Cambridge Terms #10

Behaviourism

The idea that all behavior can be explained as conditioned responses to stimuli in an individual’s environment

Conditioning

A process whereby behavior is changed or modified due to the repeated presence of a stimulus

Conservation

In psychology, the cognitive ability of a child to see that a particular quantity will stay the same, even if put into a different shaped container

Convergence

A form of accommodation whereby speakers begin to adopt the language variety of other speakers around them

Critical discourse analysis (CDA)

A method for studying discourse that treat language as a form of social practice

Egocentric

thinking only about oneself

Empiricism

In linguistics, the idea that all language is learned rather than innate

Imitation Theory

The idea that children acquire language by copying other speakers

Innatism

The general idea that children are born with existing knowledge or ideas, often said to include linguistic rules, categories, and structures

LAD

the theory that humans possess an innate system that allows the spontaneous development of language…developed by Chomsky

LASS

A system of support from caregivers to children that helps them develop language and become sociable; created by Bruner

Linguistic Determinism

A strong form of linguistic relativism, which proposes the idea that the structure of language fully determines the thought process of its speakers

Linguistic reflectionism

the opposite of linguistic determinism, expressing the view that language reflects the thoughts and ideas of an individuals culture

Linguistic relativism

The idea that the structure of a language affects a person’s view of the world

Lingusitic universalism

the idea that all humans share a common foundation of thought despite surface level variation among different languages

Nativism

A development of innatism, involving the claim that humans are born with certain skills or abilities, such as the capacity to learn languages

Reinforcement Theory

The behaviorist theory idea, developed by BF Skinner, that children acquire and develop language through positive and negative feedback to their attempts at communication