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"Specifically, Chomsky claimed that infants universally possess an innate “grammar template,” or universal grammar, which will allow them to select the many grammatical rules of the language they hear spoken around them, as they gradually construct the grammar of their mother tongue." (p.61).

I don't really agree with this theory, I think that people who are learning a new language have the ability to pick up on certain grammatical rules but I think that learning a new language is more complicated than that. I also think that there are too many rules that one would have to "pick up on" on a language, learners may still have to be directly taught things

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"Gardner argues that “while the principles of grammar may indeed be acquired with little help from parents or other caretakers, adults are needed to help children build a rich vocabulary, master the rules of discourse, and distinguish between culturally acceptable and unacceptable forms of expression" (p.62).

I agree with Gardener, I think that there is so much more to learning a language than just listening to it. Students need to be able to practice this language with others and be able to learn proper words and grammatical structures, especially because not all languages structure sentences and phrases the same way.

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"For language acquisition, behaviorists hypothesized that children learned their first language through stimulus, response, and reinforcement as well, postulating imitation and association as essential processes" (p. 60-61).

I think that this is a common way to speak to young children or to teach them new words. I think that by repeating this sort of teaching, children are able to understand short phrases or words and eventually are able to put more and more together to create short sentences or longer phrases.

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"In addition, child language researchers noticed that parents typically reinforce their children for the meaning of their utterances, not for grammatical correctness" (p.62).

I think its really good that parents focus more on encouraging speech early in a child's development because it can help them feel empowered to talk even more, even if it is not grammatically correct. Sometimes just having that encouragement to do something, even if it is done wrong, can help the learning process.

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"In this conversation, the mother repeats the child’s meaning using an expanded form, thereby verifying her understanding of the child’s words while modeling adult usage" (p.63)

I think that this is a helpful way for children to get a sense of how to produce grammatically correct sentences. When doing this children are not told that what they said is incorrect but rather the parent adds on to what a child said. This can then encourage them to apply it to different situations or when they relay the same story.

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"In this way, scaffolding provides conversational assistance and focused linguistic input tuned to the child’s own interests and language use at that moment" (p.63).

Asking open-ended questions is also a good way to encourage children to have a conversation, especially if they are able to lead the conversation. Kids are more likely to be interested in an activity if they are able to talk about or participate in something that they enjoy. I also think that allowing kids to have conversations with others and trying to understand them is helpful for their linguistic development.

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"Children are constantly constructing meaning as they interact with people and the world around them, and through these interactions, they gradually sort out the nuances and multiple meanings of words and phrases" (p. 63).

I think this is an important ability for young children to develop because when children do this they are developing their deductive reasoning and ability to find context clues, which are helpful when they get to school age. I this is interesting because I love seeing how kids get to the conclusions that they do.

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"One behaviorist language teaching method popularized in

the 1960s is the audiolingual method, in which tape-recorded dialogues are presented for students to memorize, followed by pattern drills for practicing verb forms and sentence structures" (p.65)

Would these audios be followed by lessons or would it just be the audio? I don't think that having students memorize sentence structures and words is helpful for them in the long run. Explaining why and how phrases are structured a certain way will help students better understanding on the structures of a language, especially because not all languages work the same.

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"For behaviorists, the processes involved in second or foreign language learning consisted of imitation, repetition, and reinforcement of grammatical structures" (p.65).

I think that there is so much more to language than just these four processes and by simplifying it so much it creates such a disservice to students.

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"When we ask our students this question in classes of 40 or so, only 1 or 2 report successful foreign language competence acquired through the audiolingual approach" (p.65).

When reading about this perspective I was concerned that it was a popular approach in schools today and I decided to do some digging. From my brief research I found that it is not a really popular L2 teaching method because it has been found to not be really beneficial for L2 learners. I was so glad to learn this because I found it concerning that people would continue to teach with only this method (I'm sure some still do) even though it has been proven to not be too effective.

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"Data analysis showed that some learner errors could be traced to influence from the first language, Chinese or Spanish. However, the majority of errors were similar to those made by native English-speaking youngsters as they acquire their mother tongue" (p.65).

