How do we develop language?

Debates exist about language development. Currently, there are two views about this. One view states that language is learned, and the other view states that language is acquired. Freeman and Freeman (2004) explain that "teachers who hold a learning view break language into its component parts and teach them directly" (p. 46). On the other hand, "teachers who hold an acquisition view attempt to make written and oral language comprehensible" (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p. 46). The authors also stipulate that "current research supports an acquisition view, although there is still debate over how much of language can be acquired and what can be learned" (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p. 46). The tricky parts of this statement are on the phrases" "how much of language can be acquired" and "what can be learned." The first phrase is telling me that one possesses a developed language but can still acquire some aspects of language to make it more developed, and the second phrase means that one does not have a fully developed language and so what aspects of language should be learned to fully develop it.

Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams (2003) explain in a clear manner why human beings develop language by initially learning it:

Language most likely evolved with the human species, possibly in stages, possibly in one giant leap. Research by linguists, evolutionary biologists, and neurologists support this view, and the view that from the outset the human animal was genetically equipped  to learn language. Studies of the evolutionary development of the brain provide some evidence for physiological and anatomic preconditions for language development. (p. 62)

Therefore, as a human develops from birth to a certain age, he/she also develops language by learning it. It is part of the human development. Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams (2003) further rationalize that "only by the act of learning language does the child become a human being. According to this tradition, then, we all become "human " because we all know at least one language" (p. 3).

Since human and language development are synchronous, it is safe to assume that at a certain point in a man's life, his language has also fully developed. Therefore, if a human being has a first, native language that is fully developed, and is going to study and use a second language, then we can say that he doesn't "learn" language all over again, but he is simply acquiring the linguistic competence (grammar of a certain second language) so he can use this language successfully (linguistic performance). All human beings are capable of learning universal grammar, the properties shared by languages. Thus, armed with the knowledge of universal grammar, a second language learner can acquire linguistic competence and performance in a second language. This is my rationale to my answers in the Freeman and Freeman activity.

I. Students who are monolinguals - all the activities will be learning (L)

II. Students who are second language learners and who have mastered/developed first language - all the activities are geared towards acquiring (A) linguistic competence and performance of the second language

III. Students who are second language learners and haven't mastered/developed first language and are expected to use a second language - all the activities will be L

IV. Teacher activities - both L and A point of views (How do you make language comprehensible? By explicitly/directly teaching it)

Activities:

The students:
1. look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
2. make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
3. practice sounding out words
4. read in round-robin fashion
5. correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
6. identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
7. group cards with classmates' names by a criterion on such as first or last letter
8. write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound
9. ask the teacher how to spell any word they don't know
10. read a language experience story they have created with the teacher
11. work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences
12. divide words into syllables
13. on a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound
14. make alphabet books on different topics

The teacher:
1. preteaches vocabulary
2. does a shared reading with a big book
3. makes sure that students read only books that fit their level
4. has students segment words into phonemes
5. writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words
6. asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
7. uses decodable texts
8. sets aside time for SSR (sustained silent reading) each day
9. teaches Latin and Greek roots
10. has students meet in literature circles
11. conducts phonics drills
12. chooses predictable texts
13. teaches students different comprehension strategies
14. does a picture walk of a new book
15. uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills

I would like to close this post with a quotation by Noam Chomsky (1972):

When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the "human essence," the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man. (p. 88)

REFERENCES:
Chomsky, N. (1972). Language and mind. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach reading, esl, spelling, phonics, grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2003). An introduction to language (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Heinle.