Theories of child and language acquisition

In a nutshell

Language acquisition is an area that has been widely studied by philosophers and linguists. In this summary, the different theories related to the children's language learning process will be explored.

Behaviourism

The behaviourist approach was advocated by Skinner (1988). This philosopher believed that humans' linguistic behaviour is conditioned by the environment. He claims that the environment teaches humans everything they know. And that causes us to modify our behaviour in specific circumstances.

Chomsky considers that the capacity for speech depends on nature. However, Skinner disagrees and thinks that it relies on nurture. This reasoning holds that language is acquired through copying and reinforcement. It means that children copy what their parents do and say.

Nativism

The nativist approach is advocated by Chomsky (2006), who does not believe that language is based on reinforcement. He claims that the ability to learn a language is already inherent in babies from the time they are born, as a component of the human brain. He calls this the language acquisition device (LAD).

Chomsky also created the notion of Universal Grammar, which is based on the idea that there are rules and properties of language that are already established in the brain. Therefore, Chomsky does not believe that children say 'wented' because they hear it and copy it, but because they are applying grammatical rules, a process they know how to do innately.

Motivation of meaning

Halliday (1975) answers the question: What motivates children to learn to speak? He argues that they are motivated to acquire language because it fulfils certain purposes or functions from an early age. These are the 7 functions:

• Heuristic: To discover the environment they are in (e.g. 'Where car go?')
  
• Imaginative: To create imaginary world (e.g. 'Dragon sing')
• Interactional: To contact other forming relationships (e.g. 'Love you').
• Representational: To convey information (e.g. 'Blue box').
• Instrumental: To express needs (e.g. 'Want cake').
• Personal: To express opinions or feelings (e.g. 'I good boy').
• Regulatory: To tell others what to do (e.g. 'Come').

Social interactions

Bruner (1978) argues that adult support is essential in language acquisition. They can help children by using scaffolding techniques, i.e. reinforcing patterns to children to help them develop the necessary conversational structures. Adults may structure the children's responses by delivering sentences that encourage them to fill in the blanks, or may recast what they have said or restate it in a standard way.

He devised the concept of language acquisition support system (LASS), which combines Chomsky's LAD with the importance of adult-child interaction.

Child-directed speech (CDS)

This involves adults helping the child to acquire language by making their own input grammatically and semantically accessible to the child. It is recommended to use simple grammar, add emphasis, encourage the child to participate in the conversation, simplify speech and use prosodics. That way, the child can segment features of language and acquire vocabulary at a quicker rate.

The constructive model

This usage-based model created by Tomasello (2006) proposes that children learn blocks of language, not single words. Furthermore, he claims that children have the ability to read intentions and find patterns from the moment they are born, which challenges Chomsky's view.

Cognitive theory

Cognitive development is the way in which children's thought processes change and progress. Piaget's theory differs from others because he addresses the cognitive development of the child, not the learning process. Therefore, he proposes discrete stages of development defined by qualitative differences, rather than a gradual increase in the number and complexity of behaviours, ideas, etc. 

For Piaget (2003), you can't understand a language if you don't understand the relevant concepts. Thus, he was very concerned with what he called the permanence of the object. It consists of mental representation, i.e. the ability to recognise objects even when you cannot see them.

Nature vs nurture

Genie's case reflects how a communicative family and social context influences language acquisition. Genie lived in California in the 1950s. She had spent the first 13 years of her life tied up and locked in a room without any contact. Her mother was blind and had difficulty caring for her and her father was an abusive alcoholic who would not allow her to go out because he said she was mentally 'sub-normal'. The physical, sensory, social and emotional privation caused a serious problem with her language development.

When Genie's mother was able to escape with Genie, she was admitted to a hospital and could not speak. She gradually managed to answer questions, although she used simple syntax. Genie had assitance and began to learn very slowly as she had passed the critical period (where the first contact with the language occurs). When you are deprived of language during this stage, you will not be able to develop your language as easily. This is what happened to Genie.

Another case similar to Genie's is that of Jim, a child born to two deaf parents. Jim's parents refused to make sign language Jim's first language, so they taught him just enough to be able to communicate. Jim's only contact with spoken language was through television and radio. Despite being exposed to different types of spoken language, Jim was not able to develop the language fully until his sessions with a speech therapist due to the lack of interaction.

References

Bruner, J. (1978). The role of dialogue in language acquisition. The child’s conception of language, 241-256.

Chomsky, N. (2006). Language and mind. Cambridge University Press.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1975). Learning how to mean. Foundations of language development. 239-265. Academic Press.

Piaget, J. (2003). Part I: Cognitive Development in Children and Learning. Journal of research in science teaching, 40.

Skinner, B. F. (1988). The selection of behavior: The operant behaviorism of BF Skinner: Comments and consequences. CUP Archive.

Tomasello, M. (2006). Construction grammar for kids. Constructions.