Sena’s Acquisition of English- Comprehension Vs. Production

According to Krashen, in order for language acquisition to take place, the language input has to be comprehensible. That is why for a child to acquire the language of the parents, the fact that he hears his parents speaking is not enough. The parents have to make their language (the input) comprehensible for their child. This means that they should not merely talk or converse with him, but rather communicate, and comprehension should be the focus.

In an attempt to teach, Sena, my 20-month old daughter, English, I began speaking to her in pure English 45 days ago, at 18.5 months of age. Sena, who has been spoken to in Arabic by all of those around her, including me, since her birth, exposure to English was completely new and unfamiliar. To aid her comprehension of this new language, I simplified the language input to promote comprehension on her part. The characteristics of my simplified language were, as Hatch (1979) has put them (cited in Krashen, P. 64):

1. Slow rate and clear articulation to make it easy to identify word boundaries and allow more processing time,
2. Use of high frequency vocabulary, and
3. Use of short sentences; syntactic simplification.

Above all, use of realia and pictures were very common when communicating with Sena, especially since her age requires most communication to be about the “here and now”.

Thus far, I have mentioned points that would aid Sena in acquiring a second language, English in her case. But there are numerous factors that could delay her acquisition of the new language. They may be put as follows:

First of all, Sena receives English only from me. No one besides me communicates with her in English. Besides that, she is not exposed to others communicating among each other as the case is in her Arabic. Thus, the discourse types are narrowed down to just one, which is mine.

Another hindrance for her acquisition of English is that the quantity of English she receives is not sufficient for initial readiness to speak. I, her mother, being a full-time teacher and a full-time student at the faculty of education have, little time to communicate with her. Not to forget that I am her only source of English, with the exception for my parents whom she spends two days a week with but use only isolated English words put in an Arabic context.


During the period of 45 days, the times which Sena spent with me, apart from her
sleeping time, were Mondays and Thursdays from 11:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. (including her three-hour sleep), Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m., Fridays from 7:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m., and Sundays. This shows that the majority of her time was spent apart from me, her only English source. In the last two weeks of the 45-day period of communication in English with Sena, I had a better chance of spending more time with her because of my holiday from the school I teach at.

The last two points mentioned summarize the quantity of input, which Sena has received and how they could delay her acquisition of English. In fact, they are what Krashen mentions as two characteristics which should not be present for optimal input for acquisition. In addition to those, Sena often refuses the English version for a word she has already established an Arabic word for.

In this article, the quantity of Sena’s comprehension in the target language will be compared to her production in this language. Her comprehension of input will be measured by:

1. her ability to perform activities after being asked to in English,
2. responding to what is spoken to her whether her response is in Arabic or English, and
3. reporting what is said to her in English to others. She often reports what is said to her in Arabic.

The data collected includes the English structures and vocabulary which Sena was able to comprehend and those which she was able to produce. This data was collected in a period of three days while communicating with her, and it will be classified into:

1. General structures of language,
2. Isolated terms, and
3. Songs.

English Comprehended and Produced by Sena

The following is what Sena has come to comprehend after being spoken to in English for a period of 45 days. An asterisk (*) is provided near structures she produces spontaneously. Any other word or phrase that Sena understands could replace what is written between parentheses.

I. General Structures
A. Imperatives

• Wash your (face).
• Dry (your hands).
• Drink (the juice).
• Wipe (Nawal’s hands).
• Lie down/on the bed/on the mattress.
• Go ask (daddy) (to comb your hair/to show you the goats).
• Stop it! *
• Turn the TV on/off.
• Put on (your shoes/shirt).
• Wake up. *
• Wake up Suzy.
• Get up.
• Give (me/Alaa) (a Kleenex).
• Come here. *
• Go to (the Kitchen/bedroom). *
• Smell (the flower/your hand). *
• Sit down/Stand up.
• Walk. *
• Run.
• Have a seat.
• Move, please. *
• Put (your hand) (on your head/on the table).
• Count. [She counts up to ten if there is a group of objects, but she always skips number 4.]
• Blow on (it/your food/the candle].
• Blow (your nose).
• Get me (the cup of water).
• Stay here. /Wait here.
• Draw (a circle/Suzy).
• Take off (your shoes/socks).
• Open the door. *
• Close the door.
• Pick up (the toys).
• Put (the paper) (in the garbage).
• Listen. *
• Look. *
• Clap your hands. *
• Clap with your feet. *
• Throw (the rocks)* (in the water).
• Hug (mommy).
• Give me (a hug/a kiss).
• Tickle (Alaa).
• Hit (Alaa).
• Slap. * Punch. *
• Look up there/down here.
• Put (your baby/Nawal) to sleep.
• Ask (Nawal) (to come/to go/open the door).
• Tell (Nawal) to (look on the TV/look at the goats).
• Leave it.
• Sing. *
• Hands up.
• Show me (your tongue/the paper).
• Brush your hair.
• Get on the bed.

B. Negative Imperatives

• Don’t touch!
• Don’t touch (the curtain).
• Don’t run/walk/cry/move.
• Don’t spit out your food.
• Don’t!!
• “Don’t” with any expression she understands.

C. Present Progressive Tense

• (Daddy) is sleeping. *
• (She) is eating.
• (Ahmad) is brushing his hair.
• Note: Sena understands any sentence in the present progressive if the verb is any of the above mentioned verbs.

D. Future Tense
The most frequently used sentence here is, “I’ll turn the car on,” and of course any verb Sena understands in the simple form, she understands in the future tense.

