Unlock with PatreonThe Problem with CI
To view this content, you must be a member of Ben’s Patreon at $10 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to
Acquisition
Share:
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Ben Slavic
Get The Latest Updates
Subscribe to Our Mailing List
No spam, notifications only about new products, updates.
Related Posts
CI and the Research (cont.)
To view this content, you must be a member of Ben’s Patreon at $10 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to
Research Question
To view this content, you must be a member of Ben’s Patreon at $10 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to
We Have the Research
To view this content, you must be a member of Ben’s Patreon at $10 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to
10 thoughts on “Acquisition”
This is a great quote. Do you happen to know where it came from (I mean is it in an article by Dr. K or just heard directly in conversation)?
I just finished reading Introducing Linguistics by R.L. Trask and Bill Mayblin. Here are some quotes about acquisition from the book:
“Contact with other people is essential in acquiring a first language” (p. 115)
“A child learning a first language actively constructs the language as it goes. Indeed, most linguists are now satisfied that children are born with a biological language faculty, an innate disposition to acquire language. This innate faculty requires nothing more than a certain amount of stimulation from other people to be set in motion.” (p. 120)
“Our language faculty is part of our biology, something that is built into our genes.” (p. 124)
“More than anything else, language is what makes us human.” (p. 171)
Here’s a link to an interesting article by Dr. Stephen Camarata. His PhD is in Audio and Speech Science with undergraduate and MA work in Speech Pathology and Audio.
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/15/this_is_how_your_kid_learns_the_amazing_new_neuroscience_of_brain_plasticity_and_how_to_make_your_child_smarter/
The article contains some strong arguments for presenting children with whole language in context and not designing drills. For example, speech discrimination games and activities for children are marketed as engaging neural plasticity. However, children who were never exposed to these games and activities still develop a perfectly organized and facile auditory cortex arising from natural speech input from parents and others. “They learn to talk,l to read, and to think very well indeed.” Furthermore, unnatural auditory input (e.g. isolated auditory signals) does not result in the proper integration and “wiring” of the input with other brain regions, such as the language centers, that are necessary to distinguish and use speech in the real world.
The brain learns what it is taught. So, if the brain is taught to distinguish little bits of language (e.g. sound bits), then that and only that is what it will learn. and the brain will not generalize this to understand speech and reading. Here’s the take-away:
“If you want the brain to become wired for spoken language and for reading, then the input has to be real, functional, spoken language and dialogic reading. … And if you want the spoken language to serve as a tool for social communication with other human beings, the input has to occur in the context of human social interaction, which involves even more areas of the brain than the area dedicated to speech discrimination.”
Here is the final paragraph of the article:
“It is not surprising that simply teaching discrimination between “h” and “b” using flashcards or a computer program cannot possibly convey the information the child will need to comprehend the difference between “hat” and “bat” in the real world. Intuitive parenting automatically teaches all these elements simultaneously; it is automatically a multisensory approach. Touching, seeing, speaking, and listening are all providing context—in a safe, nurturing environment—and multiple brain areas are activated and integrated via neural plasticity.”
Adapted from “The Intuitive Parent: Why the Best Thing for Your Child Is You” by Stephen Camarata, PhD with permission of Current, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © Stephen Camarata, 2015.
I think we can see the parallels and application to Second Language Acquisition and classroom teaching of a foreign language.
Correction: The brain learns what it is taught. (Not “leans”)
There may be other typos.
Thank you, Robert, for sharing this. It’s really big and so essential. We think that by simplifying and isolating bits we are making it easier for our students, but this explains why they need to be presented with whole language in its very messy and very complicated context.
Yes, thanks, Robert. I collect quotes to share with students and see some to add.
This reminds me of two things, coincidentally but not surprisingly both uttered by Krashen in two different keynotes:
1. In Denver at the 2009 Fluency Fast Training, he said that when confronting the challenge of teaching your kid her first language, your can rest of assured you have all that intuitive knowledge naturally at the ready (paraphrased of course).
2. In Breckenridge at iFLT a few years ago, he was talking about language acquisition in birds. The birds who only heard recordings of other birds singing did not acquire the language (or didn’t acquired it as well???)
Jim, I have a copy of that article about bird songs. Do you want it? I got started on it and then school prep wiped away time and I haven’t finished it but will. Actually it’s very short.
Diane, I would also be interested in the article. Is it something you could e-mail?
Yes, I was myself given an electronic copy of it. My email is questyn @ hotmail.com. Just 2 pages!