Language acquisition: point of view of ecolinguistics

Abstract

Taking into consideration the fact that language is part of a complex web of natural, mental and social relationships, this article discusses first language acquisition from the point of view of Ecolinguistics. In this case, it begins by presenting a short overview of traditional investigations, such as those by Chomsky and followers, Piaget and Vygotsky. Ecolinguistics sees language as a web of interactions involving at least a population and its environment or territory, forming the linguistic ecosystem or community. Since the central concept of ecosystem is interaction, and language itself is interaction, to acquire a language is to adapt to the ways of interacting inside this ecosystem. Language acquisition is adaptation at large.