Language and Second Language Acquisition
Due: Mon Oct 18, 2025
Here is a background to give you a rough idea on what the paper is about
Language is a system of vocal sounds and/or nonverbal systems by which group members communicate with one another. It is a critical tool in the development of an individuals identity, self-awareness, and intellectual and psychological growth. Language and dialect bind groups of people and serves as part of their cultural identity. It provides a common bond and plays a role in providing a sense of identity of group such as a nation.
While most students in the U.S. enter school speaking English, there is a smaller number who speak little to no English at all. It may surprise you that most ELL students are usually born in the U.S. but their parents were born in another country. These students grow up speaking their parents native language, frequently not learning what is considered standard English until entering school. There are almost 400 different language backgrounds represented in our schools, with Ells accounting for about 10% of our school population. Spanish speaking students account for 70-80% of ELLs, and 12.6% are from Asian and Pacific Island backgrounds. The most common non-English languages varies by state. There are almost 7,000 languages in the world, with over 2,000 in Asia alone. The largest school districts in the nation typically have about 100 languages represented in their student population. The U.S. has more language diversity than many other countries due to new immigrants. (Gollnick & Chinn, 2017)
In Texas, in 2019, ELLs accounted for 19.4% of the population, up 3.9% from 2018. Currently, Dallas ISD is offering online learning lessons in 7 languages in preK-6, including: Arabic, Amharic, Burmese, English, Nepali, Swahili, and Spanish. If you go to the district homepage, you will see a drop box for translation, providing families information in many languages. Similarly, Ft. Worth ISD has information on the homepage in both English and Spanish, with translations available in multiple languages. This is reflection of our growing diversity in our public schools and why it is so important for new teachers to graduate with some ESL strategies.
Language is more than communication, it is also a means for socialization within their community. Young children acquire the delicate muscle control necessary for pronouncing words in their native language, this includes signing for the deaf, and by age 5, most students have learned an impressive amount of knowledge of how to use their language. As one grows older, it becomes more difficult make your vocal muscles change to be able to learn a new language. For some individuals this is discouraging and slows their desire to learn the new language.
Once we learn our first language, we unconsciously follow the rules and customs of our language. Colloquialisms often make it more difficult for second language learners to understand sayings in the new language. There are not good or bad languages, but society forms opinions about language and equates that with social status. While we have many students who are bilingual, the focus on speaking English often leads to students losing some of their ability to utilize their native language overtime.
In addition to different languages, we also have a wide variety of accents, dialects, regional dialects, social dialects, grammatical differences within dialects, and other types of variations within languages. Sign-language and nonverbal communication also add to complex topic of language acquisition.
For language proficiency, students can typically acquire basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) within a couple of years. This sometimes referred to as playground language. However it takes several more years for students to acquire cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) for academic situations. A common mistake is moving a student into a monolingual English class to soon. The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 provided for students to receive instruction both their native language and in English. In challenges to the Supreme Court, these federal laws have been upheld. There are many types of bilingual and ESL programs in our schools, however, a feature that is frequently found in successful programs is the use of a students fluency in their native language to build upon as they learn English.
Read these two short reads from The New Teacher Book by Christensen, et al. 2019.
- Mexican Education poem.pdfDownload Mexican Education poem.pdf
- Honor Their Names.pdfDownload Honor Their Names.pdf
Assignment:
- Write a detailed paragraph, with examples, of your interpretation of the take-away message of these two readings.
- Write a second detailed paragraph about the importance of your name, language, culture, ethnicity, and/or race. It is your choice what you choose to focus on.
Your paper should be a minimum one page in length.
Language and Second Language Acquisition
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliations
Language and Second Language Acquisition
Different ethnic communities speak languages that are unique to them and their cultures. Similarly, they choose names for their children based on their beliefs and customs. However, it is evident from the two articles that English-speaking countries do not recognize languages and names used by people from other ethnicities and cultures. For example, in the piece ‘Honor Their Names,’ Christensen (2019) narrates how a young woman from Nigeria had no choice but to change her name from Chichima to Carol after her family migrated to British Columbia. Her teachers at school require every student to have a white name because they do not like pronouncing their long original names. In the piece ‘Mexican Education,’ Jimenez (2019) recites his experiences at a school in the United States when his name was changed from Alejandro to Alex following a suggestion by his ESL teacher. The main takeaway message from these two readings is that English-speaking countries do not honor other ethnic groups and their names. They try to burry other cultures into theirs by forcing everyone to speak the English language and acquire white names.
My name as I was given by my parents is important because it does not only serve as my personal identification tag but also connects me with my family, ethnic community, language, and culture. As Christensen (2019) explains, compelling students to replace their given names with nicknames just because their original names are difficult to pronounce is a way of rejecting them from their cultures, languages, and families. I believe that my name gives me a sense of belonging to my family, ethnic community, language, and culture. I agree with Jimenez’s opinion that those who are forcing him to change his name are trying to turn him against people who look like him (Jimenez, 2019). One thing that I would wish for everyone is that they should honor my given name and first language.
References
Christensen, L. (2019). Honor their names. file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/Honor_Their_Names.pdf
Jimenez, A. (2019). Mexican education. file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/Mexican_Education_poem.pdf