Essays on Learning A Second Language

Implication of Introducing Dual Language at an Early Age

Implication of Introducing Dual Language at an Early Age The acquisition of languages other than a native language has become a matter of great advantage throughout past several decades as the world continues to change. Whether it is the interest in other cultures or the academic and professional advantages it can afford an individual, the need to learn additional languages can provide several benefits. It is common for language practice to begin at earlier ages, but without reinforcement and continual practice it becomes less of a necessity and more of basic beginner’s course that may or may not ...

Studying Abroad

The idea of studying abroad is a thrilling and sometimes frightening experience to many. Some are apprehensive at the thought, while others cannot wait to see what countries are willing to have them. Much like any other big decision, there are pros and cons to the idea of studying abroad. It does appear that it is a more positive than a negative decision for most. Students get to experience a different culture firsthand, likely learn a new language, and even for lifelong friendships with individuals they would not have otherwise met when studying abroad. Experiencing a new or foreign ...

Learning a second language can be a challenging experience for a person of any age. The general population typically believes that second language acquisition or SLA is easier for children than adults. Some regard this as a myth while others insist it is true. Studies show that the way people learn languages at different ages can vary and that can affect the ease or difficulty in ability to learn. People learn a second language for many different reasons: a) individuals may be raised with two languages spoken in their home, b) students at school are often required to learn ...

Human beings are always in search of finding new ways to know the world and of learning new things. When it comes to learning a new language, people show more curiosity to learn, speak and to write. People feel happiness or enjoy interacting with others, rejoice in knowing about others. The best way to interact with a person of other custom, culture or nation or to know about the culture of others, their thoughts, and ways of living is to learn their language. Learning a new language provides an opportunity to the learners not only to know about others but it becomes a ...

The best way, it seems to learn another language, which in my case is English, is by the constant exposure of that language. Every day there must be a portion of time set aside in order to better learn a language, and a person who want to learn should expose themselves to many cases where English is to be learned. This essay explains through research the motivations for learning English as a foreign language, common learning styles, and different approaches that a learner can employ to learn and learning styles out there. People learn languages in different ways. Some are visual learners, others ...

Around the world today, there are more and more children and adults who, for esthetic, personal, economic and academic reasons, are becoming multilingual. It is a known fact that there are more bilingual minds on the earth than people who have only learned one language. Whether it be to find new friends, literatures or business ventures, there happens to be many reasons to learn something or a second language. There are a number of rewards of being able to learn a second language. These rewards include learning advantages that can happen during a specific level of proficiency in another language. For years ...

OCT5, 2014

Use of the First Language (L1) in Teaching a Second Language LITERATURE REVIEW This literature review will analyze previous studies that investigated similar problems to those given in the topic. The literature review will focus on three major areas: The effect of using student’s L1 in the English as a foreign language classroom; the relationship between teachers’ and students’ perception of language learning to the actual L1 and L2 use in the classroom; and teachers’ and students’ beliefs on the role of L1 and L2 in the Arabic foreign language classroom.

The effect of using student’s L1 in the English as a foreign language classroom

Many language scholars have conducted research on ...

“Second language acquisition is the process by which people learn a second language” (Rathod, 2012). When it comes to learning a new language, some persons will learn quickly and effortlessly, while others will have great difficulty. Many people have learnt a second language while in school, and knows that in order for them to successfully learn a second language they had to work hard and be determined and persistent in their efforts. But even as everyone gave their best effort in learning a new language the results varied across the student body. This variance is due to the fact that successfully acquiring a second language ...

Language is a fundamental aspect of our social lives that determine how well we associated with other people. Phonology refers to the study of how sounds are perceived, understood, and propagated in languages. Each language exhibits a unique configuration of sounds that are combined to propagate messages. Every language spoken on earth can be evaluated with respect to specific analytic factors common to each one of them as phonetics, morphology, syntax, as well as pragmatics. These factors highlight an acute distinction between how different languages are perceived and the effects they have on individuals. Phonology takes particular interest into the unique ...

Learning a second language becomes a primary need in these modern times if people want to go and grow together towards globalization. Without learning a second language, there is a tendency to stagnate and be left behind by technology and modernization. Therefore, to learn a new language is to study and discover how languages are acquired, including factors that affect the actual learning process. The first step is the input process, which is “the language the learner is exposed to” (Zhang, 2009, p. 91). It is influenced by three learning beliefs that says learning a language is controlled by the environment and the motivation ...

Language acquisition is the process whereby children acquire the capacity to identify and comprehend a language either native or a second language. Most young children learn a language through observation and listening and from there, they learn to copy what they hear and pronounce it. Young children learn to speak through sounds and vocabulary by imitating what the people around them speaks (Kuhl, 2010). Children are exposed to a language and this exposure helps them to be able to interact with the rest of the people. Children are not taught a language but they acquire it from the people around them at a tender age. ...

Background

The paper is analysis of a second language learner. Chutimon is a 28 year old Thailand national. Her first language is Thai. Chutimon is fluent in her native language Thai. Her second language is English which she has studied in primary and secondary school. She has some profound knowledge in Japanese language which she studied for one and half years before abandoning the course. English language is the second language she is currently learning. She began her first experiences in learning English in secondary school where it was incorporated in the Thailand educational curriculum. Chutimon’s learning of English can ...

