According to the first scenario, the most appropriate language acquisition theory to be used in this instance is nativist theory. The nativist theory states that language acquisition is innate, whereby it is natural for a child to adopt and learn their mother tongue as their first language (Hurford, 2019). Anale's first language is Spanish, and this she has learned from her home and neighborhood, which is a pure Spanish speaking zone, despite being in Los Angeles. The Spanish language could be used by her teacher or instructor to gradually and slowly integrate her into speaking and understanding other languages such as English. The nativist theory explains that proficiency in a first language allows a child to quickly learn a second language. However, this could pose as a disadvantage in Anale's case since she is not proficient in Spanish as her first language, and this could be attributed to her family moving a lot, and this is why the theory needs to be backed up with the behavioral theory.
Behavioral theory involves helping the teacher/instructor to understand how to motivate and assist the student in language acquisition (Merita & Syahroni, 2019). In the case of Anale, the instructor should use the method of stimulating the learner's ability through positive reinforcement. For instance, this could be achieved through giving a positive reward or complement whenever Anale masters an English word or completes a complete English statement. This could be an effective method as Anale is a confident student who is eager to learn and not afraid to take corrections. Corrections could also be termed as part of learning through behavioral theory, and they should be accompanied by stimulation such as extra tuition hours after school. This method is set to work as the student's family is also supportive in her venture to learn English and her confidence is enough motivation as she will be able to speak up in class and take corrections positively.
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In Anale's case, the teacher should focus on phonetics, phonology, and morphology as elements of language. This is because these are the smallest units in the elements of language, and they could be integrated into the beginning stage as the student seeks to learn English from scratch. Phonetics refers to a classification of sounds and effects that dictate how human beings perceive and produce sounds. These could be essential aspects, especially when teaching pronunciation. They generally deal with human speech, and Anale will definitely acquire accurate pronunciation skills if this concept is applied (Carley et al., 2017). An excellent example of phonetics is the use and teaching of vowels.
Phonology refers to the study of sound effects such as matching up sounds to come up with complete words. Basically, it is the study of sounds and syllables while matching them to make words. This is an essential stage as it will help Anale to differentiate the pronunciations of rhyming words such as bake and brake as she understands their construction process. It will also help the student to learn the relationship between letters and the requirements needed to construct a word. This approach is also convenient for beginners level.
Morphology refers to the study of the smallest and most meaningful language unit. It involves the study of basic construction of meaningful words such as dog and hat, then evolves to explain the construction of complex words that require additional suffixes or prefixes to acquire meaning such as sadness and reaction. This will allow Anale to advance in her English journey, but this element of language is essential in the beginner stage, where Anale's instructor should focus on. All this taken into consideration, the student's interest in learning and her undying support from family, Anale's language acquisition journey will be successful.
References
Carley, P., Mees, I. M., & Collins, B. (2017). English phonetics and pronunciation practice . Routledge.
Hurford, J. R. (2019). Nativist and functional explanations in language acquisition. In Logical issues in language acquisition (pp. 85-136). De Gruyter Mouton.
Merita, R., & Syahroni, A. R. (2019,). Language Acquisition In A Second Language Environment. In ICOLEESS: International Conference on Language, Education, Economic and Social Science (Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 32-40).
