This paper explores the questions of how and why children learn names for things. The acquisition of reference is set within a broader discussion of linguistic representation, which defines language as a system functioning in a three-way relationship among the individual language user, the world of experience, and the social community. It is…

This document reviews the major trends of thought concerning first and second language acquisition, in an attempt to trace a sequential history to second language teaching methodology today. The contributions of the behaviorist and nativist schools of thought are examined in particular, and two major issues are focused upon: (1) the origins of…

This is a study of the processes involved in second language learning in which the principal subject was an Iranian child who learned English in the United States without formal instruction. Some of the questions dealt with in this study include: what motivates language learning in a child; what makes the linguistic structure of a language more or…

The prerequisites of language acquisition are cognitive and pragmatic. The child's conceptual development and social needs direct his attention to particular linguistic forms. These provide an efficient selection device enabling the child to match his language learning task with his abilities. The second language learner who is cognitively and…