Republic of the Philippines

Region V (Bicol)
Bicol University Graduate School
Legazpi, City

Name: ___________________________
Subject: Theories of Reading
Module/Topic: Theory of Language Acquisition (Interaction Theory)
Professor: Merriam P. Maldo
Prepared by: Ma. Contessa O. Guanzon

MODULE
Theories of
Language
Acquisition

Interaction
Theory
Jerome Bruner
 Title: Language Acquisition (Input or Interaction Theory)

Language exists for the purpose of communication and can only be learned in the
context of interaction. In this module you will deeply understand how children
acquire or learn language in the context of interaction with other people.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, the students are expected to:

1. Determine the theory of interactionism.

2. Understand the interactionism theory in language acquisition and learning.
3. Know the importance of interaction in learning a language.

Introduction

F r o m b i r t h , c h
communication plays a part in how the baby learns to
speak his or her native language. Some argue that
"nature" is entirely responsible for how a baby learns
a language, while others argue that "nurture" is
responsible for how a baby picks up his or her mother
tongue. Social interactionists argue that the way a
baby learns a language is both biological and social.

Key Points

 Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) – is a collection of strategies that

parents employ to facilitate their children acquisition of language.

 Scaffolding – involves helpful, structured interaction between an adult and a child with
an aim of helping a child to achieve a specific goal.
 Core Content

Name of Theory: INPUT OR INTERACTION

THEORY

Central Idea: This theory emphasizes the interaction

between children and their care-givers.

Proponent: Jerome Bruner

INTERACTIONISM
In contrast to the work of Chomsky, more recent theorists have stressed the importance
of the language input children receive from their care-givers. Language exists for the purpose of
communication and can only be learned in the context of interaction with people who want to
communicate with you. Interactionists such as Jerome Bruner suggest that the language behavior
of adults when talking to children is specially adapted to support the acquisition process. This
support is often described to as scaffolding for the child's language learning.
Bruner was one of the main social interaction theorists, who claimed that the interactions
that take place between a developing child and linguistically knowledgeable adults are crucial in
shaping language acquisition. (Emmit et al. 2015) Furthermore, he identified the importance of
providing the language learner with enough support during the initial stages of learning, through
a process he termed scaffolding. This process ensures that children receive enough support in the
initial stages of learning language, and is removed once the child is ready. (Jerome Bruner:
Scaffolding and Constructivism Theories.
Lev Vygotsky was another theorist who provided important insights into the social
interaction model. He focused on the co-construction of knowledge between children and adults.
In this case, children seek to understand the behaviours provided by an adult and internalize this
information, using it to guide their own future actions (McLeod, 2014). Thus the connections
between people and the sociocultural context in which they interact in shared experiences
becomes important. 
In addition, Vygotsky believed that language acquisition occurs from "guided learning
within the Zone of Proximal Development." (McLeod, 2014) That is, the difference between
what a child has already mastered and what they can achieve when provided with educational
support from their teacher can be is important to recognize when promoting learning.

Limitations of Input/Interactionist theories

These theories serve as a useful corrective to Chomsky's early position and it seems
likely that a child will learn more quickly with frequent interaction. However, it has already been
noted that children in all cultures pass through the same stages in acquiring language. We have
also seen that there are cultures in which adults do not adopt special ways of talking to children,
so CDS may be useful but seems not to be essential.
Interactionist Theories and English as a Second Language
How does the intreactionist Theory fit in with ESL in a classroom? When faced with
learning English as a second language, student is essentially an infant. They cannot communicate
with the teacher except through non-verbal communication Therefore, it is up to the teacher to
act as an adult in the adult-infant relationship. He or she is responsible for leading all interaction
at first, and as student becomes more familiar with the English language and able to
communicate, the control of the interaction can be relinquished a bit and the students can take
more control of their own language learning. Also, if students are encouraged to experiment with
the language and learn that it is okay to make mistakes, they will be able to discover for
themselves how to combine words and phrases to form full sentences and dialogues.

Can
Activities
you do
this?

1. What theory of language acquisition is being discussed in this module?

2. How is language learned according to this theory?
3. Why is interactionism theory important?
4. How is interactionism applied today?

Summary

Key Points:

o Interactionist theories are concerned with the interplay between environmental and
biological factors in the process of acquiring language.
o Interactionists tend to view children as having a strong biological predisposition to
acquire a langauge.
o Interactionist theory highlight the important role of the social environment and the
important role social input has in structuring our language learning.
o However in contrast to nativist, interactionists stress the importance of both the social
support that parent provide the young language learner; as well as the social contexts in
which language learning child is instructed.
o Bruner (1983) argues parents provide their children a language acquisition support
system or LASS.

Criticisms of Interactionist Perspectives:

 De Villiers & De Villiers (1992) suggest that parents rarely offer their children direct
feedback on the appropriateness of their grammar.
 Linguistic and social practices vary widely across cultures. Some cultures do not use
anything like practices described above and yet, their children still learn language at a
similar rate to Western children.
References:

1. Piaget, J. (1956). The language and thought of a child. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace
and Co.Google Scholar
2. Saxon, T. F. (1997). Interaction styles and language competence. First Language, 17,
271–281.Google Scholar
3. Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google
Scholar
4. Reilly, J., Bates, E., & Marchman, V. (n.d.). Narrative Discourse in Children with Early
Focal Brain Injury. Brain and Language, 335-375
5. Brooks, Nelson (1960). “Language and Language Learning”. New York: Harcourt, Brace
and World.
6. Lemetyinen, H. (2012, October 24). Language acquisition. Simply Psychology.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/language.html

Answer Key:

1. Input or Interaction Theory by Jerome Bruner

2. According to the input or interaction theory by Jerome Bruner children learned or
acquired language through the interplay or social interaction between the environment or
biological factors. So, interaction between children and their caregivers/parents plays an
important role in language acquisition.
3. The interactionist approach claims that if our language ability develops out of a desire to
communicate, then language is dependent upon whom we want to communicate with.
This means that the environment you grow up will heavily affect how well and how
quickly you learn to talk. Therefore, interactionism theory is important as it plays a
critical role in learning a language.
4. Answers may vary depending on their personal experiences.