Theoretical Approaches In L1 Acquisition Flashcards
Major theoretical approaches to L1 acquisition
Behaviourist
Linguistic
Interactionist -cognitive-constructivist, sociocultural or social constructivist, social interactionist, information processing-connectionnist
Structuralist
Commonalities, invariant processes
Language forms and structures
Functionalist
Prediction and control of verbal behaviour
Functions of forms, consequences
What is competence?
Underlying knowledge
What is performance?
Actual behavior
Nativist
Emphasis on innate processes (innate ideas, Plato )
Empiricist
Emphasis on environmental factors (blank slate, Aristotle)
Behaviourist approach
B.F. Skinner
Child viewed as a passive recipient
Language is verbal behaviour
Observable and measurable
Environmental role predominates (empiricist)
Vocab comprehension. (Classical conditioning )
Productive language, explained by operant conditioning
Strengths/supporting evidence for the Behaviourist Approach
Attempt to explain complex process within context
Environmental input is critical
Shaping and reinforcement work to a certain extent in changing existing behaviour
Limitations of the Behaviourist Approach
Little actual direct reinforcement
Syntactic/grammatical learning?
Infrequent beyond age two
Creativity?
Linguistic Approach
Language is unique
Language forms, structuralist, competence
Biological basis, nativist
Environment as trigger for dev
Universality to rules
Finite set of examples, language faculty
Innateness
Biological basis for language
Universality
Developmental similarities across children
Supporting the Linguistic Approach
explanation for problem of language acquisition, input data insufficiently rich to allow acquisition unless UG
Creativity, learners produce forms not from the environment
Limitations of the Linguistic Approach
No known principle does not necessarily mean it has to be innate
Negative evidence?
De-emphasis on environment too strong
Interactionist
Empiricist and nativist ideas
Basic mental structure imposes regularly on sensory information
Cognitive constructivism approach
Constructivism, humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas.
Piaget beliefs (cognitive constructivist approach)
Children and adults have different cognitive processes
´Méthode clinique ´ semi-structured interviewing
Children learn through action; schemas
Role of exploration
Language is not a separate faculty
Due to cognitive maturation
Language constrained by reason
Basic linguistic developments based in basic cognitive developments
Social nature of cognition
Active involvement with environment
Complex structures from interaction
Constructivist
Performance
What is assimilation in adaptation (learning)?
New object incorporated into existing skill
What is accommodation in adaptation (learning)?
New skills
Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years) characteristics
(Understanding environment)
From reflexive to proactive behaviour
Ability to represent reality (e.g. object permanence)
Preoperational stage (2-7 years) characteristics
(Understanding symbols)
Further dev of symbolic function, language, physical problem solving, categorization
Thinking categorized by irreversibility and egocentricity
Sensorimotor stage (when)
0-2 years
Preoperational stage (when)
2-7 years
Concrete operations stage (when)
7-11 years
Concrete operations. (7-11 years) characteristics
(Mental tasks and language use)
Thinking characterized by conversation and reversibility
Logical thought relative to concrete or physical operations
Categorization into hierarchical and serial categories
Formal operations (when)
11+ years
Formal operations (11+ years) characteristics
Abstracts thought, complex reasoning, flexibility
Mental hypothesis testing
Strengths/supporting evidence for Piaget’s cognitive approach (constructivist)
Early linguistic attainments may correlate with nonlinguistic measures
Means-ends schemes and language dev
Important role of cognitive maturation
Limitations of Piaget’s cognitive approach (constructivist)
Correlation between cognitive and linguistic achievements perhaps not causal
Only some cognitive abilities correlate with language dev
Underestimation
Sociocultural and social-interactionist approaches characteristics
Interplay between linguistic, cognitive abilities and social and linguistic environment
Language as communicative act
Language environment and child, dynamic system
Language functions central
Child-caregiver unit
Nature& nurture
Performance
Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural approach
Social interaction plays important role
Zone of proximal dev (ZPD)
Scaffolding
New concepts by interacting
Learning = internalizing the language and actions of others
Mechanism of social experience
Emphasis: cognitive process from social interaction
JB Gleason is a …
Social interactionist
Paralinguistic Nature of CDS
Slower longer pauses between utterances
Higher overall speech
Exaggerated intonation and stress
Fewer dysfluencies
Fewer words per minute
What is CDS ?
Child directed speech
Lexical nature of CDS
More restricted vocab
3x as much paraphrasing
More concrete references to here and now
Semantic nature of CDS
More limited range of functions
More contextual support
Syntactic nature of CDS
Fewer run-on sentences
Shorter, less complex sentences
More well-formed s
Fewer complex s
More imperative s and questions
Children’s CDS preferences
Varied intonation
Mother’s voice
Most effective with 18-21 month old
Strengths/supporting evidence for socio-cultural approach & social interactionist approaches
Eclectic nature
Emphasis on social interaction / social context
Emphasis on CDS and interplay with child’s capabilities
Limitations of socio-cultural and social interactionist approaches
Untested assumptions
Less emphasis on innate linguistic principles
CDS not that simple
Not found in all languages
Lack of empirical support
