Chapter ONE pays attention to the first language acquisition with oral language skill while chapter TWO is more concerned about written and second language acquisition.
On the chapter ONE, for the most part, it gives views of how a first language is developed over three disciplines: developmental psychology, sociology & anthropology & education, and linguistics. Here I would like to summarize the key propositions of the three views about the first language development below.
- Development psychology has concentrated on the learning process of children’s early stages. Their research led a suggestion that humans have a special capacity for language, and children develop the physical capacity for speech during the first year.
- Sociology, anthropology, and education are more focused on the environment. Language always occurs in a social context, so they believe that children learn how to use language in social settings appropriately.
- Linguistics is more centered on the area of language. Two main concepts are brought up in the text. (1) generative grammar: is based in part on Chomsky’s observation that many sentences are structurally ambiguous: surface structure + deep structure (2) universal grammar=innate capacity for language =innate knowledge of language, that is, humans are born with built-in knowledge of language so that’s how children acquire language
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Chapter Two can be simply divided into two sections in discussion.
The first section debates whether a language, including writing and reading skills, can be learned or acquired. The opinions differ on this matter. With the learning view, reading is accomplished by recognizing words, and writing consists of producing words. So phonics rule, sight words, and structural analysis are practiced in reading class, and handwriting, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and conventional organizational forms are more emphasized in writing classrooms. With the acquisition view, they hold that readers acquire literacy in the same way they acquire oral language, by focusing on meaning. So in reading classroom students use their background knowledge and the cures from graphphonic system, syntax, and semantics knowledge to make and confirm prediction; in writing classroom teachers read to students and teach them strategies they can use to comprehend text. Teachers also provide many opportunities for students to produce and share their writing, such as read and retell method.
On the second section part, debating how much of language is acquired and what has to be learned is still over a second language teaching. Two views of second language arose on this matter. With the learning view, students are aware of their second language. However, in the view of acquisition students are not aware they are acquiring. They believe that acquisition is subconscious. Two professionals refer to their theories of second language acquisition in the text, and they are Krashen and Schumannare. Five hypotheses are represented with Krashen’s ideas, and these five hypotheses account for the psychological process of language development. Schumann have considered the broader social context. His concepts of social and psychological distance is said to be a complement of Krashen's theory.
On the chapter ONE, for the most part, it gives views of how a first language is developed over three disciplines: developmental psychology, sociology & anthropology & education, and linguistics. Here I would like to summarize the key propositions of the three views about the first language development below.
- Development psychology has concentrated on the learning process of children’s early stages. Their research led a suggestion that humans have a special capacity for language, and children develop the physical capacity for speech during the first year.
- Sociology, anthropology, and education are more focused on the environment. Language always occurs in a social context, so they believe that children learn how to use language in social settings appropriately.
- Linguistics is more centered on the area of language. Two main concepts are brought up in the text. (1) generative grammar: is based in part on Chomsky’s observation that many sentences are structurally ambiguous: surface structure + deep structure (2) universal grammar=innate capacity for language =innate knowledge of language, that is, humans are born with built-in knowledge of language so that’s how children acquire language
********************************************************************************
Chapter Two can be simply divided into two sections in discussion.
The first section debates whether a language, including writing and reading skills, can be learned or acquired. The opinions differ on this matter. With the learning view, reading is accomplished by recognizing words, and writing consists of producing words. So phonics rule, sight words, and structural analysis are practiced in reading class, and handwriting, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and conventional organizational forms are more emphasized in writing classrooms. With the acquisition view, they hold that readers acquire literacy in the same way they acquire oral language, by focusing on meaning. So in reading classroom students use their background knowledge and the cures from graphphonic system, syntax, and semantics knowledge to make and confirm prediction; in writing classroom teachers read to students and teach them strategies they can use to comprehend text. Teachers also provide many opportunities for students to produce and share their writing, such as read and retell method.
On the second section part, debating how much of language is acquired and what has to be learned is still over a second language teaching. Two views of second language arose on this matter. With the learning view, students are aware of their second language. However, in the view of acquisition students are not aware they are acquiring. They believe that acquisition is subconscious. Two professionals refer to their theories of second language acquisition in the text, and they are Krashen and Schumannare. Five hypotheses are represented with Krashen’s ideas, and these five hypotheses account for the psychological process of language development. Schumann have considered the broader social context. His concepts of social and psychological distance is said to be a complement of Krashen's theory.
Chia-Fang, you did a really nice job summarizing the readings. I appreciate that because I tend to have a harder time presenting the overview, and instead go off on lots of tangents connecting the concepts to my life. :)
ReplyDeleteI was really interested in your description in your other post of how English was taught to you. You identified that it was a word recognition approach, and that your class here in the U.S. leaned more toward a psycholinguistic approach. Having experienced both as an English language learner, which do you feel was more helpful for you?