Page 46 - In Focus (demo)

UNIT 1

2 Core vocabulary

A Scanning and skimming

1 Find and underline the keywords in the passage. Try to guess their meanings.
Keywords

acquire equivalent estimate exposure multiple
per regional researcher retain struggle

The

Wonder of of Language
Language
W
o
nder

We all speak one. Every day, people communicate with one another using
language. From the thousands of words we know, we easily find the words we
need and arrange them into sentences to give our opinions or make requests.
Some researchers who study language acquisition, like the well-known writer on
5 language Steven Pinker, estimate that people know about 50,000 to 60,000
words by the age of 20. That is roughly equivalent to learning eight or nine
words per day from birth.
This amazing process begins at birth. Children who have not yet learned to
speak listen to their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters talk to them. This
10 early exposure introduces the child to the sounds of their language. This is
when they begin to acquire their regional accent. We are all amazed at how
little American babies sound American, while little English babies speak with a
British accent.

By the time children become three, they
15 have usually acquired many thousands of
words. Some words children have heard
multiple times, so it is not surprising
that they know them. Other words
children may hear only once, but they
20 retain the meaning. Some words are
difficult, and the child has to struggle to
say the word but still has no problem
remembering its meaning.

Learning a foreign language may be
25 difficult, but it is important to remember
that people are born to communicate
through speech. It is a gift we all have.

2 Read the statements below. Which best describes what this text is about?
ut?
Circle A, B, or C.

A How we learn foreign languages
B How children acquire their accents
C How we learn our own language

2