First Language Acquisition of a Three-Year Old Lebanese Child

First language acquisition is the process whereby children acquire their native language and become sophisticated language-users, operating a system for self-expression and communication as they have an innate capability to acquire language. In this case study, it could be seen how Al Barraa progressed in acquiring his first language. According to the findings in this study, he was able to acquire his first language which is Arabic naturally, mostly through biological means. His ability to respond effectively to a given communicative scenario is due to his brain’s capability to process inputs, comprehend or utter words.

Subsequently, at his age, his environment further aids him in activating his innate capacity to acquire the language. The daily interaction between him and his family members has contributed in developing his language acquisition. This also shows how this case study relates to the process of first language acquisition. The relation between the case study of Al Barraa and this topic clearly proves that both nature and children’s environment play an important part in their first language acquisition.

Al Barraa, the focus of this case study, is a three-year old Muslim Lebanese boy who was born in Saudi Arabia to a middle-class Arabic family. His father works as a manager for a book publishing company in Lebanon while his mother is a housewife. Despite how Al Barraa can speak some English words and his father speaks a little bit of French, Arabic remains the language he is exposed to as it is the primary language spoken at home. He can communicate in basic Arabic at his age, though his father claims he makes grammatical errors. Due to his father’s job, Al Barraa is exposed to a wide range of Arabic books, which he occasionally attempts to open only to look at the photos or illustrations. Al Barraa is a completely healthy and friendly boy who enjoys playing with toy vehicles, watching videos, and touching everything that is unusual which he comes across. This study notes that Al Barraa could point out specific objects such as chair and television when he is asked by the researcher. It indicates that he is able to differentiate between sounds and identify them with real-life objects that can be seen. He also exhibits the traits of someone acquiring a first language as he often makes an effort to ask his parents the names of items, people or actions around their house compound that are unknown to him. This proves that he is constantly evaluating himself in order to develop his own linguistic system (Meniado, 2016).

In addition, children tend to understand that some words are used to discuss concrete objects (nouns), actions (verbs), properties (adjectives), and relations (verbs, prepositions) at an early age. In many languages, the types of things that the words describe help to distinguish the word classes. As children appear to utilize this semantic information, they begin to draw generalizations about various types of words. Two and three-year-olds, for example, are skilled at identifying appropriate referents for count and mass nouns, as well as verbs (Clark, 2009). According to (Meniado, 2016), Al Barraa is able to distinguish nouns and verbs. He does not point to any objects such as the sofa or computer when his father asks him to dance, however, he moves his body and shakes it instead. This suggests that Al Barraa could identify the word ‘dance’ being classified as an action, not a name. At the age of three, Al Barraa is capable of differentiating the word classes during his process of acquiring his first language.

As Arabic is the native and main language spoken in Al Barraa’s household, his father who is a native speaker of this language, remarked that Arabic is a phonologically complex language that can be difficult to speak. Al Barraa is at the Beginner's Level (A1), according to the researcher's evaluation and his father’s confirmation. However, it is observed that his speaking appears to be what he is best at among all the linguistic skills, although his exposure to the language is still limited. At his young age, it is noticed that he speaks informal Arabic that is commonly heard among people in public places.

Similar to English, the Arabic language has a term called General Arabic. He acquired and developed the General Arabic register. Neither it is the same with formal Arabic used in schools and offices nor classical Arabic, also known as Quranic Arabic that is used in mosques. This happens due to his exposure to general conversations with his parents and relatives at home. Thus, this observation shows that children’s environment plays a huge role in helping them to exhibit their progression in acquiring their language. It is interesting to observe how Al Barraa, a three-year old Lebanese child, developed his native language which is Arabic in this case study.

In my opinion, it is relevant that Al Barraa is able to acquire his first language smoothly as he does not have any speech defects and he could comprehend words well, causing him to communicate with the people around him meaningfully. Although he finds it hard to express himself effectively while communicating as he does not have full knowledge about the rules of his native language yet, it is evident that he has the linguistic competence that is proper for his age through the observations conducted in this case study. Hence, I believe that he will be able to speak clearly and improve his skills as he grows older, going through each process of acquiring language.

Other than biological factors, his environment has also contributed to help him acquire the language better. For instance, Al Barraa has learnt to use the correct terms or sentences through constant corrections and repetitions as he converses with his father. This proves that as adults, we should always guide our children throughout the whole process of acquiring their first language. Therefore, I think it is important for parents to create a welcoming and encouraging environment for the child to acquire a language easily.

In conclusion, first language acquisition is a complex yet remarkably quick process and it is through children’s biological facilities and interaction that they are able to acquire the meanings and applications of linguistic forms. In this case study of Al Barraa, a three-year old Muslim Lebanese, his development of acquiring the Arabic language was influenced by his surroundings although it appears that he acquired it naturally. It is proven that both biological and environmental factors have an impact on a child’s first language acquisition. Therefore, this study helps us to understand deeply about the knowledge of first language acquisition and learning in a specific context based on its theories and principles.