Competing Theories Of Language Acquisition Influence English Language Essay

Skinner proposed that kids learn receptive linguistic communication as a consequence of classical conditioning where associations between arbitrary verbal stimulations and internal responses form the footing of word significances ( Staats 1971 )

Skinner proposed that kids “ learn ” productive linguistic communication as a consequence of operant conditioning ( Berko Gleason )

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Definition operant conditioning – Miltenberger

Discernible and mensurable linguistic communication behavior ( Berko-Gleason )

Avoid grammatical regulations as this is inexplicit cognition – non measureable with no specific measureable correlative ( Zimmerman and Whitehurst 1979 )

Stimulus, response, support – three term eventuality – generalised support ( Skinner 1957 )

Learning linguistic communication similar to larning any other behavior ( Owens 2012 )

Skinner claimed in his seminal work Verbal behavior that kids receive support for expressing certain sounds – in the signifier of parental encouragement ( Skinner 1957 ) e.g. kid says aˆ¦ . And mam doesaˆ¦

As a consequence of this, linguistic communication is acquired through a gradual accretion of vocal symbols and sequences of symbols ( Bernstein ) . Parents and others interacting with the kid model the appropriate vocalizations that kids imitate and pattern ( Bernstein )

This illustration explains the acquisition of individual words, but Skinner claimed there was important differences between words – the maps of linguistic communication e.g. tact vs. mand ( Harris 1992 ) – DEFINE

Training instead than ripening of the kid ( Berko Gleason )

Behaviorists assume that word combinations are acquired in the same mode as individual words ( Berko Gleason )

Talking and groking address is brought under the control of stimulations by support, imitation and repeated estimates to maturate public presentation or defining ( Berko Gleason )

Evidence for – 200 words

Applied behavior analysis ( ABA ) aˆ¦ using techniques such as defining and support have been used in learning linguistic communication to kids with rational disablement ( Sailor 1971 ) and autism ( Lovaas 1977, 1987 )

Classical conditioning can develop grownups to alter their emotional response to a word if it is presented with an aversive stimulation ( Staats, Staats and Crawford, 1962 ) – nevertheless grownups have already acquired linguistic communication

When compared with simple modeling of words, “ imitation preparation ” was more likely – kids used a targeted lingual regulation in fresh sentences ( Whitehurst and Novak, 1973 )

Palermo and Eberhart ( 1968 ) trained grownups in a nonsensical linguistic communication to demo similarities with procedures involved in child linguistic communication acquisition – as kids larning English do – grownups learned the frequent irregular signifiers before they generalized the regular regulation to irregular forms- Palermo and Eberheart hence proposed that kids ‘s overgeneralizations resulted from typical larning forms that stem from the frequence distribution of stuffs to be learned – but grownups already acquired linguistic communication

P 69 ( Harley )

Recent literature – Although many suggest that behaviorists fail to prove their premises in a realistic scene, Applied behavior analysis – research for past 50 old ages – see old ABA notes e.g. Sundberg etc. VB-MAPP

Evidence against – 200 words

Main expostulation – Skinner failed to turn to the function of syntactic cognition in linguistic communication competency – can non larn sentence structure through a set of larning rules ( Chomsky ) – in a realistic environment, if a acquisition factor successful in the lab does n’t happen in the kid ‘s natural environment so that factor can non explicate linguistic communication acquisition ( Berko Gleason ) impossibleness of kids larning all buildings by imitation, parents provide hapless theoretical accounts when speaking to each other, parents frequently fail to reenforce the grammatically right buildings of immature kids ( Owens )

Bandura and Harris ( 1966 ) kids do non ever larn the modelled grammatical signifier

Several surveies have shown that parents were more likely to react with positive congratulations when the semantic content of an vocalization was true, instead than when the syntactic signifier of the vocalization was right ( Berko Gleason ) e.g. Molfese ( 1977 ) encephalons of neonates responded unsymmetrically to speech and nonspeech stimulations

Although imitation has been shown to be effectual, kids ‘s linguistic communication is originative and imitation is used infrequently beyond age 2 ( Carol-Anne )

Harmonizing to Miller ( 1965 ) , the entire sum of possible sentences in linguistic communications is so huge that it would be impossible to larn each one through environmental stimulations.

Premise that linguistic communication is merely another behavior – challenged – There is much grounds to propose that worlds process linguistic communication stimuli otherwise than other stimulations ( Berko Gleason )

Chomsky ( 1959 ) – Skinner focused excessively much in the procedure of linguistic communication acquisition and ignored the content being learned ( Bernstein )

Chomsky ( 1959 ) – Chomsky highlighted – kids produce vocalizations they have ne’er heard grownups use e.g “ I goed ” , “ Mouses ”

ABA – nevertheless this does non explicate linguistic communication development in typical developing kids ( Berko Gleason )

In Palermo and Eberhart paper – grownups had extended cognition of the distributional frequences of regular and irregular verb signifiers in English which may hold had an impact on their acquisition

Importance of ripening is overlooked e.g. McNeill ( 1966 )

