Environmental and cultural influences on language acquisition
RonTresa Pratt
North Carolina Central University
Introduction
This literature review focuses on the second language acquisition. It primarily focuses on the environmental and cultural influences on second language acquisition.
Language is a powerful tool that connects diverse people from various backgrounds to one another. There are several languages that are used by people all over the world. Being bilingual or multilingual has tremendously increased over the last couple of decades. In 2006, a survey conducted by the European Commission states that 56% of survey respondents could speak a language other than their native language (Byrd, 2012). It also states that in the United States speaking a language other than English in children over the age of five has increased by 140% in speaking since 1980 (Byrd, 2012). This tremendous increase could be a result of the world becoming more integrated. The increase could also be the result of resources and technology becoming more convenient and accessible.
Being bilingual is shown to have many benefits, especially in today’s society. One of the main benefits is being able to communicate with others when placed in an unfamiliar environment. Knowing the dominant language when traveling abroad can become a major benefit for both professional and personal reasons. For example, if you were to travel to China to discuss the works for a major deal for your company, if you were familiar with the Chinese language and culture you can be more at an advantage than a person without any knowledge of the culture or language. Not only is verbal language important but also a person’s body language. A person’s body language can tell a lot about them.
This literature review is essential to cognitive research because language experience shapes the brain (Kroll & Dussias, 2017). This review will explore the environmental and cultural influences on language acquisition.
Literature review
In order to understand the second language acquisition, it is crucial to understand the different the different components that contribute to learning a second language. In this literature review, these different components have been broken down separately in order to get a clear view of each component.
Monolinguals VS. Bilinguals
Monolinguals and bilinguals have both similarities and differences. Even at a young age, the differences between monolinguals and bilinguals are apparent. Research shows that people who speak more than one language are better than people who speak only one language when dealing with task that involve conflict management, inhibitory control ability and switching between two tasks (Marian & Shook 2012). In the study conducted by Dr. Viorica Marian and Anthony Shook they emphasized the Stroop task where people saw a word and needed to name the color of the word’s font. The Stroop task showed how the bilingual participants could perform certain task better than the monolingual participants (2012). Research on word recognition between early bilinguals and monolinguals also prove that bilinguals adapt better than monolinguals. That research states that bilinguals use both known languages constantly while monolinguals solely use their one language. This can become a problem for bilinguals because they tend to have lower frequency in words due to less exposure. Studies also show that this could be because of “control processes” where the bilingual have to continually “resolve potential completion between the two languages during word generation (Lehtonen, Hultén, Rodríguez-Fornells, Cunillera, Tuomainen & Laine 2012)”. Although bilinguals can have lower frequency in words, behavioral studies have shown larger frequencies in picture naming than monolinguals (Lehtonen, Hultén, Rodríguez-Fornells, Cunillera, Tuomainen & Laine 2012).
Other research studies show the distinctions between people that can speak multiple languages and people that only speak one language. Akhtar, Menjivar, Hoicka and Sabbagh sought to study English- speaking children who speak only one language to children who were regularly expose to multiple languages. There were two between-subject factors involved in this study. In the experiment, the participants included forty-eight monolingual English-speaking children, forty-eight bilingual children and forty-eight English-speaking children who are regularly exposed to a language that is other than English. Those children involved in the study were put in three groups based off the reports their children. The researchers hypnotized that based off the findings in the study children who are exposed to more than one language may encourage the ability to learn foreign words from a foreign speaker (Alghamdi, 2016).
Obtaining a Second Language
A child’s brain has more plasticity than of an adult therefore, another language is easier for them to obtain before puberty. After puberty the brain matures, and adults start to have difficulty reaching the level proficiency they have for their native language for the acquired second language (Deng & Zou, 2016). The American theoretical linguist Noam Chomsky believed that an individual is born with a language acquisition device (Chomsky, 1972). As an individual develop into adulthood, their acquisition device dwindles. This results in induvial who seek to learn a second language to rely on their self-language ideas and their own determination to acquire the language.
Learning a second language can be a very taunting process that has many depths to it (Alghamdi, 2016). Second language acquisition is obtained mostly through someone is older and is able to decide for themselves if they want to accommodate the time to learn another language. This require the individual to have an extreme sense of motivation for learning the acquired language. Research states that the most pivotal time of acquisition is from the age two until the onset of puberty because this is the time that an individual is most likely going to be able to acquire the language than any other time (Deng & Zou, 2016). After puberty it is harder for an individual to acquire a new language therefore, they must set clear learning goals and implement hard work in order to achieve language development.
