Different Stages Of Language Acquisition

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine talked to me about the different stages of language acquisition. While I’ve always just assumed the learning process was different for everyone, he was convinced the stages we go through are all actually the same. He made a good argument, too, and cited some credible research in the field. As such, it became a short-term interest for me and I had to look up those studies he cited.

Anyway, according to the generally-accepted research, language acquisition has five well-defined stages:

1. Pre-production

I’m not actually sure why “pre-production” is the term used to describe this phase, but this is essentially that silent period where you learn by listening. Actually, I’ve read why they call this pre-production — because it’s the stage before you begin “producing” any language. I don’t know, just sounds silly to me.

At this stage, most learners will not have the confidence to speak in the target language. Chances are, you can’t make sense of the language enough to form your own thoughts anyway. What you can do, though, are soak in what’s being said, mimic them (it’s good early practice), respond to pictures, understand gestures. Do note that repeating what someone says does not get you out of this phase, as it’s merely parroting — not the same as producing language by yourself.

Similarly, you can really benefit from a learning partner at this stage. Having someone you can exchange your barely-existent skillset with extends your learning time well beyond the classes or software lessons. Never mind that it’s the blind leading the blind. Having someone to exchange ideas and practice stupid stuff with will help you get comfortable with the early lessons.

What actually happens in pre-production is you listen to others talk, digest what you hear, develop a passive sort of vocabulary (based on what you hear) and observe interactions. All those go in a data bank somewhere in your brain, laying down the foundation that will give your later learning a more tangible context to compare with.

How long will this last? It depends on the person. Some people gain confidence early and begin speaking within a week or two. Others, especially those a bit more shy, may take up to two months before getting out of their silent period.

According to research, manyu students can accumulate up to 500 words in their receptive vocabulary during this time, which, let’s be honest, is already a lot. Many non-traditional language trainers (those who advocate language shortcuts), in fact, encourage students to start talking with just 100 or so core words in their vocabulary, stringing sentences together using a bare basics of nouns, verbs, conjunctions and prepositions. Traditionally, though, most instructors would rather you enjoy the silent period, as it is the same way most people naturally learn their native language, spending a long time in listening mode as babies before uttering their first words.

2. Early production

At this stage, you begin building an active, as opposed to merely a receptive, vocabulary. According to experts, students generally build up to around 1,000 words during this time, which they will often use to construct short phrases. For the most part, though, their active language use will consist primarily of memorized chunks that they’ve accumulated during the silent period of listening and observing.

Your lessons should consist of simple ones during this point, focusing on key vocabulary and concepts, rather than anything more complex. Experts say this stage can last up to six months, although, in my experience, it will be a lot shorter than that, especially if you’re seriously putting in the time and effort necessary to develop language skills.

3. Speech emergence

In this third stage, you’re expected to develop a vocabulary of 3,000 words, with the ability to communicate in complete, albeit simple, sentences. Some of those sentences will not necessarily be grammatically on point, although most native speakers should be able to understand it (provided they’re not stuck-up grammar nazis who demand perfection from second-language speakers who dare interact with them — yes, Pierre, I’m looking at you).

Towards the end of this stage, you will probably be able to string together connected sentences into coherent paragraphs. If you’re studying writing skills along with everything else, you should even be able to create coherent journals in the target language. Initiating conversations shouldn’t be very hard, provided you can manage any social anxiety on top of the lack of language fluency, of course.

Many language learners end their active studies here, content with the ability to speak and understand the language in most common situations. Over time, their skills can get honed enough that they may begin using more complex constructions, although they never really get all that much closer to fluency.

4. Intermediate fluency

Here, you will be at a pretty advanced stage, accumulating a vocabulary of about 6,000 active words. They’re comfortable constructing complex sentences during their regular speaking and writing activities. Expressing opinions and thoughts in a concise manner is rarely a problem.

In this stage, you can probably enroll in classes conducted in the target language and be able to keep up with what’s going on. Books, even technical ones, become easier to read, much less magazines and newspapers. Writing skills may not be very fluent, but very serviceable, although it’s not uncommon to still spend time translating from the native language to the target vernacular. Often, the learner will still rely on strategies from the native tongue to use the new language.

5. Advanced fluency

This level, often called cognitive academic language proficiency, is reserved for people who have actively worked on language skills for years (usually 4 to 10). This is as close to native fluency as you can probably get and this will be reflected in every area of language skill — from the way you speak to the way you think to the way you formulate ideas. You can, for the most part, study complex subjects in the target language with close to the level of ease in your target language.