OVERVI

EW OFTHEINTRODUCTI
ON
TOLINGUISTI
CS

LESSON4:
ViewsandOver
viewonTheor
iesi
nLanguageLear
ning

EXPECTEDOUTCOMES

Attheendofthesel essons,youshouldbeablet ounderstand,andexplainthe

centr
alideaofthedi
fferenttheori
esonl anguagelearni
nginor dertoexplai
nf urt
her
possi
blelanguageori
ginsandl anguaget eachi
ngmet hods.Likewise,youshoul d
al
sobeabl etounderstandt heli
mi t
ati
onsofeacht heorybypoi nti
ngouthow each
canrelat
ewiththeot
hers.

ESSENTI
ALQUESTI
ONS

Tounderst
andbetterthel
essons,uset
hef ol
l
owi
ngquest
ionsasgui
det
o
pr
ocessthebi
tsofinf
ormati
onint
hefoll
owi
ngsect
ion:

1.Whatarethefourtheori
esthatexpl
aintheprocessbywhi
chchi
l
drenl
ear
nto
under
standandspeakal anguage?
2.Whatisthecentr
ali
deaofeachoft hesetheor
ies?
3.Whataretheli
mitat
ionsofeachofthesetheor
ies?
4.Howdot hesetheor
iesrel
atewithoneanother
?

EXPLORI
NGCONTENT

Theor
iesonLanguageLear
ning
 Sever
altheor
ieshadbeensetfor
tht
hatexpl
aint
heprocessbywhichchil
dren
l
ear
ntounderst
andandspeakalanguageandtheycanbesummarizedasfol
l
ows:

Theor
y Cent ral Idea Proponent
Chil
dren i mit
ate adul ts. Their cor r
ect
Behavi
ori
st utt
erances ar er ei
nfor ced when t hey get B.F.Skinner
whatt heywantorar epr aised.
A child's brai
n cont ains speci allanguage-
I
nnat
eness Noam Chomsky
l
earningmechani smsatbi rt
h.
Language i sj ustone aspectofa chi ld'
s
Cogni
ti
ve JeanPiaget
overalli
ntell
ect
ual devel opment .
Thi
s t heory emphasi zes t he i nter
act
ion
I
nter
act
ion JeromeBr uner
betweenchi ldr
enandt hei rcar
egivers.

Theset
heoriespresent
edshoul
dnotbeviewedasconfl
i
cti
ngnorshouldthey
betakenassubsti
tutef
oroneanother
.Eachshoul
dbeviewedascontri
but
orytothe
overal
lunder
standing ofthe pr
ocess ofl
earni
ng t
o underst
and and speak a
l
anguage.

Behaviorism
Thebehavi ori
stB.F.Skinnerthenproposedthistheor
yasanexpl anati
onfor
l
anguageacqui si
tioninhumans.Hesuggest edthatachi l
dimit
atest
helanguageof
i
tspar entsorcar egi
vers.Successf
ulattemptsarerewardedbecauseanadul twho
recognizesawor dspokenbyachi l
dwi l
lprai
sethechi l
dand/orgiveitwhatitis
askingfor .Successfulut
ter
ancesaret her
eforerei
nfor
cedwhi l
eunsuccessfulones
areforgotten.

Behaviori
sts beli
eve thatlanguage behavi ors ar
el earned by i mit
ation,
rei
nforcement ,andcopyingadultl
anguage  behaviors.Theyconsiderlanguaget obe
determined not by exper imentati
on or sel f-di
scovery, but by sel ective
rei
nforcement sfrom speechandl anguagemodel s,usuall
ypar entsorot herfami l
y
member s.Behaviori
stsfocusonext ernalfor
cest hatshapeachi l
d'slanguageand
seethechi l
dasar eact
ortotheseforces.(Huli
t,Howar d,&Fahey,201 1)

