language acquisition essay titles

Extended Essay: Group 2: Language Acquisition

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From IB Subject Specific Guide   

  Overview 

  A group 2 Extended Essay is intended for students who are studying a second modern language. Students may not write a group 2 Extended Essay in a language that they are  offering as a language A for their diploma.

There are 3 categories of group 2 Extended Essays:

• Category 1—Language • Category 2—Culture and society (a or b) • Category 3—Literature.

Students should put the category in which they have presented their essay alongside the subject in which it is registered on the cover sheet of the extended essay, for example,

English B Cat: 2 (b); German B Cat :3; Spanish B Cat : 1.

A group 2 Extended Essay provides students with the opportunity to develop their awareness and knowledge of the language studied, and their understanding of the culture concerned. This is achieved by enabling students to pursue their interest in the language through research based on texts (taken to be any meaningful piece of spoken or written language, for example, an article, a book, a play, a poem) or on specific cultural artifacts (such as works of fine art or architecture, films, radio or television programmes, or popular music).

The Extended Essay must be written in the language for which it is registered (the target language). It must be focused on matters related to the target culture. The Extended Essay is a research essay and the assessment criteria emphasize the importance of research skills rather than linguistic proficiency. Although a certain level of ability in the language is obviously desirable in order to undertake a group 2 extended essay, fluency is neither a prerequisite nor a guarantee of success. In fact, students who are fluent in the language but who do not demonstrate the required research skills will definitely achieve a lower mark than students who are less fluent but who fulfill the other assessment criteria.

Choice of Topic

As indicated in the ”Overview” section, a group 2 extended essay aims to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the target language and culture. Any proposed topic that will not further that aim should be rejected. The essay should consist of the study of an issue in one of three categories: language, culture and society, or literature. Combinations of these are also permissible. Each category has specific requirements that are described in this section. In addition, students should ensure that their topic:

• is worthy of investigation. For example, “Does tourism have a future in Switzerland?” or “Is the wine industry an important source of income for France?” would be too trivial for an essay of 4,000 words.

• is not too broad and allows for an effective treatment within the word limit. Topics such as “Racism in France”, “The theatre of the absurd”, or “A history of the French language” would need to be given a sharper focus.

• provides them with an opportunity to develop an argument and to demonstrate critical analysis and personal judgment rather than just knowledge. Topics that are merely descriptive or narrative, or that only summarize secondary sources (such as “French cheeses”, “The Provence region”, “The events of May 1968 in Paris”), should be avoided.

In each category the examples given are for guidance only .

Category 1 - Language

The essay should be a specific analysis of the language (its use, structure and so on) normally related to its cultural context or a specific text

Category 2 - Culture and Society

A: essays of a sociocultural nature with an impact on the language 

The essay should be an analysis of a cultural nature that describes the impact of a particular issue on the form or use of the language.

B: essays of a general cultural nature based on specific cultural artifacts 

The essay should be an analysis of a more general cultural nature but specific to a country or community where the language is spoken. Topics that are too broad and could apply to many cultures (like globalization, the death penalty or eating disorders) are inappropriate. Essays of a general cultural nature must be based on specific cultural artifacts. Cultural artifacts in this context are understood to include a wide variety of phenomena, ranging from works of fine art to newspapers, magazines and cartoons, to films, television programmes and popular music.

Category 3 - Literature

The essay should be an analysis of a literary type, based on a specific work or works of literature exclusively from the target language. In the case of a comparison of texts, all texts must originally have been written in the target language.

Helpful Websites

IB Language Acquisition Subject Specific Guide  - Use tabs on the left under Language Acquisition: Subject Specific Guide for more information. 

Gale Communications and Mass Media 

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Extended Essay

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• Language Acquisition

Language Acquisition Sample B

Language_acquisition sample c.

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Key Topics in Second Language Acquisition

• Vivian Cook and David Singleton
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Copyright year: 2014
• Main content: 168
• Published: April 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781783091812

Thesis Topics Related to Language Learning and Acquisition

ESL Topics for a Research Paper

Language learning and acquisition is an excellent potential thesis topic for students working towards a master's degree in English, Linguistics, Education or English as a Second Language (ESL). It is also a good choice for seniors who have opted for the thesis option, especially those in honors programs. Specific topic choices are plentiful, ranging from general areas like developmental language acquisition in children to demographic studies of international students in college.

