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Language is natural and instinctive. All humans learn language and all babies follow similar patterns of learning language.
Noam Chomsky suggests that children come primed not only to learn language but also to pick up the rules of grammar.
According to Chomsky, the ability comes from a 'language acquisition device' which children, from birth use to work out the grammar or linguistic rules of the language they are exposed to.
The Nativist perspective argues that humans are biologically programmed to gain knowledge.The main theorist associated with this perspective is Noam Chomsky.
Chomsky proposed that all humans have a language acquisition device (LAD). The LAD contains knowledge of grammatical rules common to all languages. The LAD also allows children to understand the rules of whatever language they are listening to. Chomsky also developed the concepts of transformational grammar, surface structure, and deep structure.
Transformational grammar is grammar that transforms a sentence. Surface structures are words that are actually written. Deep structure is the underlying message or meaning of a sentence.
Innateness- behaviours skills or characteristics that are instinctive
Noam Chomsky- Language Acquisition Device
Jean Aitchison
Steven Pinker
Innateness - Nativist theory
Behaviourist - Imitation theory
Constructivist -Interactionist theory
Sociological - Input theory
Behaviourist- Behaviours, skills or characteristics that are learned as a result of reinforcement
B.F. Skinner - Operant Conditioning
Children may also acquire language through imitating and echoing sounds made by adults in particular situations.
Sounds and words that are not part of the language that the child will eventually speak are not reinforced and therefore are extinguished. This is called operant conditioning.
This theory suggests that language acquisition must be viewed within the context of a child's cognitive development
Children work out the rules of language and the meaning of words because of cognitive processes. They draw conclusions from what they see and experience.
For example, a baby notices that every time he is given a bottle, his parents mention the word 'milk'. He therefore, comes to the conclusion that 'milk' is the word used for what he is drinking.
Constructionist - Behaviours, skills and knowledge that are learnt as a result of cognitive processing
Behaviourisim is a theoretical approach that believes children learn language because they are rewarded for it in some way. The behaviourist approach would suggest that, when babies gain attention and smiles when they babble, this encourage them to do more. The behaviourist model would suggest that parents respond to their children's speech positively when they use correct grammar and so this helps children to work out the grammatical constructions.
Jean Piaget - Assimilation and Accommodation
Vygotsky - Zone of Proximal Development
Sociological- Behaviours, skills or characteristics that are learnt as a result of being with others.
In groups of two, you must produce a presentation on three theorists and their theory of language development.
You must include at least three theoretical perspectives.
You have the opportunity to score points for your group- Refer to the score sheet.
A prize will be awarded for the best presentation that explains the theories and perspectives of language development.
Jerome Bruner
Friedrich Engels
You will also be scored on your creativity within your presentation
Sociological perspectives focus on language acquisition as a tool to communicate with others rather than an area of development for its own sake.
The child learns language as part of his social development.
The theory stresses the importance of the language by adults- particularly mothers. This language used to be called 'motherese' but is now known as Child Directed Speech (CDS)
Doreen Clark
Motherese/CDS describes the style of talking that parents use to encourage the child to vocalise and communicate. Sociological/input theory relies on the fact that children who hear a lot of language develop vocabulary more rapidly in the early years than do those children who are talked to less.