Environmental Influences on Language Acquisition
The environment a person is in while undergoing the language learning process can influence their language experience. Environmental influence such as tension can be the cause of a euphoric and or dysphoric effects (Spielmann & Radnofsky, 2001). This can be a positive or negative result for a person learning foreign languages. In the conclusion of the research done by Spielmann and Radnofsky they discovered that the tension the participants had when going learning foreign languages was mostly expressed frustration. Spielmann and Radnogsky examined the impact tension has on the process of developing the skill of learning foreign languages. Based off of the findings of the researchers apart of this study, tension may cause a feeling of euphoria. Their findings also found that tension may also cause dysphoric effects. This can be a positive or negative result for a person learning foreign languages. Spielmann and Radnogsky discovered that the tension the participants had when going learning foreign languages was mostly expressed frustration (2001). In this article, environmental influences are evidently seen and it shows that factors such as tension can increase or decrease a person’s learning process.
People who are around the environment can also contribute to the learning process. Research states that children obtain their first language from their environments. That environment can include their parent, guardian and other children (Alghamdi, 2016). In their daily lives children are exposed to their native tongue. It is being spoken by those who are closest to them and this allows the child to learn by observing the behavior of others. Research states that their “native language acquisition, mainly focus on the content of the language rather than the form (Deng & Zou, 2016).” This shows the importance the environment has on learning languages.
Research also states that “genetic or environmental contribution are universal across languages, even for those with very different characteristics (Chow, Ho, Wong & Bishop 2011).” Not only does surrounding people in one’s environment have influence on language acquisition so does other sources. Input sources such as storytelling and television shows influence young children’s language development (Williams & Tomas, 2017). Studies show that research who sought to find out about minority language discovered that minority language input helps early development of second language vocabulary and grammar.
Cultural Influences on Language Acquisition
An individual’s cultural background can influence their language acquisition process. As stated earlier in the literature review if you were to travel to a place such as China, being familiar with the Chinese language and culture could help you tremendously throughout your journey in that county. An individual’s culture background can influence their language acquisition process when it comes to Chinese acquisition, the characteristics of this language differ a lot from English (Chow, Ho, Wong & Bishop 2011).
There have also been studies on the influence different cultures have on living and learning overseas. Researchers Taylor and Ali (2017) learned more about the learning process of students transition from high school to college. They predominately focused on international students. In their study, it shows that college freshman may have a hard time getting use to the independence that a college student upholds. Due to the hardship of getting use to college students may feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety and unhappiness. Several studies that used a sample of East Asian international students in their data found that they had a hard time adjusting to the western lifestyle because of the cultural differences in the educational system. In the study done by Taylor and Ali there were also comparisons between international students who were fluent in English and those who were not (2017). Being a foreigner in another country and being fluent in that nation’s language can help you fit into the culture and society of that country.
Language Acquisition in Children
Children who know multiple languages benefit the most in being bilingual. Research shows that language acquisition can be seen as young as infancy. In previous studies, it shows that infants show the capacity to process speech along with learning quickly the properties of their native language (Dehaene-Lambertz et al., 2010).
According to Dana Byrd, “Being bilingual in childhood seems to accelerate complex cognitive processing.” (2012). Byrd also states that bilingualism can appear as early as infancy (2012). Bilingualism as an infant can improve their ability to categories and interpersonal associations that the monolingual infants would not have yet developed (Byrd, 2012). Researchers William and Thomas looked at the effectiveness of two types of native-language input sources when pertaining to children. The two types of native language input sources included storytelling and minority language children’s television. In their study, it is decided that early exposure to language is most of the time in the form of child-directed speech (Williams & Thomas, 2017). This study deems to give insight to how other sources, other than a parent or guardian, have influences children learning a foreign language.
Infants who speak more than one language and their ability to develop, narrow and interpret the sounds that form words. All over the world children are learning more than just their native language. Researchers compared findings from various studies who focused on children who only speak one language. Throughout the studies who look into children and language use more than one experiment to compare the narrowing in interpretation of languages between children who speak one language and of children who speak more than one (Graf Estes &Hay).
