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Teach English in Mianduhe Zhen - Hulunbei'er Shi — Hulunbuir

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Mianduhe Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Hulunbei'er Shi — Hulunbuir? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.

There are many child development theories that are concerned with processes of language acquisition. Maturation theory is one of them. According to it, there is a natural sequence of events that will take place, regardless of any other external stimuli. For example, naturally a child would begin to talk when it is about 10-12 months old. There is very little that can be done to avoid the natural course of events i.e maturation process. On the other hand, environmental theory suggests that the environment in which a child exists is fundamental. In other words, any behaviour is a reaction to the immediate surroundings. Environmentalists believe that our nature is a lot more flexible as opposed to what maturateonists believe. As an example, environmentalists would assume that a child that hears a lot of speech early on in life and is being talked to regularly is more likely to start speaking sooner that the child that is kept in less favourable, isolated conditions. A theory that combines maturation and environmentalism is called constructivism theory. For example, a child interacts with the environment, as a result of this interaction fundamental and natural ‘settings’ are changed. However, many people behind those theories regardless of their beliefs are finding common truths about language acquisition. The learning process of the first language(L1), or what would usually be referred as native language, for most people, is completely different to the learning process of the second language(L2). Children start to speak their native language before the beginning of school, and the motives for learning this first language are quite obvious - to facilitate the need to communicate with the surrounding environment. Even though parents or guardians are most likely not professionally trained to teach a language, the process by which we acquire first language is effortless and passive. It is a well known fact that children who grow up in multilingual environment i.e with more than just one native language will have a clear advantage in learning new languages compared to children who only possess one native language and start learning second language at a later stage. Studies show that this is caused by particular changes that occur in the brain. During passive acquisition in younger children only the left part of the brain is being activated, however in older children and adults when actively learning a language both hemispheres of the brain are active. After a child reaches critical age of 3-4 years old, the passive language acquisition stage ends and the active process of learning begins. When a child matures further so he or she is able to understand more abstract concepts, the learning process changes too. It would now require the understanding of grammar structures and a good knowledge of vocabulary. Even if active learning takes a long time, most people find it hard to reach the level of fluency in second language if learning is only comprised of theoretical material. Although second language learners experience more difficulties, it is very possible to learn a second, third, fourth language even in late adulthood via immersive language programs that would provide linguistic environment and language instructions such as grammatical structure and vocabulary. To sum up, L1 acquisition differs from L2 acquisition in that younger children learn first language(s) passively, however older children and adults learn further languages actively via concepts of grammar structure etc. Hence, in order to utilise natural language learning abilities, it it beneficial to start language learning process as early as possible. Nonetheless, it is possible for older children and adults who study a second language to achieve a level of fluency by immersing oneself in a native speaking environment.


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