Theories

Question 1

Nativist theory

Answer 1

Innate ability. Children learn language by extracting rules from what it hears. This can lead to virtuous errors - a ‘mistake’ that has logic, and overextension/ overgeneralisation - the child tried to apply a rule to to a word which is non-standard/ irregular

Question 2

Social Interactionist Theory

Answer 2

Language is innate but parents will use Child Directed Speech to support the child’s learning. Features include: interrogatives and imperatives to encourage the child to converse, repeating their utterances back to them, modelling the standard form (not correcting), lexical expression and recasting if the child doesn’t respond

Question 3

Behaviourist Theory

Answer 3

Children learn by copying adults. Adults ‘reward’ standard forms and ‘punish’ non-standard forms (Operant Conditioning). Explains word learning and aspects of phonology. Doesn’t explain grammar and morphology as parents rarely correct these. Also, children rarely listen to adults corrections

Question 4

Cognitive Theory

Answer 4

Children are unable to produce language structures until they understand the concepts behind them. Explains morphology but doesn’t explain the process the child then goes through to learn these forms (pair with another theory)

Question 5

Aitchinson

Answer 5

Labelling- A child links a sound to an object. They are able to call something their correct name
Packaging - A child begins to understand the range of meaning a word might have
Network Building - A child begins to make connections between words. They understand that words have opposites e.g. ‘big’ and ‘small’ are antonyms

Question 6

Hyponymy

Answer 6

Hierarchal structure that exists between lexical items

Question 7

Hypernym

Answer 7

A more general word that can have more specific words under it

Question 8

Hyponym

Answer 8

A specific word in a wider category

Question 9

Synonym

Answer 9

Express similar meanings

Question 10

Antonym

Answer 10

Express opposite meanings

Question 11

Under extension

Answer 11

Uses a word in a restricted way

Question 12

Emerging literacy

Answer 12

Any reading/ writing like behaviour which mimics components of the activities that are generally considered reading or writing

Question 13

Emergent reading

Answer 13

Children comprehend or attempt to comprehend a message encoded in graphic signs

Question 14

Emergent writing

Answer 14

Children attempt to produce graphic signs representing oral speach

Question 15

Scribbling stage

Answer 15

Think it conveys meaning
Mimics parents writing 
Motor skills undeveloped
Attempt to write left to right 
Inverted graphemes 
Understand list form

Question 16

Approximate stage

Answer 16

Associate graphemes with phonemes
Understand directionality
Able to produce letter forms
Pictures to add meaning

Question 17

Conventional spelling stage

Answer 17

Produce standard forms 
More detailed 
Fronted adverbial - place
Declaratives
1st person pronouns 
Likely done in school 
Some phonetic spelling

Question 18

Social development theory (Vygotsky)

Answer 18

Stresses the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition
Input from more experienced people
ZPD is an area of learning that occurs when a child Is assisted by a teacher or person with a higher skill

Question 19

ZPD

Answer 19

Zone of proximal development

Question 20

Constructivist learning theory

Answer 20

Children acquire language as a result of engaging in social experiments

Question 21

Scaffolding

Answer 21

Help children with things they cannot do individually

Question 22

Labelling

Answer 22

Child links a sound to an object. They are able to call something their correct name.

Question 23

Packaging

Answer 23

Child begins to understand the range of meaning a word might have. They recognise that the word bottle can cover different shapes and sizes but have a similar function

Question 24

Network building

Answer 24

Child begins to make connections between words. They understand that words can have opposites e.g. big and small