Theorists

• Noam Chomsky (1/4) - Nativist

  [LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE]

  • Believes learning language is innate
  • Brain mechanisms are programmed with ability to acquire grammatical structure
• Naom Chomsky (2/4)- Nativist

  Universal grammar:

  • believed all languages showed many similarities
  • All language share principle of grammar despite surface differences in lexis & phonology
• Laom Chomsky (3/4) - EVIDENCE FOR 'LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE':


  Virtuous Error:

  • Child makes grammatical errors in their grammar, inflections and syntax as they are attempting to apply rules they recognise from the language around them

  Critical period:

  • Children's language acquisition device must be activated with sufficient input before age 12 or language acquisition will be impaired
• Laom Chomsky (4/4)- Nativist


  • Found that children develop at similar rate in similar stages of development
  • Most children acquire complex grammar by early age
  • Believes it occurs regardless of environment or intelligence
• B.F. Skinner - 1957 Behaviorist(1/2)


  SKINNER BOX EXPERIMENT

  Tested positive and negative reinforcement with rats and pigeons

  • Proposed children learn through immitation
  • Skeptical theory as focus is not on humans
• B.F. Skinner - 1957 Behaviorist (2/2)


  Operant Conditioning:

  • Idea that either positive or negative response that's given by care giver can influence way that child talks in future acquisition
  • Suggest language is learnt through positive and negative reinforcements

  Positive Reinforcement:

  • encourage similar behavior again

  Negative Reinforcement:

  • feedback prevent child from making same error
• Bruner 1972-80 - Social interactionist


  Suggested idea that a carer questions, encourages and supports child through scaffolding, enabling them to gradually develop their speech

  • Parents/carer facilitates learning for a child
• Vygotsky 1934 - Social interactionist, Cognitive Theorist


  Suggested importance of actions/demonstrations for a child to develop and focus of caregiver to act as a more knowledgeable other

  • Supporting child from position of having more knowledge and understanding, adult or another child can direct child within zone of PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT
• Vygotsky's Cognitive Development Theory

  1. SOCIAL INTERACTION: emphasized social interactions is fundamental in development of cognition
  2. KNOWLEDGEABLE OTHER: children learn through guidance and collaboration with skilled parents
  3. PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT: Difference with what learner can do without help and achieve with help
  4. SCAFFOLDING: Temporary support to child - perform tasks they normally wouldn't do
• Piaget


  Found that children develop object permanence

  • Develop understanding that an object still exists although no longer in sight
• Vygotsky


  Viewed language as having 2 separate roles

  • One for communication
  • One for basis of thought

  Believed collaborative play is essential to child learning

  "What a child can do in a co-operation today, he can do alone tomorrow"
• Piaget Stages Of Development - Cognitive theorist


  Sensorimotor: up to 2yrs

  • Experience physical world through senses, begins classifying words

  Pre-Operational: 2-7 yrs

  • Long and motor skills develop - more competent - language is egocentric (Only perceive world from their point of view

  Concrete Operational: 7-11

  • Child begins thinking about concrete things

  Formal Operations: 11+

  • Abstract reasoning skills develop
• More knowledgeable other theory - Holt & Williard (2000)


  Social constructive theory states that children need a knowledgeable other in order to acquire acute language skills

  • A child needs to see themselves in people to determine whether they are knowledgeable
  • This is advantageous in language acquisition
• Jean Aitchison > 1987


  Identified 3 stages that occur during child's acquisition of language

  1. Labelling > making links between sounds and objects which they refer to
  2. Packaging > entails understanding of a words range of meanings
  3. Networking > grouping connections between words
• Amy Bidgood > 2018


  Language 0-5 project

  • Children who hear more words and greater variety learn words more quickly
  • Hears more noun phrases, produces more noun phrases
  • Hears more verbs, produce more verbs
  • Hears more complex sentences, understands them better