I think that this is so interesting, as seen from my previous comments, I thought that grammatical errors for L2 learners would mostly come from applying their knowledge from their first language but that it is not the case.

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"Based on these results, the authors proposed that English language learners creatively construct the rules of the second language in a manner similar to that observed in first language acquisition" (p.66).

Does this happen more with L2 learners than L1 learners? Does this occur more often when learners are older or younger?

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"However, research from immersion programs utilizing the target language

for instruction shows that despite impressive language gains, some grammatical forms may not develop without explicit instruction" (p.67).

I understand what Krashen is getting at when he says that language is only done through having meaningful conversations with others but I wonder if this only refers to verbal conversations. If they are only growing their verbal understanding of the language then they will have trouble when it come to reading and writing the language, especially if they never learned the proper grammar rules for this new language. This is sort of what happened to me, I was able to understand and speak Spanish but I had trouble reading and writing it. It wasn't until I took Spanish classes and took the time to properly learn to read/write it that those skills grew.

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"Citing a variety of studies, Krashen concludes that the most important affective variables favoring second language acquisition are a low-anxiety learning environment, student motivation to learn the language, self-confidence, and self-esteem" (p.68).

I think that creating a low anxiety environment is important in any learning environment. Creating a space where students can make mistakes without feeling judged by their peers will help create a welcoming space where students can learn and grow.

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"However, interactionists view the communicative give-and-take of natural conversations between native and non-native speakers as the crucial element of the language acquisition process (Long & Porter, 1985)" (p. 68)

I think that having conversations and being able to practice a language that you are learning, is a good way to learn how to structure sentences and words. Many times speaking with a teacher or someone who has more knowledge on a language can be intimidating but, I think that talking with people who are around the same age or having a topic or interest to talk about can make conversing more approachable.

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"Interactionists are also interested in how non-native speakers use their budding knowledge of the new language to get their ideas across and to achieve their communicative goals." (p.68).

It is good for language growth, and growth in general, when you are put in a situation where you have to try new skills. Trying to communicate an idea with another person without having the vocabulary to do so can help the learner see where they may need to improve and can show them how much of an understanding they have on the language. If done successfully, it shows them that they can do hard things, encourage learning and build their self-confidence. However, this should be done on occasion because if they are not able to successfully convey their ideas then it can have the opposite effect.

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"For this reason, Krashen urges teachers not to force production, but rather to allow students a silent period during which they can acquire some language knowledge by listening and understanding, as opposed to learning it through meaningless rote drills." (p.68).

I really like this kind of thinking. I think that this gives students time to process new information and see how and where they can apply it to their everyday life. Being patient and remember that learning of any kind, but especially learning a new language, takes time, effort and practice will be beneficial to both students and teacher.

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"Behaviorists assumed that the child’s mind was a tabula rasa, a blank slate awaiting the scripture of experience" (p.61).

I like the imagery that the book presents here. I think that this is a really good way of looking at how susceptible children are to learning new things. I think that it is important to remember that there even if children start to learn a language early on, they have experiences that are likely to shape how they approach and learn something new. It's also important to remember that even though children are able to learn new things it will take time.

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"Infants must come into the world “prewired for linguistic analysis”(p. 61).

I think that it's so cool that humans come into this world and want to connect and communicate with others. Children come with the ability to communicate their needs and wants with others but, most times, its up to adults to help children hone these skills.

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"Krashen claims (1) that learning cannot turn into acquisition and (2) that it is only acquired language that is available for natural, fluent communication" (p.66).

I see where Krashen is coming from but I think that learning can turn into acquisition, I think that this just boils down to having a variety of learning environment and having different places where you can practice speech, writing and reading. This way there is a more diverse understanding of the language.

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"Although predictions based on contrastive analysis sometimes held true in their data analysis, Dulay and Burt found that most English language learner errors were best described as similar to errors made by children acquiring English as a first language" (p. 66).

There is something so endearing about the fact that English learners, at any age, approach the language in the same way. I would like to know if thy conducted this same study on people who were learning a different language (not English) and if the results are similar.