Child Language Acquisition

Question 1

Chomsky’s theory

Answer 1

Nativism - the human brain has an innate ability to learn language. He believes that there is a ‘universal grammar’ where all children learn language the same way, regardless of their language.

Question 2

Skinner’s theory

Answer 2

Behaviourism - he proposed that children learn through imitation and introduced the concept of ‘operant conditioning’ and ‘positive and negative reinforcement’

Question 3

Tomasello’s theory

Answer 3

Cognitive/usage based linguistics - Rather than being the result of some kind of built-in grammar that supports the learning of language with little input, THE ABILITY TO LEARN LANGUAGE RELIES ON USING THE SAME KINDS OF COGNITIVE PROCESSES AS OTHER FORMS OF LEARNING (They learn language just like they learn to walk)

Question 4

Papua New Guinea study

Answer 4

Here, parents do not use Child Directed Speech with their children, yet they develop their language like any other child (Goes against Behaviourism and supports Nativism)

Question 5

Vygotsky

Answer 5

Scaffolding - He suggested the importance of “doing” for a child to be able to develop, and focused on the importance of the caregiver to act as a ‘more knowledgeable other’

‘Zone of proximal development’ - the area just beyond what a child is able to do already, so as a caregiver might provide the necessary scaffolding, for the child to venture beyond their current level of ability

Question 6

Genie Study

Answer 6

A feral child, locked up for 13 years, Genie was completely isolated with no speech at all. She had no ability to communicate with anyone when she was found.

Sufficient social interaction and exposure to language is essential for a child to develop it.

(DISPROVES CHOMSKY, SUPPORTS SKINNER)

Question 7

Berko’s wug test

Answer 7

Shows how children can apply the rules of their language even to ‘nonsense’ words (wug, wug[s], wug’s)

Question 8

Reduplicated words

Answer 8

Repeated syllables (e.g. ‘moo-moo’ [for the concrete noun ‘cow’] or ‘do-do’ for ‘dummy’)

Question 9

Diminutives

Answer 9

Through ‘addition’ of an extra syllable at the end of a word to make it easier to articulate for a child (e.g. ‘doggie’ or ‘duckie’)

Question 10

Substitution

Answer 10

Swapping a sound for another that is easier to pronounce (e.g. ‘lellow’ for ‘yellow’)

Question 11

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Answer 11

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Question 12

Deletion

Answer 12

Omitting a particular sound within a word (e.g. ‘ha-‘ for hat or ‘ca-‘ for cat)

Question 13

Consonant cluster reductions

Answer 13

Reducing phonologically more complex units into simpler ones – from two (or more) consonants down to one.

(E.g. helicopter —> ‘copter’ or ‘heli’)

Question 14

Piaget’s ‘sensorimotor stage’

Answer 14

(0-2 years) - A child begins to interact with their environment, using their senses and physical movement to do so. During this stage, a child remains egocentric and an understanding of object permanence appears.

Question 15

Piaget’s ‘pre-operational stage’

Answer 15

(2 - 6/7 years) - This stage is characterised by a child learning to speak and developing their imaginative focus. In play they become capable of representing the world symbolically. A child remains egocentric in this stage and struggles to understand things from points of view other than their own. They begin to question frequently and try to develop an understanding of things.

Question 16

Piaget’s ‘concrete operational stage’

Answer 16

(6/7 - 11/12) - A child stops being egocentric at this stage and begins to be able to understand the points of view of others. They become more capable of logical thought.

Question 17

Piaget’s ‘formal operational stage’

Answer 17

(11/12 years +) - There will no longer be a problem with logical thought and thinking becomes increasingly abstract.

Question 18

Bruner’s theory

Answer 18

He suggested the importance of Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) - the way in which caregivers question, encourage and support the child through scaffolding enables children to gradually develop their speech.

Question 19

Criticisms against Skinner’s Behaviourism

Answer 19

One of the main arguments against the imitation theory is the fact that children do not suddenly produce grammatically complete Standard English sentences, which you might expect if the child was imitating those around them. Instead they build up their language gradually, refining their speech as they develop.

Question 20

Positive and negative reinforcement

Answer 20

If a child says something correct, there will be acknowledgement in return. If a child makes a mistake, the parent will correct them (they receive an unpreferred response)

This is how they learn

(GOES AGAINST CHOMSKY, SUPPORTS SKINNER)

Question 21

What is Poverty of Stimulus?

Answer 21

The idea that the stimulus (environment we learn) cannot teach us syntax (grammar) because we aren’t exposed to enough positive and negative ‘data’ through observation of language use alone.

CHALLENGES BEHAVIOURISM