This would allow patients to be a bit more at peace and have some dig nity with the presence and support of their families.Because the care of the patient is provided at home, often with the involvement of family members, home care is less expensive than care in a hospital or skilled nursing facility. Medicare covers many of the direct patient services provided in a home care setting, including durable medical equipment, pharmaceutical costs and medical care provided by physicians, nurses, therapists, home health aides, chaplains and social workers. Persons receiving Medicare should look for a Medicare-certified home care programs. Question 8I think hiring contingency workers is a good thing because maybe if a permanent worker took off for a week the temporary worker could fill in. It also depends on the company, if their under staffed and absolutely need the job done hiring a temp would benefit. The downfall would be if they need something strenuously done that only the permanent worker can perform, it might take too much time to teach the things tha t need to be done to the temp worker. I believe if the temp does a good job this could possibly give that person a opportunity of employment.Temps typically are the first to return to the workplace after a downturn because employers uncertain about the pace of recovery can release them at the slightest hint of economic weakness without major legal or financial consequences. Desperate job-seekers may prefer temporary work to no work at all, and temporary jobs can turn into permanent positions. The advantages of a permanent worker are steady income, health insurance, paid vacations, dental insurance, paid vacations, 401 k plan, personal days and sick days.The disadvantages for contingency worker is lower pay, costly health care, no invitation to formal events for the company, no sick days, no paid vacation, no pay on holidays, no job security and no retirement savings The economic consequences can be significant. The prevalence of temporary workers can keep a lid on wages for everyone . Since they often don’t get benefits and can’t depend on their positions to last very long, temporary workers may be less willing to spend money, creating a drag on the recovery. A less stable workforce further exaggerates the divide between the haves and the have-nots.

Juvenile Crime Statistics Paper Essay

The Federal Bureau of Investigation tracks four offenses murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in its Violent Crime Index. The juvenile arrest rate for each of these offenses has been declining steadily since the mid-1990s. The murder rate fell 70% from its 1993 peak through 2001 (Snyder, 2003). Statistics: Research has shown that crimes committed by juveniles are more likely to be cleared by law enforcement than crimes committed by adults. The clearance data in the Crime in the United States series show that the proportion of violent crimes attributed to juveniles by law enforcement has declined in recent years. The proportion of violent crimes cleared by juvenile arrests grew from about 9% in the late 1980s to 14% in 1994 and then declined to 12% in 2001. (Snyder 2003). Cleared Proportions: The juvenile proportion of cleared forcible rapes peaked in 1995 and then fell, with the 2001 proportion still above the levels of the late 1980s. The juvenile proportion of robbery clearances also peaked in 1995 at 20% and fell substantially by 2001 to 14%, but was still above the levels of the late 1980s at 10%. The juvenile proportion of aggravated assault clearances was at 12% in 2001 and was slightly below its peak of 13% in 1994. This was still substantially above the levels of the late 1980s. The proportion of Property Crime Index offenses cleared by juvenile arrests in 2001 was below all but 2 years in the 1980s and 1990s. (Snyder 2003) Drug Offenses: The text highlights an overall increase in the rate of drug offenses as well as simple assaults amount juveniles. After review of arrest statistics, the finding were that law enforcement agencies made an estimated 202,500 arrests of young people for drug abuse violations in 2001. Of those 202,500 arrests a drug abuse violation is seen to be the most serious. There was a decline in juvenile arrests for murder between 1992 and 2001. During this time period there were a large number of increases as well though. Statistics showed 51% motor vehicle theft and 40 % burglary. There was also a major increase in juvenile arrests for drug abuse violations at a 121%. (Snyder 2003). Simple assault increased between the early 1980s and the late 1990s which was more than 150% between 1983 and 1997. This rate fell 7% between 1997 and 2001. Arrests of Females: Arrests of females for various offenses are increasing more than the arrests of males, and the overall juvenile arrest rate for simple assault in 2001 remained near its all-time high. (Snyder 2003). Of the juvenile arrests reported in 2001 females accounted for 23% of those arrests for aggravated assault and 32% of juvenile arrests for other assaults. Females also appeared to be the leading sex in regards to runaway violations. Females were involved in 59% of all arrests for running away from home. Arrests for curfew and loitering law violations were reported at 31% for female juveniles. Females accounted for 23% of juvenile arrests for aggravated assault and 32% of juvenile arrests for other assaults (i.e., simple assaults and intimidations) in 2001. Females were involved in 59% of all arrests for running away from home and 31% of arrests for curfew and loitering law violations. (Snyder 2003) Violent Arrests of the Races: The text points out that the disparity in violent crime arrest rates for black juveniles and white juveniles declined substantially between 1980 and 2001. In 2001 the juvenile population was comprised of 78% white, 17% black, 4% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1% American Indian. Violent crime statistics  showed that 55% involved white youth, 43% involved black youth, 1% involved Asian youth, and 1% involved American Indian youth. The results for property crime arrests were 68% white youth, 28% black youth, 2% Asian youth, and 1% American Indian youth. Between 1980 through 2001 black-to-white disparity in juvenile arrest rates for violent crimes show a decrease. The black juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate was 6.3 times the white rate in 1980 and in 2001; the rate disparity had declined to 3.6. The reduction in arrest rate were primarily due to the decline in black-to-white arrest disparities for robbery, which was greater than the decline for aggravated assault. Conclusion The outlook for the juvenile crime rate is uncertain as there are many factors which will affect those final numbers. One thing is for certain and that is that the population is projected to grow throughout the county at a rapid pace. The number of juveniles age 11 through 17; the ages of juveniles responsible for 99% of juvenile arrests will increase in the next decade. This will ultimately cause a spike in juvenile offenses and arrest numbers. References: Snyder, H. (December 2003). U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Juvenile Arrests 2001. Retrieved July 24, 2008, from http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/201370.pdf

Human Resources Purpose and Role - 803 Words

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