Principles and Theories of Language Acquisition and Learning

Module 1

Lesson 1 The Nature of Language

I. Introduction

In this module, you shall be introduced to the different system of rules that comprises a language
which may vary from different speech communities wherein people are said to share the same set of
rules.Also, you will learn how people acquire and learn different types of languages such as first
language or the mother tongue and the second languages. Lastly, you will also explore the process of
how a language can change as a result of language contact between people having different languages.

II. Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, you must have:

1. demonstrated an understanding of the key ideas in language and communication; and

2. related personal experience with the input presented.

III. Learning Contents

What is Language?

Definition of Language

1. “Language is a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols by means

of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express
themselves.” – David Crystal, Writer and Editor, Honorary Professor of Linguistics, Bangor University

2. A systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds,
gestures, or marks having understood meanings. – Merriam Webster Dictionary

3. “Language refers to the grammar and other rules and norms that allow humans to make utterances
and sounds in a way that others can understand.” – John McWhorter, Linguist and Associate Professor of
English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University

Based on the following definitions of language above, the most common thing among them all is that a
language is a wonderful and dynamic human capacity that enables us to communicate ourselves to
others by the use of a system of rules. This system of rules is the very reason that a language can be
called a language which linguists also agree on.

Since a language is composed of a system of rules, it is also said that only human beings are
truly capable of producing a language. Animals may produce sounds of their own and communicate
with other animals, however, the sound they produce often reflect their state of emotions. Also,
these sounds are not organized into a meaningful system with rules unlike humans which can
communicate their desires such as sharing of foods through many different ways such as uttering the
word, raise a question, give a statement, or using a hand gesture by extending the arm with food to
others.
To understand more the system of rules, definitions and examples are given below:

1. Phonology – refers to the sound system of a language which includes the sounds used in a certain
language and how these sound can be combined to produce a word. It can also be broken down
into smaller units known as phonemes.

Phoneme – basic unit of sound. Example: the sound /l/ in love

2. Morphology – the system of how words are formed. Words combined are also determined by
individual languages.

Morpheme – smallest meaningful unit in a language. Example: affixes (anti, dis, re, in, etc.)

3. Syntax – refers to the word order, word placement, and word combination that create meaning. Also
refers to the creation of a grammatically correct sentence.

4. Semantics – refers to the study of meaning that is used to understand human expression through
language. 5. Pragmatics – studies the way in which context (condition or location) contributes to
meaning. Example: use of polite words when talking to teacher.

Furthermore, when people use language and they can understand each other, they are said to belong in
the same speech community. This is so because they share the same set of rules in the language system.
Since people share the same set of rules in a speech community, they can eventually acquire the
language while growing up. This refers to the process of language acquisition.

 Language acquisition is the process where people acquire their first language commonly called
native language or mother tongue. It is a process where humans acquire the capacity to see and
understand language and the ability to produce words to communicate with other people in their speech
community.

However, aside from acquiring our first language, people also discovered that learning other languages is
necessary for various reasons and purposes. These languages are called second languages that people
may learn through formal instruction at school or informal learning on their own. This also refers to
language learning.

 Language learning refers to the ability to communicate in the second/foreign language.

If people visit another speech community that is different from their own, what do you think will
happen?

Take for example, the Americans and the British which both uses English. Despite using English as
their first language, it can still be noted that they have differences in pronunciations, spellings and also
differences in expressing the same ideas. With this, it can be concluded that they don’t actually belong in
the same speech communities and may have difficulty in communicating their feelings and ideas despite
having the same mother tongue because they do not exactly share the same set of rules.

Moreover, what do you think will happen if you, for example, who speaks a mother tongue and
English, stay in Japan for work, where the people speak Nihonggo as their mother tongue and a little bit
of English? Will you be able to communicate well with them? The answer here is yes. Despite having
different mother tongues and languages used, eventually, you will be able to communicate as you
slowly learn and understand each other’s language though of course, it would be a challenge to
both parties. This phenomenon is called language contact.

 Language Contact refers to the contact between people having or speaking different languages either
written or spoken.

It also leads to the formation of new languages that is understandable to both of the speakers. Speakers’
languages may also change as they constantly communicate with one another, thus resulting to language
change.

