INTRODUCTION

Language acquistion is the process of how humans perceive, produce and use words to
understand and communicate.Every aspect of language is extremely complex and children yet at
a very young stage already know most of the incricate syatem we have been calling the grammar
of a language.
Second language acquisition refers to the discipline concerned with the study of the
processers by which people learn languages in addition to their native language. The term SLA
has become standard for referring to all research on non native language learning, even the
language learned is a third or fourth. The language to be learned is often referred to as the target
language or as the L2.
The term language acquisition became commonly used after Stephen Krashen contrasted it
with formal and non constructive learning. Today, most scholars in the field use language
learning and language acquisition interchangeably, unless they are directly addressing Krashens
work. However, Second language acquisition or SLA has become establish as the preferred term
for this academic discipline.

Five Differences of L1 and L2 acquisitions

L1 acquisition is genetically triggered at the most critical stage of the child's cognitive
development by the age of three and children acquire language at a very rapid rate
with most childrens speech being relatively grammatical.Between these ages the
possibility to learn is good. L2 learning is not triggered in any way unless the child
grows up bilingually in a native speakers background (in which case, it is not really
L2 learning at all).
The development of a language is its syntactic system which is 'informationally
encapsulated' ,which means that children are not even aware of developing a complex,
rule-governed, hierarchical system and a child do not learn language by storing all the
words and sentences . Most L1 speakers do not even realise this is what they are using
and they learn to construct and understand sentences, most of which they have never
produced or heard before. The syntax of the L2 is not acquired unconsciously, or at

least not in the way L1 syntax is acquired. Few L2 learners develop the same degree
of unconscious, rule-governed insight into and use of the L2 which they demonstrate
with the L1. L2 learners may be content with less than target language competence or more
concerned with fluency than accuracy.

The L1 is typically acquired at the crucial period of cognitive stage at pre-puberty,

when L1 and other crucial life-skills are also acquired or learned. The brain begins to
grow around 18 months old. Language emerges by interaction of maturity and sel
programmed learning. By the age of 4years the child acquires grammar and
phonology and extends to for a longer period of time. The L2 is not learned as part of
the learner's general cognitive development. Once the L2 learners reach their cut-off
age of around 12 years or 13 years and that period has passed, the language learning
slows down and the effect is no longer is possible At this point the nueral plasticity of
the brain severely affects the language learning ability. It assings functions to different
areas of the brain and cannot be changed. It is not an essential life-skill in the same
way that the L1 is.
Children never resist L1 acquisition because L1 learners tend to learn the language in
a fun way. They learn and play with other young native speaker children and enjoy
their language interaction. Furtermore children are quick to learn and they are not
ashamed to follow their accent.Among the L2 learners, it is often a great conscious or
unconscious resistance and have difficulities in participating in natural interaction
when they learn a new language. L2 learners are more subconscious and cant afford
to make mistakes during the learning process.
Young learners are even given a minimum 'input' during critical pre-pubescent stage,
all humans obtain the L1 of the humanity or background they are born into as a
natural and essential part of their lives. Even brain-damaged and or retarded children
usually acquire the full grammatical code of the language of their society or social
group. Many highly intelligent individuals with impressive learning skills often have
great problems learning an L2. Many L2 learners 'fossilise' at some stage, so that even
if they use the L2 regularly, and are constantly exposed to input in it, they fail to
expand full grammatical or 'generative' competence.

According to Steinberg, Psycholinguistics: Language, Mind and World, (1982), without a prior
understanding of first language functioning, the possibility that second language functions
interacts or becomes integrated in some way with the first cannot be explored. However, it would
seem that certain basic operations involved in sentence understanding or production would be
similar for a first or second language.
In understanding of Steinberg also mentioned that there is only one serious model of second
language functioning has been proposed to date, Osgoods Compound Coordinate Bilingual
theory (Osgood & Sebeok, 1954).
However, that theory involves only one aspect of functioning, the processing of isolated words.
It does not involve the interpretation of phrases and sentences. A compound bilingual is said to
process second language words through the mediation of first language words, having learned
the second language through translation. The coordinate bilingual, however, processes second
language through direct experience. The possibility that different process models may result as a
consequence of the mode of acquisition is still a question worthy of consideration and Osgoods
compound coordinate word processing distinction may well be a valid one.

According to Lenneberg, children are better language learner than adults. He presented a
theoretical explanation for that assumed outcome. His explanation concerns the biological
maturation of brain and the fact that language tends to become located in the dominant left
hemisphere of the brain (lateralization). As the brain matures, language learning is permitted to
occur and directs its localization. When brain maturation ceases, however, around the age of
puberty and localization is completed, then language learning becomes difficult. . Further
research by other linguists, such as Krashen, provides evidence against the rigid completion or
loss of plasticity or lateralization by puberty.

