Child Language Acquisition Flashcards
Theories and Theorist
Nativist Theory
•proposed by Chomsky
•children have an inborn faculty for learning language known as LAD
•LAD is a mechanism for working out the rules of a language
+Over-generalisation in children
+When particular places of the brain are damaged, they may lose their ability to speak
-There isn’t a particular research done on this
- He only looked at the concept of grammar and not aspects like turn-taking
Behaviorist Theory
•proposed by Skinner
a child imitates the language of its parents and carers
•successful use of language is positively reinforced
•unsuccessful use of language is punished
+ Children usually have the same accent or dialect as their carer
- Children hear non-standard English but still learn non-standard English
- Children are sometimes unable to repeat what an adult says
- Studies show that correction to a child’s grammar actually impedes the child’s learning
Social Interact Theory
•children learn through interaction with their caregivers
+ Routines teach children about turn-taking
- some cultures that don’t promote interactions with children still become articulate and fluent in language
Cognitive Theory
•proposed by Jean Piaget
•Children have to understand a concept before they can acquire a particular language
• E.g a child who hasn’t learned the concept of size won’t be able to use words like ‘bigger’ and ‘biggest’
+ Studies show that at 1yrs children seem to be unaware of the existence of objects
-People with cognitive disability are able to use language beyond their understanding
François Grosjean - Bi-lingual household
he found that bilingual children learn language at the same pace as other children and don’t confuse both languages.
they learn them discreetly
Patricia Kuhl et al
•they found that the more social interaction a child had the more ready they were for school
•they suggested that social interaction is critical in a child’s language learning journey.
Brooks et al
they found that children who were skilful at following eye gaze at 10 months had more vocab size at 2yrs
