Types of comparison and contrast

All too often the comparison of first and second language acquisition has been quite carelessly treated. At the very least, one needs to approach the comparison procedure by first considering the differences between children and adults. It is, in one sense, rather illogical to compare the first language acquisition of a child with the second language acquisition of an adult. This involves trying to draw analogies not only between first and second language learning situations but also between children and adults. It is much more logical to compare first and second language learning in children, or to compare second language learning in children and adults. Nevertheless, child first language acquisition and adult second language acquisition are common and important categories of acquisition to compare. It is reasonable, therefore, to view the latter type of comparison within a matrix of possible commissions. Figure 3-1 represents four possible categories to compare, defined by age in! type of acquisition. Note that the vertical shaded line between the "child" and adult" is "fuzzy" to allow for varying definitions of adulthood. It is generally Understood, however, that an adult is one who has reached the age of puberty. Cell Al is clearly representative of an abnormal situation. There have been i' w recorded instances of an adult acquiring a first language. Curtiss (1977) has will ten about Genie, a 13-year-old girl who had been socially isolated all her life Until she was discovered, and who was faced with the task of acquiring a first language. Accounts of "wolf children" and other instances of severe retardation i ill into this category. Since it is not imperative at this time to deal with abnormal in pathological cases of language acquisition, we can ignore category Al.

That leaves three possible comparisons: C1-C2, C2-A2, and C1-A2. For the sake of considering issues in this chapter the three comparisons will be referred to by type:

type 1 COMPARISON: first and second language acquisition in children (C1-C2), holding age constant

type 2 COMPARISON: second language acquisition in children and adults (C2-A2), holding second language constant

type 3 COMPARISON: first language acquisition in children and second language acquisition in adults (C1-A2)

In the first type of comparison, holding age constant, one is manipulating the lan­guage variable. It is important to remember, however, that a 3-year-old and a 9-year-old-both children by definition—exhibit vast cognitive, affective, and physical differences, and that comparisons of all three types must be treated with caution when varying ages of children are being considered. In the second type of com­parison one is manipulating the differences between children and adults. In the third type of comparison, of course, both variables are being manipulated. Most of the traditional comparisons have been of Type 3, and such comparisons are diffi­cult to make because of the enormous cognitive, affective, and physical differences between children and adults. That is not to say that Type 3 comparisons ought to be avoided entirely; some valuable insights are to be gained from such comparisons.

One way to approach the various comparisons of children and adults and of first and second language acquisition might be to examine directly the three types of comparison outlined above. A potentially more fruitful approach is taken here, however, and that is to consider all three possible types of comparison within a number of key theoretical issues and considerations. In so doing, such issues form the central focus, with types of comparison serving as subcategories within each issue.