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{{For|the journal|First Language (journal)}} |
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A person's '''first language''', '''native language''' or '''mother tongue''' is the [[language]] that was learned first by the person. Correspondingly, the person is called a '''native speaker''' of the language, although one may also be a ''native speaker'' of more than one language if all of the languages are learned ''naturally'' without formal instruction, such as through cultural immersion before puberty. Often a child learns the basics of his or her first languages from his or her family. |
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{{Redirect|Mother tongue}} |
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{{Redirect|Native speaker|other uses|Native Speaker (disambiguation){{!}}Native Speaker}} |
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{{Redirect|Native tongue|the novel|Native Tongue (Carl Hiaasen novel)}} |
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{{Refimprove|date=August 2008}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}} |
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{{Wiktionary|first language|mother tongue}} |
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[[File:Ana Dili.JPG|thumb|250px|The monument for the mother tongue in [[Nakhchivan (city)|Nakhchivan]], [[Azerbaijan]]]] |
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A '''first language''' (also '''native language''', '''mother tongue''', '''arterial language''', or '''L1''') is the [[language]] or are the languages a person has learned from birth<ref>Bloomfield, Leonard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gfrd-On5iFwC&dq Language] ISBN 81-208-1196-8</ref> or within the [[critical period hypothesis|critical period]], or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for [[sociolinguistic]] [[Cultural identity|identity]] {{Citation needed|date=December 2014}}. In some countries, the terms ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refer to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JeTwQB5doD4C&dq/ "K*The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality By Alan Davies] ISBN 1-85359-622-1 {{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> Children brought up speaking more than one language can have more than one native language, and be [[Simultaneous bilingualism|bilingual]]. |
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By contrast, a ''[[second language]]'' is any language that one speaks other than one's first language. |
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The terms ''first'', ''native'', and ''mother'' can be misleading. It is quite possible that the first language learned is no longer a speaker's dominant language, and therefore no longer the ''first language''. Young immigrant children, whose families have moved to a new linguistic environment may [[Language attrition|lose]], in part or in totality, the language they first acquired. |
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==Terminology== |
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Good skills in one's native languages are essential for further learning, as a native language is thought to be a base of thinking. Incomplete first language skills often make learning other languages difficult. Native language has therefore a central role in [[education]]. |
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[[File:Kituwah Academy.png|thumb|right|A lesson at Kituwah Academy on the [[Qualla Boundary]] in [[North Carolina]]. The [[language immersion]] school, operated by the [[Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians]], teaches the same curriculum as other [[United States|American]] [[primary schools]], but the [[Cherokee language]] is the medium of instruction from [[pre-school]] on up and students learn it as a first language. Such schools have proven instrumental in the preservation and perpetuation of the Cherokee language.]] |
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One of the more widely accepted definitions of a native speaker is someone who was born in a particular country and was raised to speak the language of that country during the critical period of their development,<ref>(cite http://www.ipedr.com/vol26/16-ICLLL%202011-L00033.pdf).</ref> The journal or qualifies as a "native speaker" of a language if they were born and immersed in the language during youth, in a family where the adults shared a similar language experience as the child.<ref name="autogenerated1">Love, Nigel, and Umberto Ansaldo. "The Native Speaker and the Mother Tongue." Language Sciences 32.6 (2010): 589-93. Print.</ref> Native speakers are considered to be an authority on their given language due to their natural acquisition process regarding the language, versus having learned the language later in life. This is achieved through personal interaction with the language and speakers of the language. Native speakers will not necessarily be knowledgeable about every grammatical rule of the language, but will have good "intuition" of the rules through their experience with the language.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> |
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Sometimes the term ''mother tongue'' or ''mother language'' is used for the language that a person learned as a child at home (usually from their parents). Children growing up in bilingual homes can, according to this definition, have more than one mother tongue or native language. |
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The term "mother tongue" should not be interpreted to mean that it is the language of one's mother. In some paternal societies, the wife moves in with the husband and thus may have a different first language, or dialect, than the local language of the husband. Yet their children usually only speak their local language. Only a few will learn to speak their mothers' languages like natives. ''Mother'' in this context probably originated from the definition of mother as ''source'', or ''origin''; as in ''mother-country'' or ''land''. |
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In the context of population censuses conducted on the Canadian population, [[Statistics Canada]] defines ''mother tongue'' as "the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/dict/pop082.htm |title=mother tongue|work=2001 census |accessdate=25 August 2008}} {{Unreliable source?|date=August 2008}}</ref> |
