language acquisition
Gaining verbal ability
Language acquisition is the process of learning a language, especially a child's natural development of their first language through immersion rather than formal instruction.
The term usually distinguishes this unconscious absorption from deliberate study: Children undergo language acquisition without explicit grammar lessons.
Second language acquisition applies the concept to learning additional languages, though the process differs for adults.
Incoherent or infantile speech
- first wordsInfant's earliest speech
- mothereseInfant-directed speech register
- critical periodOptimal developmental timeframe
- overextensionExceeding sustainable capacity
prelinguistic · imitation · pointing · cooing
Data received for processing
- outputWhat something generates
- intakeAmount received or consumed
- exposureState of being unprotected
- practiceRepeated work toward mastery
repetition · memorization · automaticity · fluency · accuracy · comprehension · production · listening
Alternating between linguistic varieties
- interlanguageEvolving system between tongues
- immersionState of being submerged
- native speakerOne who grew up speaking it
- accentRegional speech pattern
Brain's self-rewiring ability
- lateralizationLocalization to one side
- myelinationFatty nerve coating
- brain imagingVisualizing cerebral structures or activity
- fMRIMagnetic neural activity imaging
cognitive development · working memory · procedural memory · sensitive period · neural pathways · aphasia
Innate linguistic faculty hypothesis
- innatenessBeing inherent from birth
- scaffoldingTemporary exterior work platform
Educational program's content plan
- syllabusCourse plan document
- proficiency levelsMeasures of ability gradation
- assessmentFormal evaluation of worth
- placement testExam determining appropriate level
error correction · feedback · drilling · study abroad · tutoring · textbook · workbook · lesson plan
babbling
Incoherent or infantile speech
- first wordsInfant's earliest speech
- mothereseInfant-directed speech register
- critical periodOptimal developmental timeframe
overextension · prelinguistic · imitation · pointing · cooing
input
Data received for processing
practice · repetition · memorization · automaticity · fluency · accuracy · comprehension · production · listening · speaking
code-switching
Alternating between linguistic varieties
- interlanguageEvolving system between tongues
- immersionState of being submerged
- native speakerOne who grew up speaking it
neuroplasticity
Brain's self-rewiring ability
- lateralizationLocalization to one side
- myelinationFatty nerve coating
- brain imagingVisualizing cerebral structures or activity
fMRI · cognitive development · working memory · procedural memory · sensitive period · neural pathways · aphasia
universal grammar
Innate linguistic faculty hypothesis
- innatenessBeing inherent from birth
- scaffoldingTemporary exterior work platform
curriculum
Educational program's content plan
- syllabusCourse plan document
- proficiency levelsMeasures of ability gradation
- assessmentFormal evaluation of worth
placement test · error correction · feedback · drilling · study abroad · tutoring · textbook · workbook · lesson plan
- developmentgrowth, progress, advancement, expansion, improvement
- languageword, words, grammar, spelling, alphabet
- toddlerstoddler, three-year-old, toddlerhood, terrible twos, first steps
- child developmentbaby, toddler, newborn, infancy, milestones
- literacyliteracy, reading, spelling, alphabet, writing
- language referencesdictionary, thesaurus, dictionaries, glossary, lexicon
language acquisitionilliteracy
Inability to read
mutism · aphasia · monolingualism · linguistic isolation · ignorance
language, languages, acquired, acquiring, acquisition, linguist, bilingual, linguistic, multilingual