Definitions
One of the more widely accepted definitions of native speakers is that they were born in a particular country (and) raised to speak the language or dialect of that country or region during the critical period of their development. The person qualifies as a "native speaker" of a language by being born and immersed in the language during youth, in a family in which the adults shared a similar language experience to the child. Native speakers are considered to be an authority on their given language because of their natural acquisition process regarding the language, as opposed to having learned the language later in life. That is achieved by personal interaction with the language and speakers of the language. Native speakers will not necessarily be knowledgeable about every grammatical rule of the language, but they will have good "intuition" of the rules through their experience with the language. The designation "native language", in its general usage, is thought to be imprecise and subject to various interpretations that are biased linguistically, especially with respect to bilingual children from ethnic minority groups. Many scholars have given definitions of 'native language' based on common usage, the emotional relation of the speaker towards the language, and even its dominance in relation to the environment. However, all three criteria lack precision. For many children whose home language differs from the language of the environment (the 'official' language), it is debatable which language is their "native language".Defining "native language"
*Based on origin: the language(s) or dialect one learned first (the language(s) or dialect in which one has established the first long-lasting verbal contacts). *Based on internal identification: the language(s) one identifies with/as a speaker of; *Based on external identification: the language(s) one is identified with/as a speaker of, by others. *Based on competence: the language(s) one knows best. *Based on function: the language(s) one uses most. In some countries, such as Kenya, India, Belarus, Ukraine and various East Asian and Central Asian countries, "mother language" or "native language" is used to indicate the language of one'sBilingualism
A related concept is bilingualism. One definition is that a person is bilingual if they are equally proficient in two languages. Someone who grows up speaking Spanish and then learns English for four years is bilingual only if they speak the two languages with equal fluency. Pearl and Lambert were the first to test only "balanced" bilinguals—that is, a child who is completely fluent in two languages and feels that neither is their "native" language because they grasp both so perfectly. This study found that *balanced bilinguals perform significantly better in tasks that require flexibility (they constantly shift between the two known languages depending on the situation), *they are more aware of the arbitrary nature of language, *they choose word associations based on logical rather than phonetic preferences.Multilingualism
One can have two or more native languages, thus being a native ''bilingual'' or indeed '' multilingual''. The order in which these languages are learned is not necessarily the order of proficiency. For instance, if a French-speaking couple have a child who learned French first but then grew up in an English-speaking country, the child would likely be most proficient in English.Defining "native speaker"
Defining what constitutes a native speaker is difficult, and there is no test which can identify one. It is not known whether native speakers are a defined group of people, or if the concept should be thought of as a perfect prototype to which actual speakers may or may not conform. An article titled "The Native Speaker: An Achievable Model?" published by the Asian EFL Journal states that there are six general principles that relate to the definition of "native speaker". The principles, according to the study, are typically accepted by language experts across the scientific field. A native speaker is defined according to the following guidelines: #The individual acquired the language in early childhood and maintains the use of the language. #The individual has intuitive knowledge of the language. #The individual is able to produce fluent, spontaneous discourse. #The individual is communicatively competent in different social contexts. #The individual identifies with or is identified by a language community. #The individual does not have a foreign accent.Translanguaging
Translanguaging connects languages to help learners build an understanding of new languages. In multilingual settings, learners can benefit from using what they already know, such as grammar, and spelling pronunciation, to support understanding of new words.See also
* Heritage language * Child of deaf adult * Human Speechome Project * Third culture kids * List of languages by number of native speakers * Statistical learning in language acquisition * Native speaker * Father Tongue hypothesis * Native Tongue TitleReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Language Language acquisition Sociolinguistics Identity (social science) Cultural heritage