Language Acquisition

I think it may have been easier for me to answer how children acquire language prior to reading the language acquisition articles. While studying the Maria Montessori's method of teaching I was fascinated by the concept of "the sensitive period for language." Similar to the Nativist Theory, Montessori's views on language agreed with Chomsky in that she felt that children were endowed with special powers that help them acquire language. She believed that the sensitive period for language begins long before the child is able to speak supporting this with the example of how a child of four months can be observed intently watching the mouth of a another person speaking. Although these sounds may be senseless to a child, they begin to grasp the concept that moving there lips and mouth together eventually vibrate resulting in sound. Children then begin to practice a variety of sounds and do not only mimic what they hear in their environment but attempt to make the sounds that they are most attracted to in their environment.

I bring up Montessori and her theories on language only because it helps me make sense of the nativist therory and the non-nativist theory. However, that being said I feel I am on the fence about accepting one specific theory that explains language acquisition. I strongly agree with Chomsky's belief that children are hard wired with a language acquisition device and how or why this is a beautiful mystery to me. This belief is supported by Montessori's studies that indicate there is a sensitive period in which children have this innate ability to absorb and learn language. This theory is also supported by Eric Lenneberg who proposed the Critical Period Hypothesis claiming that language acquisition ends at 12 years of age. However I think the lines of all these theories are gray and can overlap with the competition model and social interaction model of non-nativists. Children may have an innate ability to acquire language during a very specific period of their early life, but equally as critical to acquiring this skill is their exposure to social interaction. Evidence in recent years has indicated that children possibly hear sounds when in the womb, and quickly recognize their mothers voices shortly after birth. Therefore, the need for verbal interaction is absolutely necessary for young children, and one without the other would not result in full language development.

I recently had a family of four children that attended our pre-school and were able to speak Spanish and English fluently by age 3 even though neither of their parents spoke Spanish. The explanation is an easy one when you consider the three factors that they had a Spanish speaking nanny and both parents worked long hours as attorneys in the city maximizing the children's exposure to Spanish everyday assuring the critical sensitive period of their lives for learning language. Yes they had an innate ability to learn language during this critical period, but they also needed the social and verbal interaction with their Spanish speaking nanny.

In conclusion, I believe language is acquired by the child's innate ability as well as their interactions in their environment. However, I do believe that language can still be learned at a later period in a person's life, but as illustrated in Ciaran O"Riodan's article, it is not an easy task. Clearly the critical period of language acquisition has passed which requires the individual learner to expend a lot more effort in acquiring a new language.

I believe that this all ties in with reading in that both language acquisition and reading are similar in that interaction is a key element in order for either to be facilitated in a child. Obviously a child has to have some understanding of language and words before they are able to read. However, adult modeling is as critical to reading as it is to language acquisition. Children need the social interaction of adults reading to them or watching adults read as they earlier watched the mouths of adults move and heard sounds come from the movement as they developed their own language skills.I think that reading builds on the development of language skills, so if you lack in language acquisition, there will probably be a lag in reading achievement. However, I do not think that good language skills necessarily assures good reading skills. Reading is not an innate skill that is nurtured from birth. As has been the case evidenced over and over by many literacy organizations, reading can be learned at any age and late readers can achieve the same skill level as readers sho began fluently reading at an early age. In addition there are many other factors that can affect a child's ability learning to read among which include a variety of learning disabilities. So, yes there is a strong connection but there are differences in the characteristics of both and how they are developed.


SIDE NOTE

On a side note, I think it is very disappointing that in the year 2007 in the incredibly global environment we live in, America still lags significantly in the education of other languages. Throughout the 1970's, I visited Ireland every summer for 3 months at a time where I saw my young cousins become proficient in at least three languages (French, Irish, and English). Many of them easily went on to pick up Italian, German and even a few Arabic as adults. Still today many American students are no exposed to a second language until middle or high school. This puts our society at a great disadvantage and is a major flaw in our education system.