Conclusion
Linguistics is an important part of cognitive psychology because language allow individuals to understand and communicate between one another. Language is a method of human communication that comes in various forms and will be around for a very long time. There are over 6,000 languages being spoken around the world. The more we learn about the complexity of language acquisition helps an individual understand these languages better.
Both language acquisition and second language acquisition require the induvial learning the language to absorb the environment and culture of the targeted language in order to understand that language more. Children in particular obtain their first language from their environments and observe through the people in that environment. Adults also use the environment and culture of the targeted language to learn second language acquisition. An individual’s cultural background can influence their language acquisition process. Induvial who know more about the language and culture find it easier to assimilate in the society. In conclusion, throughout my research environments and cultures prove to influence an individual’s ability to learn not only their native language acquisition but also their second language acquisition.
References
AKHTAR, N., MENJIVAR, J., HOICKA, E., & SABBAGH, M. A. (2012). Learning foreign labels from a foreign speaker: The role of (limited) exposure to a second language. Journal of Child Language, 39(5), 1135-49. doi://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/10.1017/S0305000911000481
In this study, the researchers compared English- speaking children who speak only one language to children who were regularly expose to multiple languages. There were two between-subject factors involved in this study. In the experiment, the participants included forty-eight monolingual English-speaking children, forty-eight bilingual children and forty-eight English-speaking children who are regularly exposed to a language that is other than English. Those children involved in the study were put in three groups based off the reports their children. The researchers hypnotized that based off the findings in the study children who are exposed to more than one language may encourage the ability to learn foreign words from a foreign speaker. I find this article useful because it talks compares monolingual speakers to bilingual speakers. It is also useful because it gives another view point to how learning foreign languages from a foreign speaker can be beneficial.
Alghamdi, D. J. (2016). FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: AN OVERVIEW. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 9(2), 533-540. Retrieved from http://nclive.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/cgi-bin/nclsm?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.nccu.edu/docview/1858849696?accountid=12713
Bonney, C. R., Cortina, K. S., Smith-Darden, J. P., & Fiori, K. L. (2008). Understanding strategies in foreign language learning: Are integrative and intrinsic motives distinct predictors? doi://doi-org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/10.1016/j.lindif.2007.11.005
In this research article the researchers involved examined the relationship between the motivational structure and use of learning strategies. They focused their research on high school foreign language students from thirty-six different foreign language classrooms. The researchers hypothesized that integrative motivation will add predictive and descriptive capability to foreign language learning motivation. The researchers used questionnaires to get the data needed for the study. I find this article useful because this article helps readers understand the strategies that learning a foreign language consist of. A weakness of this article is that it is not as long as other articles therefore, you are limited with the information you will have.
Byrd, D. (2012). Cognitive benefits of being bilingual. Washington Academy of Sciences. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 98(3), 19-30. Retrieved from http://nclive.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/cgi-bin/nclsm?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.nccu.edu/docview/1285129889?accountid=12713
Chomsky, N. (1972). Language and Mind (Enlarged Ed.). San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 124.
Chow BW-Y, Ho CS-H, Wong SW-L, Waye MMY, Bishop DVM (2011) Genetic and Environmental Influences on Chinese Language and Reading Abilities. PLoS ONE 6(2): e16640. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016640
Deng, F., & Zou, Q. (2016). A study on whether the adults' second language acquisition is easy or not-from the perspective of children's native language acquisition. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 6(4), 776-780. doi://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/10.17507/tpls.0604.15
Fritz, G. K. (2016). The benefits of being bilingual. Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter, 32(5), 8. doi:10.1002/cbl.30126
Graf Estes, K., & Hay, J. F. (9). Flexibility in bilingual infants' word learning. Child Development, 86(5), 1371-1385.
This study tested infants who speak more than one language and their ability to develop, narrow and interpret the sounds that form words. All over the world children are learning more than just their native language. The researchers of this study compared findings from various studies who focused on children who only speak one language. Throughout the study the researchers use more than one experiment to compare the narrowing in interpretation of languages between children who speak one language and of children who speak more than one. This article is useful because it shows the contrast between monolinguals and bilinguals.