One of the best areas of specialization to begin looking for topics for the thesis is has to do with theories on how children learn language. Most research in this area will fit well into the one or two semester model of thesis research and writing. Students will find a fascinating array of possibilities, like best practices for language facilitation among prekindergarten children, or the role of music in the developmental stages of speech and language training. The latter topic could even lend itself to studies of children with autism disorders. You could also concentrate on a specific demographic, such as fifth-grade English language learners.

Another excellent possibility for thesis topics would be to concentrate your research in a technology-related area. For example, you could examine the relationship between computer-assisted language learning and success among two different study groups, such as boys and girls. Other good topics would include the use of web technologies for language interaction or the use of smart phone apps in language learning: Demographic groups that would offer interesting studies along these lines would include Japanese students in American colleges, children of multilingual families or Latino students who spend a good deal of time using social networking.

Second Language

The trials, tribulations and successes of second language learners also make for interesting theses. Along these lines, you could investigate the effects of reflective journal writing on a particular student population, such as Romanian or Japanese students. You would likely also find fascinating the possibility of topics such as vocabulary learning strategies for speakers of English who are trying to learn Chinese, possibly comparing the success rates of those who do so in the United States versus in China. Another engaging topic would be the perceptions of ESL teachers who work with adolescent learners with specific learning disabilities.

Special Subjects

Finally, you could simply choose to write on a specialized topic for your thesis, provided you get the approval of your thesis director. You could investigate motivational teaching strategies for foreign language learning by teens or the use of multimedia to help Thai and Filipino college students learn independently. You could even decide to examine the efficacy of a specific learning theory, such as Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory, which involves critical thinking and goes beyond knowledge acquisition, using active engagement and questioning.

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Anthony Fonseca is the library director at Elms College in Massachusetts. He has a doctorate in English and has taught various writing courses and literature survey courses. His books include readers' advisory guides, pop culture encyclopedias and academic librarianship studies.

Language Acquisition Concept and Theories

Introduction.

One of the most important topics in cognitive studies is language acquisition. A number of theories have attempted to explore the different conceptualization of language as a fundamental uniqueness that separates humans from other animals and non-living things (Pinker& Bloom, 1990). Similarly, Pinker (1994) recognizes language as a vehicle which engineers humans to know other people’s thoughts, and therefore, he reasons that the two (language and thought) are closely related. He adds that when one speaks his/her thoughts, he depicts some language. Else, he notes that a child’s first language is often times learnt well enough in the earlier periods of his life without having to be taught in school. With this astonishment, he believes children language acquisition has received a lot of attention in scholarly circles and debates (Pinker, 1994).

Indeed, accordingly, acquisition of language goes beyond it being interesting, but is an answer to the study of cognitive science. The recognition here is the many facets that language acquisition studies come with. These include Modularity, Human Uniqueness, Language and Thought, and Language and Innateness.

Historically, the scientific study of language and the way it is learnt began in the late 1950s, supposedly the time around which cognitive studies were launched. Pinker observes that the anchor of this was when Noam Chomsky reviewed Skinner’s verbal behavior (Pinker, 1994).

Understanding Language Acquisition

Language acquisition can be understood biologically. The understanding here is that human language came to be based upon the unique adaptations that the body and mind developed during the process of evolution (Pinker& Bloom, 1990).

Language and Evolution

Pinker (2000) begins by indicating that human’s vocal tracks appear to have been modified to respond to the demands of evolution. In addition, this is the basis of speech. Pinker (2000), citing Lieberman (1984) argues that the larynx is at the base of the throats and that the vocal tracts have a sharp right angle bend that creates two independently modified cavities.

