Taking Advantage of Differences Between First and Second Language

Xiaoxue+Li

（Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao）

摘 要：Before discussing the differences between first language and second language， the concepts of first language and second language should be clarified. First language is the language acquired from birth， also called mother tongue. While， second language is another language learned after first language. Second language and first language are relative. In other words， first language must be learned earlier than second language and second language should be learned on the basis of first language （Kenny， 2011）.

關鍵詞：Differences Between First Language Learning and Second Language Acquisition Atmosphere

The atmosphere of learning first language and second language are dramatically different. For acquiring first language， infants are in a natural environment of mother tongue. So there is no time limit or communication difficulties， by which infants can contact with natural language freely and learn first language as much as they can accept. Due to this reason， the atmosphere of first language learning is pure and without interferes from other languages. While， for learning second language， teenagers or adults learn second language in formal occasions， such as in a classroom， so the time is limited. Moreover， because people learn second language after first language， second language learning will be interfered by first language. For example， Chinese students learn English as a second language， they have no chance to use English after class because people around them all speak Chinese. In other words， teenagers or adults learn second language in a “bilingual environment”， which means they learn second language only in class and speak first language after class （Halasa & Majeda， 2012， 71）.

Purpose and Motivation

Because of the different language subjects， the motivation and purposes of first language learners and second language learners distinct from each other. The motivation of infants acquiring their first language， or mother tongue， is to live. In other words， if infants do not know how to speak mother tongue， they cannot communicate with people and they cannot live in the society. This is called natural motivation， which emerges because of human social relations and social communication. Thus， learning first language is necessary for every single person in the world and people have no psychological burden when learning mother tongue. In contrast， purposes and motivation vary in second language learning of teenagers and adults. Some of them learn second language for a better job， some for compulsory course， some for commercial use， to name but a few. Not all of the purposes are as necessary as infants learning mother tongue， which leads to the different motivation. This kind of motivation is much weaker than natural motivation because sometimes learning second language for some people is not necessary. Moreover， motivation comes along with purposes. If the purposes are clear， the motivation of learning second language is high， and vice versa.endprint

How do the Two Factors Help Second Language Learning

Atmosphere

Learning second language in a bilingual environment can be helpful for second language learners. For instance， I am now learning English in the United States， sometimes I feel confused about what is the professor talking. Whenever this happens， I wish the professor could explain again in my mother tongue， which is impossible. It reminds me that when I was in middle school， the first time I met English. My teacher always explained the difficult part in Chinese because sometimes even though she explained it with the simplest words in English， students still could not understand. Another example is about making mistakes. Mistakes cannot be completely avoided when learning a new language. But if learners learn English as a second language in US， how to correct mistakes becomes a big problem， learners even do not know why they are wrong because sometimes they cannot understand the teachers. But if Chinese students learn English in China， whenever they make a mistake， their teacher can explain to them why it is wrong and how to fix it. Therefore， bilingual environment can be helpful for second language learners if it is fully utilized.

Purpose and Motivation

Although the purposes and motivation of second language learners are not as strong as first language learners， purposes and motivation can be changed through acquired efforts. Nowadays， most learners learn second language at school. They follow the teachers and take exams to test their language ability. Then one case is that， when they do well in the exam， they will have the feeling that learning a new language is easy， which brings learners confidence， then they will get more interested in learning second language， which is a good case. The other case is that， if learners fail in the exam， they will feel frustrated and lose confidence in learning second language. When this happens， encouragement becomes necessary. In my interview with some learners who are studying English in the United States， all of them hold the view that encouragement can lead to positive purposes and positive purposes contribute to high motivation. One of the interviewees shared a personal experience with us. He learned English when he was in middle school. He got a really low grade in his first English test and he felt disappointed. He did not know why his classmates could get a prefect grade but he could not. So he made up his mind to learn English hard after that. Besides， his teacher always encouraged him and believed he could do better next time. Then after two years hard working， his English became the best among his classmates （H. Qin， personal communication， November 13， 2012）. Therefore， although second language learners do not have the natural purposes and motivation like first language do， the acquired purposes and motivation are still helpful in learning second language （Chakrabarti， 2012， 50-78）.

As long as learners and teachers make full use of the differences between first language acquisition and second language learning， second language learning can be as successful as first language acquisition.

References

Chakrabarti， A. & Sengupta， M. （2012， August）. Second language learning anxietyand its effect on achievement in the language. Language in India， 12（8）， 50-78.

Halasa， N. H. & Majeda， A. M. （2012， March）. The use of the first language in second language learning reconsidered. College Student Journal， 46（1）， 71.

Kenny， L. A. （2011， Fall）. Doing students justice： How first language acquisition influences second language acquisition. Illinois Reading Council Journal， 39（4）， 10-14.

Shine， K. P. （2011， November）. Differences between second language learning and first language acquisition. Language in India， 11（11）， 736-744.endprint