- Motivation Models When learning a new language, there are many theories and models demonstrating how motivation can be achieved. The most prevailing one is what Dorney (2003), Professor of Psycholinguistics at the University of Nottingham, calls intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In detail, an intrinsically motivated student studies because he/she is finds learning fascinating and a truly rewarding experience. An extrinsically motivated student, on the other hand, studies to get good grades and to enjoy peer and teacher appraisal for his/her academic performance. However, motivation is a real challenge, given the variety of learning styles and student attitudes (Deci & Flaste). To ...

Thesis

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has been making waves in the United States ever since the country witnessed a huge inflow of foreigners who have come here to make a living. Whether they are refugees, immigrants, business people or visitors, they have all understood the importance of learning English if they wanted to succeed in the U.S. They came here looking for better life styles and better job opportunities. However, things are now gradually changing as business has gone global and most business is now focused on global economies and market. Considering this, it has now become important for Americans to ...

Speaking a second language is one of the most important skills that an individual can have in the business world today. Because of the increasingly globalized nature of the world, more and more business is taking place in a variety of languages; individuals who speak a second language are at a definite advantage in the world of business. However, research suggests that the advantage of speaking a second language is not merely a practical advantage; there are definite cognitive and social benefits that the individual who studies or speaks a second language gleans from the process. Most theorists believe that language is imbued with social-cultural values, ...

Introduction

In a society where contacts between people from different linguistic back grounds has become common, there is a great need for learning a second language .Bilingualism or multilingualism has become very important if a person wants to expand his or her cultural contacts and interaction. English is one of the widely used languages in international forums. Learning English as a second language has become very common. There is a big relationship between willingness to communicate and success in learning a second language.WTC (Willingness to communicate) in a second language largely depends on several factors. Curiosity affects a lot on the success of learning a second language. A curios learner ...

Native English speakers sometimes do not realize that learning a second language is essential to enlarge their awareness of other people’s identities and culture as well as enlighten them about the importance of developing communication skills in a different language. Any child, teenager and even adult, no matter his or her nationality, has much to gain from learning a foreign language. Speaking the universal language – English – should be no excuse to hinder a person’s capacity to broaden his/ her mind and spirit through the challenging exercise of learning a second language. Another point that you need to take into account is ...

The benefits of learning a second language are both tangible and intangible. Knowing how to communicate in a second language can open up job opportunities that otherwise would not have been available to the individual. Knowing the language also can help you better understand and synthesize other cultures and perspectives. And there is also evidence that being bilingual or multilingual has many cognitive benefits, including a decreased risk of dementia in old age. One thing pretty much all language scholars agree on, though, is that the younger you are when you start learning a second language, the more it will benefit you later ...

Learning - Methodology and Patterns

- INTRODUCTION The process of acquiring a second/foreign language has evolved and it is permanently changing, developing in order to facilitate as much as possible learners in their aim of learning a new language, but also teachers, in their task to teach a second/foreign language in an efficient manner. It is becoming increasingly significant for teachers to be up to date with any developments in the process of efficiently preparing the methodology of a second/foreign language course and they need to permanently maintain an open mind and a pro – active approach to the new teaching methods, testing them in the classroom setting. ...

Critical period is a hypothesis in linguistics on whether language acquisition is linked to age. According to Davutoglu (152), this hypothesis states that there is an ideal window of acquiring language in an environment that is linguistically rich. Hence, from the hypothesis, after this period, language acquisition becomes hard, and it requires a lot of effort to learn. The crucial time to acquire language is before a person reaches adolescent so long as sufficient stimuli are provided. Therefore, after the critical period, an individual never acquires full competency in learning a second language.

However, evidence of this is limited, and people rely on ...

Second Language Learning

When a person decides to learn a second language, there are several perspectives that should be considered. This is because little or no emphasis is given to contextual factors such as societal, social and individual factors (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2000). On the contrary, attention is based on the teaching methodologies. Furthermore, culture is of significant importance to any individual who wants to learn a second language. Therefore, the myths and fallacies that are associated with second language learning should be shunned altogether (Genesee, 1987). This article will focus on the learning of a second language together will the stated guidelines. Contextual ...

Introduction

Language is a channel through which people communicate with each other. It is of utmost importance for a child’s development as it enables a child to gather information, process it and create conceptual images in his or her mind. Verbal communication enables a child to comprehend the world around and learn from it. Thus, language is an integral part of both, the formal and informal education systems. There is an increasing focus on enabling children to learn more than one language in the United States (King and Fogle 1). Bilingualism is the capability to communicate in two languages with almost equal proficiency. ...

The brain forms an integral part of learning which reflects on the ability of different people to grasp and memorize information. Apart from other skills that people have to learn, there is the language, which is vital for communication. In an environment where learning a second language has been considered vital for each individual, strategies are being pit in place to ensure that such a process is accomplished without much strain (Sousa, 2006). This has led to a series of studies and researches to identify the role of the brain in learning a second language what makes people to grasp a second language at ...