The process/course of Language Acquisition

Pink and Bloom (1990) assert that a number of scholars and thinkers alike, have kept diaries of children’s speech for a long time, and it was only later that children’s speech began to be analyzed in developmental psychology. Language acquisition begins at a very early stage in human’s life span. This usually stems initially with Sound Patterns. Pinker notes that within the earliest five years of an individual’s existence, children acquire control of speech musculature and sensitivity to the phonetic distinctions in the maiden mother tongue. In addition, children acquire these skills even before they know or understand any words, and therefore at this stage, they only relate sound to meaning (Kuhl, 1992).

When a child is almost hitting one-year age mark, he slowly begins to muster and understand words, and eventually produce them. Interestingly, at this stage they produce the word in ‘isolation’, that is one word at a time, with this period lasting two to twelve months. The words they produce at this stage are similar the world over and include words such as baba, baby among others, and others such as up, off, eat (Pinker& Bloom, 1990).

At about the time a child is 1 year and 6 months, two changes in language acquisition occurs. One is that there is an increase in vocabulary growth and two is that primitive syntax emerges. When Vocabulary growth increases, the child systematically starts learning “words at a rate of one every two waking hours, and will keep learning that rate or faster through adolescence” (Pinker, 1994). Primitive syntax on the other hand involves ‘two word strings’; examples of such include expressions such as ‘see baby’, ‘more hot‘, among others. These two-word expressions, Pinker notes, are similar the world over; for instance, everywhere, children reject and request for activities and therefore ask about who, what and where (Pinker& Bloom, 1990).

Overall, “these sequences already reflect the language being acquired: in 95% of them, the words are properly ordered” (Ingram, 1989). More interestingly is the fact that before they put the words, they can at this stage fathom a sentence by use of syntax. Notably is the fact that the struggle and output depends on the complexity of the sentence at this stage.

Between the time Children are almost going through year two up to mid of year three of age, language evolves to fluency and blossoms into good grammatical expressions and the reasons for this rapidity is still subject of research to today. At this stage, the length of the sentences that the children produce increase steadily and the number of syntax types increases steadily as well (Pinker& Bloom, 1990).

Pinker (1994), notes that children may differ in language development by a span of 1 year. Regardless, the stages they go through in language development remain the same and many children acquire and can speak complex sentences before their second age. At the stage of grammar explosion, the sentences get longer and more complex, even though at age three children’s may have grammatical challenges of one nature or the other (Pinker, 1994).

Language System and Its maturation

A number of scholars have observed that as language circuits mature in a child’s early years so is language acquisition, i.e. a child masters language development from the initial years of his/her birth and the process continues as the child’s brain develops during his/her life (Pinker, 1994). He notes that it is usually nerve cell degenerate shortly before birth, and it is also during this time that they are allocated to brain. However, he observes that an individuals “head size, brain weight, and thickness of the cerebral cortex” continue to rapidly increase over the first year of birth (Pinker, 1994).

White matter is not fully complete until after the child gets to nine months of age. The emergence of synapses will continue and reach climax when one is between 9 months to 2 years; however, this is usually dependent relative on the brain region. The development process continues and as the synapses wither, adolescence sets, with the individual showing signs of transforming from childhood to adulthood.

What accrues here, accordingly therefore is that perhaps “first words, and grammar require minimum levels of brain size, long-distance connections, or extra synapses, particularly in the language centers of the brain” (Pinker, 1994). In addition, the assumption can also be that these changes are the rationale behind the low ability to learn language overtime as people age over a lifespan (Pinker, 1994).

This probably explains why most people in their adulthood cannot master foreign languages especially in their native accent and especially in the language aspect of phonology, and this is what leads to what is now popularly called referred to as foreign accent. No teaching or amount of correction can usually undo the errors that characterizes ‘foreign accent’. However, as Pinker notes, there exists differences depending on one’s efforts, attitudes, degree of exposure, teaching quality, and sometimes, plain talent. However, there is no empirical evidence that adduces learning of words as people age (Pinker, 1994).

Explaining Language Acquisition: Learnerbility Theory

Several theories have been developed in understanding language acquisition. One such theory is the learnerbility theory. This is a computer mathematical theory of language, which deals with learning procedures for children in acquiring grammar, riding on language evidence and exposure. For instance, a learning procedure is taken as an infinite loop running through endless tings of inputs, which are grammatical as chosen from a particular language. This theory by Gold largely shows that innate knowledge of universal grammar assists in learning (Pullum, 2000).

