Theories of language acquisition

• Theoretical perspectives on language development

  
• Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

  Stance A: Innate and Domain specific

  • Our general learning systems are not suited for language learning
  • Language learning occurs with the help of specialized language acquisition mechanisms:
  • Specialized for learning the kinds of abstract grammatical patterns that are shared by ALL languages.
  • But is flexible enough to learn ANY language, even with imperfect input and minimal feedback.
• Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

  Poverty of the stimulus:

  • The input child receive is usually not well structured, and does not always reflect the language they end up speaking
  • Speech is littered with errors but we still learn language.
• A critical period for language development?

  Critical period → An age range (or developmental period) at which specific experiences are vital for development to occur in a typical way.

  Critical period for language development is from infancy to puberty
• Second language acquisition (SLA)

  People who learn a second in childhood sound similar to native speakers of the second language.

  • This isn’t the same for those who learn the second language later.

  Hartshorne and colleagues (2018):

  • Looked at 669,498 native and non-native English speakers.
  • Asked about the age which they started learning English, and their English grammar.
  • Found that the critical period for SLA from infancy to almost adulthood (~17 years old)

  
• Theoretical perspectives on language development

  
• Behaviourist or Learning approach

  Stance D: Acquired and Domain general

  • Our general learning systems support out learning of language
  • Language learning can be understood simply by studying the child-adult pattern of speech and reinforcement.
  • Language learning occurs in repose to parental and societal reinforcement
  • Language involves learning the appropriate verbal responses to different scenarios.
• BUT...

  • Parents ted to respond to the ‘gist’ of children’s early speech and don’t correct/reinforce correct grammar
  • Would predict bilingual children take longer to acquire language
  • Does not explain the fairly universal nature of language development
  • This would result in a HUGE number of associations…
• Connectionist approaches

  Stance D: Acquired and Domain general

  • Learning language, like other learning occurs though the constructions of networks of association
  • Informal and implicit rule-based learning
  • Based on input from the environment and experience: but not all levels of connection are directly observable.
• The human brain is like a computer….

  Language acquisition depends on the brain handling lots of information simultaneously → parallel processing

  Connectionist approaches are complex

  • Processing takes place in a network of nodes or units.
  • Language learners are exposed to repeated patterns of units (language) as input:
  • They extract patterns and co-occurring units
  • Associations are then formed and strengthened