What is a language?
Language is the method of expressing ideas and emotions in the form of signs and symbols. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary language is defined as the words, their pronunciation and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community. These signs and symbols are used to encode and decode the information.
What is first language or mother tongue?
The first language learned by a new born baby is his or her mother tongue. It is the language, which he or she begins to listen from his or her birth. Children learn the first language effortlessly and naturally by listening to the speakers of that particular language. For example, a child brought up in a Chinese household (all members of the house communicate with each other in Chinese) will grow up acquiring Chinese. However, some people are brought up in families with different linguistic backgrounds. For instance, if a child’s father is Spanish and mother is Portuguese and both parents use their respective native language with the child, the child grow up having two first languages.
What is a second language?
A second language is a language usually learned at a latter stages of life. It is a non-native language. There is no limit of second languages that one can learn. A second language can be any language as long as it is not a mother tongue or native language. For instance, in countries where English is not a native language, school students are often taught English as a compulsory second language.
Acquisition or learning?
Acquisition means an unconscious process; Children acquire language through a natural, subconscious process during which they are unaware of grammar rules. This happens specifically when they acquire their first language. In order to acquire a language, they need a source of natural communication, which is usually the mother, father or the caretaker. Language learning on the other hand, is the result of giving direct instructions on the rules of the language. Therefore, second language learning refers to a conscious process of trying to acquire a second language whereas second language acquisition means the unconscious or incidental acquisition of a second language, additionally to the mother tongue.
Does mother tongue influence on second language acquisition?
An individual learns the parent language from his birth. It is difficult to get rid of the influence of the mother tongue. Second language learners have a tendency to transfer everything from his mother tongue to the second language. Sometimes, this may cause troubles in learning a target language. A new study done by Trembley (2017) has explored how a person’s native language can influence the way the brain processes auditory words in a second language. Moreover, one of the interesting findings that revealed was, although languages share more similarities, still they have slight differences; therefore, the factors such as “intonation patterns in the second language”, are harder to master and are more likely to be influenced by a speaker’s native language.
