First Language Acquisition (= Child Language acquisition) It is the field that studies cases of mother tongue acquisition (The University of Sheffield, 2015). Behavioral theory assumes that children imitate what they hear, and thanks to continuous, positive reinforcement, children learn language through conditioning and habit formation (Lanir, 2011). <<This graph shows an outline of the stage of First Language Development. These stages show that there are predictable stages for children but individuals may move more slowly or more quickly through these stages (Pratt, 2014).
Newborn babies are unable to speak, but by the time they are 5 years old (assuming no cognitive or developmental disorders) they have a fully developed language system (Wright, 2010).
The Video below goes deeper into The Behaviorist Theory of Second Language Development
(Payne, M., Sitler, S., 2014).
Second Language Acquisition
Second language AcquisitionThe field that studies language(s) that you learned after acquiring your mother tongue, including third and fourth languages (The University of Sheffield, 2015). << This image shows the Stages of the Six stages of Second Language Acquisition (A Trinity School Classroom Blog, 2011).
The approaches and methods used in teaching a second language have evolved along with, and been influenced by, traditional cognitive theories of SLA , and more recently by sociocultural perspectives on language teaching and learning (Wright, 2010).
Learning vs. Acquisition
There is a major distinction made by linguists between language acquisition and language learning. Children acquire language through a subconscious process in which they are unaware of grammatical rules. In order to acquire language, the learner needs a source of natural communication (Haynes, 2005). Language learning is not communicative. Language learning is the result of direct instruction in the rules of language. Unlike when acquiring, in language learning students have a conscious knowledge of the new language and can talk about the knowledge (Haynes, 2005).