What is language?

Language is the unlimited creation of interpersonal sense. Interpersonal sense is a mental construct shared by individuals. Since mental constructs are not observable, they can be transmitted only by a perceptible medium. In the case of human language, this is vocal language in the first place and gestural language, called sign language, as a substitute. Other aspects of this definition will be commented on in subsequent sections.

Like other social activities, language takes different forms in different societies. This requires a conceptual distinction:

• The activity just defined of which all healthy human beings are capable is human language – French langage.
• A historical and cultural instantiation of human language is an individual language (or specific language or conventional language) – French langue.

A child learning to speak and understand is faced with tasks at both of these levels:

1. He¹ learns to think and communicate by use of a semiotic system, viz. human language.
2. He learns the system of the specific language used in his environment.

Under normal circumstances, a human being faces and masters both of these tasks at the same time in early childhood. While task #1 is thus completed once for all, he can learn, at the same time or later, other individual languages.

Logically, solution of the second-level task presupposes solution of the first task, viz. development of the human language faculty. In actual practice, however, children solve the bulk of task #1 by tackling task #2, that is, a special form of it. This has important consequences for the subsequent acquisition of further languages.

What is language acquisition?

As a consequence of the above, the following division of the concept of language acquisition is necessary:

• The simultaneous occupation with the tasks at both the above levels is primary language acquisition.
• The exclusive learning of a specific language, uncoupled from task #1, is only possible after primary language acquisition and therefore is second-language acquisition, third-language acquisition and so forth.

Primary language acquisition may be monolingual or bilingual (more rarely, multilingual).² In the latter case, simultaneous acquisition of another language is part of the process of primary language acquisition. This typically differs substantially from non-first language acquisition at an advanced age.

Full competence in a language comprises production and understanding. In acquisition, no matter whether primary or secondary, speech perception precedes speech production.

Under normal conditions, every child acquires a language. Non-human animals do not, even if individually taught. Thus, humans have a special disposition for language acquisition.

¹ In this text, the pronoun he implies nothing for the sex of its referent.

² Monolingual primary language acquisition has been the default in so-called western societies (although this may be changing again). Calling it ‘first-language acquisition’ is therefore slightly blinkered and leads to a contradiction in terms with ‘multilingual first-language acquisition’.