Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION - Coggle Diagram
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
BEHAVIORIST (SKINNER)
general theory
positive reinforcement (perform various tasks by
encouraging habit-forming)
negative reinforcement (Undesirable behaviour was punished or simply not rewarded)
theory of language acquisition
Skinner suggest a child imitates the language of its parents or carers.
Successful attempts are rewarded because an adult who recognises a word spoken by a child will praise the child and/or give it what it is asking for.
Successful utterances are therefore reinforced while unsuccessful ones are forgotten
Limitations
Language is based on a set of structures or rules, which cannot be worked out by imitating individual utterance. This allows children to
over-apply language rules
instead of imitating them. Also, it
results in virtuous errors.
Children are often
unable to repeat what an adult says
, especially if the adult utterance contains a structure the child has not yet started to use.
Few children receive much explicit grammatical correction.
Parents are more interested in
politeness and truthfulness.
There is evidence for a
critical period
for language acquisition. Children who do not acquire language by the age of 7 will never entirely catch up.
COGNITIVE (PIAGET)
Theory
acquisition of language is placed within the context of a child's mental or cognitive development.
a child has to understand a concept before s/he can acquire
the particular language form which expresses that concept.
Object permanence is in relation to the cognitive theory. The cognitive theory relates to the large increase in children's vocabulary, suggesting a link between object permanence and the learning of labels for objects.
Limitations
During the first year to 18 months, connections of the type explained above are possible to trace but, as
a child continues to develop, so it becomes harder to find clear links between language and intellect.
Some studies have focused on children who have learned to speak fluently despite abnormal mental
development. Syntax in particular does not appear to rely on general intellectual growth.
INNATENESS (CHOMSKY)
Theory
focuses particularly on the impoverished language input children receive. Adults do not speak in grammatically complete sentences- what the child hears is
only a small sample of language.
children must have an
inborn faculty for language acquisition.
which is a biologically determined condition called
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
Evidences to support theory
SLOBIN
human anatomy is peculiarly adapted to the production of speech- we have specific areas of the brain with distinctly linguistic functions (Broca's and Wernicke's area.)
Stroke victims that have certain areas of brain damage suffer language dysfunction
When tried with animals (ape), the same results were not found (proves that only human brain has this ability)
BICKERTON
The formation of creole varieties of English appears to be the result of the LAD at work.
Limitations
Chomsky's work on language was theoretical. He was interested in grammar and much of his work consists of complex explanations of grammatical rules. He did not study real children.
Nor does it recognise the reasons why a child might want to speak, the functions of language.
The theory relies on children being exposed to language but takes no account of the interaction between children and their carers..
Simply being exposed to language was not enough. Without the associated interaction children will be not be able to grasp a language completely (based on a research done on a deaf child, Jim)
INTERACTION (BRUNER)
Theory
Focuses on the importance of the language
input children receive from their care-givers.
Language exists for the purpose of communication and
can only be learned in the context of interaction with people who want to communicate with you.
suggest that the language behaviour of adults when talking to children (also referred to as child-directed speech or CDS) is specially adapted to support the acquisition process (scaffolding).
also supported the term Language Acquisition Support System or
LASS in response to Chomsky's LAD.
the turn-taking structure of conversation is
developed through games and non-verbal communication long before actual words are uttered.
Limitations
These theories serve as a useful corrective to Chomsky's early position and it seems likely that a child will learn more quickly with frequent interaction. However, it has already been noted that children in all cultures pass through the same stages in acquiring language. We have also seen that there are cultures in which adults do not adopt special ways of talking to children, so CDS may be useful but seems not to be essential.
As stated earlier, the various theories should not be seen simply as alternatives. Rather, each of them offers a partial explanation of the process.