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One can have two or more native languages, thus being a native [[bilingual]] or indeed ''multilingual''. The order in which these languages are learned is not necessarily the order of proficiency. For instance, a [[French language|French]]-speaking couple might have a daughter who learned French first, then [[English language|English]]; but if she grew up in the United States, she is likely to become more proficient in English. |
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It is quite possible that the first language learned is no longer a speaker's dominant language. This includes young immigrant children, whose families have moved to a new linguistic environment, as well as people who learned their mother tongue as a young child at home (rather than the language of the majority of the community), who may have lost, in part or in totality, the language they first [[Language acquisition|acquired]] (see [[language attrition]]). |
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===Mother language=== |
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The Brazilian linguist [[Cleo Altenhofen]] considers the denomination "mother tongue" in its general usage to be imprecise and subject to various interpretations that are biased in linguistic prejudices, especially with respect to bilingual children from ethnic minority groups. He cites his own experience as a bilingual speaker of [[Portuguese language]] and [[Riograndenser Hunsrückisch]], a German-rooted language brought to Southern Brazil by the first German immigrants. In his case, like that of many children whose home language differs from the language of the environment (the 'official' language), it is debatable which language is his 'mother tongue'. Many scholars gave definitions of 'mother tongue' through the years based on common usage, the emotional relation from the speaker towards the language, and even its dominance in relation to the environment. However, all of these criteria lack precision. |
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[[File:Int-mother-lang-day-monument.jpg|thumb|right|International Mother Language Day Monument in Sydney, Australia, unveiling ceremony, 19 February 2006]] |
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According to [[Ivan Illich]], the term "mother tongue" was first used by [[Catholic]] monks to designate a particular language they used, instead of Latin, when they are "speaking from the pulpit". That is, the "holy mother the Church" introduced this term and colonies inherited it from the Christianity as a part of colonialism.<ref>[Ivan Illich] in Patttanayak, 1981:24 cited in [https://www.academia.edu/411071/_M_Other_Tongue_Syndrome_From_Breast_To_Bottle._ "(M)other Tongue Syndrome: From Breast to Bottle"]</ref><ref>Ivan Illich, [http://www.preservenet.com/theory/Illich/Vernacular.html "Vernacular Values"]</ref> |
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In some countries, such as [[Kenya]], India, and various East Asian countries, "mother language" or "native language" is used to indicate the language of one's [[ethnic group]], in both common and journalistic parlance (e.g. "I have no apologies for not learning my mother tongue"), rather than one's first language. Also, in [[Singapore]] "mother tongue" refers to the language of one's [[ethnic group]] regardless of actual proficiency, while the "first language" refers to the English language that was established on the island through [[British Empire|British colonisation]], which is the [[lingua franca]] for most post-independence Singaporeans due to its use as the language of instruction in government schools and as a working language. |
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== Definitions == |
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*'''Definition based on Origin''': the language(s) one learned first (the language(s) in which one has established the first long-lasting verbal contacts). |
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*'''Definition based on internal identification''': the language(s) one identifies with/as a native speaker of; |
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*'''Definition based on external indentification''': the language(s) one is identified with/as a native speaker of, by others. |
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*'''Definition based on competence''': the language(s) one knows best. |
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*'''Definition based on function''': the language(s) one uses most. |
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''Reference: [http://www.terralingua.org/Definitions/DMotherTongue.html Terralingua Definition: Mother Tongue]'' |
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[[J. R. R. Tolkien]], in his 1955 lecture "[[English and Welsh]]", distinguishes the "native tongue" from the "cradle tongue", the latter being the language one happens to learn during early childhood, while one's true "native tongue" may be different, possibly determined by an [[Genetic memory (biology)|inherited linguistic taste]], and may later in life be discovered by a strong emotional affinity to a specific dialect (Tolkien personally confessed to such an affinity to the [[Middle English]] of the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] in particular). |
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==References== |
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{{unreferenced}} |
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On 17 November 1999, UNESCO designated 21 February as [[International Mother Language Day]]. |
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==Significance== |
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The first language of a child is part of their personal, social and cultural identity.<ref>[http://www.bisnet.or.id/vle/mod/resource/view.php?id=1663 Terri Hirst: The Importance of Maintaining a Childs First Language]</ref> Another impact of the first language is that it brings about the reflection and learning of successful social patterns of acting and speaking.<ref>http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~lera/papers/mandarin.pdf</ref> It is basically responsible for differentiating the linguistic competence of acting. While some argue that there is no such thing as "native speaker" or a "mother tongue", it is important to understand these key terms as well as understand what it means to be a "non-native" speaker and the implications that can have on one's life. Research suggest that while a non-native speaker may develop fluency in a targeted language after about two years of immersion, it can actually take between five to seven years for that child to be on the same working level as their native speaking counterparts. This has implications on the education of non native speakers.<ref>Second Language Acquisition Essential Information: Professor J. Cumminshttp://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/cummin.htm</ref> |
