Linguistic Competence of Language Models: Its Role in the Acquisition and Use of the Igbo Language

Abstract

All is not well with the Igbo language and ipso facto the Igbo values. Many Igbo parents nowadays alienate their children from their language and make them develop inferiority complex in the language. Many of such parents are not able to teach the Igbo language to their children. This paper believes that most of these parents-traced challenges of the Igbo language are as a result of their poor or doubtful knowledge of linguistic competence and the critical period theory and their implications in children’s first language learning. It is against this backdrop that the topic of this paper is “Linguistic Competence of Language Models: Its Role in the Acquisition and Use of the Igbo Languageâ€. Objective-wise, this paper is poised to explain linguistic competence and first language acquisition, the role of linguistic competence in first language acquisition, problems of neglect of linguistic competence, and the gains of applying the knowledge of linguistic competence in children’s Igbo language acquisition. The research method is descriptive and the theory to guide the study is the Critical Period Theory. The paper finds out that linguistic competence is the rule of the child’s native language in the child’s brain, which he speaks and hears from other natives. It also finds out that language acquisition refers to the processes by which children learn to speak the language of the community into which they are born. The study also discovers that knowing and applying linguistic competence prepares the child on how to effectively and fluently use the language. In terms of remedy, the study establishes the need for conscious parental efforts to understand what is linguistic competence, the critical period theory, and their significance in children’s language acquisition. In all these, it has become clear that the quality of parent-caregiver interactions play a formative role in children’s early language and learning.