Language Flashcards
What is “language acquisition?”
the way infants learn to understand and speak their native language
What are the 3 main approaches to language development?
- learning theory
- nativist theory
- interactionist theory
Who is associated with the learning theory of language development?
BF Skinner - who stated that children learn via operant conditioning
*flaw: it doesn’t account for children speaking words they’ve never been exposed to
Who is associated with the nativist theory of language development?
Noah Chomsky - proposed we are all born with innate skill and a “language acquisition device” (more theoretical than structural)
Who is associated with the interactionist theory of language development?
Lev Vygotsky - suggested interplay between environmental cues and innate biology work together
What part of the brain is responsible for speech production?
Broca’s area, located in the frontal lobe (usually LEFT)
What part of the brain is responsible for speech comprehension?
Wernicke’s area, located in the medial temporal lobe (usually LEFT)
What is linguistic determinism?
language determines cognition and perception
*strong hypothesis = it governs completely
aka Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
What is linguistic relativity?
it’s the weaker degree of linguistic determinism that that states language is instead influential on thought
- it state that people who speak different languages see the world differently
