- "Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language, as well as to produce and use words and sentences to communicate."
The study of how humans acquire language, including the role of nature vs. nurture and critical periods for language development.
Linguistics: The study of language structure, features, and systems.
Psychology: The study of the mind, behavior, and mental processes.
Cognitive Development: The study of cognitive functioning and development from infancy to adulthood.
Neurology: The study of the nervous system and its relationship to behavior and cognition.
Education: The study of the theories and practices of teaching and learning.
Anthropology: The study of human cultures, societies, and social relationships.
Sociolinguistics: The study of the relationship between language and society.
Phonetics: The study of the sounds of language and how they are produced.
Phonology: The study of the patterns of sounds in language and how they are organized.
Morphology: The study of the structure of words and how they are formed.
Syntax: The study of the structure of sentences and how they are put together.
Semantics: The study of meaning in language and how it is conveyed.
Pragmatics: The study of how people use language in context to achieve their goals.
Language Disorders: The study of developmental and acquired disorders of language.
Speech Therapy: The practice of diagnosing and treating speech and language disorders.
Bilingualism: The study of how people learn to use and switch between two or more languages.
Second Language Acquisition: The study of how individuals acquire and learn a second language.
Language Teaching: The methods and approaches used to teach languages to others.
Language Assessment: The formal and informal evaluation of a person’s language skills.
Language Policy: The study of how government and public institutions regulate and promote language use.
First language acquisition: The process of acquiring one's native language during childhood without any formal instruction.
Second language acquisition: The process of acquiring a second language, typically during adolescence or adulthood, through formal instruction or immersion.
Foreign language acquisition: The process of acquiring a language that is not one's primary language and that is not used in the country or region where the individual lives.
Bilingual acquisition: The process of acquiring two languages simultaneously or one after the other.
Simultaneous language acquisition: The process of acquiring two or more languages at the same time from birth.
Sequential language acquisition: The process of acquiring one language after another.
Intensive language acquisition: The process of learning a language at an accelerated pace through intensive immersion courses or private lessons.
Heritage language acquisition: The process of acquiring a language that is spoken by one's ancestors or cultural group.
Natural language acquisition: The process of learning a language in a natural setting, such as through interactions with native speakers or living in a foreign country.
Classroom language acquisition: The process of learning a language in a formal classroom setting, typically through textbooks, lectures, and exercises.
Self-directed language acquisition: The process of learning a language independently through self-study, language learning apps or online platforms, and immersion experiences.
Computer-assisted language acquisition: The process of learning a language through computer software or online language learning programs.
Linguistic immersion acquisition: The process of learning a language through full immersion in a foreign language community or classroom.
Content-based language acquisition: The process of learning a language through immersion in subject-specific content areas, such as science, math or social studies.
Communicative language acquisition: The process of learning a language through communication, emphasizing spoken and written communication over grammar and syntax.
- "The capacity to use language successfully requires one to acquire a range of tools including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and an extensive vocabulary."
- "Human language capacity is represented in the brain."
- "Even though human language capacity is finite, one can say and understand an infinite number of sentences, which is based on a syntactic principle called recursion."
- "These three mechanisms are: relativization, complementation, and coordination."
- "Speech perception always precedes speech production, and the gradually evolving system by which a child learns a language is built up one step at a time."
- "The distinction between individual phonemes is the initial step in language acquisition."
- "Language acquisition usually refers to first-language acquisition, which studies infants' acquisition of their native language, whether that be spoken language or signed language."
- "It refers to an infant's simultaneous acquisition of two native languages."
- "First-language acquisition deals with the acquisition of the native language, while second-language acquisition involves acquiring additional languages."
- "In addition to speech, reading, and writing a language with an entirely different script compounds the complexities of true foreign language literacy."
- "Linguists who are interested in child language acquisition have for many years questioned how language is acquired."
- "The question of how these structures are acquired, then, is more properly understood as the question of how a learner takes the surface forms in the input and converts them into abstract linguistic rules and representations."
- "Language acquisition involves structures, rules, and representation."
- "Language can be vocalized as in speech, or manual as in sign."
- "Language acquisition involves acquiring phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and an extensive vocabulary."
- "Even though human language capacity is finite, one can say and understand an infinite number of sentences."
- "These three mechanisms are: relativization, complementation, and coordination."
- "Speech perception always precedes speech production in first-language acquisition."
- "Language acquisition is one of the quintessential human traits."