Child Language Acquisition - Theories Flashcards
Who created behaviorism theory?
B.F. Skinner
What is stated in the Behaviorist theory?
Children acquire language by imitating the speech of others and being rewarded for it.
What is operant conditioning?
Links to positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.
What is positive reinforcement?
When a child produces words successfully, they receive a reward for it.
What is negative reinforcement?
When a child produces words wrong, they receive corrections or are ignored.
What are examples of Behaviorist Theory?
- Children copy words from adults
- Children copy the parents pronunciation
- Acquire pragmatics such as politeness from their parents
What is the case against Skinner’s Theory?
Berko’s ‘WUG’ theory - where we know bound morphemes such as plural ‘s’.
What are the 3 criticisms for Behaviorists Theory?
- Children learn language at same rate regardless of parent input
- Children can express themselves without copying someone - heard the words but not in that specific context.
- Children can say completely original sentences without having heard them all.
What do parents not correct and who claimed this?
Parents usually do not correct grammar, instead they focus politeness and truthfulness. Brown, Cazden and Bellugi.
What was Chompsky’s criticism of Skinner’s copying theory?
Chompsky claimed that adults language when speaking to children is ‘impoverished’ such as child directed language. Children will never learn to be adult speakers if they only copied what adults said to them.
What did Braine criticize Skinner’s theory for?
Children cannot be corrected until they reach the next speech learning stage.
What did McNeil state about children’s language?
That children known they’re getting stuff wrong but as they’ve not advanced to next stage yet - they cannot help it.
What was Berko and Brown’s Theory?
The Fis Phenomenon - Adults repeat children’s mistake but children is aware it is wrong but cannot pronounce such sounds yet.
What was Noam Chomsky’s theory?
Chomsky believed children have an innate ability to learn language and understand grammar. He claimed our brain is a language acquisition.
What are some further points on Chomsky’s Nativist Theory?
That children listen to language and extract the grammar rules from it , which is proved by children’s rapid state when learning language.
Do virtuous errors prove Language Acquisition?
Yes - shows child is attempting to apply rules which they have learnt
What was Isaac’s Slobin’s case in favour of Chomsky’s theory?
He claims human autonomy is specifically adapted for speech. Some areas of the brain are specifically targeted to language - that if they suffer a stroke, language will suffer.
What was Pinkers claim in favour of Chomsky’s view?
Chimpanzees can learn individual words but not grammar.
What were the escaped slaves in Surinam and how does this favor Chomsky’s view?
They were forced to communicate in a limited Dutch pidgin which they learnt from unfavorable conditions. Their children developed this into a sophisticated creole - no one taught them this creole , showing children’s innate ability.
What are some arguments against Chomsky’s view?
- Just focuses on grammar, sentences can be grammatically correct but is meaningless.
- Children can’t learn language from hearing recordings.
Who was the theorists who conducted Genie’s study?
Jean Butler
What happened in the case of Genie?
Between 20 months and 13 years, she was locked up in a singular room by her father. She was rescued at the age of 13, but she could not know how to speak. Despite the support Genie received, she was never able to speak past a very basic level - showing how the brain function significantly changes due to parent attention levels.
What was the period Eric Lenneberg proposed?
The critical or optimal period, which states children must be exposed to language and social interaction or they’ll be unable to learn language - she argues this age is 5 years.
What is the LAD - Chomsky?
An area of the brain where information of language is stored.
