child speech theorists (AO2) Flashcards
remember the dates of these theorists
Noam Chomsky (1965)
- universal grammar = the idea that human languages, as superficially diverse as they are share some fundamental similarities and these are attributable to inate principles unique to language
- inateness theory
- language development is instinctive, humans have an inate understanding of grammar
-** every child has a LAD**
- role of the LAD is to encode major skills involved in language learning, with a focus of encoding grammar skills
Jean berko gleason (1958) - Wug test
(support for chomsky/nature argument)
- sought to test the notion that children have a more sophisticated understanding of linguisitc morphology than they have been explicitly taught
- test used pseudo words such as “wug”, to test if children could apply grammatical rules to words they hadnt been exposed to previously
- berko found that children are often able to deduce what the plural of the noun should be .g. they correctly added the bound morpheme “s” when shown images of two or more ‘wugs’
- this test seems to suggest that children have an inate ability to understand grammar rules and apply the to different situations
SUPPORTS NATURE ARGUMENT
SUPPORTS CHOMSKY
Genie Case study (1970s)
(support for chomsky/nature argument)
- between the ages of 20 months - 13 years, Genie was locked up by her father and exposed to no social interaction
- when she was found she was found to have no level of speech at all
- despite several interventions she was not able to progress or aquire language past a basic level
this supports Lennerbergs development of chomsky
- because Lenneberg proposed the idea of a critical period, in the LAD must be ‘activated’ within
- the fact that Genie could not development language skills, especially syntax, suggests the learning of language is not soley imitation/enviromental but instead proposes there is an inherent biological programming that must be triggered at an early age
what are the supports of chomsky/nature approach?
chomsky argued children must not learn purely from imitation alone
- children often say common grammatically incorrect sentences or word forms e.g. “runned, or mouses”, these are clearly not learned through imitation but suggests they are generating language through an inate learning system (LAD)
- can be supported by jean berko gleasons WUG test
- can be supported by Genie case study
what are some criticisms of chomsky
Although it is clear that children dont learn language soley through imitation alone, it does not necessarily prove the concept of a LAD
criticisms 1) children do learn through imitation even if not entirely
–> link to skinners behaviourist theory
criticism 2 ) in fact, chomskys theory of a LAD lacks any form of practical evidence, LAD is more of a hypothetical concept rather than a proven mechanism
criticism 3 )Chomsky placed large emphasis on grammatical rules and structures, potentially disregarding the importance of how children come to understand language in real life contexts
“*language developement in children may be alternatively explained by theorists such as…” *(insert alternative theorists here e.g. piaget)
B.F. Skinner
- behaviourist theory
- can be used to contrast chomsky
- suggested that a child imitates the language of its parents or carers
- successful attempts at language are rewarded because an adult or recognises a word spoken by the child will offer praise or give the child what they are asking for
-skinner argued that successful lexical utterances are therefore reinforced whilst unsuccessful are forgotten and not used again
what are some criticisms of B.F skinners behaviourism
-
mistakes made by children reveal they are not simply imitating and repeating the utterances of asults but instead suggest they are working out and applying rules
(e.g. a child that says “dranked” instead of “drunk” is overapplying a rule of past tense.) –> they are unlikely to have heard this incorrect form be used by an adult - children are often unable to repeat what an adult says, especially if the adults utterance contains a structure the child has not yet started to use
-** children rarely recieve such explicit grammatical correction** –> perhaps parents are more interested in politness and truthfullness rather than perfect forms
Brown, Cazden and Bellugi (1969)” it seems to be truth value rather than well-formed syntax that chiefly governs explicit verbal reinforcement by parents”
Jean Piagets Cognitive theory (1930s- 1950s)
- placed aquisition of language within the context of a childs mental or cognitive development
- argued a child has to understand a concept before they can acquire a particular language form which expresses that context
Piagets stages of development
piaget suggests language aquisition develops as a childs cognitive ability grows WHEREAS, chomsky believes it is inate/ we are born with LAD
piaget emphasises interaction with enviroment whereas chomsky emphasis universal grammar
sensorimotor stage (Birth - 2 years):
- object permance is main achivement (knowing an object still exists even if it is hidden)
- requires the ability to form a mental representation
pre-operational stage (2-7 years)
- young children able to think symbolilically
- to ability to make one word or thing stand for something other than itself
- thinking is still egocentric
concrete operational stage (7-11 years)
- considered a major turning point in childs cognitive development because it is the beggining of logical/operational thought
- child can work things out internally
- children understand conservation (quantity stays the same even when appearance changes)
formal operational stage (11 years+)
- lasts into adulthood
- people develop ability to think about abstract concepts, and logically test hypothesis
what are some criticisms of Piagets cognitve theory
1) problem with research methods:
- piaget based a lot of his work on the observation of his own three children
- the other children in piagets small research sample were all from well- educated proffesional of high socioeconomic status
- because of this unrepesentative sample, it is difficult to generalisehis findings to larger populations
2) problems with formal operations
- research has disputed piagets argument that all children will automatically move to the next stage of development as they mature
- some data suggests enviromental facotrs may play a role in the development of formal operatons
What are some supports of jean piagets cognitive theory
- piagets focus on qualititive development had an important impact on education
whilst piaget did not specifically apply his theory in this way amny educational programmes are now built upon the belief that children should be taught at the level for which they are developmentally prepared - in addition to this, a number of instructional strategies have been derived from piagets work including:
- providing a supporting enviroment
- utilising social interactions
- peer teaching
- helping children see facilities and inconsisties in their thinking
overall it could be concluded/argued piagets theories have much greater practical application that other theoriests such as chomsky or skinner and were much more productive in their outcomes.
Leslie Rescorla (2009)
- studied 78 children from the age of 2 for 15 years
- published findings in 2009
- found a link between later vocabularly devleopment in toddlers and continued language issues as they got older
- if a child has fewer words in their vocabulary aged 2, it could also be a sign of other problems e.g. deafness or autism
- article also identified that “overheard speech” is not an efficient substitue for real human interaction + wont be particularly helpful in a childs language development
rescorlas work reveals the importance of social context and language exposure on a childs linguistic development
Lev Vygotsky - Scaffolding
- proposed that children learn through interactinos with their surroundings
- argued there are sociocultural elements to child development with language and language can be influenced by their zone of proximal development
zone of proximal development= the difference between when a child can sole a problem or do a task with an adults help and without an adults help - teaching takes place within the zone of proximal development
- a teacher will push a student to their potential using scaffolding
- scaffolding = when a teacher or adult provides a framework so the child can access the task or activity
- eventually the child will move towards independance