Li
mit
ati
onsofBehavi
ori
sm
Whi
lether
emus tbe some t
rut
hinSki
nner
'sexpl
anat
ion,t
her
e ar
e many
obj
ect
ionst oi t
.
 Languagei sbasedonasetofst r
uct ur esorr ules,whi chcoul dnotbewor ked
outsi mpl ybyi mitat
ingindividualut ter ances.Themi stakesmadebychi l
dr en
revealt hattheyar enotsimpl yimi tatingbutact ivelywor kingoutandappl yi
ng
rules.Forexampl e,a chi ld who says" drinked"i nstead of" drank"i snot
copyi nganadul tbutratherover -appl yingar ule.Thechi l
dhasdi scover ed
thatpastt ensever bsaref ormedbyaddi nga/ d/or/ t/soundt othebasef orm.
The" mistakes"occurbecauset her ear ei r
regul arver bswhi chdonotbehave
inthi sway.Suchf ormsar eof tenr ef erredt oasi ntell
i
gentmi stakesorvi r
tuous
error s.
 The vastmaj orit
y ofchi ldren go t hr ough t he same st ages ofl anguage
acqui si
tion.Ther eappear st obeadef i
nitesequenceofst eps.Wer efert o
devel opment almi l
estones.Apar tf rom cer tainext r
emecases,t hesequence
seemst obel argelyunaffect edbyt het reatmentt hechi l
dr eceivesort hetype
ofsoci etyinwhi chs/hegr owsup.
 Chi ldrenar eof t
enunabl et or epeatwhatanadul tsays,especi allyi
ft headul t
utter ancecont ainsast r
uctur ethechi l
dhasnotyetst ar t
edt ouse.
 Few chi ldrenreceivemuchexpl i
ci tgr ammat icalcor rection.Par entsar emor e
inter estedinpolitenessandt r uthfulness.
 Ther eisevi dencef oracr iti
calper iodf orl anguageacqui sit
ion.Chi l
drenwho
havenotacqui redl anguagebyt heageofaboutsevenwi llneverent ir
ely
cat chup.

Innat
eness/ Nativi
st
Noam Chomskypubl ishedacr i
ti
cism oft hebehavi oristtheoryi n1 957.I n
addit
iont o some oft he ar gument slist
ed above,he f ocused par ti
cularlyont he
i
mpover i
shed language i nputchi l
dren receive.Adul tsdo nott ypical
lyspeaki n
grammat i
cal
lycompl etesent ences.I naddi t
ion,whatt hechi l
dhear sisonl yas mal l
sampleofl anguage.
Chomskyconcl udedt hatchi ldrenmusthaveani nbor nf acultyforl anguage
acquisit
ion.Accor dingt ot histheor y,thepr ocessi sbiologi call
ydet ermi ned -t he
human speci es has evol ved a br ain whose neur alci rcuits containl i
nguistic
i
nformat i
onatbi rth.Thechi l
d'snat uralpredispositiontol earnl anguagei stri
gger ed
by hear i
ng speech and t he chi l
d's braini s abl et oi nterpretwhats/ he hear s
accordingt otheunder l
yingpr i
nciplesorst r
uct uresitalreadycont ai
ns.Thi snat ural
facul
tyhasbecomeknownast heLanguageAcqui sit
ionDevi ce( LAD).Choms kydid
notsuggestt hatanEngl ishchi l
disbor nknowi nganyt hingspeci fi
caboutEngl ish,of
course.Hest atedt hatallhumanl anguagesshar ecommonpr i
ncipl
es.(Forexampl e,
theyallhavewor dsfort hingsandact ions-nounsandver bs.)Itisthechi l
d'staskt o
establ i
sh how t he speci fi
cl anguage s/ he hear s expr esses t hese under lyi
ng
principles.
Forexampl e,theLADal readycont ainst heconceptofver bt ense.Byl istening
tosuchf ormsas" wor ked"," pl
ayed"and" patted",t hechi l
dwi llformt hehypot hesi
s
thatt hepastt enseofver bsisformedbyaddi ngt hesound/ d/,/t/or/ i
d/t othebase
form.Thi s,inturn,wi llleadtot he" virtuouser r
or s"ment i
onedabove.I thar dl
yneeds
sayingt hatthepr ocessi sunconsci ous.Chomskydoesnotenvi saget hesmal lchil
d
l
yingi ni tscotwor ki
ngoutgr ammat i
cal rulesconsci ously!
Chomsky' sgr ound- breakingt heor yr emai nsatt hecent reoft hedebat eabout
l
anguageacqui siti
on.However ,ithasbeenmodi f
ied,bot hbyChomskyhi msel fand
by ot hers.Chomsky' s or i
ginalposi ti
on was t hatt he LAD cont ained speci fi
c
knowl edgeaboutl anguage.DanI saacSl obi nhaspr oposedt hati tmaybemor eli
ke
amechani sm forwor ki ngoutt her ulesofl anguage:
"Itseemst omet hatthechi ldisbor nnotwi thasetofl i
ngui sti
ccat egor i
esbut
withsomesor tofpr ocessmechani sm -asetofpr ocedur esandi nfer encer ules,if
youwi l
l-t hatheusest oproces slingui sti
cdat a.Thesemechani smsar esucht hat,
appl yingt hem tot heinputdat a,thechi l
dendsupwi thsomet hingwhi chi samember
oft hecl assofhumanl anguages .Thel ingui st
icuni versals,then,ar et her esultofan
i
nnat ecogni ti
vecompet encer athert hant hecont entofsuchacompet ence."( cit
ed
i
nRussel l
,2001 )

