Unit 8 - Theories Of LA Flashcards
Nature
The inherited genetic and physical makeup of a person
=> gender; ethnicity
Nurture
The sum total of all the environmental influences a persons experiences
=>family + school environment
Conditioning
A process whereby behaviours change to modify due to the repeated presence of a stimulus
=> stimulus repetition triggers specific behaviour
=>praise = stimulus to learning
Language acquisition device
LAD
An innate system in the brain which allows the spontaneous development of language and a child from birth

~Noam Chomsky
• stages of language development occur at roughly the same age in most children
• language development follows a similar pattern across cultures
• give children have not been exposed to spoken language may make up their own language
Language acquisition support system
LASS
What system of support from caregivers to children that helps him to acquire language and become sociable
~ Jerome Bruner 
• Caregivers interact with children (caretaker language) - active interaction 
• Important between the ages of 2 to 5 when language learning is most intense
• Preschool provides scaffolding + education for children’s language development by extensive interaction with adults and other children - broadening child’s horizons
Cognitive development
Mental process involved in gaining knowledge and abilities through thoughts, experience and senses
~ Jean Piaget
Egocentric
Thinking only about oneself

~ age 2-5
Conversation
Ability to see that a particular quantity will stay the same even if it is put into different shaped container
=> age 5-11
Zone of proximal development
ZPD
Gap between what a child can do by themselves and what they can do with appropriate support
Initiation response feedback
IRF
Pattern of discussion between teacher and student in which the teacher asks the student a question, the student responds, and teacher provides feedback
Reliability
The extent to which an experiment gives the same results on repeated trials
Validity
The degree to which a study accurately reflects or assesses the principle that is being measured
Scaffolded
Support provided by a teacher or peer to help a child achieve something in the zone of proximal development
=> support tapers off as a child learns to achieve this by doing it themselves
Case study : Jim
Jim - child of deaf parents. Not wanting to affect his speech he only watched TV. Took place in 1977
~ He learnt languages, but did not produce any
~ Unnable to communicate until speech therapy
~> This lends itself to disproving LAD as he was unable to speak
Case study : Genie
1970 age 13 in California. She was found tied to a chair in a small room and unable to leave the room. Unable to speak, only grunt.
Results after being taken away and placed with therapists:
~Language development followed that of a child - slowly forming 1/2/3 word sentences
~ Further growth was never achieved -failing LAD theory
~> Highlighting a ‘critical infant period’ of acquisition