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The topic of native speaker, also gives way to discussion about what exactly bilingualism is. One definition is that a person is bilingual if they are equally proficient in both languages. A person who grows up speaking English and begins learning Spanish for four years is not necessarily bilingual unless they speak the two languages with equal fluency. Pearl and Lambert were the first to test only “balanced” bilinguals—that is, children who are completely fluent in two languages and feel that neither is their “native” language because they grasp the two so perfectly. This study found the following: Balanced bilinguals perform significantly better in tasks that require flexibility (they constantly shift between the two known languages depending on the situation/requires constant juggling), balanced bilinguals more aware of arbitrary nature of language and also that balanced bilinguals choose word associations based on logical rather than phonetic preferences.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alsintl.com/blog/language-proficiency/ |title=Language Proficiency: Defining Levels Avoids Confusion |publisher=Alsintl.com |date=2013-08-26 |accessdate=2013-11-13}}</ref><ref>http://faculty.ucmerced.edu/khakuta/research/publications/(1985)%20-%20THE%20RELATIONSHIP%20BETWEEN%20DEGREE%20OF%20BILINGUALISM%20AND.pdf</ref> |
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==On multilingualism== |
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One can have two or more native languages, thus being a native ''bilingual'' or indeed ''[[Multilingualism|multilingual]]''. The order in which these languages are learned is not necessarily the order of proficiency. For instance, if a French-speaking couple have a child who learned French first but then the child grew up in an English-speaking country, they would likely be most proficient in English. Other examples are [[India]], The [[Philippines]], [[Singapore]], and [[Languages of South Africa|South Africa]], where most people speak more than one language. |
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The designation "native language" is in its general usage thought to be imprecise and subject to various interpretations that are biased linguistically, especially with respect to bilingual children from ethnic minority groups. Many scholars{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} have given definitions of 'native language' through the years based on common usage, the emotional relation of the speaker towards the language, and even its dominance in relation to the environment. However, all of these criteria lack precision. For many children whose home language differs from the language of the environment (the 'official' language), it is debatable which language is one's 'native language'. Brazilian linguist [[Cléo Altenhofen]] cites his own experience as a bilingual speaker of [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Riograndenser Hunsrückisch]], a German-rooted language brought to [[southern Brazil]] by the first German immigrants.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}} |
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===Defining native language=== |
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*Based on origin: the language(s) one learned first (the language(s) in which one has established the first long-lasting verbal contacts). |
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*Based on internal identification: the language(s) one identifies with/as a speaker of; |
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*Based on external identification: the language(s) one is identified with/as a speaker of, by others. |
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*Based on competence: the language(s) one knows best. |
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*Based on function: the language(s) one uses most. |
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===Defining "native speaker"=== |
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The article titled “The Native Speaker: An Achievable Model?” published by the Asian EFL Journal<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lee|first=Joseph|title=The Native Speaker: An Achievable Model?|journal=Asian EFL Journal|volume=7|issue=2|accessdate=November 1, 2013}}</ref> states that there are six general principles that relate to the definition of "native speaker". These principles, according to the study, are typically accepted by language experts across the scientific field. A native speaker is defined according to the guidelines that: |
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# The individual acquired the language in early childhood |
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# The individual has intuitive knowledge of the language |
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# The individual is able to produce fluent, spontaneous discourse |
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# The individual is competent in communication |
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# The individual identifies with or is identified by a language community |
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# The individual does have a dialect accent (include official dialect) |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Child of deaf adult]] |
* [[Child of deaf adult]] |
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* [[ |
* [[Human Speechome Project]] |
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* [[ |
* [[Third culture kids]] |
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* [[List of languages by number of native speakers]] |
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* [[Language attrition]] |
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* [[Statistical learning in language acquisition]] |
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* [[Literacy]] |
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* [[:simple:Native speaker|Native speaker]] |
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* [[Multilingualism ]] |
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* [[Second language]] |
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== |
==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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* [http://www.speakmania.com/ Find native speakers] |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:Language acquisition]] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:First Language}} |
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[[zh-min-nan:Bó-gí]] |
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[[Category:Language acquisition]] |