Evi
dencet oSuppor ttheI nnat enessTheor y
Wor ki nsever alareasofl anguagest udyhaspr ovidedsuppor tforthei deaof
ani
nnatel anguagef aculty.Thr eet ypesofevi dencear eof f
er edher e:
1.Slobi n haspoi nted outt hathuman anat omyi specul iarl
yadapt ed t ot he
product i
onofspeech.Unl ikeournear estr el
atives,t hegr eatapes,wehave
evolvedavocalt ractwhi chal lowsthepr ecisear ti
culationofawi der eper t
oire
ofvocalsounds.Neur o-sci encehasal soidentifiedspeci f
icareasoft hebr ain
withdi st
inctl
ylingui st
icfunct ions,notablyBr oca'sar eaandWer nicke'sar ea.
2. Thef ormat onofcr
i eolevar ieti
esofEngl ishappear st obet her esul toft he
LADatwor k.
3. Studi esoft hesi gnl anguagesusedbyt hedeafhaveshownt hat ,f arfrom
being cr ude gest ures r epl acing spoken wor ds,t hese ar e compl ex,f ull
y
grammat icall
anguagesi nt hei rownr ight.Asignl anguagemayexi stins ever al
di
alect s.Childrenl earningt osi gnasaf irstlanguagepasst hroughs i
mi l
ar
st
agest ohear ingchi ldrenl ear ni
ngspokenl anguage.Depr i
vedofspeech,t he
urget ocommuni catei sr ealizedthroughamanualsyst em whi chf ul f
il
st he
 samef
unct
ion.

Limit
ationsofChomsky' sTheory
Chomsky' swor konlanguagewast heoretical
.Hewasi nter
estedi ngr ammar
andmuchofhi swor kconsi
stsofcompl exexplanat i
onsofgrammat i
calrules.Hedid
notstudyr ealchil
dren.Thetheoryr el
i
esonchi ldrenbeingexposedt olanguagebut
takesnoaccountoft hei
nter
acti
onbet weenchi ldrenandt hei
rcaregivers.Nordoes
i
trecogni zethereasonswhyachi ldmi ghtwantt ospeak,thefunctionsoflanguage.
Subsequentt heori
eshavepl acedgreateremphasi sont hewaysi nwhi chreal
chil
drendevel oplanguaget ofulf
iltheirneedsandi nt
eractwi t
htheirenvi ronment,
i
ncludingot herpeople.

TheCogni ti
veTheor y
TheSwi sspsychologistJeanPi agetpl acedacquisi t
ionofl anguagewi t
hinthe
contextofachi l
d'sment alorcogni t
ivedevel opment .Hear guedt hatachi l
dhast o
understandaconceptbef ores/ hecanacqui r
et heparticularlanguagef orm whi ch
expressest hatconcept .
Agoodexampl eofthisi sseriati
on.Ther ewi l
lbeapoi ntinachi l
d'sint el
lectual
developmentwhens/ hecancompar eobject swithrespectt osize.Thismeanst hatif
yougavet hechi ldanumberofst i
cks,s/ hecoul dar r
anget hem i nor derofsi ze.
Piagetsuggest edthatachi l
dwhohadnotyetr eachedt hisstagewoul dnotbeabl e
tolearnandusecompar ati
veadj ect i
veslike" bi
gger"or" smal l
er".
Objectper manence i sanot herphenomenon of ten cit
ed i nrelation tot he
cogniti
vet heor y.Duri
ngt hef i
rstyearofl ife,chil
drenseem unawar eoft heexi stence
ofobjectst heycannotsee.Anobj ectwhi chmovesoutofsi ghtceasest oexi st.By
thetimet heyr eachtheageof1 8mont hs,chi l
drenhaver eali
zedt hatobj ectshave
anexistencei ndependent l
yoft heirper cept i
on.Thecogni t
ivetheor ydrawsat tenti
on
tothel ar
gei ncreasei nchil
dr en'svocabul aryatar oundt hisage,suggest i
ngal ink
betweenobj ectper manenceandt hel earningoflabelsforobj ects.

