Linguistic Orientedtheories 101227025143 Phpapp02 120624045635 Phpapp02

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Linguistic-oriented theories of First language learning/acquisition

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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

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Theories of L1 Acquisition

Behaviorism“Say what I say”

Innatism“It‟s all in your mind”