Children who are exposed to two different languages at once are indeed able to acquire both of them simultaneously but certainly the majority of people have only one native language they learnt in this process of "sponging". Furthermore, the foreign language we learn in later life will be very rarely assimilated to the same degree as our native tongue even if studied for years. The puzzle here is how are children able to acquire languages so effectively and why does this skill apparently die out as we grow older? Why do other mental abilities and systems of knowledge we might be familiar with in our lives only ever develop in adult brains e.g. mathematics, physics, psychology. Children seem to have an unfair advantage, a spark of genius, when it comes to perfecting their first language acquisition. How is this possible?
Learning vs. acquiring
Of course, we may say that learning strategies of adults differ from those employed by children. There is an important distinction between learning and acquiring. Learning a language is an unnatural process and results in knowing “about” language whereas acquisition refers to developing the ability to speak a given language while using it everyday life. The latter normally brings much more success. Even under perfect conditions putting a person into a foreign country and forcing them to interact socially for long periods rarely results in the ability to speak L1 and L2 at matching levels.
Critical Period
There must be some crucial moment in our life, the so-called Critical Period that once passed, it becomes extremely difficult if not impossible to acquire or learn a foreign language to perfection. To illustrate this point let me introduce the story of Joseph Conrad who, despite not becoming fluent in English until he was in his twenties, went on to write novels at a level remarkably higher than most native English speakers but… until he died he retained a very strong Polish accent in his spoken English. This might make us think about how, perhaps, some features of a language can be acquired more easily i.e. grammar and vocabulary than for example pronunciation.
Emotional Reaction
What I find intriguing is that there is also some type of emotional reaction in adults who are naturally more self-conscious than young children, which seems to reduce the levels of L2 acquisition. This might have to do with fear of pronouncing words and even single sounds that seem strange and unnatural in their native language. This would explain why foreigners often struggle with English th sound and why English speakers of Polish can’t deal with sz or ś sounds. It’s not like our speech organs are built any differently or our tongues are too stiff to explore new ways of positioning. Fear might indeed be one of the reasons or perhaps the inability to acquire a foreign language fully stems from the fact that we consciously or unconsciously dislike a language or its speakers. If we move to another country and don’t align ourselves with its culture and inhabitants or have particularly bad experiences while living there we might be less likely to “pick up” the language on quite the same level as we’d like to in different circumstances.
I recently wrote about first language acquisition and received several interesting comments. I’d love to hear from you this time as well. Do you think that first and second language acquisitions differ from each other and if so, on what terms? And finally, more importantly, what methods of learning simulate first language acquisition in order to improve the effects of our efforts?
There is no evidence for a critical period for second language acquisition. Take my girlfriend's grandmother, an immigrant to Norway from Germany. She started to learn Norwegian in her twenties, and now, still alive, has perfect Norwegian, indistinguishable from a native speaker.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that accent/pronunciation is more difficult to attain than grammar or spelling, but children aren't born with perfect accents either. In fact, it takes them *years* of immersion to get the accent they will continue to speak with for the rest of their life. So, of course, it's going to take *years* of input, interaction, correction, and focus for a foreigner to perfect their accent. For most foreigners, a prefect accent just isn't important enough.
Very interesting post, Ewelina!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was still in school studying English our professors kept telling us that a lot depends on our hearing. People with musical hearing often speak with a better pronunciation. I think that's a pretty much disputable issue as I've met people with no musical abilities speaking great English. But, on the other hand, I haven't seen talented musicians struggling with a phonetic system of another language. What do you think about that?
@Bryce I agree with you when you say an accent resembling native isn’t important and certainly isn’t in the list of top priorities when learning/acquiring a new language. However, once you speak the language fluently, accent is often the only thing that can noticeably give it away you’re foreign. The example of your girlfriend's grandmother gives me hope that perhaps it is possible to acquire the language to the point where people are unable to tell if you’re a native. My Polish accent in spoken English isn’t strong but certainly noticeable. I'm interested to find out whether she still speaks German on the same level? I know you can easily forget the language if you don't use it for a long time.
ReplyDelete@Olenka Thank you! It’s very interesting what you say. I’ve come across a similar view on how people who learn from hearing (rather than seeing/reading) pick up their accents easier. This seems to be the case with me. My Polish accent in spoken English is of course present, however, is also a lot weaker than in people I know who’ve lived in England for longer periods of time. I was never able to learn well from reading but listening to lectures is often enough for me to understand and remember things. Perhaps it works in a similar way with music? I must make sure to look into it as it seems intriguing.
ReplyDeleteHi, Ewelina!
ReplyDeleteAbout music, you might want to check out Susanna Zaraysky, she's a multilingual person who has pretty much built her whole concept of studying languages on comprehending them as one would do music.
Here's her website http://createyourworldbook.com/
On a more relevant note. I've always felt that the real difference between L1 and L2 acquisition is that with L2 a person lacks the kind of natural, constant determination he/she had in childhood. If he can do the same in adulthood, which is admittedly harder to achieve, he can acquire a second language to the same level, if not better.
After all, is it really possible to define and measure perfection, when it comes to language acquisition? Children pick up their first language naturally, but they still put in a lot of conscious efforts into perfecting it, learning how it works in school, expanding their abilities to express themselves and so on. Some don't, and thus left with a limited amount of knowledge of their language.
A person can do the same with L2, but he should be prepared - hard work lies ahead. As for the critical period, I imagine it is that time when a child grows into an adult, and with ever growing responsibilities he starts to lose his natural curiosity.
Hi rzdruzyagin! Thank you so much for your link, I’m keen to find out more about Susanna’s work. I agree with you, there seems to be something “missing” in adults that stops us from acquiring a new language. It might simply be the lack of determination and basic curiosity you mention. I’m quite happy to accept this as an alternative explanation. We need to fight the evil adult spirit within us!
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