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Recommended: Child language acquisition

In order to achieve the ability to successfully use language, it demands an individual to obtain a variety of skills consisting of syntax, morphology, semantics, phonology as well as a substantial vocabulary. The ability to attain and utilize language is a crucial characteristic that differentiates the human race from any other living creatures. Infants are born with the capacity to become competent in it and that knowledge starts at birth. Every child, irrelevant of what language their mother or father speak, all acquire language in a very similar method. In an progressively expanding, broadening and multilingual sphere, a countless number of very young children are becoming accustomed to situations and surroundings where more than one language is being used. This bilingual approach to life brings with it different methods and problems for bilingual children. In this paper I will endeavor to discuss how firstly how children acquire more than one language and secondly evidence of language transfer in children acquiring these languages. I will start by explaining the basic stages of child language acquisition before moving onto bilingualism in children and bilingual acquisition before finally discussing evidence of language transfer in relation to bilingual children.
Language acquisition occurs in three fundamental phases. Phase one involves gaining an understanding of sounds. At the time when children are born, they can produce every sound of each of the languages of the world. During this phase, infants ultimately recognize which phonemes are attached to the language they are learning and which are not. The capability to identify and create these sounds is termed phonemic awareness, which is fundamentally significant for childr...

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.... Many children are exposed to two languages from birth and essentially grow up speaking these two languages simultaneously, whereas others firstly acquire one language at home and once they attend playgroup or school they may have to attain another language. Every child, no matter of what language their mother or father speaks, all acquire language in the same way. In this progressively expanding, broadening and multilingual world, many very young children are becoming accustomed to situations and surroundings where more than one language is being used. This bilingual approach to life brings with it different methods and problems for bilingual children and although language transfer is sometimes coined as a language disorder, it is nothing but a common phenomenon gesture in association with language difference but is however is inevitable in child bilingualism.

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