Language Connections
Language Theorists
Noam Chomsky
B.F. Skinner
He was a leading psychologist and the father of Behaviorism. He believed children learn through imitation of what they hear around them. The imitation is then reinforced by the adults the child interacts with when they encourage words and phrases that are correct, and discourage incorrect communication.
He was an American linguist who challenged Behaviorism in 1959. He created the environment we now operate in which there are many ideas and theories as to how best teach a first, but mostly a second language. He believed people are prewired to learn a language. In each brain is a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that enables children to learn the underlying rules of languages. He focuses mostly in first language acquisition
Lev Vygotsky
He was a Russian psychologist who died in 1938. His work did not become popular in America until the 1990's. He argued that learning is a social activity and is maximized through interactions with others who are more skillful than the child and therefore, help the child learn. A child's language is therefore learned in supportive social settings. he established the Zone of Proximal Development as a model for this theory, stating that more can be learned with the support of a more knowledgeable person.
Stephen Krashen
He began his work in the 1980's and taught language is best learned through Comprehensible Input. Meaning, if the language learner is not receiving input they can comprehend, it will never amount to meaningful learning of a language. He was one of the main influencers in the SLA model known as the monitor model.
Language Theories
Monitor Model
Bill VanPatten
He developed Input Processing Model after Krashen's Comprehensive Input.He argues that "communicative input is the essential external ingredient for language acquisition". He says that for a language learner to be successful, they must have interaction and input from with speakers of the new language.
Developed by Stephen Krashen in the mid 1980's, this model is based on 5 interrelated hypothesis
Merrill Swain
She took Krashen's work a step further and argued that for a person to develop language acquisition they must have some output. Meaning, the language learner must make effort to produce language with someone who speaks the language. This will highlight the areas that they are deficient and encourage the speaker to fill in the gaps.
Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis - while learning a language, simply learning facts, verbs etc is not enough. Krashen says that in order to really acquire the language, it happens subconsciously as our brains store the new knowledge
Natural Order Hypothesis - we acquire parts of language in a predictable, or natural, order.
Monitor Hypothesis - We can review what we have learned, or subconsciously acquired, by running it though our conscious learning database to test for errors and inconsistencies
Input (Comprehension) Hypothesis - This is Krahen's most important hypothesis as it describes how language acquisition occurs. Here he argues that for the language to be learned, all input (new material) but be comprehensible, or understandable to the learner. Without this part, the language cannot be fully learned.
Affective Filter Hypothesis - This is the filter that controls how much of the input gets into the learners brain. Things such as stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, etc, make the filter block more input. When those items are removed, the filter is down and input may flow freely into the brain, allowing for acquisition.
Interaction Hypothesis
Comprehensible Output Hypothesis
Developed by Michael Long, agrees with Krashen that comprehensible input is needed, but he focuses on HOW that input can be made comprehensible to the learner. He says that Modified Interaction (times in which the learner and the speaker interact) are crucial for comprehension of the new language.
Developed by Merrill Swain in the late 1980's also builds off of Krashen's work. She argues that learners need to be in conversation, thus making an effort to produce language that is understandable. Speaking makes people pay attention to what they are saying and therefore is necessary to learning a language
Input Processing Model
Developed by VanPatten, IPM looks at how learners make sense of input and the data they get from the input. He argues that learners must have access to not only input, but also interactions with speakers of the language being learned. He says without input that is processed in the brain, then practiced through output, they cannot learn a language
Language Elements
Grammar
Phonology
Pragmatics
Semantics
The invisible side of language. Communicating in a way that words do not fully grasp. Meaning, using words to communicate something other that what the words themselves communicate. Example: A cashier says, "Hi, how are you are?" You know they do not want a dissertation on how your day has been, so you say, "Fine, and you?". Although you do not want a dissertation on how they are.
Syntax: How words are arranged into sentences, as in Subject - Verb - Object (SVO). There, the sentence would read, "Julian kicked the ball". The sentence would not read, "Kicked Julian the ball"
Involves rules about the structure and sequence of speech sounds. It decodes how we make sounds that form letters and therefore, words. Example using how we form a /b/ in the word bed. Start with your lips together. Then air from your lungs is forced over your vocal chords, making them vibrate and make noise. The air then escapes through your lips as they part suddenly.
How concepts are expressed through words, even as words may mean more than one thing. For example: the verb move can mean to push, pull, change place, carry or stir emotion.
Morphology: The smallest unit of meaning in a language. Example: Bridge is one morpheme, while Bridges is two, because of the 's'.
References
Wright, W. E. (2019). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Pub.
Krashen, S., Terrell, T. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. San Francisco, CA: Alemany.
Look Who's Talking! All About Child Language Development. 23 July 2019, childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/language_development/.
Boundless. Boundless Psychology. courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/introduction-to-language/.
Webster, Noah. An American Dictionary of the English Language. S. Converse, 1828.
Ladefoged, Peter N. Phonetics. 21 Aug. 2014, www.britannica.com/science/phonetics.