Сhildren are not ‘taught’ their primary language, but rather they acquire it naturally through exposure. One example of this is that children cannot use grammar that they have not yet attained. Even if parents attempt to force their children to learn language and grammar at a rate that is faster than what the children are naturally prepared for, they will still move at their own pace.
Secondly, children are not predisposed to learn the language of their ancestors. A child will learn whichever language they hear spoken. Also, language acquisition is not just a repetition of what is heard, because children will often say phrases or use grammar that is nonstandard or which they have never heard spoken. For example, once a child has learned that a regular verb is conjugated in the past tense by adding the suffix ‘-ed,’ he or she may say something like “I goed to the store.” Even though this is not standard grammar, during language acquisition a child learns a certain grammatical rule and then applies it across the board without realizing or accounting for the irregularities in language.
In learning a second language, there are many important aspects, but one that is often missed or not explained well enough is that many languages have different rhythms. One method to help students understand this is explained by the British Council on Teaching English. It suggests, “One way to focus learners on various aspects of prosody is to select a text suitable to be read aloud - for example, a famous speech - and ask learners to mark where they think pauses, main stress, linking, and intonation changes occur. They can then practice reading this aloud”. Allowing students to discover the prosodic features in a common text will help them internalize these differences and better use them in their daily language. To this end, making prosodic features an important part of a second language curriculum forces students to focus on them and learn how to properly use a foreign language in a more natural way; however, language acquisition does not necessarily allow for this method, but in this case, learning language rhythm may come more naturally—similar to that first language in children.
There are other methods that can be used to ensure second language learners are taught these more subtle features of the language. Prosody is necessary to the naturalness and intelligibility of speech. Without this, a speaker will not be able to communicate naturally. Overall, understanding the difference between syllable-timed and stress-timed languages, and being able to implement the correct rhythm depending on the language being spoken, is essential in being able to communicate effectively in a second language.
From "A Linguistic Comparison: Stress-timed and syllable-timed languages and their impact on second language acquisition" by Madeline M. Conlen
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