Language acquisition is a complicated issue that needs an elaborate research and study; indeed, some of the tenets of this issue have been addressed in this paper. It is a very central issue in understanding human growth and development. It captures a number of conceptualizations that relate directly to the Universal versus Context Specific development modules, as well as nature versus nurture controversy. Moreover, attempts to understand language scientifically has brought a number of frustrations, with a number of break thoughts as well. All in all, it is important to note that language acquisition begins from the initial periods of a child’s development and continues as the child grows.

Kuhl, P. K. (1992). Brain Mechanisms in Early Language Acquisition. Neuron Review. Web.

Pinker, S. (1994). Language Leanerbility and Language Development . Cambridge: Havard University Press. Web.

Pinker, S. (2000). Language Acquisition . Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Web.

Pinker, S. & Bloom, P. (1990). Natural language and natural selection . Behavioral and Brain Science. Web.

Pullum, G. (2000) . Learnerbilty . New York. Web.

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Language Essay Titles

IELTS Essay Questions for the Topic of Language. All essay questions below are reported by IELTS candidates and seem to have been repeated over the years. Regardless of the years the questions were reported, you could get any question below in your test. You should, therefore, prepare ideas for all questions given below. The topics below could appear in both GT and Academic IELTS Writing Task 2.

IELTS Writing Task 2 Language Essay Questions

As computers translate quickly and accurately, learning foreign languages is a waste of time? To what extend do you agree or disagree. (2017, 2020, 2023)

Scientists predict that all people will choose to talk the same global language in the future. Do you think this is a positive or negative development? (appears most years in the test)

Some schools are no longer teaching children how to write with a pen. Do you think children should learn handwriting skills? (2024)

Some people think that a person can never understand the culture of a country unless they speak the language. Do you agree with this opinion?

Some people think that you can never become fluent in a language unless you have spent time living or working in that country. To what extent do you agree?

Some people think that all children in school should learn a foreign language at an early age. What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing this? (2020, 2023)

Reported essay questions are from students who have taken their IELTS test. That means questions may have appeared more frequently than have been reported. These questions may vary slightly in wording and focus from the original question. Also note that these questions could also appear in IELTS speaking part 3 which is another good reason to prepare all topics thoroughly.

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English Language Acquisition Analytical Essay

The innateness hypothesis theory, theoretical bases, language is innate, universal grammar/ language acquisition device (lad), reference list.

The process of learning a language also known as language acquisitions is a procedure that begins as soon as a child is born (Chomsky, 1986).

During development, children learn to communicate, respond, and even make requests through cries and coos. At a later stage, a child begins to develop sounds that are more complex and when he/ she is between 3 and 6 years old, a child is able to communicate easily. Researchers have tried to explain the process by which children learn language. One theory that has explained the process by which children acquire language is the Innate theory. This paper will discuss and assess the Innate theory of language acquisition.

The Innateness hypothesis theory, which is also referred as Innatist model, Naivist theory, or Rationalist mentalist theory is a model that explains how language is acquired (Chomsky, 1986). Noam Chomsky a linguistic professor developed the Innateness hypothesis model in 1950s (around 1959).

However, although Chomsky is credited as the one who originated with Innate model; this theory was in existence for more than a hundred years (Chomsky, 1986). Chomsky is only considered as one who developed this theory since he brought new ideas making the old concept to be accepted as a formal theory.

Noam Chomsky is a well renowned professor of linguistics who has contributed a lot in the study of language (Fromkin, 2000). His work in linguistic theory especially, the Innateness model of language acquisition has brought major changes in the field of linguistics. The Innateness model is one of the most prominent theories and because of this aspect; it has received a lot of public attention in the past and continue to cause a huge debate among many researchers in the field of linguistics (Fromkin, 2000).

Noam Chomsky developed the Innate theory as a way of reacting to the Behaviorists Language Learning Theory. In the Innate theory of language acquisition, Chomsky contradicted arguments of the Behaviorist theory (Chomsky, 1986). During the past few decades, the Innate theory has caused a lot of debate concerning first language acquisition (L1).

