Theories Of Acquisition Flashcards
What was Skinner’s theory?
Imitation theory
What was Chomsky’s theory?
Innateness theory
What was Piaget’s theory?
Cognitive theory
What was Bruner’s theory?
Interaction theory
What was Tomasello’s theory?
Usage-based approach
What was the imitation theory?
Suggests that children learn language through imitating and copying others
Evidence to support the imitation theory
Accents
How do accents support imitation?
Children pick up the accents of their parents very quickly
Evidence which opposes the imitation theory?
Children produce language they have never heard from their parents
What is the innateness theory?
The idea that children’s ability to learn language is innate and they are born with it
Evidence which supports the innateness theory?
- Nicaraguan sign language
- Poverty of the stimulus (POS)
What was the Nicaraguan sign language about?
Deaf children created their own form of sign language by combining elements of their own home-sign systems
What is poverty of the stimulus?
Children aren’t exposed to rich enough data so the environment is not sufficient enough to learn everything necessary for language
Evidence which opposes the innateness theory
Children need input to trigger the LAD
What is the cognitive theory?
Children cannot operate in a later mode before mastering the earlier stages as they need to develop concepts before they use the appropriate language
