Read and Retell.

Chapter one of Freeman begins by outlining some of the general ideas and theories behind first language acquisition. One specific theory referenced is the ever popular "behaviorist" theory based on B.F. Skinner's research, which states that children learn language like they do everything else-by observation and imitation. This theory is then contrasted with the research of Noam Chomsky, which states that human beings have an innate ability to replicate language and complex grammatical systems and that language is not learned in the way that Skinner suggested. Chomsky's theory differs from Skinner's in that while one does learn language, to some degree, like one learns everything else, the essential difference is that the human brain is hard wired to understand and replicate linguistic structures making language learning a more natural endeavor than most other learned human behaviors.

The chapter continues to describe these two theories in more depth, including a discussion of language's relationship to the brain, Chomsky's theory of generative grammar and its relevance to first language acquisition, and how this information can be used to assess first language learners.

My Experience With Online Learning

I have had a couple of online classes before, but none seem as technologically advanced as this one. The previous courses I took were both literature courses and I enjoyed them very much so I am looking forward to this course as well. My initial concern with online learning was that I thought that it may somehow lesson the potential for learning because it lacks the face-to-face element of traditional, class room style learning, but I found that this is far from the truth. Conversely, I have found that online learning is at least as engaging and sometimes even more so then traditional classroom learning. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that students and instructors have the ability to interact with one another in an ongoing basis via posts, discussions, and now blogs, which enables the conversation to extend beyond the physical classroom.

Although I have had experience with online learning, I have never had experience with "blogging," and have not even read a blog before this class (as far as I know anyway). Again, my initial reaction was not without skepticism, and I was not entirely convinced of the value of keeping a blog for a course, but I admit that I kind of enjoy it, so much in fact that it has caused me to write a run on sentence. How embarrassing.