 Language Change is the phenomenon by which permanent alterations are made in the features of
language over time.

Indeed, language is a complex human capacity wherein people should be aware of its features in
order to communicate more effectively with others.

Features of Human Language

1. Displacement

2. Arbitrariness

3. Productivity

4. Cultural Transmission

5. Discreteness

6. Duality

Nature of Learning

1. Learning is a process

2. Learning involves experiences and training of an individual which helps to change his behavior.

3. Learning prepare the individual to adjust and adopt in the situations.

4. All learning is purposeful and goal oriented.

5. Learning is universal and continuous.

6. It is a continuous process and never- ending process that goes from womb to tomb

Principles in Learning

1. Learners at the center

2. The social nature of learning

3. Emotions are integral to learning.

4. Recognizing individual difference.
5. Stretching all students.
6. Assessment from learning.
7. Building horizontal connections
Stages of Language Acquisition

Language acquisition typically progresses through several key stages:

1. Cooing (around 2-3 months):

Infants produce cooing sounds, which are soft vowel-like noises. This stage is characterized by the
production of sounds like "oo" and "aa." It helps babies practice vocalization and gain control over their
vocal cords.

2. Babbling (around 4-6 months):

Babies start to produce repetitive consonant-vowel combinations, such as "ba-ba" or "da-da." This stage
is crucial for developing the sounds of their native language and involves experimenting with pitch and
volume. Babbling may also include variations in intonation.

3. One-word stage (around 12 months):

At this stage, children begin to use single words to convey meaning. These words often represent
significant objects or actions in their lives, like "mama," "dada," or "milk." The context of the word helps
convey more complex ideas, and children rely on gestures and tone to express themselves.

4. Two-word stage (around 18-24 months):

Children start combining two words to form simple sentences, such as "want cookie" or "big truck." This
stage marks the beginning of syntax, as children learn to connect words to convey more specific
meanings and intentions.

5. Telegraphic speech (around 24-30 months):

In this stage, children begin to form short, simple sentences that include only the essential words
needed to convey meaning, much like a telegram. For example, they might say "go park" or "more juice."
While these sentences lack grammatical elements like articles and auxiliary verbs, they demonstrate an
understanding of basic sentence structure.

These stages reflect the natural progression of language development, with each stage building on the
previous one as children learn to communicate more effectively.
IV. Learning Assessment

A. SHORT ESSAY

Answer the following questions on the extra sheet provided:

1) What distinguishes human language from how animals communicate?

2) What is the difference between language acquisition and language change?

3) What happens after a language comes into contact with another language?

Scoring Guide:

Each answer shall be evaluated using these criteria:

Content 5 pts.

Organization of ideas 3 pts.

Language facility 2 pts.

Total score: 10 pts

V. Enrichment Activities/Outputs

1. LANGUAGE BIOGRAPHY

Answer the Language Biodata Form on the next page by reflecting on the inputs presented
relating it to your

personal experiences on how you have acquired and learned your own languages.
Write a one (1) page Language Biography with the information you have provided in the
Language Biodata

Form.

Note: A language biography is a paragraph that tells the story of your languages.

 Your Language Biography should be 3-5 paragraphs with a maximum of 5 sentences each. Put in in
the extra

sheet provided.

 Try to be creative as possible. You can include designs in your final output such as backgrounds,
borders and etc.

 Provide your own title.

 Follow the given format.

 Please be guided of the scoring guide below.

Scoring Guide:

Content ------------------------ 50 %

Organization ------------------------ 20 %

Relevance to the topic ----------------------- 20 %

Creativity ----------------------- 10 %

Total: 100%

VI. References

Crystal, D. (2010).Language. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/language/Historical-

attitudes-towards-

Language

Goff, H. (2012). The 5 rule systems of language. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/5jc2uzhkimys/the-5-

rule-systems-of-

language/

Madrunio, M. & Martin, I. (2018). Purposive Communication: Using English in multilingual contexts.
Quezon City: C &E

Publishing, Inc.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.) Language. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved from

https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/language

Nordquist, R. (2019). Language change. Retrieved from www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-language-change-

1691096

Nordquist, R. (2019). Observations on what is language. Retrieved from www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-

language-

1691218
Module 2