

The process to acquire a foreign language has five fairly basic, defined steps to it, although the exact defining lines between them vary from person to person and become slightly more blurry depending on the age when the learning commences. The first step is called preproduction, called the silent period. In learning a native language, this is the point where words have little or no real connection to their meaning- children utters “Mama”,” receives positive reinforcement, and repeats themselves to the parents’ delight. The child may not realize that “Mama” is a specific person, or that there are other people who also respond to “Mama”, or that there are variations such as “Mom”, “Mommy”, or “Mother”. They may have a vocabulary of about 500 words and may parrot back what is said to them, but the vocabulary is not really functional or able to produce verbalization of thoughts. At this point, high reliance on repetition and visuals is helpful in order to ingrain the vocabulary into their mind. 

	Eventually, the language learner will be able to solidly connect an idea or a concept to a verbalization. This is step 2, early production. This is when a child specifically says, “Mom!” to get their mother’s attention, and can say simple, one- or two-word phrases, such as “Doggie silly!”, understanding that a dog balanced on its hind legs in a tutu is, indeed, silly. Or, they may use “Doggie silly!” to express a need to go to the bathroom, understanding those words can go together, but not necessarily connecting them to the correct point of reference because their vocabulary is only about 1000 words. At this point, the best strategies are to continue with the repetition and visuals, but step it up a bit in terms of asking them to respond to questions with a yes or no, or present an either/or scenario, accepting the short answer without much push for an explanation.  For school-aged language learners. the introduction of short, simple reading can help improve their vocabulary and help them understand, write, and structure sentences beyond a few words.

	The next step in the process is speech emergence. This is when the child can string together short sentences that mean exactly what they want them to mean, but may not be grammatically perfect, like “I go to bathroom?” as opposed to “May I go to the bathroom?”. They begin short, simple conversations, such as being able to introduce themselves and polite pleasantries, and begin to understand readings with pictures. At this point they can match words to pictures but also start to be able to define words, explaining in a little more detail, perhaps, what a bathroom is and what is usually contained therein. Teaching techniques at this time rely on assisting the students with their pronunciation through speaking dialogues as well as building vocabulary with flashcards, journals, and readings. 