The Role of Input in First Language Acquisition

The current study investigates the accessibility of a systematic pattern to children learning their first language, and also it is a try to show the effect of the quantity of input on first language acquisition. To these aims, two case studies were carried out on six children learning as their first language. The participants of the first study were three children acquiring their first language in Indramayu being followed for 12 months (24-36 months) to see if they all passed the same pattern in language development. The participants of the second study were three Children (who were exposed to less input) acquiring their first language in Indramayu being followed for 12 months (24-36 months) to see if the language development was affected considering the amount of input they were exposed to. In-depth interviews, observations, audio and video recordings, notes and reports were used to collect the data for this study. The data collected for each Children was analyzed separately, and the stages of development were reported for each children accordingly. The findings support the claim that the process of language acquisition depends on an innate language ability which holds that at least some linguistic knowledge exists in humans at birth, and also the input that learners receive plays a very important role in the language acquisition since the input activates this innate structure.

2013

Children do not reproduce their parents' language exactly. The way that children acquire their first language so quickly and easily has interested people for thousands of years. Considering the richness and complexity of this system, it seems improbable that children could ever learn its structure (Saffran, 2003).The main question in all modern studies of child language acquisition involves finding out what types of mechanisms underlie the acquisition of human language system. This case study was a developmental descriptive one that addressed three infants acquiring their first language in Iran (Kerman). The three infants were followed for a period of 12 monthsto see if they all followed a systematic pattern in language development. It seems that in the process of language acquisition, we can accept the possibility that first language learners come to the learning situation with an innate knowledge about language. Normal 0 false false false RU X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions ...

2017

The main objective of this study is to trace the language development of the two daughters Mehrsa and Atena from two Farsi-speaking home, from their first vocal sounds to the first sentences. The present study which is based on "naturalistic observations" covers the developmental stages and chronological succession of different in the acquisition Farsi as the first language will be presented. The study was carried out by maintaining the proper records of the children utterances in the form of a 'diary' and the traditional method of phonetic transcription was used to record utterances. It was found that they acquired Farsi at different stages from vocal sounds to first sentences because of their different nature and nurture. Thus, children acquire language not at the same rout. The whole study will be confined to different stages of language acquisition in different children with their individual's differences.

This case study focuses on the process of first language acquisition of a 3-year old Lebanese child. It also analyzes the factors and other mechanisms that influence L1 acquisition. For the duration of almost four months, the researcher observed and recorded the subject's produced sounds, words, and sentences. He also observed how the learner interacts with various linguistic inputs to see how he internally processes them. Finally, he also observed him as he interacts with people to determine the levels of the various constructs of his communicative competence. Based on the findings of the study, the subject acquired his first language (Arabic) largely biologically (nature). The observed behavior evidently confirms that he has a well-functioning Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that mainly enables him to acquire the language he is exposed to. Subordinately at his age, he is also helped by the environment to activate his innate capacity to acquire the language. Observations and interviews with his parents confirm that he also acquired through imitation and learned through correction and reinforcement, analogy, and structured input. Language universals are also evident in his communicative outputs while at the same time exhibiting some basic styles, registers, and non-verbal communication. The learner also manifested some linguistic and communication difficulties which are strongly influenced by his environment. Clearly, nature and environment play significant roles in a child's first language acquisition; thus, they should be creatively capitalized by both parents and teachers in various phases of instruction to ensure prolific and meaningful language learning and development.