According to Lenneberg, the crucial period of language acquisition ends around twelve years
old. He claims that if no language is learned before then, it can never be learned in a normal and
fully functioned sense. This is known as the Critical Period Hypothesis.
Children are not little adults. Until they reach the age of 15 or so they are not capable of
reasoning as an adult. The following information is based on the work of Jean Piaget. He was not
a psychologist. He was a developmental biologist who devoted his life to closely observing and
recording the intellectual abilities of infants, children and adolescents. The stages of intellectual
development formulated by Piaget appear to be related to major developments in brain growth.
The human brain is not fully developed until late adolescence or in the case of males sometimes
early adulthood. We often expect children to think like adults when they are not yet capable of
doing so. It is important that parents know what to expect from their child as they develop and to
be sure that the expectations they may have for their child at a given age are realistic.

Lenneberg approved that language learning after puberty was more complicated but argued that
the conclusion of "lateralization of language functions in the left hemisphere" (98) was the
cause. Lenneberg considered children who suffered injures to the left hemisphere of the brain
before and after the age of 12. The transmition of language purpose to the right hemisphere was
found in children who suffered damage before age 12, but hardly ever in those who suffered
damage after age 12.The main problem with Penfield's and Lenneberg's research is that it only
applies to first language production. First language skills were studied before and after brain
damage, but there were no studies of second language skills in healthy brains.

(99)Evidence of children out performing adults in second language acquisition is ambiguous

because the manner of learning instead of age may be the main factor in influential successful
acquisition. Most children learn a second language in a natural situation, whereas adults learn in
a formal classroom setting. Because adults possess many inhibitions and attitudes about speaking
a foreign language, they are less likely to attempt meaningful learning. Most students in higher
education are required to take foreign language courses in order to graduate. Other students take
foreign language courses because they want to learn the language, but are not taught to study
effectively or are afraid to speak in class for fear of embarassment.Nevertheless, research on the
acquisition of authentic control of the phonology of a foreign language supports the notion of a
critical period. The most compelling disadvantage for adults is the failure to acquire authentic
(native-speaker) pronunciation of the second language(Brown 58) which unfortunately, many
people judge as an extremely important feature of successful acquisition.

Many adults who learned a second language can have fluent control of
grammar and communicative functions, but also a foreign accent. This does not mean, however,
that their acquisition of the second language was not successful. In fact, it seems that adults
exceed children in all aspects of second language acquisition, except for accent.
Blakeslees article expands on the role of accent and pronunciation in second language
acquisition.
New research provides evidence that the adult brain is capable of substantial
change (2) indicating that plasticity may not be as inhibited as dictated by the CPH. Although
newborn babies are able to distinguish between the sounds of all human language, adults can not.
Neuroscientists hypothesize that as humans grow older, information is embedded in the neural
tissue as cells form circuits. Because speech comprises only a small section of the brain, speech
sounds have limited space and strong boundaries. Therefore, if the critical period does exist
for humans, it should be impossible for adults to achieve native fluency in pronunciation.
Yet there are several individuals who learned a second language after puberty and
attained native pronunciation.

This fact led Dr. McClelland of Pittsburgh has tested thehypothesis on Japanese speakers who
are learning English as a second language. He found thatthe subjects could produce native
pronunciation of sounds in English (/l/ and /r/, which areallophones of the same phoneme in
Japanese) after intensive training of exaggerated and naturalspeech in a relatively short amount
of time. McClelland notes that the subjects do notgeneralize what they have learned to all /l/
and /r/ sounds (3) but the experiment is a promisingstart to training adult brains to adapt to new
sounds. McClellands findings have not yet beenrepeated in other experiments, but further
research will be done on accent reduction and elimination in adults.The Critical Period
Hypothesis for second language acquisition has not been conclusively proven by research, nor
has it been completely disproved. Most research indicates that CPH does not exist for all aspects
of second language acquisition, but there is powerful evidence of a critical period for accent.
(Brown 59) While there are many advantages to an early age for second language
acquisition,there is little evidence to support the idea that adults are unable to successfully learn a
second language. And further experiments like McClellands may prove that fluent
pronunciation is equally attainable for adults as it is for children.

REFERENCES

Blakeslee, Sandra. Old Brains Can Learn New Language Tricks. The New York Times. 21
April 1999: F3.
Brown, H. Douglas. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 4th ed. New York: Pearson,
2000.
Genesee, Fred. Neuropsychology and Second Language Acquisition. Issues in Second
Language Acquisition: Multiple Perspectives. New York: Newbury House, 1988

Steinberg. Danny D. (1982) Psycholinguistics Language, Mind and World. Longman: London

Differences between Cognitive Development and Language Acquisition. Retrieved from:

http://elow.com/lot6360707_differences-cognitive-develop

Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved from: http://chris1066.tripod.com/-

The Language Acquisition between the Rural and Urban Learners. Retrieved from:
http://www.bukisa.com