When Chomsky developed the Navist theory, he came up with several assumptions, which formed the bases of the Innate theory. This theory has three assumptions.

First, according to Chomsky (1986, p. 12) “language acquisition is innately determined”. This theory argues that children are born with extraordinary abilities to learn a language. Chomsky particularly argued that when children are born, their mind is biologically programmed to learn a language (Chomsky, 1986).

As such, just like other concepts, children acquire language in the same way they learn any other biological function. This is to say that, just in the same manner children start to crawl or learn to walk, language learning for children is programmed in a similar way.

Secondly, Chomsky also argued that every child is born with a special ability to learn and understand rules of a language system (Pinker, 2007). Every language has rules in the way sentences are formed and how words are uttered and so on. For instance, a Standard English sentence contains a subject, verb, and an object.

According to Chomsky, children are born with abilities to discover such rules and master them in a natural way. Because of this special ability among children, language acquisition only happens within a short time for both easy and complex languages (Pinker, 2007).

The third and the last, yet crucial assumption is that environment has a role to play in determining children’s abilities to learn or acquire a language (Pinker, 2007). Chomsky puts a lot of emphasis on environmental factor saying that this aspect cannot be ignored as it has a role in language learning.

Children brought up in two different environments can vary in terms of how they learn or rather; acquire a language (Blakemore and Cooper, 1970). In a given environment, a child can acquire a language faster while in another one a child can learn a language slowly. For instance, a child who brought up in an environment that has many children is more likely to learn a language faster compared to a child who grows is an environment that has no children. Constant interaction with other children helps in language acquisition.

Generally, in Chomsky’s perspective the Innate model of language acquisition can be categorized in two hypothesis. The first hypothesis says that language acquisition in children does not depend on level of intelligence as children who are even below the IQ of 50 can easily learn a language (Konieczna, 2008).

This is because children have the ability to learn a language “effortlessly” (Blakemore and Cooper, 1970, p. 477). Chomsky further argued that even though language is complex considering it has set grammar principles, children do not need any form of special training to acquire or become competent in any language.

Chomsky further argued that children mind is set and designed to discover language rules even with limited information (O’Grady, 2008). This is because children do not need to imitate words or language in order to become competent in any language. For children to become competent in any language, reinforcements, rewards and special training play little or no role in language acquisition (Pinker, 1994). He also argued that the process of language acquisition is passive and children can sometime utter words/ phrases they have never heard.

For the past few decades, a debate has emerged concerning validity of Chomsky’s work. However, as many critics have opposed the Innate theory, several researchers have been in the front line providing evidence to support the Innate theory. One supporter is Eric Lenneberg. Erick Lenneberg developed the concept of critical period that has provided light and more explanation of the Innate hypothesis of language acquisition (Kampen, 2004).

According to Lenneberg’s critical period, there is a particular period of life or time (critical period) when a child is able to acquire a language without any difficulties (O’Grady, 2008). Lenneberg referred this particular time as biologically pre-determined period (O’Grady, 2008).

According to this concept, if a child does not acquire or learn a language during this particular period, language becomes relatively hard to acquire beyond this period. Through this concept, Lenneberg provided adequate evidence to prove that Chomsky’s argument is valid. This concept does not only confirm that language is innately determined, but it also proves that there is natural set of rules for a language.

Chomsky’s most important bases of his theory argue that, children are born with unique abilities to learn a language (Pinker, 2007). Chomsky has provided more evidence to support his argument, which is widely discussed here. According to Chomsky (1986), Behaviorist theory failed to recognizes “the poverty of the stimulus Argument”.

The concept of “the poverty of the stimulus argument” argues that almost all children learn their mother tongue or native language successfully at a particular time when they are less expected to learn any other complex concept in life (Kampen, 2004). In addition, the concepts also says that the first language that a child is exposed to, depending on the environment is very confusing and it may not necessary provide all basic information needed to learn a language.

This concept also argues that, sometimes children learn to use complex language structures when they have not even understood grammar rules or special instructions. Therefore, children are able to gain knowledge of grammar rules hence learn a language in a natural manner.