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[[cs:Mateřský jazyk]] |
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[[ |
[[Category:Language]] |
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[[Category:Sociolinguistics]] |
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[[de:Muttersprache]] |
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[[Category:Languages]] |
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[[es:Lengua materna]] |
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[[Category:Identity]] |
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[[eo:Gepatra lingvo]] |
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[[eu:Ama hizkuntza]] |
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[[fa:زبان مادری]] |
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[[fr:Langue maternelle]] |
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[[fy:Memmetaal]] |
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[[gl:Lingua materna]] |
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[[id:Bahasa ibu]] |
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[[it:Madrelingua]] |
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[[he:שפת אם]] |
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[[lt:Gimtoji kalba]] |
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[[hu:Anyanyelv]] |
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[[nl:Moedertaal]] |
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[[ja:母語]] |
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[[no:Morsmål]] |
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[[nn:Morsmål]] |
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[[pl:Język ojczysty]] |
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[[pt:Língua materna]] |
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[[ro:Limba maternă]] |
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[[ru:Родной язык]] |
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[[simple:First language]] |
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[[sl:Materni jezik]] |
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[[fi:Äidinkieli]] |
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[[sv:Modersmål]] |
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[[th:ภาษาแม่]] |
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[[zh:母語]] |
Revision as of 14:38, 7 November 2015
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2008) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png)
A first language (also native language, mother tongue, arterial language, or L1) is the language or are the languages a person has learned from birth[1] or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity [citation needed]. In some countries, the terms native language or mother tongue refer to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language.[2] Children brought up speaking more than one language can have more than one native language, and be bilingual.
By contrast, a second language is any language that one speaks other than one's first language.
Terminology
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Kituwah_Academy.png/220px-Kituwah_Academy.png)
One of the more widely accepted definitions of a native speaker is someone who was born in a particular country and was raised to speak the language of that country during the critical period of their development,[3] The journal or qualifies as a "native speaker" of a language if they were born and immersed in the language during youth, in a family where the adults shared a similar language experience as the child.[4] Native speakers are considered to be an authority on their given language due to their natural acquisition process regarding the language, versus having learned the language later in life. This is achieved through personal interaction with the language and speakers of the language. Native speakers will not necessarily be knowledgeable about every grammatical rule of the language, but will have good "intuition" of the rules through their experience with the language.[4]
Sometimes the term mother tongue or mother language is used for the language that a person learned as a child at home (usually from their parents). Children growing up in bilingual homes can, according to this definition, have more than one mother tongue or native language.
In the context of population censuses conducted on the Canadian population, Statistics Canada defines mother tongue as "the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census."[5] It is quite possible that the first language learned is no longer a speaker's dominant language. This includes young immigrant children, whose families have moved to a new linguistic environment, as well as people who learned their mother tongue as a young child at home (rather than the language of the majority of the community), who may have lost, in part or in totality, the language they first acquired (see language attrition).
Mother language
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Int-mother-lang-day-monument.jpg/220px-Int-mother-lang-day-monument.jpg)
According to Ivan Illich, the term "mother tongue" was first used by Catholic monks to designate a particular language they used, instead of Latin, when they are "speaking from the pulpit". That is, the "holy mother the Church" introduced this term and colonies inherited it from the Christianity as a part of colonialism.[6][7]
In some countries, such as Kenya, India, and various East Asian countries, "mother language" or "native language" is used to indicate the language of one's ethnic group, in both common and journalistic parlance (e.g. "I have no apologies for not learning my mother tongue"), rather than one's first language. Also, in Singapore "mother tongue" refers to the language of one's ethnic group regardless of actual proficiency, while the "first language" refers to the English language that was established on the island through British colonisation, which is the lingua franca for most post-independence Singaporeans due to its use as the language of instruction in government schools and as a working language.
J. R. R. Tolkien, in his 1955 lecture "English and Welsh", distinguishes the "native tongue" from the "cradle tongue", the latter being the language one happens to learn during early childhood, while one's true "native tongue" may be different, possibly determined by an inherited linguistic taste, and may later in life be discovered by a strong emotional affinity to a specific dialect (Tolkien personally confessed to such an affinity to the Middle English of the West Midlands in particular).
On 17 November 1999, UNESCO designated 21 February as International Mother Language Day.
