Language Acquisition Summary from Patricia D., Asheley, Emily, and Kelly D.

How do children and adults acquire language?

This is an essential question that people have been debating for a long time. Theorists have debated "nature vs. nurture". We all agree that both our environment and our innate ability play an important role in our ability to acquire language. Children learn to speak by being exposed to language, and they learn grammar from hearing the language. We also have a natural drive to communicate with others, and we are equipped with a natural ability to do this.

The major concensus from our group was that children acquire language from an innate ability during a critical period of time when they are young. In Wikipedia, the "critical period hypothesis" stated that the crucial period to learn a language ends around the age of 12." Everyone seemed to draw attention to this statement. We need to point out that again a nurturing environment plus the ability to acquire language is the key to successful language acquisition.

The ability to acquire language at a critical point in our lives makes a strong argument for learning a second language when you are young and in elementary school. Most of us have struggled to learn a second language in high school or as an adult. The article written by Ciaran O'Riordan gives a detailed account on how adults can acquire a second language and the author made a point that "learning a language take years" and it's an ongoing process.

I hope that in my attempt to write this summary that I have not left anything out that any of the other authors wanted to emphasize. The topic of acquiring language is thought-provoking and fascinating. Learning the theories behind language acquisition will help us understand how it impacts on learning how to read and the theories behind reading. All in all, who we are is made up of our innate abilities and our environment.