Negah Institute for Scientific Communication, 2021

Objectives: The prelinguistic skills which pave the way for language development have always been an area of research in the Speech Therapy field. Although studying these skills is important, there is a study gap among Persian children. Therefore, this study explored prelinguistic skills among a sample of Persian-speaking children aged 6 to 24 months and made a comparison between different age groups. We also studied the effects of gender and family history of speech-language disorders on children’s prelinguistic abilities. Methods: In the present study, 277 mothers of Iranian Persian-speaking children aged 6 to 24 months were asked to fill a research-made checklist that evaluated the prelinguistic skills of their children. This study was cross-sectional and was conducted in Tehran City, Iran, in 2021. Children’s abilities in different age groups were compared using the analysis of variance (ANOVA), Scheffe test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the post-hoc test. The differences between the total scores of the two genders were also determined using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Comparing the prelinguistic skills in different age groups indicated a statistically significant increase in the scores as children grow up. Children with a positive family history of speech-language disorders scored lower on the checklist than the others (91.03±17.37). Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences between the two genders in developing gesture, vocalization, first words, social interaction, imitation, and play; girls had higher scores. Conclusion: Based on the studies conducted in different countries, prelinguistic skills develop as children grow up; these skills facilitate language acquisition and other social skills. The present study also demonstrated the development of these skills alongside children’s development. This similarity between Persian-speaking children and other children from different cultures and languages, as well as better performance in children with a negative family history of speech-language impairments, confirm the role of genetic factors in children’s development. Moreover, the differences in the development of some prelinguistic skills between girls and boys reveal the impact of various factors, such as social factors, on prelinguistic skills development.

Debating on Second Language Acquisition is not merely in terms of concept but also the real phenomena which postulate each research result. It needs more investigation on SLA due to the various realities on how children and adults acquire and learn any language. This research aims to describe how children and adults acquire and learn their first and second language. Participants consisted of children and adults whose ages determined by the researcher based on the purposive sampling technique. They were all six persons and chosen based on the certain characteristics. Content analysis technique was applied in order to analyze all data gained. The result showed that since human alive inside mother’s womb especially at up to the age of three months, a fetus has tried to acquire sounds subconsciously. Language proficiency is really determined by three factors of Phased Process Approach namely Subconscious Acquisition, Conscious Acquisition and Learning. The ideal time for learning something is begun from the age of 2 or 3 years old, by the fact that children have had the ability to bear a meaning on any input that they catch. The learning process has been begun within the process of acquisition. Based on the findings, it is clear that the children acquire the language step by step based on the development of the brain. Children acquire language is just the same as adult in acquiring the language although there will be some constraints faced by adult concern with the first language because adult has had the strong basic of first language just than children.

Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2017

This study deals with an Iranian child’s first language acquisition and is going to measure the words development of the child as a case study through counting the words he produced on the period of 7 days before his second birthday. A child, 24 months old, will be studied through transcripts and audio over the course of a week. The materials used for this study were one voice recorder for recording the child’s audio and paper and pencil for the observer to write down produced words by the child. The strategies used in order to handle the study were transcription and observation in order to count the words easier and also more accurate. Results of the study revealed that this child is able to produce more than other children in previous studies had been done by other researchers up to now. Another aspect of result revealed that the child produced one word instead of other for example use an animal name for calling more than one.

International Journal of English and Cultural Studies, 2020

This case study aims to discover the process of first language acquisition of a 4–year-old Iranian child. The focus of the research is on developmental errors the child has created in his language development, i.e. the words which are not correct. To do so, the researcher, during four months, observed and recorded the subject's produced strange words. The recording was done by two ways, Interval recording strategy and event sampling.Developmental errors or strange words are part of the learning process. These words are created due to different reasons. The research shows that during four months and in thirty three records, eleven strange words and expressions were produced. These eleven errors were investigated in this study in details. A table was presented by the researcher in which these errors were thoroughly described.

Acta Linguistica Asiatica, 2017

This study investigates the development of early Persian vocabulary in the process of first language acquisition in case of an Iranian child at age 2. The child was named Melica in this paper and her speech was observed for the period of 6 months. The outcomes show that Melica could produce about 150 words and understand many more when she was 2 years old. Also she understood such meanings as “on”, “under”, and “in”. At that age, she mostly produced nouns, which represented more than half of her vocabulary. Observed for a period of six months, Melica showed a gradual development in word as well as in sentence production, though some discrepancies in the use of certain words, such as developmental errors and overextensions, were also reported.

2021

Article info: Received: 20 Sep 2021 Accepted: 20 Oct 2021 Available Online: 01 Dec 2021