Child Language Theorists Flashcards
Nativist
A belief that language acquisition relies on an in-built capacity for language in humans.
Nurture
The idea that language development results from being socialised by people around the learner.
Chomsky 1959
Nativist who argued language acquisition is innate to all humans and his argument derives from children using language they’ve never heard before.
Language acquisition device are shown by virtuous errors made by children
Aitchison -1983
Parents and caregivers interaction with children to give them input and relevant context, helping them to acquire language. An inbuilt capacity for language is something that is linked to the many other areas of understanding and development
Skinner- 1957
Children’s language is just like any other form of conditional behaviour in the animal world, and that they would hear language used around them, attempt to use it and either receive positive or negative reinforcement
Operant conditioning
Vygotsky- MKO
Children’s increasing grasp of language and ideas does not develop in isolation but through interaction with others, or what he termed a More Knowledgeable Other MKO.
Vygotsky- ZPD
The difference in what a child can understand without help.
Vygotsky stated that a child follows an adult’s example and gradually develops the ability to do certain tasks without help.Vygotsky and some other educators believe that the role of education is to give children experiences that are within their zones of proximal development, thereby encouraging and advancing their individual learning.
Initation- Response- Feedback (IRF)
The IRF structure was suggested by Sinclair and Coulthard (1975) as a way of analysing educational discourse. It can also be evident in early childhood conversation.
It is a three-way conversational exchange in which a speaker starts a conversation, a second speaker response and the first speaker then provides some feedback to what the second speaker said.
Initation- Response- Feedback (IRF)
The IRF structure was suggested by Sinclair and Coulthard (1975) as a way of analysing educational discourse. It can also be evident in early childhood conversation.
It is a three-way conversational exchange in which a speaker starts a conversation, a second speaker response and the first speaker then provides some feedback to what the second speaker said.
Catherine Garvey
Garvey study of pairs of children playing found that children adopt adult roles and identities, acting out storylines and inventing objects and settings as required in a role-play scenario (this fulfils Halliday’s imaginative language function which will be discussed later). Whilst play is enjoyable, children practise social interactions and negotiation skills.
Piaget
Cognitive approach suggests that language development is part of a child’s wider development