Grosjean, F. (2015). Bicultural bilinguals. The International Journal of Bilingualism, 19(5), 572-586. Retrieved from http://nclive.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/cgi-bin/nclsm?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.nccu.edu/docview/1721570738?accountid=12713
Kang, J. Y. (2012). Bilingual PA and its influence on biliteracy for korean english as a foreign language learners. Reading and Writing, 25(6), 1307-1326. doi://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/10.1007/s11145-011-9319-6
Researchers involved in this study focused on phonological awareness, also known as PA, in languages. English and Korean were the two languages focused on in this study. The participants involved in this study were made up of Korean children who were learning English as a second language. Researchers of this study examined the literacy skills the participants possessed in both their first language and their second language. The measures administered were consisted of several methods. The measures used in this study were taken separately for both of the languages involved.
Kroll, J. F., & Dussias, P. E. (2017). The benefits of multilingualism to the personal and professional development of residents of the US.Foreign Language Annals, 50(2), 248-259. doi://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/10.1111/flan.12271
The authors of this research studied the benefits that a bilingual in the United States have personally and professionally. In the article, the authors also mention how language experience shape the brain. This article is very beneficial and useful in my research because this article talks about the cognitive benefit of languages and also how it benefits personally and as a professional. There are many strengths about this article. This article is very relatable to many people. A lot of people would be interested to know the benefits of learning foreign language have on your professional and personally.
Marian, V., & Shook, A. (2012). The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual. Cerebrum: The Dana Forum on Brain Science, 2012, 13.
Marini, A., Ruffino, M., Sali, M. E., & Molteni, M. (2017). The role of phonological working memory and environmental factors in lexical development in italian-speaking late talkers: A one-year follow-up study. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research (Online), 60(12), 3462-3473. doi://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-15-0415
The researcher in this study followed up with their work on the role of phonological working memory and environmental factors in lexical developmental late talkers focusing on Italian speaking. The follow up assessed several components such as phonological working memory and home literacy environment. Participants included almost 300 Italian-speaking children who was consented to do this study by their parents. The researchers in this study also looked into other studies examining the familial and environmental factors associated to late talking. This article is useful because it shows how environmental factors can affect a person’s learning.
Spielmann, G., & Radnofsky, M. L. (2001). Learning language under tension: New directions from a qualitative study. The Modern Language Journal, 85(2), 259-278. doi:10.1111/0026-7902.00108
In this article researchers are examining the impact tension has on the process of developing the skill of learning foreign languages. Based off of the findings of the researchers apart of this study, tension may cause a feeling of euphoria. Their findings also found that tension may also cause dysphoric effects. This can be a positive or negative result for a person learning foreign languages. To collect the data needed for the study researchers used a predominantly observable approach. In the conclusion of the article, researchers discovered that the tension the participants had when going learning foreign languages was mostly expressed frustration. This article is useful for further research because it shows how certain environmental factors such as tension can increase or decrease a person’s learning process.
Taylor, G., & Ali, N. (2017). Learning and Living Overseas: Exploring Factors that Influence Meaningful Learning and Assimilation: How International Students Adjust to Studying in the UK from a Socio-Cultural Perspective. Education Sciences, 7(1), 35. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/educsci7010035
Researchers learned more about the learning process of students transitioning from high school to college, primarily focusing on international students. The study shows that college freshman may have a hard time getting use to the independence that a college student has. This can cause a feeling of anxiety and unhappiness. Several studies that used a sample of East Asian international students in their data found that they had a hard time adjusting to the western lifestyle because of the cultural differences in the educational system. In the study, there were also comparisons between international students who were fluent in English and those who were not. This article is useful because it shows how being a foreigner in another country and being fluent in that dominant language can help you fit into the society of that country.
WILLIAMS, N., & THOMAS, E. M. (2017). Exploring minority language input sources as means of supporting the early development of second language vocabulary and grammar. Applied Psycholinguistics, 38(4), 855-880. doi://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.nccu.edu/10.1017/S0142716416000473
In this article, the researcher involved sought to find out how minority language input helps early development of second language vocabulary and grammar. This study focused on how effective two specific types of native language input sources have on four and five year old native English speakers. The two types of native language input sources use were storytelling and minority language children’s television. This article deems to be useful because it gives insight to how other sources, other than parent or guardian, have influences on children learning a foreign language.