Learning a Second / Third Language

Learning a Second / Third Language

Bilingualism refers to possessing a minimal competence in only one of the four language skills in a language other than the mother tongue or the ability to speak a second language while following the concepts and structures of it rather than paraphrasing the mother tongue. So, the person who is "Bilingualism", they have two different languages and can use that two languages especially as a spoken language with the fluency characteristic of a native speaker. While "Multilingualism", refers to a person who having and using more than two different languages especially as a spoken language with the fluency characteristic of a native speaker.

In early bilingualism usually, children will run into the 'simultaneous acquisition', which is the process of the earliest chance of learning two languages or more, and it starts at birth. The bilingual children generally appear to develop more slowly in linguistic terms and they may say their first words a little later and learn fewer words and grammatical structures. In the first two years, bilingual children have been through the phases of mixing the languages. This phase namely "Code-mixing", that is all cases where lexical items and grammatical features from two languages appear in one sentence. It continues at the age of three, they start to separate the two languages and to address people in different languages depending on their relevant language background. This phase is called "Code-switching", which is the process of switching from one language to the other according to appropriate changes in the speech situation.  But, these two phases generally happens to depend on from. the child's personality, environment, etc., that will affect the process of these two phases. 

Children who into early bilingualism are more aware of language systems as bilingualism. It helps them in Meta-linguistic awareness, that is the ability to reflect on and manipulate the structural features of the language. They are also more conscious of language structures and patterns and learn to reflect on these earlier than monolingual children.  

Younger VS older learner

Some physiologists 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. Different from adults, children are quick on learning a new language without much effort. Children are sensitive to the sounds and the rhythm of new languages. They enjoy copying new sounds and patterns of intonation. The younger learners are less anxious and less inhibited and they can spend more time devoted to the language compared with those who start later. While, older learners use more efficient strategies, have a 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. While older learners are more analytical and give attention to detail. They have a mature conceptual world to rely on, have a clearer sense of discourse, and ultimately have a clear sense of why they learn the new language. Eric Lenneberg (1967) proposed the Critical Period Hypothesis, which suggested that brain plasticity was conducive to language learning until puberty. While this statement is being debated, it is agreeable that there is a sensitive period for acquiring a second language. 

How Do Children Learn a Second/Third Language?

There are two ways in which children may learn a second or third language, which is sequentially or simultaneously. The 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 are;

1. Home Language Use.

2. Silent Period. 

3. Telegraphic & Formulaic Speech.

4. Productive Language.

In simultaneous second language learning, it includes 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. Then, at 6 months, children begin to notice differences between languages and may begin to prefer the language they hear more.

Learning a Second/Third Language In-Home and School 

Children learn a new language in an informal context, which they learn when they play with their peers in the playground, but mastering the language in a formal context is quite a different matter. According to Jim Cummins (2000), he said that it takes about 5 to 7 years for the diverse cultured class to reach academic levels comparable with those who are native to the target language. Children's mother language must be developed in parallel with the second language. Mother language must not be neglected to make a way for the second language. Then, to introduce formal context, the teacher must first start it with an informal concept that is familiar to the children after that, start introducing the formal context.

Some activities that can be implemented for learning a second/third language is by doing 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.

Resources: https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/Alkhamali/chapter-3-39236152

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