Abstract
This researched based case study has been conducted to investigate the fact that whether first language acquisition process in case of vocabulary (acquiring word meanings) follows some certain sequential stages despite of specific learners and their particular contexts. That is to say, to challenge the existing idea of having universal developmental patterns in case of vocabulary acquisition which tries to bring all the unique learners under one single umbrella, this study was conducted on an individual to observe whether and to what extent the child is following or conforming up to any idealistic standard of acquiring vocabulary. Therefore the study had some pre-determined questions set which was ask to the randomly selected child within an informal context (her play time). Interestingly, the study results which were analyzed both qualitatively and quantifiably with support of secondary literatures revealed that the child is not following any particular patterns of development at a time. Rather is developing word meanings by following some random sequences. That is to say, she has developed some features of word meanings which she should have acquired in some later stages (after a particular age) according to the claim of many researchers. On the other hand, she has not yet acquired features which she should have acquired already. Therefore it can be concluded that a child’s first language vocabulary acquisition process (especially acquisition of word meanings) cannot be made generalized under some certain or principled patterns or rules. This is because every learning process is unique since every individual learner is unique.
 References
 
 Cruttenden, Alan. (1985). Language in Infancy and Childhood: A Linguistics Introductionto Language Acquisition. Manchester, Manchester University Press.
 Dodd, H. David & Tomikawa, A. Sandra (1980). Early Word Meanings: Perceptually orFunctionally Based? Child Development, 51 (4), 1103–1109. Retrieved from:http://www.jstor.org/stable/1129550
 Mace-Matluck, J. Betty. (1979). Order of Acquisition: Same or Different in First- andSecond-Language Learning? The Reading Teacher, 32 (6), 696–703. Retrieved from:http://www.jstor.org/stable/20194855.
 Miller, A. George (1978). The Acquisition of Word Meaning. Child Development, 49 (4),999-1004. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1128739
 Ritgerd, B. A. (2014). First Language Acquisition: The Rate and Style of VocabularyGrowth in the First Years. Haskoli Islands, 1–26. Retrieved from:http://skemman.is/stream/get/1946/17417/40471/1/BA_Essay.pdf
 Scovel, Thomas. (2004). Psycholinguistics (5th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford UniversityPress 
 Smith, D. Michael. (1978). The Acquisition of Word Meaning: An Introduction. ChildDevelopment, 49(4), 950–952. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/11287338. You, Yunjung. (2011). Factors in Vocabulary Acquisition through Reading. ITJ, 8, 43–57Retrieved from: http: //15524-21995-1-PB.pdf
Highlights
Language acquisition can be referred to as one of the complex phenomenon that every human child has to go through during his/her childhood
The ability of children to pick up their mother tongue so quickly is the central concern of the first major sub fields of psychology of language (Scovel, 2004:7)
Researchers seemed to point out some universal features in case of acquiring vocabulary regardless the differences in the context and individual learning factors
Summary
Language acquisition can be referred to as one of the complex phenomenon that every human child has to go through during his/her childhood. There are authors who claim that learning of word meanings occurs sequentially within four developmental stages during childhood (Cruttenden, 1985:86). This paper is based on a case study done on a Bangladeshi young child that examines whether and to what extent the subject has followed the developmental sequences/stages of learning word meanings in case of vocabulary acquisition in her first language. Research Scopes This study aims to talk about the scopes of conducting researches on different individuals within their particular contexts of learning their first languages This is to encourage more surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of the concept of existing universal developmental stages in case of acquiring vocabulary in first language. The results to which the researcher has derived cannot be generalized
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
