MrPedantic  +  284043 Sat, 21 Oct 06 11:47 PM  Englishuser wrote: Hi MrPedantic, Have you investigated this yourself? Or what makes you believe that it is so relevant in which part of your brain your language skills in a particular language are stored, so to speak? Englishuser Hello EU I only have a few back-of-matchbox scraps of knowledge on the physiological aspects of language acquisition. So you'll forgive me if I hide behind hypothetical vagueness, in this discussion. But suppose that for most adults, use of L1 on the whole related to region X in the brain. Suppose too that L2, on the whole, related to region Y. In that case, since we know that particular regions of the brain relate to particular functions, it should be possible to quantify the differences between L1 and L2 usage in physiological terms. It might also be possible to measure differences in language acquisition based on different combinations of L1 and L2. See for instance this story, which provides a parallel: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9422-mother-tongue-may-determine-maths-skills.html MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,679 ...opella forensis / adducit febris... Articles

	Formlit  +  284166 Sun, 22 Oct 06 06:27 AM Hi This is interesting. I think I read somewhere (some type of research artical) that 2nd and 1st language learning takes place in different areas of the brain. How early is early childhood? Of course, children pick up other langauges more easily than adults, but a child's brain is not fully developed. So it easier for a child to internalize the rules of the language. An adult can do the samething, but only with great difficulty and a lot of hard work and only (I think) if you're surrounded by native speakers. So . . . my native langange is hindi, but my parents chose to teach me english at a very young age (preschool to learn the sounds of english, a grade school that tried to teach all subjects in english). Does that count as acquireing the language in early childhood? If so, do I count as native speaker? When I was 7 (second grade), my family moved to New York. I discovered that my writing skills were the same as the other kids (the school tested me and decided to put me in a class with native speakers), but I had a hard time understanding what others said to me and making myself understood to others. So, taking all that togather, did I learn english in early childhood? If so, am I a native speaker of english?      Formlit Joined on Sun, Oct 8 2006 New Member 38 Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. Robert Frost Learn English

	milky  +  284188 Sun, 22 Oct 06 09:16 AM Mary Tay has suggested that a native-speaker who is not from one of the traditionally native-speaking countries is: "one who learns English in childhood and continues to use it as his dominant language and has reached a certain level of fluency. All three conditions are important." Native Speaker: Myth and Reality by Alan Davies milky Joined on Thu, Jan 15 2004 Senior Member 3,149 Hume said that if we had perfect or complete descriptive knowledge of reality, we could not, by reasoning, derive a single valid "ought".

	MrPedantic  +  284246 Sun, 22 Oct 06 12:54 PM It seems to me that it might be useful to distinguish between the kinds of L2 acquisition. For instance, a few people learn a second language in early childhood, as the result of a relocation, and a few learn it when quite elderly; but I would guess that most people learn Ln either at school/university, or to use at work. Then too, the acquisition of an L2 where that L2 is an official language of your country must be a slightly different case. I also think it would be very interesting to hear what people have to say about L2-users of their own languages. (We're all native speakers here, after all; acquisition of English is only one case among many.) MrP MrPedantic Universities

	milky  +  284764 Mon, 23 Oct 06 06:16 PM Do you understand these? Alan: Are you a man or a mouse? Ned: Well, have you got any cheese? ......... Hotel sign: "You don't have to sleep with us to eat with us." ...... Sign at a conference hall: "These chairs have legs only for standing, not for walking." milky

	milky  +  285839 Thu, 26 Oct 06 01:29 PM  Englishuser wrote: In his article The Native Speaker in Applied Linguistics Alan Davies argues that L2-learners can become 'native speakers' of the target language, although this is extremely rare. For instance, Davies writes, it is possible for a L2-learner "to ... Englishuser Hi, again. If you had to test yourself against these (potentially) defining conditions of what a native-speaker is, would you pass the test? a) Primacy in order of acquisition b) Manner and environment of acquisition c) Acculturation by growing up in the speech community d) Phonological, linguistic and communicative competence e) Dominance, frequency and comfort of use f) Ethnicity g) Nationality/domicile h) Self-perception of linguistic identity i) Other-perception of linguistic membership and eligibility j) Monolinguality (From: Whose English Is It? P. B. Nayar.) milky Articles

	Englishuser  +  285996 Thu, 26 Oct 06 06:49 PM Hi milky, You asked: If you had to test yourself against these (potentially) defining conditions of what a native-speaker is, would you pass the test? Is your question for me? Englishuser Englishuser Joined on Thu, Mar 30 2006 Regular Member 717