Second language acquisition

Language is so closely related to culture since it is used to convey culture and cultural ties. It is almost impossible to understand a culture without using language to teach and educate others about it. There are various topics that relate to both language and culture which explain why they are interdependent and connected. Verbal performing arts, bilingualism, and political language are just some examples of such topics. These topics will be discussed to demonstrate the close ties between…

English as New Language (ENL) students benefit from direct reading instruction. Most schools and classroom teachers are not prepared to meet the increasing needs of the ENL’s. According to the National Education Association only 2.5 percent of the teachers who instruct students have a degree in ESL and about 12 percent have 8 or more hours of training to support their instruction (Denise McKeon, 2005). There is a rise in the number of the ENL population and most of the teachers that are…

Reading is the most important skill that a child must learn in their childhood. To develop a great interest in reading, and therefore develop their interest in learning there has to be books that kids can relate to. Pat Morar’s collection of books will stimulate children’s imagination and their creativity by making them feel more interest in the things around them and increase their culture. Mora’s book titled A Piñata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas is “A festive Latino twist…

aspects of communication. Deborah Tannen (1984), in her article: The Pragmatics of Cross-Cultural Communication has identified eight levels of differences in ways of speaking that differ from one culture to another and which represent the essence of language (ibid, 189). Therefore pragmatics and communication are interrelated. In the sense that pragmatics offers a thorough understanding of how speakers mean what they say on the basis of different levels of communication differences. 1.6.3.1.…

bilingual can help people broaden their mind by approaching a huge fund of knowledge from all over the world through foreign documents, books and news in a proactive way with no language obstacle. As a result, this might lead people seeing the world from a different point of view. Furthermore, fact have shown that learning language could help develop strong cognitive skills, such as mental flexibility, multitasking, listening skills and problem solving, in addition to improving social…

wired into a computer that measured their sucking patterns. In reaction to familiar sounds and languages, the babies sucks were shorter and in reaction to unfamiliar sounds and to foreign languages, they sucked the pacifier for a longer amount of time. The vowel sounds are the loudest sounds that can be heard in the womb, and therefore, the fetus becomes most familiar with these sounds of his or her language. The results of this experiment prove that babies learn to differentiate between the…

A bilingual student often has a greater advantage over understanding a text. An English and Spanish speaking, reader has a large advantage in understanding Latin American literature and its American translation. Like Water for Chocolate is a popular Latin American novel, known for it use of magical realism and its empowerment of women. As a bilingual reader, I often have the privilege to read a text in its original Spanish version. Many times I also have the privilege to look into both versions…

Bilingualism, the act of being fluent in two languages, plays an essential factor in my life. To me my bilingualism represents my connection to the culture, traditions, and history of my family. A majority of my family and I speak English and Castillo, a dialect of Spanish. My bilingualism and those languages make up an important part of my identity for due to my bilingualism I get a mixture of cultures and traditions that I believe influenced my personality as I grew up. One of the…

of other beneficial perks. Bilinguals will also help change our society for the better with the change in population. Schools need to start requiring second language classes in order to make their students smarter and help them in the future. Someone who has learned a second language will be more diverse. They would have understood another language and in the process another lifestyle previously unknown to them. This new culture will allow them to go about their everyday lives in new and more…

Being bilingual i've always had many questions, what language do i think in? what language do i dream in? Did i learn to read in spanish or English first? As far as I know (according to my parents) I learned how to read ,speak and write in Spanish first.Unfortunately, my father was never able to learn how to read but my mother did. My mother and 3 siblings took turns reading to me almost every night. When i started school apparently i took matters into my own hands and learned how to read short…