Lastly, this concept argues that children are capable of producing words that they have never heard (Pinker, 2007). For example, children can say puted, comed, and eated. This is not out of imitation and neither is it out of training, but it is acquired through creativity.

According to Chomsky (1986), language development does not rely on techniques of teaching although language acquisition varies according to cultures. However, Chomsky emphasized that language is universal.

In general, Chomsky emphasized on the facts that these grammar rules offer restricted possibilities; this is clearer in sentence structure. As a universal grammar, almost all languages have a similar structure. An example is James (S) has (V) a mango (O). Virtually all languages follow this structure of SVO (Pinker, 2007). This is what Chomsky referred as the Universal Grammar (UG).

To support this argument, Chomsky argued that “language is not a set of habits, but it is rule-governed” (Kampen, 2004, p. 56). In his argument, Chomsky explained that the human mind is fully responsible for processing linguistic information since it is designed naturally with a special device, which enables learning or acquisition of language by humans (Fromkin, 2000). This is known as the Language

Acquisition Device (LAD). According to Chomsky, the LAD is responsible for “detecting and learning the grammar rules” (Pinker, 2007, p. 78). This particular device becomes activated once humans hear a language. With the storage capacity of the brain, the LAD helps young children to become skilled at any language that they here or have heard in the past.

In Chomsky argument (1986), the LAD is made of Universal Grammar. All languages have certain universal rules. Universal Grammar (UG) does not mean that all language are formed with one basis rule, it only states that all languages contain some basic grammatical elements or fixed rules that are general. These rules define how people construct sentences in any language. Children also apply the same principle in a language. According to Innate model of language acquisition, there are two universal languages (Fromkin, 2000).

The first one is substantive universal. The substantive universal has fixed features phonemes and other syntactic groups such as noun and verbs (Fromkin, 2000). A good example in this case is the different between some phonological features. One such an example is utterance of vowels and consonants.

The way consonants /f/ and /v/ are voiced in words such as van and fun is distinctive. The second one is formal universal. According to Chomsky, every language has set grammatical rules (Fromkin, Rodman, and Hymans, 2002). The formal universal rules are those principles that establish the manner in which grammatical rules operate in any given language (Chomsky, 1986).

Concerning these two universal principles, Chomsky argued that a child becomes competent in only one of the principles. The first principle, which a child discovers automatically form his/ her core or primary grammar while those principles that are not discovered in the child’s mind automatically become the peripheral or secondary grammar (Guasti, 1993).

During the time when a child is developing, the primary grammar rules become easier to acquire compared to the secondary grammar rules, which are much harder to understand because the mind is not set or programmed to comprehend them.

Chomsky’s work in linguistic theory especially, the Innateness model of language acquisition has brought many changes in the field of linguistics. The Innateness model is one of the most prominent theories and has received a lot of public attention in the past. It continues to cause a big debate among many researchers in the field of linguistics. Different theories have been developed that contrast Chomsky’s work.

In fact, several scholars have criticized the Innate theory arguing that the hypothesis of Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is simply an conceptual that does not have scientific facts. Again, critics have also said that the theory focused much on language competence rather that emphasizing on the developmental feature of language attainment (Konieczna, 2008).

Because of such issues, Innate theory has caused a lot of controversies. Despite all of these critics, Chomsky’s work is good enough to provide a valid explanation of how children acquire a language, especially the L1.

Blakemore, C. & Cooper, G. F., 1970. Development of the brain depends on the visual environment. Nature, 228: 477-478.

Chomsky, N., 1986. Knowledge of language: its nature, origins, and use . Westport, CT; London: Praeger.

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• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, May 20). English Language Acquisition. https://ivypanda.com/essays/english-language-acquisition/

"English Language Acquisition." IvyPanda , 20 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/english-language-acquisition/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'English Language Acquisition'. 20 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. "English Language Acquisition." May 20, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/english-language-acquisition/.

1. IvyPanda . "English Language Acquisition." May 20, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/english-language-acquisition/.

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IvyPanda . "English Language Acquisition." May 20, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/english-language-acquisition/.

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