1. WHY IS IMPORTANT
STUDY ENGLISH?
By: Sindy Marcela Zapata Mora
The language acquisition?
How to learn a foreign language?

2. The language acquisition by Sindy Marcela Zapata Mora.
THE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
If I speak only one language, I can help my country as only one man. If I can use two
languages, I can help as two men. But if I can use all nine languages, then I can
work as nine men.
Village elder, Eritrea
The main importance of the language acquisition is to know cultural, grammar,
vocabulary and pronunciation aspects; these allows to recognize customs, life styles
and different people characteristics around the world, but the most important than the
acquisition of the language is to learn and respect the differences to others human
beings.
To begin is necessary to understand the meaning of linguistics, dialects and
languages:
Linguistics, often defined as 'the scientific study of language', is a broad term
covering a wide range of different disciplines. The traditional 'core' areas of the
subject deal with the structure of human languages in terms of how speech sounds
combine to form syllables and words (phonetics and phonology), how words combine
into meaningful utterances such as sentences and phrases (morphology and syntax),
and how we extract meaning from utterances we read or hear used by other people
(semantics and pragmatics). But beyond this, linguisticss are also interested in
matters such as how languages evolve and change over time, how they are learned
by children and by adults, how languages are used in social settings, the historical
and contemporary relationships between languages, the roles of language in nation-
building and identity marking, the development of writing systems, how the brain
processes speech and language, how communication is possible when speech and
language are impaired, and documenting endangered languages before they
disappear. (University of Aberdeen, 2009)

3. The language acquisition by Sindy Marcela Zapata Mora.
Linguistics, therefore, explains all the forms of communication among people
like body language, speaking or writing inside of a specific culture and allow to
people understand questions like: how do children learn a mother tongue? How to
acquire ESL or EFL? Why is difficult to learn a foreign language?. Then as teachers
is primordial to appreciate the meaning of this term.
Dialect is a regional or social variety of a language distinguished by
pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety differing from the
standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists.
(Lawless, 2005)
Still, dialect is a variation of the standard language in a geographical place or
in a particular group of people, for example: American, British, Canadian and
Australian English (among others) are dialects and have different characteristics; all
these are English dialects and none of them are better than the others, only are
dissimilar for the movement of the cultural aspects according with the place, these
variations depends sometimes of social level, ethnicity, gender, age and particular
social situations too; for instance, the dialect some afro-American people, used in the
United States.
Language is the expression of human communication through which
knowledge, belief, and behavior can be experienced, explained, and shared. This
sharing is based on systematic, conventionally used signs, sounds, gestures, or
marks that convey understood meanings within a group or communities a symbolic
communication among people. (National Institute of Deafness and Other
Communication Disorder, 2010)
With the information given we are going to interpret and understand, how to
acquire a foreign language and why it is important to understand the variations of the
language.
People learn their first language naturally coming from their mother tongue
and in daily interaction with others; this is acquired like a system where speakers are
less concerned with the structure of their utterances than with the act of
communicating means; thus, when we learn our mother tongue since children, our

4. The language acquisition by Sindy Marcela Zapata Mora.
language is produced without thinking in grammatical structures, good pronunciation
or vocabulary. Only we learn with the repetition of words that the adults say all the
time. In first we express our language with the mimic or corporal expressions;
moreover, with a long process with the language contact we learn how to express our
feelings or thoughts through the language.
The term “foreign language” refers to learn any language after the mother
tongue. The foreign language acquisition describes the different phases of the
process of language acquisition. It refers to the study of “how” and “through what”
process, people acquire a foreign language. To learn a foreign language is difficult
and is indispensable do a process of learning that is often hindered by the knowledge
of the first language. Every language has its own set of rules for grammar, syntax
and pronunciation. The knowledge of these rules is necessary to understand the no-
native language; However, when we learn a foreign language, we have to learn a
system language or a code of communication in a formal study to acquire knowledge
about the target language.
Different to the learning of a first language the foreign language needs that the
person spends time; consequently, is necessary that people are immersed in the
language. The time spent with the new language makes faster the fact that you learn
it. This means, that the practice of listening, reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary,
phrases and “slangs” will help you to understand how people communicate each
other in that place. This means, spending time pleasingly connected to the language
you are learning. That’s why is indispensable that people are interested in to acquire
the foreign language.
Also, is very common that in the beginning of the learning of a foreign
language students do not have the ability to speak the language, they are able to
answer to new words and pronunciations. Students often communicate their thoughts
with gestures or answer with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, during this stage of language acquisition
the phase of learning students suffer a language shock.
Then, students begin to produce simple phrases like, how are you? In that way
they start to communicate each other using common words. During this phase, the

5. The language acquisition by Sindy Marcela Zapata Mora.
learners need help of the teacher to acquire a foreign language vocabulary and a
correct feedback to correct the common mistakes a do an interesting communication.
After, students start forming simple statements, improve pronunciation and
take a few steps towards reading and writing in the foreign language. Students try to
form big sentences and tend to make mistakes in the grammar structure of the
sentences. Here is important that the teachers encourage greater usage of words,
and promote that students take the speaking initiative in their foreign language.
Afterward, when the student use more the foreign language than the mother
tongue, is necessary continue with the usage of complex sentences and attempts to
use the new acquired language to a greater extent; where they have a certain level of
competence and they can speak out, discuss and most importantly beginning to think
in the foreign language. Even, after students are proficient in communication in a
particular language, their ability to think in a non-native is an excellent goal.
Finally, students achieve a complete proficiency in a non-native language, it
processes takes a long time to students be able do fluent conversation and clear
thinking in their foreign language. But this learning doesn’t have an end and even is
necessary learning cultural aspects that help to the students express their thoughts in
a specific context; however, teachers in their classes should teach culture and the
history of the language that the students are learning; because this allows to students
identify and know the behaviors of people in other places; besides, also is necessary
that students learn “slangs”, dressing, how do they behave? common carnivals, the
religions, weather and all related with the countries or places that the language is
spoken.
In conclusion is important and necessary to learn a foreign language because:
First increase global understanding; so that, learn other language and other culture
giving to the learner the ability to understand others contexts and other cultures;
second to improve employment potential, this allow to people compete in a global
economy; third to increase the native language ability, as students that learn other
languages use their mother tongue more effectively; fourth to sharpen cognitive and
life skills, the study of foreign languages leads to the acquisition of some important
life skills, because language learners learn to deal with unfamiliar cultural ideas and
they are much better prepared to adapt into the changing world; fifth to make some
trips more feasible and pleasurable; because, students that know a foreign language
can travel more comfortable to other countries, and sixth to make foreign friends
because they can communicate easier with their foreign language with other people
of different cultures.

6. The language acquisition by Sindy Marcela Zapata Mora.
REFERENCES
Lawless, L. K. (2005). Learn English Language. Recovered on 30 de April of 2011, avaliable in
http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/dialects/dialects.html
National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorder. (7 de June de 2010). Recovered on
2011 de May de 4, de http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/whatis_vsl.html
University of Aberdeen. (31 de August de 2009). Recovered on 3 de May de 2011, of Language and
Linguistics: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/langling/whatis.shtml