W7

• Simultaneous bilingual:

  • refers to a speaker who has acquired 2 languages from birth (some linguists specify this is the period before the age of 6)
• Sequential bilingual:

  • refers to those who learn their second language later in adolescence or as adults
• Benefits of bilingual or multilingual:

  • multi tasking
  • problem solving
  • increased brain health (delay and avoid diseases)
  • increased creativity and cultural awareness
• Code switching:

  • moving back and forth between 2 languages or dialects of bilinguals
  • happens mostly during conversation rather than writing

  reasons:

  • to fit in with the dominant culture
  • to define yourself as part of an ethic group
• Neuroplasticity:

  • term referring to the brain's ability to change, reorganize, or grow neural networks
• Neuroplasticity and language learning:

  • learning new languages exercises the brain
  • the brain's ability to adjust physical structure and grow new networks of neurons is called plasticity
  • neuroplasticity decreases with age
  • reason why children become more fluent in a second language compared to adults
• Krashen's acquisition-learning hypothesis:

  • learning is referred to the conscious aspects of the language
  • acquisition is referred to the subconscious aspects
• how learners acquire second language (Krashen):

  • Natural order
  • input hypothesis
  • affective filter
  • monitor hypothesis
• natural order:

  • learners acquire the rules of language in a predictable sequence or order
  • what is learned early in one language is learned early in others
• input hypothesis: (comprehensible input)

  • concerned with acquisition
  • we understand language when we understand messages
  • the input is getting messages you understand
  • anything that helps make input comprehensible helps language acquisition
• affective filter:

  • learners require an environment where they feel safe to take risks necessary to learn the language
  • a learner's emotional state will affect their receptiveness to comprehensible input
• monitor hypothesis:

  • where the learner edits and polishes acquired language by focusing on learnt forms
  • conscious knowledge of grammatical structures allows learners to edit or monitor acquired language