Recent literature

Theory 2: Linguistic – 500 words

Introduce theory – 100 words

Many alterations to this theory over the old ages

Contrary to Skinner ‘s history of linguistic communication acquisition, Chomsky claimed that linguistic communication involves the acquisition of a organic structure of linguistic communication, foremost depicting such cognition as a set of regulations ( Chomsky 1965 ) and 2nd describing linguistic communication cognition as a set of rules and parametric quantities ( Chomsky 1986 )

the thought that a Language acquisition device ( LAD ) contained such cognition, present in each homo at birth in a specific location in the encephalon ( Owens 2012 ) – considered it innate or prewired and correspondent with the growing of variety meats ( Chomsky 1979 )

Activated by exposure to lingual input ( Bernstein )

The LAD contains two parts: a set of rules/principles for organizing sentences and a set of processs for analyzing how these regulations apply to the kid ‘s ambient linguistic communication ( Bernstein )

In 1981, 1999 – Chomsky revised his theory to take into history linguistic communication regulations and well-formedness every bit good as for linguistic communication learnability – consequence – government-language binding theory ( GB theory ) –

GB Theory was so extended to the Minimalist Program ( Chomsky, 1995 ) or the Principles and Parameters theory

Bernstein – efforts to explicate diverseness in human linguistic communication and histories for grammar development with a limited input – Chomsky 1999 – these regulations = cosmopolitan grammar

Switch-box – scene of parametric quantities harmonizing to linguistic communication ( Chomsky 1997 )

Cosmopolitan linguistic communication regulations across linguistic communications ( Owens 2012 )

The modularity of linguistic communication

Chomsky ( 1957 ) focused more on linguistic communication competency instead than public presentation, i.e. a true grammar should depict cognition of all possible vocalizations instead than vocalizations really emitted.

The kid as active, originative instead than inactive as in Skinner ( McLean and Snyder McLean 1999 )

Evidence for – 200 words

Cross-cultural grounds has contributed to grounds on Chomskyian theory e.g Slobin ( 1982 ) immature kids are likely to utilize subject-object word order, in malice of the order used by older talkers of their ambient linguistic communication

Slobin ‘s ( 1985a, 1985b ) hypothesis that each kid is born with set of regulations for linguistic communication making- suggested that babes are preprogrammed to concentrate their attending on the beginnings and stoping of strings of sounds and stressed sounds – this position was cemented by Morgan ‘s ( 1994 ) grounds

Overgeneralization of the regulation for regular yesteryear tense to irregular past tense – kids would non hear this in grownup address ( Bohannon and Bonvillian )

All babies, including deaf babies, babble utilizing phonic productions of all linguistic communications – this ability is lost at 6 months where kids learn to accommodate to their ambient linguistic communication – Owens

The thought of a critical period for the acquisition of linguistic communication would besides back up lingual theory – Harley

Evidence of familial sensitivity to linguistic communication upset – Hazard and Aetiology Notes

The construct of species-specificity: worlds are the lone species to be able to bring forth infinite combinations of lingual symbols – Harley

Recent literature

Evidence against – 200 words

Chomsky treats linguistic communication larning as separate to cognitive development ( Bernstein )

Sinclair-deZwart ( 1973 ) linguistic communication dependant on cognitive development

Schlesinger ( 1977 ) – impossible to cognize the difference between the linguistic communication cognition kids are born with and the linguistic communication cognition they come to develop

It is impossible to disregard environmental influences ( Berko Gleason )

There is frequently a inclination for grownups to copy a kid ‘s right vocalization and recast their mistakes ( Bohannon and Bonvillian )

Children respond to adult rewording by altering mistakes into right signifiers

An statement against the “ species-specificity ” of language- other species can separate between address and non-speech stimulations

Fails to capitalize on the functional facet of linguistic communication ( Bohannon and Bonvillian )

Semanticists claim that linguistic communication acquisition is due more to semantic representation than underlying syntactic rules e.g. Fillmore, 1968

Sociolinguists argue that lingual input is excessively disconnected, baffled, unsystematic to enable the acquisition of linguistic communication ( Bernstein ) – parental input e.g. Nelson, 1973b, Newport, 1976

Chomskyian theory overly emphasises the function of competency ( Bohannon and Bonvillian )

Imitation is indispensable in geting linguistic communication ( Tomasello 2000 )

Recent literature – Ibbotson ( 2012 ) over 6000 linguistic communications across the universe – monolithic diverseness in linguistic communication – some linguistic communications have adverbs and adjectives, others do n’t ; some have recursion, others do n’t ; some have a fixed order of points and many more illustrations. While the Principles and Parameters theory could explicate some of this discrepancy in the usage of microparameters, this farther dilutes the theory to the point of reasoning that we learn all the idiosyncracies of our linguistic communication.

Theory 3: Social Interactionist – 500 words

Introduce theory – 100 words

Examines linguistic communication acquisition within a societal development model ( Bernstein )

Bruner ( 1974/1975 ) – claims that kids develop linguistic communication in order to socialise and direct behavior of others

Rees, 1978 – interactions between health professional and kid are at the Centre of linguistic communication acquisition

CDS is every bit of import as the kid ‘s unconditioned lingual abilities in the acquisition of linguistic communication

Similarity to Chomsky – explore common grammatical signifiers across kids, civilizations and linguistic communications e.g Bohannon and Warren-Leubecker 1988.

