LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION :
MYTHS AND
REALITIES

In the name of Allah,

Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

The Most Gracious (Allah)

He has taught (you mankind)
the Quran (by His mercy).
He created man.
He taught him eloquent speech.
(Surah Rehman)

INTRODUCTION

WE LIVE IN THE WORLD

OF WORDS!

AIM
To define language and its
characteristics
and to disprove certain
existing myths in order to
highlight realities
which can ultimately guide us to a
better learning of a second
language (in our case, English).

Col Akhtar A. Khalili,

M.A. (English Literature), M.A. (English Linguistics),
M.A. (Educational Administration & Management) CLPE : TESL (Ednbg)
M.Phil. (English Literature & Linguistics), M.Phil. (Education) GOLD MEDALIST
Ph.D.Scholar (English Literature & Linguistics)

Commandant, Garrison Human Resource

Development Center of HQ 5 Corps
Visiting Faculty Associate Professor at
Department of English, University of Karachi &
Faculty of Management Sciences, Iqra University.
Contributor to second language education and
bilingual education researcher
Please feel free to give your feed-back
suggestions/comments at:
colakhtarkhalili@hotmail.com

Warm-up Activity
Please write a definition of Language.
Discuss your written expression/opinion with
the individual sitting next to you and share
your common finding with others.

SEQUENCE
DEFINING LANGUAGE & ITS
CHARACTERISTICS
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION & LANGUAGE
LEARNING
MYTHS AND REALITIES ABOUT
LANGUAGE LEARNING
SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

DEFINITION
LANGUAGE, A SYSTEM OF
CONVENTIONAL, SPOKEN OR
WRITTEN SYMBOLS, BY MEANS OF
WHICH HUMAN BEINGS, AS MEMBERS
OF A SOCIAL GROUP AND
PARTICIPANTS IN ITS CULTURE,
COMMUNICATE. LANGUAGE SO
DEFINED IS THE PECULIAR
POSSESSION OF HUMAN BEINGS.
THE NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA

LANGUAGE CAN BE DEFINED AS:

THE FACULTY AND ABILITY

POSSESSED BY NORMAL HUMAN
BEINGS AND BY NO OTHER SPECIES
A SYSTEM OF CONVENTIONAL,
SPOKEN OR WRITTEN SYMBOLS
PRIMARY PURPOSE OF LANGUAGE IS
COMMUNICATION AMONG PERSONS
WE CAN USE SPOKEN OR WRITTEN
UTTERANCE TO EXPRESS MENTAL
PHENOMENA OR EVENTS

CHARACTERISTICS
OF
LANGUAGE

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

USE OF VOCAL-AUDITORY
CHANNEL

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

EFFECT ON BEHAVIOUR

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

SEMANTIC CHARACTERISTIC
& ARBITRARINESS OF LANGUAGE

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

IMAGINING, FANTASIZING,
FICTIONISING, LYING, ETC.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

LEARNING OF LANGUAGE

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

GRAMMAR RULES

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

INTERLOCKING SYSTEMS &

ORGANIZATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

SYSTEMS OF
CONTRASTS

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

OPERATES IN TIME

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

EVANESCENT IN TIME

Language Acquisition Vs
Language Learning

Language Acquisition Vs
Language Learning
LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
1. Similar to Child
Mother Tongue
2. Native Language

LANGUAGE
LEARNING
1. Second Language/
Foreign Language
2. Non-Native
Language
3. No Formal Class- 3. Formal Classroom
room Teaching is
Teaching is
Required
Required

Language Acquisition Vs
Language Learning
LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION
4. Formal Teaching
does not Help
5. Natural
6. Picking Up
Language
7. Subconscious

LANGUAGE
LEARNING
4. Formal Teaching
does Help
5. Artificial
6. Knowing About
Language
7. Conscious

Another Activity
How do children learn Language(s)Is
there some particular pattern in this
process?
Discuss your opinion with the individual
sitting next to you and share your common
finding with others.

ASPECTS OF CHILD LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION
Children do not learn a language by
storing all the words and sentences.
Children learn to construct sentences,
most of which they have never produced
before.
Children learn to understand sentences
they have never heard before.
Children must therefore learn rules that
permit them to use language creatively.

Language Acquisition
Myths & Realities

WE MUST READ DAWN OR

SOME OTHER ENGLISH
NEWSPAPER DAILY

The best way to learn a foreign

language is to go to a foreign country

WE MUST LISTEN TO BBC

AND SOME OTHER
NATIVE SPEAKER A LOT

WE SHOULD WATCH GOOD

ENGLISH MOVIES/TV
PROGRAMMES

I WILL SUGGEST YOU A

GREAT BOOK. WE
MUST READ THAT.

IF WE BUY A GOOD AUDIOVISUAL/INTER ACTIVE

COMPUTER PACKAGE, IT WILL

CERTAINLY HELP US.

WHY DONT YOU GET YOUR

SON ADMITTED IN A GOOD
ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOL?

Another Activity
There are pre-dominantly four Language
Skills.. Can you name them?
Discuss with the individual sitting next to you
which one is the easiest and which one is most
difficult.. Also discuss what is the proportion
of utilization of the particular language skill in
individuals life.
Share your opinion with others.

DIMENSIONS OF LANGUAGE

LISTENING COMPREHENSION
SPOKEN LANGUAGE
READING COMPREHENSION
WRITTEN LANGUAGE

YOU MUST MAKE HIM

LEARN AT LEAST 10
WORDS EVERY DAY.

PLEASE SEE THAT HE

PRONOUCES EVERY WORD
CORRECTLY..

A RESEARCH WORK YOU

MUST READ!
MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS
ABOUT SECOND LANGUAGE
LEARNING: WHAT EVERY
TEACHER NEEDS TO UNLEARN
by
BARRY MCLAUGHLIN

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA,
SANTA CRUZ
1999-2004
www.ncela.gwu.edu

NATIONAL CENTER
FOR RESEARCH ON
CULTURAL
DIVERSITY AND
SECOND LANGUAGE
LEARNING

Another Activity
Language Learning/Acquisition & Swimming
Do you find any link/similarities between these
two.. Please discuss your understanding with
the individual sitting next to you and share your
combined opinion with others.

Language Learning is like

learning how to swim

THINK IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE

AND AT TIMES THINK LOUDLY

Some suggestions and

recommendations

Ask yourself weekly: What do

I want to learn this week?

Focus only on the current

unit, grammar exercise, etc.

Set a goal for yourself every

week - notice the progress become more inspired

Quickly review important

new information shortly
before going to bed.

Brains process fresh

information while we sleep Shortly before sleeping
every day, just have a
glanceDont revise

While doing exercises alone

at home or in your dorm/
room, speak English aloud.

Practice the act of speaking often

Connect your brain to your facial
muscles; improve pronunciation
Make your knowledge active

Give half an hour of your study

time, at least four times a week,
to exclusive study of English.

Start off slowly and devote

some time
Develop the habit of working
towards improvement of
your English on a regular
basis

Look for situations in which

you must speak / read /
listen to English
Use English in real world situation
Put English knowledge into
practice in real situations
Talk to your mates in English at
least for some time on matters of
daily routine life nothing
special

Study a Balance of the 4 Key Skills

(Listening, Speaking, Reading,
Writing)
Language Skill

Time of an average
communicator

Listening Comprehension
Spoken Language
Reading Comprehension
Written Language

40%
35%
16%
09%

Study a balance of the four major skills.

Being very good at only one of these
skills will not help you to communicate.

I wish you all the joy and happiness

that you can wish !