Learning a second language at home and at school

 


    The second language is the language that children acquire after they acquire another language (Harras and Bachari, 2009:71). Language acquisition is closely related to how children acquire words, meanings, structures, and pragmatics. It is nothing but related to the processes that occur in the minds and attitudes of children.

  • BILINGUALISM

Having or using two languages, especially those spoken with fluency characteristics of native speakers. Have a minimum competence in only one of the four language skills in

  1. Early Bilingualism

The 'simultaneous acquisition' is the process of the earliest chance of learning two languages or more. It starts at birth. • Bilingual children generally appear to develop more slowly in linguistic terms. They may say their first words a little later and learn fewer words and grammatical structures.


Some benefit being Billingual

  1. Metalinguistic awareness = Their ability to manipulate and label language. As they are exposed to two languages, bilingual children are more aware of the language system.
  2. Executive control function  = Executive control helps children to switch between conflicting rules by suppressing one of the rules.


THE EFFECT AGE 


1. The critical Period Hypothesis (CPH)

Psycholinguists suggest that brain flexibility was only helpful to language learning until puberty. In terms of language acquisition, it is suggested that children who start acquiring younger than 11-12 years of age have plenty of input and interaction in the second language environment.

2. Younger Vs Older Learners

  • children are sensitive to the sounds and the rhythm of new languages. They enjoy copying new sounds and patterns of intonation. Younger learners are less anxious and less inhibited and they can spend more time devoted to the language compared with those who start later.


  • On the other hand, older learners use more efficient strategies, have more mature conceptual world to rely on, have a clearer sense of discourse and have a clearer sense of why they are learning a new language. Older learners are more analytical and give attention to detail.


How Do Children Learn a Second Language?
There are two ways in which children may learn a second language: simultaneously or sequentially:


Simultaneous Second Language Learning

  • Include children under the age of 3 who are exposed to two languages at the same time. 

  • Before 6 months of age children learn both languages at similar rates and do not prefer one language over the other as they build separate but equally strong language systems in their brains for each language they hear. 

  • These separate systems allow children to learn more than one language without becoming confused. • At 6 months, children begin to notice differences between languages and may begin to prefer the language they hear more.


Sequential Second Language Learners

Include children who have become familiar with one language but are then introduced or required to learn a second language. • It can occur at any age.


The Four Stages of Sequential Second Language Learning 

  1. Silent Period. 

  2. Home Language Use. 

  3. Telegraphic & Formulaic Speech. 

  4. Productive Language.


Language acquisition is inseparable from the environment. The environment is an important thing for a person in the process of language acquisition.

1.  Learning a second language at Home

Home is included in the informal environment that occurs naturally and the frequency is greater than the formal environment, making the informal environment more important than the formal environment in terms of language acquisition and learning.


The role of parents in mastering a second language is:


1. Parenting

to create a family environment like school


2. Facilitate

parents can begin to facilitate the mastery of a second language. They learn a language by mirroring.


3. Communicate

invites direct communication using two languages


4. Collaborate

collaborate with families or communities to identify and integrate children's learning and development resources.


5. interests, habits, and performances.

parents need to show their appreciation for different cultures and ways of speaking by people who speak different languages


            Overall, parents play a crucial role in the development and success of their child learning a second language. It is important to be nurturing and patient. It requires a conscious effort from all involved, including parents, teachers, and family members. Keep the learning fun and talk to your child about how important learning a second language is. With your support and encouragement, your child will be successfully bilingual.


Learning a second language at school


The school is included in the formal environment where the environment is formally and planned, where the school prepares the learning process in the classroom that is guided by the teacher. Thus, in such a formal environment, students are guided and directed at the teacher to be able to master the systems or rules and rules of the language being studied.

Learning a Second Language in the Playground and at School 


Familiar routines and games offer great opportunities for hearing the same language again and again and learning to take part in simple conversations. • In the case of school language, it takes much longer to catch up with the academic language skills necessary to participate in school discourse.


Sternberg (1979: 166) mentions the characteristics of the language learning environment in the classroom as follows:

  • The language learning environment in the classroom is strongly colored by the class social psychologist factors which include adjustments, disciplines, and procedures used.
  • In the classroom environment, pre-selection of linguistic data is carried out.
  • In the classroom environment, grammatical rules are presented explicitly to improve the quality of students' language
  • In the classroom environment, teaching tools are provided such as textbooks, supporting books, blackboards, tasks to be completed, and so on.

it can be concluded that the classroom environment is an environment that focuses on awareness in obtaining the rules and forms of the language learned (Dulay, 982:17).


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