Child Language Development main theorists and theories

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16 Terms

1
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What is Piagets Cognitive Theory?

Is it NATURE or NURTURE?

- NATURE

- the brain needs to 'understand' concepts before it cam produce the matching language

- stages of language development: Sensorimotor, Pre-operational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational

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What are Piagets stages of language development?

Sensorimotor

- 0-2yrs

- object permanence

- egocentric, socialised

- babbles, a few spoken words

Pre-operational

- 2-7 yrs

- can think symbolically

- egocentric

- better grasp of grammatical structure, context, syntax

Concrete Operational

- logical thought

- understand concepts, seriation

Formal Operational

- scientific reasoning

- theoretical, abstract thinking

- self-conscious

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What are the limitations to Piagets Cognitive Theory?

- narrow sample size

- the actual capacity of a childs thinking is diff to results found in test conditions

- research suggests that stages arent fixed

- bruner- interaction

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What is Chomskys Nativism Theory?

Is it NATURE or NURTURE?

- NATURE

- humans have evolved to be innately linguistic, predisposed to use language

- Chomsky believes that the basic concepts of language are innate and influenced by language environments

--> the LAD (Language Acquisition Device):

- this 'tool' is a special lang learning mechanism, is an unconscious process, makes virtuous errors, is based on UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR and is triggered by hearing adult speech

5
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What are points that support Chomskys Nativism Theory?

- Stroke victims- part of the brain damaged, lose speech ability

- Genie Wiley- past the 'critical period', couldn't learn complex grammar

- Formation of Creoles- grammatical structures inbuilt into the brain

- Sign Language- grammatical

- WUG Test: Berko Gleason- virtuous errors common in both, LAD: testing its functionality, applying grammatical rules

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What are the limitations to Chomskys Nativism Theory?

- Genie Wiley- couldnt learn complex grammar

- theoretical- lacking scientific proof

- theory fails to account for relationships, external factors, motivations to learn

- Bard and Sachs: hearing son of deaf parents couldnt develop language solely from TV, radio exposure, only interaction with speech therapist helped

- WUG- bg: 'ultimately, language is acquired through interaction'

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What is Bruners Interaction Theory?

Is it NATURE or NURTURE?

- NURTURE

- language development requires input and interaction

- places significance on the interaction between a child and their caregiver

- suggests that social interaction lies at the heart of language development

- social interaction supports and scaffolds language development

--> The LASS (Language Acquisition Support System):

- the network of adults that interact with the child and SUPPORTS their lang dev (e.g Child Directed Speech)

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What is Child Directed Speech?

Examples?

adjusting your language to suit the child

- higher pitch, intonation

- repeated grammatical structures

- repeat of childs name

- repeated use of questions and commands

- concrete nouns

- short length of utterance

- recasting

9
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How does Vygotsky support Bruner?

- suggests an More Knowledgeable Other is necessary for a childs language development

- can push them beyond their Zone of Proximal Development

- supports Bruners 'scaffolding' idea

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What are the limitations of Bruners Interaction Theory?

- Chomskys LAD: a child would naturally devise a system of verbal communication

- AI- Christiansen and Kallens: AI and people predicted the same next word 50% of the time, AI learning models have the same computational principles as the human brain = suggests that learners can learn language solely from exposure

- children still pass thru similar stages of lang learning in cultures where CDS is not common

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What are points that support Bruners Interaction Theory?

- Vygotskys MKO and ZPD

- Genie Wiley- lack of interaction in early life negatively impacted language learning

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What is Skinners Behaviourism Theory?

Is it NATURE or NURTURE?

- NURTURE

- language is a behaviour that is learnt through instruction and imitation

- operant conditioning is a way of learning through POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT, teaching the child right from wrong

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What are the limitations of Skinners Behaviourism Theory?

- children still make virtuous errors

- children develop thru similar stages of lang learning despite different treatments and societies

- children often unable to repeat what an adult says

- language is based on a set of STRUCTURES and RULES which cant be learned simply thru imitation

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What is Tomasellos Usage-based Theory?

Is it NATURE or NURTURE?

- NURTURE

- language development and cognitive development are co-dependant

- PATTERN FINDING (grammatical):

- the COGNITIVE ability of pattern-finding is reflected by a childs LINGUISTIC ability to identify and find patterns

- children must develop this to 'go beyond the individual utterances... to create abstract linguistic constructions'

- INTENTION READING (meaning):

- develops as a child evaluates the context in which language is spoken to understand the meaning and intentions

- children come to the process of language acquisition equipped with two sets of cognitive skills, both evolved for other more general functions before linguistic communications evolved

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What are the limitations for Tomasellos Usage-based Theory?

- Chomsky- cant use such complex grammar without an inborn mechanism

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What are points that support Tomasellos Usage-based Theory?

- Bruners LASS

- Vygotskys MKO