Globalizing First and Second Language Acquisition Studies for the Twenty-First Century: Why this Can be a Game Changer for the Developing World

This paper logically extends our previous observation that first and second language studies have hitherto been too western-centric or Eurocentric, were not adequately or sufficiently society- focused or society-centered, and have had limited practical utility and value. We believe that all this must change and come to an end, as anthropological economics takes root, particularly for the benefit of the developing world. Economic development models too have been preoccupied with physical infrastructure, transportation, and communication. The role of linguistic, social, cultural and anthropological factors has hitherto been ignored. All this must change during the course of the present century, as this will benefit multiple cultures across the planet. We begin this paper with a brief overview of language, and a study of its functions. We also delve into a study of first and second language acquisitions and theories their limitations in their present form and briefly touch upon the need to investigate and probe social and cultural differences in this regard. We also then revisit other concepts such and linguistic performance, linguistic competence, non-linguistic performance, linguistic distance, lexical distance, linguistic barriers, and their impact on economic performance. We also discuss the needs to study sociocultural and socioeconomic groups separately, and research group enculturation patterns as well. This will be in addition to a study of power distances and sociocultural advantages in relation to linguistic performance and economic performance. We therefore, hope, expect and anticipate that this paper will become a vital one in twenty-first century social and cultural studies.