How do children acquire language?

The article from Wiki is interesting in that it provides us with a number of theories. I think the most interesting one is the last, "Critical Period Hypothesis." The linguist, Eric Lenneberg, stated that the crucial period to learn a language ends around the age of 12. I think there is a lot of truth to this. It is always easier for a child to learn a language earlier rather than after they have come close to mastering their native language. When I went to school, we took a language in high school. I took the traditional three years of Spanish and that was it. At that time there were no A.P. class for languages. I have three children, two of whom are in elementary school. The curriculum is such that they had to choose a language (either Spanish or French) and begin taking the language in third grade. My older daughter is going into Middle School next year. They also had to choose a language to take. She decided to continue on with Spanish. By the time they reach high school, they will have had up to six years of a language. Then, assuming they take another three years of a language, that will amount to nine years of another language other than their native English, by the time my kids are 18. Compare that with what I had which was three years of a language by the time I was 18. I am sure that my children will retain the language far better than I ever did. You can compare the learning prior to 12 with a child who has a lazy eye condition. I recall from my college biology class that if the child's good eye is covered with a patch prior to the age of 7 or 8, then it is a very good chance that the bad eye will either get better or catch up to the good eye. It is the same premise as learning a language. The earlier you learn, the more likely it will stick with you. I also see this with friends of ours. The friends are Turkish. They have two children my older daughter's ages. Their children speak Turkish beautifully. They have heard the language spoken in the home ever since they were babies. They also speak English fine.

I believe that reading has a lot to do with language and word development and recognition. If children learn to like or love books at an early age, I think it helps tremendously with language development and recognition. Part of this is to make reading a part of a child's everyday life. My husband and I have read to our children ever since they were little. We read to them before bedtime and other times during the day. I will admit it is harder with the third child, but we still do it. Now the older girls read every night before bed and often around the house. If you learn to like to read as a younger person, you tend to keep this with you. The earlier you learn to read, the greater the opportunity to take the language with you and keep it.