E. WH Questions
1. Questions Beginning with “What”

• What’s your name? [She replies, “Sena.”]
• Sena what? [She replies, “Sena Khateeb.”]
• What do you want?
• What are you doing?
• What do you say? [After she asks for something without saying “Please”, or after taking it without saying “Thank you”.]

2. Who?

• Who is on the phone?
• Who did this [a mess]?
• Who came?
• Who gave you the book?
• Who’s this/that? *

3. Whose?

• Whose this for?
• Whose (book/paper/jacket) is this for?

4. Where?

• Where are you/Where is (daddy)? *
• Where is (your neck)? *
• Where is (the ball)? *
• Where are you going?
• Where? (In the course of speaking.)

F. Prepositional Phrases
Sena understands prepositional phrases used in sentences if the phrases begin with the following prepositions:

• With- Who is with (daddy)?
• On- (It’s) on the table.
• Under- The pen is under the pillow.
• Beside- Put (your toys) beside (the TV).

G. Statements (Beginning with Subjects and Verbs)

• It’s cold. *
• It’s hot. *
• It’s a (hand). *
• This is (a hand). *
• (Suzy) is sleeping. *
• (Daddy) is outside/inside/in the kitchen. *
• (He) went to the (house).
• (We’re) going to (Iman’s house/the bedroom).

H. Singular/Plural *
Sena uses the singular/plural form of all the regular nouns she knows appropriately.

I. Possession

• This is (mommy’s book). *
• It’s (Alaa’s teddy). *
• This is (Sena’s house). *

Note: She usually replies to questions beginning with “whose” in sentences containing possessive nouns. For example, if she is asked, “Whose (car) is this?” she replies, “It’s daddy’s.”
Besides that, Sena shows a good understanding of possessive pronouns.


J. Expressions and Idioms

• Oops! *
• Okay. *
• Hooray! *
• Hi. /Hello. /Bye. *
• Yes/No *
• Please. *
• Thank you. *
• Shame, shame. *
• I love you. *
• Let’s go. *
• Let me see.
• Not this way; the other way.
• This way? *
• Like this. *
• This? *
• That’s enough.
• I’m freezing! [Sena says it when she’s cold.]

K. Yes/No Questions
When Sena is asked a yes/no question, she replies with either a “yes” or a “no” whether she understands the question or not. Such questions are as the following:

• Is it good?
• Can I have me?
• Are you happy?
• Will you come with me?
• But there are yes/no questions which she understands such as:
• “Is this my nose?” Where Sena replies, “No, it’s a hand”, if the speaker is pointing to his hand and not to his nose.

L. Who?
The same case with yes/no questions applies to questions beginning with “who”. When Sena is asked this latter type of questions, she replies by a person’s name whom she knows, whether she understands the question or not. Such questions are as follows:

• Who’s nice?
• Who’s my girl? [Here she always replies by “Sena”, and she is asked, “Who’s your girl?” she replies, “Sally,” her doll.]

M. Songs
Of course, I do not suppose that Sena understands the meaning of the songs she sings often except for some isolated words, but they do contribute to her sense of the language. Only the lines she sings are presented here.

• Jack be nimble/ Jack be quick.
• Twinkle, twinkle, little star/How I wonder what you are.
• Criss, cross, apple sauce/Spiders here, spiders there.
• Rain, rain go away.
• Wake up, wake up.
• Here we are, here we are.
• Incy, wincy spider.
• Sleep baby sleep.

N. Isolated Words
Body Parts Clothes Around the House Food and Related Items

• head* shirt inside*/outside*/house* placemat*/cup*/bottle
• hair* pants home/plant/ fork*/spoon*/
• face* overalls* bedroom*/bathroom*/ milk*/water*/juice*/
• eyes* dress* kitchen*/garage ice*/bread/sadwich*/
• nose* socks* floor/stairs/ soup*/tomatoes*/
• mouth* sleeve crib*/bed*/chair*/ cucumber*/potatoes*/
• tongue* jacket* mattress/sofa/TV*/ fries*/spaghetti*/
• tooth* pocket carrots/meat*/chicken*/
• ears* hat rice*/chips*/chocolate*/
• neck shoes* apple*/banana*/orange*/
• tummy slippers* strawberries*/biscuits/
• (stomach) diaper* coffee/tea
• belly button* towel
• foot*
• leg*
• hand*
• finger*
• toes/nail

Animals Toys Nature Accessories Objects Sena

• Elephant piano* sun* nailpolish* Uses
• Doggy* (dog) board* moon* ring* powder*/cream*
• Horsy (horse) keys tree* necklace babyoil*/Q-tips*
• Pony bicycle plant headband blanket*/pillow*
• Duck toys* flower* book*/paper*
• Birdy rocks* pen*/soap*
• Rabbit water* shampoo*
• Cat
• Turtle
• Penguin
• Dolphin*
• Panda*
• Fish*
• Spider*
• Worm*
• Ant*
• Bunny*
• Goats*
• Sheep
• pig

Other terms

• Music*/songs*/dance*/picture/matches/circle*/fridge/washing machine/door/window/table/chair*/candle*/car*/airplane/helicopter/
• Baby*/man*/boy*/girl*/women*
• Here/there
• Hot*/cold*
• Sleep*/eat
• More*/no more*
• Inside*/outside*
• Nice*/ugly*
• Up*/down*
• Happy face*/sad face*

The rest of this article is missing; I must have saved it on some floppy disk since it was written in 1999😒