First Language Acquisition

Question 1

Learning through Imitation

Answer 1

kids unable to speak but able to hear can learn language and use it for speaking if speech impairment disappears; cannot explain over-generalization and child-specific errors
conclusion: imitation is not necessary for language acquisition

Question 2

Learning through Reinforcement

Answer 2

kids come to correct forms when they are ready to do so, not through reinforcement/correction; cannot explain where the child’s rule came from nor why the child seems impervious to correction

Question 3

Learning through Structured Input

Answer 3

the idea that alterations in normal speech patterns make it easier for kids to learn; “child-directed speech” (ex. baby talk)
some features: limited vocab, repetition, slower, exaggerating intonation/vowels/pitch

Question 4

Innateness Theory

Answer 4

humans are born with a built in capacity to learn one or more languages; a genetic endowment that helps a child construct grammar
-this is called Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Question 5

What is the Language Acquisition Device?

Answer 5

guides children to acquire their first language; addresses limitation of the behavioral theories (they fail to recognize the existence of a level of structure below the surface)

Question 6

Universal Grammar (LAD characterization)

Answer 6

the blueprint for language
principles: what all languages have in common
parameters: how they are allowed to be different

Question 7

LAD Hypothesis

Answer 7

children are able to learn these underlying structures/categories/dependencies because of the LAD

Question 8

Innateness Hypothesis

Answer 8

that the child’s input (what they hear around them) is not enough to teach them the rules of their language; lacks concrete evidence about abstract grammatical rules and structure

Question 9

Impoverished Data/Poverty of the Stimulus

Answer 9

false starts, slips of the tongue, ungrammatical or incomplete sentences

Question 10

Connectionist Theory

Answer 10

assumes that: humans have a predisposition to language, innate ability to make sense from linguistic input; children learn language by creating neural connections in the brain through exposure/use of language
conc: assumes that a child’s input is indeed rich enough to learn language without an innate mechanism to invent linguistic rules