Question

A cbild first learns his mother tongue through

• A. Imitation
• B. Pattern practice
• C. Reading
• D. Conversation

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Imitation

Mother Tongue Acquisition: Key Concepts for Competitive Exams

• Imitation: This is the primary method through which children acquire their mother tongue in the early stages. They listen to the sounds and words spoken by adults around them and try to replicate them.
• Stages of Language Acquisition:
  • Babbling (0-12 months): Infants start producing a wide range of sounds, experimenting with speech production. This is a precursor to meaningful speech.
  • One-word stage (12-18 months): Children begin to use single words to convey complete ideas (e.g., 'milk' meaning 'I want milk').
  • Two-word stage (18-24 months): Vocabulary expands, and children start combining two words to form simple sentences (e.g., 'mommy go').
  • Telegraphic speech (2-3 years): Sentences become longer and more complex, usually omitting function words (like articles and prepositions), similar to a telegram (e.g., 'want ball').
• Role of Environment: A rich linguistic environment with ample opportunities for listening and interaction is crucial for effective language acquisition. This includes:
  • Conversations with parents and caregivers.
  • Exposure to songs, rhymes, and stories.
  • Responding to the child's attempts at communication.
• Other Learning Mechanisms: While imitation is foundational, other factors also contribute to language development:
  • Reinforcement: Positive responses from adults when a child says something correctly encourage further learning.
  • Analogy: Children gradually learn grammatical rules and apply them to new words, sometimes resulting in overgeneralization (e.g., 'goed' instead of 'went').
  • Innateness (Chomsky's Theory): Noam Chomsky proposed that humans are born with an innate language acquisition device (LAD), a mental faculty that allows them to understand and learn language structure.
• Contrast with Second Language Learning: Mother tongue acquisition is largely subconscious and effortless, unlike second language learning which often requires conscious effort, explicit instruction, and deliberate practice.
• Relevance in Exams: Questions in competitive exams often test the understanding of the developmental stages of language acquisition, the role of imitation, and the theoretical underpinnings of language learning (like Chomsky's theories).