Child Language Acquisition Flashcards
What are the 4 theories of child language acquisition?
- Behaviourist
- Nativist
- Interactionist
- Emergentism
What does the Nativist Theory suggest about child language acquisition?
Language learning is the result of imitation, practice, feedback on success, and habit formation, nature
What does the Behaviourist Theory suggest about child language acquisition?
Language acquisition is based on internal, language-specific cognitive abilities, nurture
What does the Interactionist Theory suggest about child language acquisition?
Language develops as a result of the interaction between internal (cognitive) characteristics and the environment.
What does the Emergenist Theory suggest about child language acquisition?
Language is believed to emerge out of a complex network of interconnections between neurons.
What does the Behaviourist Theory suggest about a child’s mind?
Tabula Rasa
What does the Behaviourist Theory suggest about habit formation?
Habits derive from positive reinforcement from stimuli, operant conditioning
What does the Nativist Theory suggest about how children gain biological functions?
They do so when ready as they are innate
What does the Interactionist Theory hypothesize about language learning?
It’s based on the same cognitive processes as any other knowledge or skill
What does the Emergentist Theory think about how language acquisition results from?
The result of exposure of input
At what ages do cooing and babbling begin for infants?
Cooing - first few months
Babbling - 6-8 months
At what age do infants begin their one-word or single-unit phase?
12-18 months
What is a holophrastic sentence?
A single word or form functioning as a phrase or sentence
At age 2, how many words are in a child’s lexicon and how many can they understand?
200-300 words, can understand 5 times as many
At what age can a child speak in multiple-word speech?
24-30 months
