Language competition in the Tongue Essay

Learning a second language has been proven to be a worthwhile experience to many individuals from different nations across the world who wanted to engage in world affairs and fruitful foreign correspondences despite the difficulties that they encountered in the initial steps they took in completing the second language course. Some linguists have noted that the linguistic journey for the purpose of learning a second language becomes difficult when the learner mentally entertains notions that the second language will be extremely difficult to understand, and will be almost impossible to use in daily conversations. Fortunately, some second language teachers know this kind of fear so they train the learners to trust in themselves and allow the experience of learning a second language to be as much fun as possible. However, no motivation can change the fact that learning a second language is not really easy. The good news is the task is not impossible to achieve at all. One can learn a second language when one is determined to do so. What could make learning a second language easier is always the level of enthusiasm and willingness to practice and overcome the difficulties in learning. Learning a second language poses three layers of difficulties: 1. ) flexing the old tongue to be familiar with the phonology of the new language, 2. ) uttering the phonemes and morphemes of the new lexicon without interference from the first language, and ultimately, 3. ) being able to use the new lexicon correctly in sentences and conversations. First, the phonology is observed, and then absorbed by the learner. Phonology is the study of the sound system of a given language and the analysis and classification of its phonemes?. Humans begin to perceive phonemes of their first language even before one reaches a year old. This set of sounds is retained to memory and used throughout one’s life unless a second language is introduced. Naturally, the first language will interfere with the perception and utterance of the new phonemes at the initial stage of learning because the first phonemes have already been solidly established in the part of the brain that processes sounds and speech. Over time, and through constant exposure to and practice of the second language, the new phonemes will have its place in the memory and will be processed by the brain in a distinct manner. The time that it would take for the phonemes of the second language to be fully independent from the first phonemes varies from person to person, specifically from one’s willingness to learn. Some learners never get past the overlapping phonemes of two or more languages in their perception, while those who try harder are able to distinguish and express one from another. After the phonemes comes the morphemes, the smallest units of speech that convey meaning.? Prior to using the second language in conversations one has to be even slightly familiar to some morphemes. At the initial stage of learning morphemes of the second language, one will initially meet interference by the first language. This concept — ? As defined in www. hyperdictionary. com. ? www. hyperdictionary. com. of linguistic interference is called code-mixing. Code-mixing is the use of elements (phonological, lexical, morphosyntactic) from two languages in the same utterance or stretch of conversation (Genesee & Nicoladi 12). It is also normal among bilinguals, as they use code mixing to adjust their brain in learning the new lexicon, using the first language as point of reference, not necessarily or immediately point of translation. Eventually, learners gather more words into their memory and later become competent in distinguishing one code from the other. Morphemes should not keep the learner from trying to learn more about the second language because this stage will define the final stage in learning a second language, its actual use in complete sensible sentences. The third layer of difficulty in learning a second language is actually using the new language in sentences and conversations. It is expected that learners of a second language would struggle with morphemes, as discussed above. The manner in which learners adjust to learning morphemes should also be applied to avoid committing morphological overgeneralization in the new language. Morphological overgeneralization is inability to distinguish the different ways in which grammatical rules apply differently in two or more languages. It can be seen in some English language learners who may initially prefer non-finite forms (e. g. , she go) before they use finite (e. g. , she goes) forms in their utterance and written sentences. Practically, this is a problem under grammatical errors. But since it is covered by the morphology of the new language that is trying to be absorbed and put into practice, the error becomes classified as morphological overgeneralization (Paradis & Genesee, 2). Another example of morphological overgeneralization is inadvertently applying lexicon grammar twice in an utterance or sentence. For instance, language learners who know that the past tense of â€Å"halt† is â€Å"halted† are likely to forget in the early stages of their learning process that there are some exemptions in adding â€Å"-ed† to indicate the past tense. To give a specific example, the past tense of â€Å"go† is â€Å"went;† but some learners might use â€Å"wented† in their speech. Teachers and tutors of second language learners have to be extremely patient and very creative in their job. If they give more details about the language and more examples for common usage, then the learners will have more fun in learning. On the other hand, learners of a second language should find inspiration from foreigners across the world who dared to study new languages and are now competent bilinguals or multilinguals. References: Genesee, F. , & Nicoladis, E. (2006). Bilingual acquisition. In E. Hoff & M. Shatz (eds. ), Handbook of Language Development, Oxford, Eng. : Blackwell. Online Dictionary. 12 Mar 2007. http://www. hyperdictionary. com Paradis, J. & Genesee, F. (1996). Syntactic acquisition in bilingual children: Autonomous or interdependent? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18, 1-2.