Li
mi t
ationsoft heCogniti
veTheor y
Dur i
ngthef ir
styearto1 8mont hs,connecti
onsoft het ypeexplai
nedabove
arepossi bl
et otracebut,asachi l
dcont inuestodevelop,soi tbecomeshar derto
fi
nd clearl i
nksbet ween language and intel
l
ect.Some st udieshave focused on
chil
drenwhohavel ear
nedt ospeakf l
uentlydespi
teabnormalment aldevel
opment.
Syntaxinpar t
icul
ardoesnotappeart or el
yongener al
intel
l
ect ualgr
owth.

I
nputorI
nter
act
ioni
stTheor
ies
 Incont r
astt ot heworkofChomsky,mor erecentt heori
st shavest r
essedt he
i
mpor tanceoft hel anguageinputchi ldrenr eceivefr om theircar egivers.Language
exist
sf orthepur poseofcommuni cat i
onandcanonl ybel earnedi nthecont extof
i
nteractionwi t
hpeopl ewhowantt ocommuni catewi t
hyou.I nter acti
onist
ssuchas
JeromeBr unersuggestt hatthelanguagebehavi orofadul t
swhent al
kingtochi l
dren
(knownbysever alnamesbymosteasi lyreferredtoaschi l
d- di
rectedspeechorCDS)
i
s speci al
ly adapt ed to supportt he acqui si
ti
on pr ocess.Thi s suppor ti s oft
en
describedt oasscaf f
oldi
ngforthechi l
d'slanguagel earning.Br uneral socoi nedthe
term LanguageAcqui si
ti
onSuppor tSyst em orLASSi nresponset oChomsky' sLAD.
ColwynTr evart
henst udi
edthei nteractionbet weenpar entsandbabi eswhower e
tooyoungt ospeak.Heconcl udedt hatt het urn-t
aki ngst r
uctureofconver sati
onis
developedt hroughgamesandnon- verbalcommuni cati
onl ongbef oreactualwor ds
areuttered.

Limit
ationsofI nputt
heories
Theset heori
esserveasausef ulcorrecti
vetoChomsky' searl
yposit
ionandit
seemsl ikelyt
hatachi l
dwi l
ll
earnmor equickl
ywi t
hfrequentint
eract
ion.However,i
t
hasalreadybeennot edthatchil
dreninallcult
urespassthroughthesamest agesin
acquir
ingl anguage.Wehaveal soseent hattherearecult
uresinwhichadultsdonot
adoptspeci alwaysoft al
kingt
ochi l
dren,soCDSmaybeusef ulbutseemsnottobe
essenti
al.

As stat
ed earl
ier
,the vari
ous t
heor
ies shoul
d notbe seen simpl
y as
al
ter
nati
ves.Rather
,eachoft
hem off
ersapar
ti
alexpl
anati
onoft
heprocess.

EXPANDI
NGSKI
LLS

Aft
ergoingthroughthel esson,answerthefoll
owingquestions:
1.Whi chofthesetheoriesonl anguagelearni
ngisthemostpl ausi
ble?Why?
2.How can knowl edge and under st
anding oft hese theor
ies oflanguage
learni
ngbebenef ici
al f
oraf utur
elanguageteacher?
3.Describethepr ocessofl anguagel ear
ning t
hatyoucandeducef rom the
studyofthesetheories.
 ENRI
CHI
NGLEARNI
NG

Aftergoingthroughthelesson,dothi
sact
ivi
ty:i
flanguagel
earni
ngi
sviewed
asapr ocessandt hisprocessisanintegr
ati
onorcoll
aborat
ionoft
hefourtheor
ies
di
scussedabove,wr it
eanessayshowi nghow thesetheori
esworkwhil
eachi ld
l
earnsapar t
icularl
anguage.

Ref
erences

ht
tps:
//
languageacqui
si
ti
onpsyc220.
weebl
y.com/
theor
ies-
of-
speech-
-language-
devel
opment.ht
ml

ht
tps:
//
www.mont
saye.
nor
thant
s.sch.
uk/
asset
s/Upl
oads/
Engl
i
sh-
Language-
Summer -
Wor
k-2.
pdf