The ‘Big Five’ Flashcards
Who created the behaviourist theory?
Skinner
What is the behaviourist theory?
Skinner believed that children learn language thanks to the interventions of adults (primarily their caregivers/parents)! And they imitate them.
He believed that children learned via a process called operant conditioning and gradually this process leads children to using the correct forms of language, and avoiding incorrect ones.
What is operant conditioning?
If children use language correctly, they get positive reinforcement (praise, the desired outcome…) and if they use language incorrectly, they get negative reinforcement ( corrections, they don’t get the desired outcome…)
Points for skinners theory
It acknowledges the role of adults in developing children’s language.
Children often initiate adults’ accents, vocabulary and phrases (sometimes without understanding it)
Points against skinners theory
Not all adults actively correct children, yet they still develop at an expected rate.
Children are capable of using correct grammar etc. even though their parents may not.
Children use language they’ve never heard anyone else say, such as overgeneralisations - they innovate, not just imitate!
Who created the nativism and the language acquisition device (LAD) theory?
Noam Chomsky
What is the LAD theory?
Chomsky suggested that the ability to learn language is innate (inbuilt) and that in a way, we are all born with a pre-programmed ability to learn grammatical structures. He points to the fact that all human languages share similar principles of grammar, despite their surface differences.
Points for Chomsky’s theory
Stages of language development suggest that language is innate- children with different mother tongues develop at similar rates. Virtuous errors (grammatical mistakes) ‘I goed’ ‘there were two fishes’ etc… show children applying grammatical rules for themselves.
Points against Chomsky’s theory
Chomsky underplays the importance of caregivers- evidence suggests that children who lack adult interaction at a young age never fully develop linguistically (Feral children).
Chomsky’s response to the point against him
He talks about a critical period that says if the connections aren’t made at an early age then they will be used for a different reason.
Who created the social interactionist theory
Bruner (and Vygotsky)
What is the social interactionist theory?
Bruner highlights the importance of adults taking an active role in children’s development - he saw adults as creating ritualised activities which provide structured opportunities for children to practise language (‘peek-a-boo’, bedtime stories, asking ‘what’s that?’ on a walk etc…’
He also refers to the support that adults put in place as scaffolding (we support when children need it and take it away as they learn to do it themselves)
He calls this support that adults put in place the Language Acquisition Support System (LASS)
What idea did Bruner build on?
He built on the ideas of Vygotsky’s ‘Zone of proximal development’ which is where adults pitch their their own language at the level just above what the child can currently do, in order to encourage children to make progress in small, incremental steps
Points for Bruner’s theory
Adults tend to adapt their language when speaking to children (child directed speech (LASS)) and children learn politeness and turn taking etc from adults
Points against Bruner’s theory
Studies have shown that children raised without child directed speech features (in countries such as Papa New Guinea) learn language at similar rates to everyone else
Who created the cognitivist theory?
Piaget
What is the cognitivist theory?
This theory links children’s brain development with their language development, basically a child will only use language once they understand the concept.
What are the stages of Piaget’s theory?
- Sensorimotor stage - children interact with the world physically, and their language reflects these physical elements (concrete nouns, names etc…)
- Pre-operational stage - imagination develops, therefore imaginative language and play develops / language is egocentric - they struggle to understand others’ points of view so questioning develops
- Concrete operational stage - children stop being egocentric and are able to understand other points of view and can use logical (concrete) thought and language
- Formal operational - abstract reasoning develops, as does abstract language
Points for piaget’s theory
Stages of development suggest that children gradually acquire language as they develop their understanding of the world.
Around 18 months, the concept of object-permanence develops and children’s vocabulary massively increases , suggesting they now need words to describe objects which will continue to exist.
Points against Piaget’s theory
Children develop at different rates
Children can use language they don’t yet understand
Which theorist added to Piaget’s theory?
Eve Clark
What did Eve Clark add?
She found that common adjectives were often found in children’s first 50 words, but spatial adjectives only occurred later on.
Children will use adjectives such as ‘big’, but won’t use ‘thick’, ‘thin’, ‘wide’ or ‘narrow’ as they don’t understand these abstract concepts
Who created the usage based model theory?
Tomasello
what is the usage based model theory?
This is the idea that children only learn language by using language for themselves in the real world- they don’t have pre-existing linguistic skills.
Children will develop an understanding of patterns in others’ behaviour and will start to interact with them in a cooperative manner, one aspect of this is joint attention (an adult and child working together, usually involves a shared visual gaze)
What approach does Tomasello emphasise?
A ‘bottom up’ / ‘building block’ approach to language development- the child actively builds and then uses templates for grammatical structures based on an interaction with caregivers.
Which theorist does Tomasello totally disagree with?
Chomsky and his LAD theory
Points for Tomasello’s theory
Children do interact with adults and create joint attention.
Children will often mimic whole ‘blocks’ of language rather than applying grammatical rules -eg idioms (it’s raining cats and dogs etc…)
Points against Tomasello’s theory
Autistic children sometimes are able to use language in a very advanced way, but tend to avoid joint attention.
