Entry 4: Reflection
Taking Second Language Acquisitions has been an eye-opening experience. Before taking this course all I knew was that I was bilingual, able to speak, read, and write in English and Spanish. Yet, I never understood the remarkable transformation that my brain had to undergo in order for me or anyone else, for that matter, to become fluent in both my/their L1 and later L2 languages. Embarking on the mission to acquire a second language at any age comes with its challenges because there are many factors that influence these acquisitions. For example, I learned of influential factors such as age, cross-linguistic, cognition, and motivation that are crucial factors to English Language Learner or second language learners. While some of these influential factors were new to me, age was not one of them. I was always aware that it is easier to acquire and retain a second or third language if you begin learning it at a very young age. What did resonate...