Enriched and deprived symbols in second language acquisition

Abstract

This study focuses on the moment of language acquisition that occurs before the student has consolidated the symbol-referent relationship in order to take advantage here to guide the absorption of that symbol along a sensorialcognitive path that is favored by the student. This is the initial moment when the student first comes into contact with the linguistic symbol and does not yet know what it refers to. This contact is necessarily channelled through physical senses. Traditionally in language teaching, the symbol is channelled through the spoken form or the written form. We propose ways to exploit this pre-linguistic moment through different sensory stimulations, in effect integrating the body into the language acquisition process. This orientation of teaching is often addressed in what are considered alternative teaching methods. The point of this study is to bring into clearer focus the underlying mechanism of alternative methodologies that we may intuitively feel help the students learn but are not sure of how or why they do so