But besides similar to Skinner – they suggest that such grammatical accomplishments may hold emerged from rote associations and imitations within the societal context e.g. Moerk ( 1991a ) – besides focuses on the maps of linguistic communication ( Berko Gleason )

CDS – societal drama interaction consequences in ulterior colloquial preparation ( Stern, Beebe, Jaffe, Bennett, 1977 )

Babies refine behaviors in response to repeated interactions with their health professionals ( Bernstein )

McLean and Snyder- McLean ( 1978, 1999 ) encapsulate the societal interactionist theoretical account in a figure of statements.

First, they propose that linguistic communication is merely acquired if the necessity of speaking arises – therefore we can presume that kid has learned that communicating impacts on environment

Second, linguistic communication is developed as a signifier of admiting already bing communicating maps

Third, linguistic communication is enabled by dynamic societal interactions between kid and health professional, facilitated by the health professional.

Finally, the kid is active in the procedure and adds to the interaction by exhibiting behaviors in a mode that allows him to profit from the grownup ‘s enabling behavior.

Bates ( 1976 ) – explored the function of parents and health professionals in linguistic communication acquisition

Child directed address ( CDS ) – restricted vocabulary and sentences are short and grammatically simplified ; overdone emphasis and modulation, pauses between words are more frequent, address is slower and insistent ( Harley 2010 )

Evidence for – 200 words

Strength – eclectic nature – associating behavioral theory with lingual theory ( Berko Gleason )

The significance of CDS – Berko Gleason and Weintraub ( 1978 ) – Cadmium observed in 14 different linguistic communications, and utilised by all grownup talkers including male parents

Children prefer to listen to CDS from birth ( Fernald and Kuhl 1987 ) throughout babyhood ( Friedlander 1970 ) and childhood ( Rileigh 1973 ) . Mothers breathing longer and more complex sentences – kids showed the least linguistic communication progresss ( Furrow, Nelson and Benedict, 1979 )

Cadmiums frequently focuses on the object of a kid ‘s attending ( Tomasello and Farrar 1986 ) – female parent who talks about such an object – kids spoke their first words earlier and had larger initial vocabularies – aid with “ intending function ” job reference by the lingual attack

Listener feedback – i.e. when the kid fails to understand longer vocalizations – grownups simplify – this type of interaction has been observed in both Spanish and English ( Bohannon 1989 )

Badly ignored kids scored lower on receptive linguistic communication ability when compared with other abused kids and controls ( Fox, Long and Langois, 1988 ) – besides Culp et Al, 1991 – neglected kids displayed holds of six to nine months in both receptive and expressive linguistic communication, when compared with kids identified as abused and ignored – demonstrated holds of 4-8 months, kids who were abused but non ignored 0-2 months delayed – where degrees of cognitive development across the three groups did non vary

Recent literature

Evidence against – 200 words

Does non explicate how kids get symbols for referents ( Bernstein )

Does non account for the mode in which communicative purposes link to lingual constructions ( Bernstein )

The theoreticians involved differ in their position of the system for sorting communicative purposes and in add-on, a system for delegating precise purposes to kids ‘s vocalizations has non yet been developed ( Bernstein )

Relatively immature theory and hence many of the premise and anticipations are unseasoned ( Berko Gleason )

Many theoreticians suggest that CDS is non every bit simplified as advocates of societal interactionist theory suggest – e.g. Newport et Al. – jussive moods, which common in Cadmiums are more complex than declaratory sentences

Although their grounds was correlational, Furrow et Al ‘s survey was countered by Hoff-Ginsburg, 1986, who discovered that the complexness of maternal address was unrelated to linguistic communication development

Baker and Nelson ( 1984 ) – grounds for societal interactionist – excessively correlational e.g Allen and Oliver, 1982 – neglected children- grownup interaction might non hold been the causal factor, it may hold been the other manner around – statistical premise of additive dealingss ( Berko Gleason )

Recent literature

Suggest how these theories apply to the address and linguistic communication healers work. Your reply must include at least three illustrations of practical applications of the theory of linguistic communication acquisition in the work of the address and linguistic communication healer – 1,300 words

PECS – 430 words

However Berko Gleason besides emphasises that neglecting to account for the function of behavioral theory in linguistic communication acquisition would be tantamount to “ ‘throwing the babe out with the bathwater ” p. 241. Harmonizing to Bernstein, structured behavioral techniques are normally utilised in address and linguistic communication therapy and may underlie many intercessions used with kids with linguistic communication upset ( Bernstein ) . One such illustration of the usage of behavioral technique

Application of Linguistic – 430 words

Theorists began to observe the importance of realistic observations ( McCormick and Schiefelbusch, 1984 )

Parent Training – 430 words

McConachie

Green et Al.

Conclusion – 150 words

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