Significance
The first language of a child is part of their personal, social and cultural identity.[8] Another impact of the first language is that it brings about the reflection and learning of successful social patterns of acting and speaking.[9] It is basically responsible for differentiating the linguistic competence of acting. While some argue that there is no such thing as "native speaker" or a "mother tongue", it is important to understand these key terms as well as understand what it means to be a "non-native" speaker and the implications that can have on one's life. Research suggest that while a non-native speaker may develop fluency in a targeted language after about two years of immersion, it can actually take between five to seven years for that child to be on the same working level as their native speaking counterparts. This has implications on the education of non native speakers.[10]
The topic of native speaker, also gives way to discussion about what exactly bilingualism is. One definition is that a person is bilingual if they are equally proficient in both languages. A person who grows up speaking English and begins learning Spanish for four years is not necessarily bilingual unless they speak the two languages with equal fluency. Pearl and Lambert were the first to test only “balanced” bilinguals—that is, children who are completely fluent in two languages and feel that neither is their “native” language because they grasp the two so perfectly. This study found the following: Balanced bilinguals perform significantly better in tasks that require flexibility (they constantly shift between the two known languages depending on the situation/requires constant juggling), balanced bilinguals more aware of arbitrary nature of language and also that balanced bilinguals choose word associations based on logical rather than phonetic preferences.[11][12]
On multilingualism
One can have two or more native languages, thus being a native bilingual or indeed multilingual. The order in which these languages are learned is not necessarily the order of proficiency. For instance, if a French-speaking couple have a child who learned French first but then the child grew up in an English-speaking country, they would likely be most proficient in English. Other examples are India, The Philippines, Singapore, and South Africa, where most people speak more than one language.
The designation "native language" is in its general usage thought to be imprecise and subject to various interpretations that are biased linguistically, especially with respect to bilingual children from ethnic minority groups. Many scholars[citation needed] have given definitions of 'native language' through the years based on common usage, the emotional relation of the speaker towards the language, and even its dominance in relation to the environment. However, all of these criteria lack precision. For many children whose home language differs from the language of the environment (the 'official' language), it is debatable which language is one's 'native language'. Brazilian linguist Cléo Altenhofen cites his own experience as a bilingual speaker of Portuguese and Riograndenser Hunsrückisch, a German-rooted language brought to southern Brazil by the first German immigrants.[citation needed]
Defining native language
- Based on origin: the language(s) one learned first (the language(s) in which one has established the first long-lasting verbal contacts).
- Based on internal identification: the language(s) one identifies with/as a speaker of;
- Based on external identification: the language(s) one is identified with/as a speaker of, by others.
- Based on competence: the language(s) one knows best.
- Based on function: the language(s) one uses most.
Defining "native speaker"
The article titled “The Native Speaker: An Achievable Model?” published by the Asian EFL Journal[13] states that there are six general principles that relate to the definition of "native speaker". These principles, according to the study, are typically accepted by language experts across the scientific field. A native speaker is defined according to the guidelines that:
- The individual acquired the language in early childhood
- The individual has intuitive knowledge of the language
- The individual is able to produce fluent, spontaneous discourse
- The individual is competent in communication
- The individual identifies with or is identified by a language community
- The individual does have a dialect accent (include official dialect)
See also
- Child of deaf adult
- Human Speechome Project
- Third culture kids
- List of languages by number of native speakers
- Statistical learning in language acquisition
- Native speaker
References
- ^ Bloomfield, Leonard. Language ISBN 81-208-1196-8
- ^ "K*The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality By Alan Davies ISBN 1-85359-622-1 [page needed]
- ^ (cite http://www.ipedr.com/vol26/16-ICLLL%202011-L00033.pdf).
- ^ a b Love, Nigel, and Umberto Ansaldo. "The Native Speaker and the Mother Tongue." Language Sciences 32.6 (2010): 589-93. Print.
- ^ "mother tongue". 2001 census. Retrieved 25 August 2008. [unreliable source?]
- ^ [Ivan Illich] in Patttanayak, 1981:24 cited in "(M)other Tongue Syndrome: From Breast to Bottle"
- ^ Ivan Illich, "Vernacular Values"
- ^ Terri Hirst: The Importance of Maintaining a Childs First Language
- ^ http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~lera/papers/mandarin.pdf
- ^ Second Language Acquisition Essential Information: Professor J. Cumminshttp://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/cummin.htm
- ^ "Language Proficiency: Defining Levels Avoids Confusion". Alsintl.com. 26 August 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ http://faculty.ucmerced.edu/khakuta/research/publications/(1985)%20-%20THE%20RELATIONSHIP%20BETWEEN%20DEGREE%20OF%20BILINGUALISM%20AND.pdf
- ^ Lee, Joseph. "The Native Speaker: An Achievable Model?". Asian EFL Journal. 7 (2).
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