Language :: essays research papers

vocabulary is an abstract concept which is acquired early in life by the coarse majority of children through an intricate process. There are many divers(prenominal) theories concerning the acquisition of terminology that have been considered, and these are constantly being refined, along with the technology which enables researchers to further investigate the process. Bilingualism has also been a complex arena of come to which has elicited versatile theoretical viewpoints.There are respective(a) aspects which are true to every wording. These include phonology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. The phonology of a linguistic process includes a set of phonemes the different sounds, and the rules governing the combination of these sounds which can be found within the voice communication. The semantics involved in a language deals with the meanings of the sentences, words, and grammatic markers (morphemes) in the language. The syntax concerns the rules about organizing the m orphemes into sentences, and pragmatics are the communication skills involved in the use of the language (Shaffer, 1999, p.352-353). These are merely the basics required for language acquisition. Knowledge of the nature of communication, in addition to the fashion in which the language is acquired are also integral.The acquisition of a language has instigated a public debate regarding the process through which it is acquired. The empiricist perspective, inspired by B. F. Skinner in 1957, states that children examine language by imitating caregivers who model and reinforce their speech (Shaffer, 1999, p.355). Also during the 1950s, Noam Chomsky hypothesized that languages are too complex to be learned by imitation (Shaffer, 1999, p.356 & Brownlee, 1998, p.48). Therefore, serviceman are born with a language acquisition device (Shaffer, 1999, p.356 & Brownlee, 1998, p.53) and a universal grammar (Brownlee, 1998, p.48) which predisposes them to the ability to learn languages and appl y the grammatical rules to the languages which they hear. The large interest in the area of language has been elicited as a outlet of the intricacy of the acquisition process of a language, and the fact that all children be to have the ability to acquire and understand such an abstract concept. The learning of language, as the study of any subject, is an ongoing process, as illustrated by various researchers over the years. These studies have evolved form mere theoretical statements about language to involved studies which have caused the previous hypotheses to be rejected. This is largely due to the ontogenesis of related technology which has facilitated research in the area.