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Cognitive Factors Affecting Language Acquisition

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Cognitive Factors Affecting Language Acquisition

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I think that cognition is one of the most important factors which can affect children who are learning a second language. As a second language speaker myself, when I was growing up I had a very hard time understanding how to correctly grasp the understanding of words, word spellings, and meanings.

As an adult now, I still believe that because of my native language being my first language I will always struggle to become 100% fluent in English.

In the ESL book chapter 2 there is a quote stating, "In the present context, we emphasize background knowledge as a cornerstone of comprehending and producing academic language appropriate to age and grade level. Making instruction understandable to students helps with both content learning and academic language development." which enhances the idea that background knowledge allows students to better grasp the concept of the second language that they are learning.

Later explaining how essential it is for students to actively learn a language because it allows students to shadow educators with word repetition, word sounds, word usage, etc.

I think that when students are able to better understand something in their brains it's only a matter of memorization in order for them to begin to speak the second language.

Some Factors that may Affect this learning process maybe:

not understanding material

not rehearsing for sounds, spelling, vocabulary

not having someone to practice or learn the language from/with

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When reading from the ESL book, the sections titled "How Language Variety Affects the power and Prestige of its Users", It gave an example of a student who spoke English and Philippino however felt nervous to take an exam that would quiz her on the English language.

I think some linguistic factors affecting language acquisition are:

learning two or more language that are very different from each other

not having someone who you can practice these languages with

having to learn the different rules and concepts of all the different languages

I also think that while learning new languages is very good and healthy for ones brain, it can also affect not fully grasping one language because your brain is constantly learning or trying to learn a new language.

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Physical Factors Affecting Language Acquisition

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Physical Factors Affecting Language Acquisition

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Some physical factors affecting language acquisition:

feeling embarrassed to pronounce or speak the language to others

mimicking or modeling the new words learned

feeling uncomfortable or uncertain about the words used to speak the new language

The ESL book explains in chapter two, "He defines acquisition as a natural process that occurs when the target

language is used in meaningful interactions with native speakers. The focus is communication, not accuracy of form." which then tells me that while people are learning a language they may become afraid to have interactions in a physical aspect because they are limited and afraid to not have an accurate spoken language or form of communication.

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Affective Factors Affecting Language Acquisition

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Affective Factors Affecting Language Acquisition

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I think that while there are an endless amount of factors both benefiting and affecting language acquisition, "confidence & assurance" are two of the main factors which can really affect a child or person who is learning a new language.

There was a video called "The Bridge between Cultures" which was about a guy ridding a buss with a lady who was struggling to communicate with the conductors due to a language barrier. He goes on to explain that he was able to help this woman by communicating and translating for her which essentially helped her in the long run.

how does the video and this topic relate?

if the woman who could speak very little or the non native language would have felt confident enough to try and communicate with the conductors she would have been able to help herself facilitate her problem.

much like students in the classroom who limit themselves because they are embarrassed or lack the confidence to make an attempt to communicate with their educators.

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I believe that when a student is learning a new language and they live in a household that is not fluent in the second language their interactions can become a factor for the pace in which they learn the second language.

Coming from experience, I think that if my parents were to have know English prior to me learning it, it would have made a huge difference in how fast I picked up English.

I also think that because students spend so much time around their families that they lack the practice amongst each other to pick up a language there for affecting the pace at which they learn.

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Political Factors Affecting Language Acquisition

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Political Factors Affecting Language Acquisition

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Many schools tend to help students based on their need for learning. In this case, for non native speakers, schools tend to focus on teaching them the principals and concepts of the language in order to teach them other subject matters.

They promote english as an essential tool to grow at their own pace and their given "grade level".

I think that while it is great that the federal government wants kids to learn a second language and while they think that placing them in a specific course will allow them to grow their vocabulary, I also think that it limits students to grow faster than they potentially could.

I do believe that if a child who if proficient in other subject matters has the ability to learn a second language faster if placed in an environment that is promoting growth to all students not limiting to all students simply because of a language barrier.