Theory Assignment #2: How Do Humans Learn Language?

Name_ _________________________ _______

Child Development 210 Sister Eagar
language. Bullet point each language acquisition theory including research evidence. Use high level thinking to fit this
language theory into a broader theoretical perspective. A broad designation for language theories is not found in your book.
Finally, justify why you believe that this language theory fits under a larger theoretical umbrella in the table below. Add any
outside references at the bottom.
Page 179

Language Infants Teach Themselves
Learning
Theories
 Language learning is
Summary genetically programmed
of to begin at a certain age
Language  Adults don’t need to
Acquisition teach it
Theory  Its also not a by-product
of social interaction
 It comes from a
universal genetic
impulse to imitate
 Infants and toddlers
observe what they see
and then apply it
according to their own
concepts and intentions
 The language is too
complex to be mastered
merely through step-by-
step.
 Universal grammar- all
young children master
Infants Need to be Taught
 Language can be observed and
measured
 Most parents are excellent
instructors and used child-
directed speech to teach their
baby
 Repetition strengthens
associations
 Well taught infants become
articulate, highly verbal
children.
 Learn a language faster when
parents talk to them often
 If parents want children to
learn to speak and read well
they must talk to their infants
Social Impulses Foster
Infant Language Learning
 Focuses on the pragmatics of
language rather than grammar,
which should come later.
 Vocab is time and context bound
 Utterances make sense if the
teacher is aware of the context
 Humans communicate because
they are social beings
 We depend on each other for
survival and joy
 basic language at about
the same time.
Evidence from  Infants babble, no
your text to reinforcement is
Support needed, all a baby needs
this Theory is time
 It is universal, all
infants learn a language
at about the same time
Broader (Nativism) Evolutionary
Theoretical Theory- Noam Chomsky
Perspective/
Theorist
Justify why this  We have the cognitive
language theory capacity for language
fits into a larger learning that is unique
perspective. to our species
 Language is innate
 We are born with the
tools needed to learn a
language at universally
similar time periods
Reference if
outside of text
 Spontaneous babbling is often
reinforced
 Children learn faster when
parents talk to them often
Behaviorism or Learning Theory-
Skinner
 Learning Theory suggests that
we have an influence over
other behaviors. People learn
by observation and imitation
 People are also conditioned and
learn by positive and negative
reinforcement. We can
reinforce language by how we
react when the child speaks.
https://www.kenpro.org/papers/theories-
of-language-development-in-children.htm
 The emotional messages of speech,
not the words, propel
communication
 Children learn best from real
people, not video
 Unique to humans
Sociocultural theory: vygotsky
 Development happens from
interactions of people with their
social surroundings and cultural
force. We speak to interact with
those around us.
 Caregivers give the context and the
interaction for language used
https://www.kenpro.org/papers/theories-of-
language-development-in-children.htm