Language Acquisition and language learning

First Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning

1) Introduction: 

        Human begins differ from other animals in the sense that they can speak and understand language. Language is specific for human beings. It is the major medium of expressing thoughts and emotions. So human beings need to learn a language.

2) Informal and Formal Situation of Language Learning : 

          Language is learned in informal and formal situations. An informal language situation is one when language is not taught: In this situation, language is learnt not for grammar but for communication. The first language or mother-tongue is learned in an informal situation. A growing child learns language functionally i.e. to express himself or herself. Thus, by using language, the child develops language skills.

         The formal situation of language learning is quite different from the informal one.

Here, there is organized learning on a large scale. There is instructional system which gives certification at the end of the learning programme.

3) Language Acquisition and Language Learning:

         The above discussion shows that the first language is learnt in an informal situation, while the second language (or third/foreign language) is learnt or is taught in a formal situation. In other words, mother-tongue is acquired, while the second (or third) language is learnt. So, these two processes are different form each other. These differences can be stated as follows.

4) Differences between Language Acquisition and Language Learning :

i) General:

          The term 'Language Acquisition' is used for acquisition of the first language or the mother-tongue. While the term 'Language Learning' means learning the second or foreign language. Three two processes share peculiarities and they also differ in many responses.

ii) Differences between the Two Processes:

          The processes of Language Acquisition and Language Learning differ in many respects. These differences can be enlisted as follows.

          First, learning the mother tongue is an easy and natural process. On the contrary, learning the foreign language is a difficult and artificial process. From the birth of the child, it is surrounded by the atmosphere where the mother tongue is spoken.

          The child gets the utterance quite naturally and easily. But the second language is learnt by a teacher in a school. There is no such natural atmosphere in a school and so it becomes difficult to get it.

           Secondly, when the child learns the mother tongue his mind is a clean slate. But at the time of his learning a foreign language, he has already learnt his mother tongue. In this regard, Robert Paul says:

"When we learn our first language, we face the universe directly and team to clothe it with speech, when we learn a second language, we tend to know the universe through the language already known."

           Thirdly, the first language acquisition helps to learn the second language and it also hinders the second language, compares it with his first language and makes his task easy. But sometimes, the mother tongue does not have the items of the second language and it becomes difficult for the learner to learn the second language correctly and easily.

For example, for the Marathi spokers or Hindi speakers, aspiration in English may raise problems.

            Fourthly, the child cannot do without mother tongue because he must express his desires in speech to get them fulfilled. There is no such compulsion for learning a foreign language.

Fifthly, the child has unlimited time for learning his mother tongue, whereas, there is limited time for learning a foreign language.

            Sixthly, there are many teachers to teach the mother tongue: parents, brothers, sisters, friends etc. But there is only the class room teacher to teach the foreign language.

            Seventhly, the first language is acquired by a child before fifth year, of his age. The child learner is at this time in the process of physical or psychological maturation. In fact, acquisition of the first language is a part of the maturity process. On the contrary, a second language learner is a linguistic adult. Physically and psychologically he is more matured than the child acquiring the first language. One more difference between the two processes is that we learn the foreign language later in life and first language earlier.

          Similarly, in case of a foreign language, we are exposed to sounds and letters at the same time. We hear our teacher speaking the language and at the same time we look at the blackboard or at our notebooks or books. Our teachers may not be the native speakers of the language. Hence, the foreign language learner has only the limited command over that language, particularly, over the spoken form of it. In the case of first language, on the contrary, there is stress on the imitation of sounds, words and sentences. There is no stress on the rules and grammar. Thus, language acquisition is a natural and spontaneous process.

           The next difference between the two processes is that the first language acquisition is inevitable. The child must learn this or that language as his first or mother tongue. On the other hand, second language learning depends on the mind of the person and so it is not inevitable.

            Finally, the first language acquisition is facilitated by something called 'Language Acquisition Device'. The psychologists have shown that children are capable of procuring sentences which they have never heard. This is possible because the innate language acquisition device is possessed by every human child. On the contrary, foreign language needs to be learnt by the analytical process and so requires more efforts and more time.

5) Conclusion:

            Thus, the first language acquisition and the second language learning are the two important terms and processes in the field of language learning and language teaching situation. Both the processes are similar as well as different. They share some qualities and differ in some cases. The first language knowledge helps the learner to learn the second language. It also interferes in his learning of the second language. In this typical respect, P.Gurrey says: "The teaching of the mother tongue and teaching of a foreign language can support and assist each other."

6) Difficulties in Learning the Second Language: 

           The learner of the second language has to face a number of problems. That is why, many learners fail to master the target language. A few reasons for such failure can be given as follows :

(i) The knowledge of mother-tongue hinders the learning of the second language.

 ii) The second language learner may not hear people around them using the same language.

iii) The learner may not have social context.

(iv) Psychological factors such as age, motive, native skill etc. also affect the process of second language learning.

          Thus, due to various reasons, there is a wide gap between the acquisition of the first language and learning of the second language. It is almost impossible for the teacher to bridge the gap. The teacher has to face the problems like the learner. He too is from the Indian situation. He too cannot get social context of the target language. However, he can reduce the wideness of the gap. Both the teacher and the learners will have to make efforts for the purpose.