Language Acquisiton Theories Flashcards
Behavioral approach
Language learned depends on environmental variables
Mastered by imitation, practice and selective reinforcement
Language acquired through accumulation of vocal symbols and sequence of symbols
4 types of language acquisition theories
1) behavioral (skinner)
2) psycholinguistic/syntactic (Chomsky)
3) semantic/cognitive approach (bloom)
4) pragmatic approach (Bruner, bates)
Limitations to behavioral approach
Environment doesn’t explain rapid rate of language learning
Children produce utterances never used
Contributions from behavioral approach
Research acknowledges importance of parental input
Structured behavioral techniques are used in SLP intervention
Psycholinguistic/Syntactic approach
Human brain contains mental plan to understand and generate sentences
Premiered for language acquisition
Innate to apply language rules
Language acquisition device (LAD)
Psycholinguistic syntactic approach
Activated by exposure to linguistic input
Contains set of rules for forming sentences and procedures to discover how rules are applied
Rapidly producing utterances
Limitation of psycholinguistic/syntactic
Doesn’t take into account the role of cognition
What children are born knowing vs what they come to know
Doesn’t account for meaning and parental input
Contributions of psycholinguistic/syntactic
Encourages research across culturs
Encourages naturalist is observations to document normal and disordered language acquisition
Child viewed ad active and creative
Semantic/cognitive approach
Children’s language maps meaning
Children express meaning before they know bout syntax and semantic relations
Meaning based on cognitive knowledge
Cognitive prerequisites for language
Limitation for semantic/cognitive approach
Doesn’t explain why children may lag in language despite age appropriate cognitive skills
Doesn’t explain relationships of later developing cognitive skills
Ignores role of linguistic input to language acquisition
Contributions of semantic/cognitive approach
Research on cognitive prerequisites of language, universality of children’s cognitive experience
Relationship between language and thought
Pragmatic approach
Language development viewed within framework of social development
Learn language to socialize and direct behaviors of others
Language learned in dynamic social interactions
Child is active participant
Limitations of pragmatic approach
How are communicative intentions linked to linguistic structures
How do children acquire symbols for referents
Contributions of pragmatic approach
Highlights aspects of social language
Role of caregiver modeling and feedback
Identifies social prerequisites of language acquisitions
Unification theory
All of them together !
None are entirely right
