A Journey Towards Language Competence Acquisition Essay

Communication is among the most fundamental requirements of human social interaction. Passing information from one person to another, i.e., the source to the recipient, and acting on the information acquired could be referred to as communication. To facilitate communication, the most vital tool is language. Language may be defined as a structure that comprises of the development, acquisition, maintenance, and use of compound systems of communication particularly the human ability to achieve this. Linguistics is the scientific study of language. A language is a tool that we get equipped with from childhood and develops as we advance in age and increase our understanding of the happenings around us. The first language that a child learns from the guardian for basic communication requires no literal skills and is often learned passively. However, in the formal educational system, languages are taught for literacy and information acquisition which is applied in various fields of our lives for instance in the work setting as an interpreter.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Our learning capabilities are different, and we understand different things at different rates. This is the case for language students too. Sometimes a particular language may be difficult to understand for a specific student while their colleagues may find it relatively easy. Take the case of David Raymond a 17-year-old student who despite being bright could not read. His tutors even mistakenly took him to be arrogant which was not the case. For instance, he recalls a particular day when a substitute teacher picked him to read a passage out, and he declined. The teacher thought that he was "acting smart" but apparently, he couldn't read given that he was dyslexic.

My experience with language has not been the best that it could be. Various lingual concepts have always eluded me, but I did not let that bring me down by focusing on the negative effects. Back in middle school, I had to attend summer school as my English grades were so wanting which prompted my parents to decide to have me tutored over the holidays. Studying over the holidays wasn't even the worst part of my ordeal compared to the experiences I experienced at summer school. We had this English tutor who was extremely strict and dedicated to the betterment of our language skill. Apart from giving us tonnes of books to read he required us to read out in front of the class. On one fateful day, I was picked at random to read out loud from a business article that the teacher had come with to class. Oblivious to my poor reading skills and notwithstanding the complexity of the technical business terms in the journal the teacher was disappointed when I couldn't read even a single sentence fluently. Besides making comments about my reading skills that were hurtful, he penalized me to summarize the journal in the fewest words possible.

The embarrassment and demoralization that came with the ordeal made me resentful, and I hated the language even more. It was not until in junior high school when I met Mr. Dickens who was a real understanding and compassionate man. In the process of his teaching and student evaluation, he realized that I was performing relatively well in other subjects but English language. Mr. Dickens summoned me to his office and wanted to know the cause of my English problems. Feeling that at least someone was genuinely concerned with my issues, I opened up and told him of the various challenges that I had undergone in the pursuit of language literacy, and he offered to help me. That was the moment where my language improvement journey began and ever since nothing has been the same as before. First, we started with simple literature articles and books which were below my learning scope. I would read the books during my free time, and when we met after school, Mr. Dickens wanted me to read out the parts that I found intriguing in the book. And just like that, he sparked my interest in the language.

Although in the beginning, I was not that good, improvement came in gradually and eventually my reading had improved significantly something that made me feel confident and love the language even more. In the course of trying to better my language skills, I came across Hellen Keller's autobiography in which she narrated about the challenges she had gone through in her life and also in her educational journey. Having lost sight and hearing to an illness, Hellen describes her situation as a sheep that had lost its bearing at sea without a compass due to dense fog. However, with the help of Miss. Sullivan, she was able to restore the light in her life through learning language. Hellen's story was an inspiration to me and ever since I never viewed the English language with the resentment I used to before, the story motivated me to better myself in the language that one day I would get to help another person in need in the field just like Miss. Sullivan and Mr. Dickens had done for me.

Conclusion

Looking back since then, as a struggling English student to a competent and well-equipped individual in the language, I have come a long way as far as the language is concerned. I view the various challenges that I encountered back then as learning moments that helped shape me into the person that I am today concerning English language literacy.

I would, therefore, urge students out here experiencing the same difficulties not to give up but instead remain steadfast and conquer their challenges while maintaining a positive outlook. Although the process could take a while and require dedication, the outcome will be worth the wait.