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Linguistic-oriented
theoriesof First language
learning/acquisition
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In a broader sense, various theories and approaches
have been emerged over the years to study andanalyze the process of language acquisition. Three
main schools of thought, which provide theoretical
paradigms in guiding the course of language
acquisition are:Behaviorist Theory
Innatist Theory
Cognitivist theory
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Theory Central idea linguist
Behaviorist Children imitate adults. Their correct
utterances are reinforced when they get what
they want or are praised.
Skinner
Innate Language is an innate capacity. A child's brain
contains special language -learning mechanisms
at birth.
Chomsky
Cognitive Lang. is just one aspect of a child‟s overall
intellectual development
Piaget
Cognitive Language is a symbolic representation which
allow the children to abstract the world.
LevVygotsky
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1. Behaviorism• Key Terms
1
• Conditioning
• Classical• operant
2• Stimulus• response
3
• Reinforcement• Negative• positive
Behaviorism
Classicalconditioning
Pavlov
Operantconditioning
Skinner
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Behaviorism Burrhus Frederic Skinner
(March 20,1904-August 18,1990)
An American Psychologist
Proposed operant conditioning as
compared to classical conditioning
of Pavlov.
According to Skinner, learning a language
operates on the same principles that a rat will
use to learn a maze or to learn to press a button.
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Behaviorism… B.F Skinner proposed this theory as an explanation for Language
acquisition in human.
All behavior is learned and that humans enter the world with no
innate abilities. He famously said,"Give me a child, and I'll shape him into anything.”
B. F SKINNER‟S entire system is based on operant
conditioning (learning's a function of change in overt behavior)
The organism, in everyday activities, is in the process of
“operating” on the environment.
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Behaviorists' views:Behaviorists view the process of language acquisition as a building
process that results from interaction with the environment .
It is also called imitation theory which is based on an empirical or
behavioral approach.
Children start out as clean slates and language learning is a process
of getting linguistic habits printed on these slates.
Language is a „conditioned behavior‟: the stimulus response process
Stimulus Response Feedback Reinforcement
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Principles • People‟s behaviors are directly observable, rather than the
mental systems underlying these behaviors.
• Children are born with a mind that is like a blank state. Thisstate is called Tabula Rasa
• Language is a verbal observable behavior .
• Chunking theory: Language is learned in parts, then linkedtogether• 1st words 2 nd phrases 3 rd sentences
• Reinforcement will generalize similar stimulusgeneralizations
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Children learn language step by stepImitation
Repetition
Memorization
controlled drilling
ReinforcementReinforcement can either be positive or negative
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Children imitate sounds and practice what they hear.Correct structures are positively reinforced .
Language acquisition is, thus, a process of habitformation.
Factors in Language acquisition:AssociationReinforcement
shapingrepetitionCorrections
imitation
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Mechanism of language acquisition
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Positives Imitation is important in phonological development.
Children develop regional accents suggesting they imitate thesounds from people around them.
Negatives Children don‟t pick up grammatical structures immediately as somechildren show an incorrect use of grammar. For example they maysay „wented ‟ instead of went. Showing they have not imitated this ofothers.
Kids normally only use the words they understand so if they imitateof others they would copy all words spoken by another person.
If the kid is deaf, it cannot copy another person therefore uses signlanguage suggesting this theory does not provide an account for allkids.
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Innateness Theory
By Noam Chomsky (born 1928---Present)
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Innatism
Limitations of Behaviorist view of language acquisitionled in 1960‟s to the alternative „generative‟ account oflanguage.
Main Argument: Children must be born with an innatecapacity for language development.
Main Figure: Noam Chomsky
Children are born with an innate propensity for languageacquisition, and that this ability makes the task oflearning a first language easier than it would otherwise
be.
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Innatism: LAD & UG
Chomsky theorized that children were born with a hard-wiredlanguage acquisition device (LAD) in their brains.
LAD is a set of language learning tools, intuitive at birth in allchildren.
He later expanded this idea into that of universal grammar , a set ofinnate principles and adjustable parameters that are common to allhuman languages.
The child exploits its LAD to make sense of the utterances heardaround it, deriving from this „primary linguistic data‟ – the grammarof the language
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THE “LAD” (Chomsky, 1965) The languageacquisition Device(LAD) is a postulated
organ of the brain thatis supposed to functionas a congenital devicefor learning symboliclanguage (i.e., languageacquisition).
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LAD (Language acquisition Device)
The L.A.D is a pre programmed box.
L.A.D is a function of the brain that is specifically forlearning language. It is an innate biological function ofhuman beings just like learning to walk.
LAD explain human acquisition of the syntactic structure oflanguage.
It encodes the major principles of a language and itsgrammatical structures into the child‟s brain.
It enables the children to analyze language and extract the basic rules.
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Mechanism of Innate Theory
According to Noam Chomsky, themechanism of language acquisition
formulates from innate processes.
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Innatism: Universal grammar or generativegrammar.
we are born with set of rules about language in our brains.
“Children are equipped with an innate template or blueprint for language and this blueprint aids thechild in the task of constructing a grammar for theirlanguage. ” (Chomsky 1965)
This is known as “Innateness Hypothesis. ”
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Universal grammar… Chomsky says:
The UG does not have the actual rules of eachlanguage but it has PRINCIPLES &PARAMETERS.
The rules of language are derived from the
Principles & parameters.
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Principles & Parameters:
Principles: are the universal basic features ofGrammar
e.g.. Nouns, Verbs & Structure Dependency etc.
Parameters: are the variation across languagethat determines one or more aspects ofGrammar e.g. Pro, Drop and Head Direction.The Parameters are set during LanguageAcquisition.
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Critical Age Hypothesis
Chomsky posited that there is a critical agefor learning a language as is true for the
overall development of the human body.The input of Language is needed at thecritical period, to learn the lexicon and toset the parameters.
Note: linguist Lenneberg suggested that the crucial periodof language acquisition ends around 4-5 years
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All children share the same innateness
Chomsky thus proposes that "all children share the
same internal constraints which characterize
narrowly the grammar they are going to
construct."
(Chomsky, 1977, p.98)
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Communicative competence“Language learning is not really something that the
child does; it is something that happens to the child
placed in an appropriate environment much as the
child‟s body grows and matures in a predetermined way
when provided with appropriate nutrition and
environmental stimulation.” -Noam Chomsky