theories of language acquisition Flashcards
usage-based theory
Language acquisition is driven by the experience of language in use. Children learn language through exposure to language patterns and social interaction. They build linguistic knowledge by recognizing patterns in the language they hear, rather than relying on innate structures.
Key Idea:
Children construct grammar based on their experiences and interactions with language, gradually forming linguistic structures through usage. There’s no need for an innate grammar system; instead, children learn from social and communicative contexts.
Example:
Children learn the past tense by hearing examples like “played” and “ate” and deducing the pattern, rather than following a pre-existing rule for verb conjugation.
theory of universal grammar
Humans are born with an innate, universal grammar that forms the basis for acquiring any language. This universal grammar is a biologically programmed system, and every human language is a variant of this underlying structure.
Key Idea:
Children are born with an inborn ability to learn language through a Language Acquisition Device (LAD). This device allows children to process the language input they hear and figure out the grammatical rules of their native language, using the universal grammar as a foundation.
Example:
Despite differences between languages, all humans share certain core grammatical structures that form the base of all languages, like subject-verb-object word order, which children can recognize and apply as they learn their native language.
