Theories of First Language Acquisition

THEORIES OF FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Over the last fifty years, several theories have been put forward to explain the process by which children learn to understand and speak a language. They can be summarised as follows: Over the past fifty years, several theories have been proposed to explain how children learn to understand and speak a language. These theories include individual with theory, behaviourist children imitating adults by Skinner's, Chomsky's idea of innateness, Piaget's cognitive theory, interaction theory by Bruner. Behaviourist Theory Behaviourist psychologists developed their theories through experiments on animals, observing that desirable behaviour was rewarded with positive reinforcement, while undesirable behaviour was punished or not rewarded. Skinner proposed that children imitate their parents' language, with successful attempts being reinforced by praise or praise. These theories have contributed to our understanding of language acquisition and its development. Limitations of Behaviourism Skinner's explanation of language is flawed due to objections. Language is based on rules, not individual utterances. Children's mistakes reveal they are actively applying rules, not simply imitating. For instance, a child over-applying past tense verbs, known as intelligent or virtuous errors, is not copying an adult. Most children follow a sequence of developmental milestones for language acquisition, which is largely unaffected by treatment or societal type, except for extreme cases like Genie. David McNeill, an American psycholinguist, demonstrated that children often struggle to repeat adult utterances, especially if they contain a structure they haven't yet learned. This is illustrated by a dialogue involving negating verbs. Child: Nobody don't like me Mother: No, say, "Nobody likes me." Child: Nobody don't like me. (Eight repetitions of this dialogue) Mother: No, now listen carefully: say, "Nobody likes me." Child: Oh! Nobody don't likes me. (McNeil in The Genesis of Language, 1966) Parents prioritize truth value over well-formed syntax in explicit verbal reinforcement, leading to highly grammatical but not notably truthful speech in children, as per Brown, Cazden, and Bellugi (1969). Language acquisition is critical, and children who don't start by age seven will never catch up. Genie, discovered at 13, was a famous example of a child who struggled with language and grammatical competence, despite attempts at rehabilitation. Innateness Theory or Mentalist Theory In 1957, Noam Chomsky critiqued the behaviourist theory, focusing on the impoverished language input children receive. He concluded that children have an inborn faculty for language acquisition, known as the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Chomsky did not suggest that an English child is born with specific knowledge about English, but that all human languages share common principles, and it is the child's task to understand how the language expresses these principles. The LAD contains the concept of verb tense. Through listening to forms like "worked", "played", and "patted", the child will form the hypothesis that the past tense of verbs is formed by adding the sound /d/, /t/ or /id/ to the base form. . This leads to "virtuous errors" and is unconscious, unlike Chomsky's idea of a child working out grammatical rules consciously. Chomsky's theory of language acquisition (LAD) has been modified by Dan Isaac Slobin, who suggests it may be a mechanism for determining language rules. Slobin suggests that children are born with a process mechanism, rather than a set of linguistic categories, that processes linguistic data to produce a member of human languages. Evidence to support the innateness theory Work in several areas of language study has provided support for the idea of an innate language faculty. Three types of evidence are offered here: The innateness theory of language is supported by evidence from various language study areas. Human anatomy is adapted for speech production, with a vocal tract that allows precise articulation of vocal sounds. Neuroscience identifies brain areas with linguistic functions such as Broca's area and Wernicke's area, and stroke victims may experience language dysfunction. Experiments teaching chimpanzees to communicate using plastic symbols or manual gestures have been controversial. The formation of creole varieties of English is attributed to the LAD, as studied by linguist Derek Bickerton. In Surinam, Dutch-based creoles were formed by escaped slaves who were forced to communicate in a restricted form, known as a pidgin. The children turned this pidgin into a full language, known as a creole. Sign languages used by deaf children are complex, grammatical languages, with multiple dialects. Children learning sign go through similar stages to hearing children learning spoken language. A signing creole, developed by children in Nicaragua, fulfils the same function. Limitations of Chomsky's theory Chomsky's language theory was theoretical, focusing on grammar and grammatical rules. It did not study real children and did not consider interaction between children and their carers. A 1977 study of Jim, a hearing son of deaf parents, showed that exposure to language was not enough for progress. Subsequent theories emphasize real children's development of language to fulfill needs and interact with their environment. The Cognitive Theory Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget argued that language acquisition is a child's mental or cognitive development, with understanding a concept necessary before acquiring the language form expressing that concept. A good example of this is seriation. There will be a point in a child's intellectual development when s/he can compare objects with respect to size. This means that if you gave the child several sticks, s/he could arrange them in order of size. For example, a child cannot use comparative adjectives like "bigger" or "smaller" without reaching this stage. Cognitive theory suggests that object permanence in children begins in the first year, with objects moving out of sight disappearing. By 18 months, children realize objects exist independently of perception, and vocabulary increases, suggesting a connection between object permanence and learning labels. Limitations of the Cognitive Theory During the first year to 18 months, connections between language and intellect are possible, but as children develop, it becomes harder to establish clear links between language and intellect. Some studies have focused on children who have learned to speak fluently despite abnormal mental development. Syntax does not appear to rely on general intellectual growth. Input or Interactionist Theories Recent theorists emphasize the importance of language input from caregivers for children's language learning. Jerome Bruner suggests that adult language behavior, known as child-directed speech (CDS), is adapted to support language acquisition. The Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) was coined in response to Chomsky's LAD. Colwyn Trevarthen found that turn-taking structure develops through games and non-verbal communication. Limitations of Input theories Theories correct Chomsky's early view, suggesting frequent interaction is faster for language acquisition. However, all cultures have similar language stages and adults may not adopt special ways of talking. child-directed speech or CDS may be useful but not essential. As stated earlier, the various theories should not be seen simply as alternatives. Rather, each of them offers a partial explanation of the process.