CLA spoken language theories

Behaviourism theorist

Skinner

Behaviourism features/evidence

‘Nurture’ from immitation, reinforcement and operant conditiong

Strengths of behaviourism

Explains role of caregivers, accounts for environmental influence

Weaknesses of behaviourism

Child can produce unhear utterances, cannot explain virtuous errors

Innatism theorist

Chomsky

Innatism features/evidence

LAD, universal grammar (over generalisations have never been heard before which shows children extract rules), similar development stages/speeds, poverty of stimulus

Strengths of innatism

Explains creativity, explains universality, explains rapid acquisition

Weaknesses of innatism

LAD cannot be observed, downplays social interaction

Functionalism theorist

Halliday

Functionalism

Children learn language by using it as a tool for making meaning for social and physical goals

Halliday's taxonomy

Instrumental, regularity, Interactional, personal, heuristic, imaginative, representational

Instrumental

fulfil a physical need

Regularity

Control behaviour of others

Interactional

Form and maitain relationships

Personal

Express views, feelings and identity

Heuristic

Explore and learn about the envrioment

Representational

Convey information

Strengths of functionalism

Accounts for how language varies for the context, made from holistic data (natural data that accounts for factors such as gesturing not just grammar)

Weakness of functionalism

Subjectivity, less focus on grammar

Cognitive theory (Piaget overview)

Language develops as a result of cognitive development

Seriation in cognitive

Superlatives must be understood as a concept before words can be used (e.g biggest)

Schema in cognitive

Mental framework organising language reflects cognitive structures. Explains why children talk to themselves

Object permanence (cognitive)

Understanding objects exist when unseen and have a life of their own. Causes the naming explosion aged 3 with pronouns increase

Vygotsky overview in cognitivism

Language/cognitive development accelerated through social interaction

ZPD

Learning occurs in gap between independent ability and MKO support

Scaffolding

Caregivers model, prompt and extend utterances before gradually withdrawing

Positive evaluation for Vgotsksy

Empirical support

Negative evaluation Vgotsksy

Over emphasises adult input, with children in cultures with less CDS still acquiring language

Piaget positive evaluation

Explains why language follows conceptual development

Piaget negative evaluation

Children might understand topic (cognitive) but lack linguistic ability to articulate, downplays social interaction

Social interactionist - Jerome Bruner

Interaction with caregivers causes language acquisition

LASS - Social interactionists

Adults guide and structure children’s learning via interaction

CDS

Speech adapted by adults to make language easier to understand/respond to

CDS features - Social interactionists

Higher pitch (attention), Repetition (reenforces), Short sentences (easy processing), Recasts (extend utterances)

Positive evaluation social interactionist

Empirical support that CDS accelerates learning

Negative evaluation social interactionist

Not all cultures use CDS

Behaviourism overview

All behaviour is learnt from the environment through conditioning

Innatism overview

Humans are born with an innate biological capacity to learn language through their LAD