A-Level AQA English Language - Child Language Acquisition.

What does the Behaviourist approach say about language acquisition?

Children acquire language through imitation and reinforcement.

What did Skinner suggest?

Skinner suggested that a child imitates the language of its parents or carers. Successful attempts are rewarded (positive reinforcement) as the caregiver will praise the child for using the correct word. Undesirable behaviour is simply not rewarded (negative reinforcement).

Limitations of Behaviourism - Virtuous Errors.

Mistakes made by children show that they are actively working out and applying rules of language. For example, a child who says 'drinked' instead of 'drank' is over-applying a rule. The 'mistakes' occur due to irregular verbs.

Limitations of Behaviourism - Developmental Milestones.

The vast majority of children go through the same stages of language acquisition apart from extreme cases like Genie. The sequence of steps for language acquisition seems to be largely unaffected by the treatment the child receives.

Limitations of Behaviourism - David McNeill.

Children are often unable to repeat what an adult says, especially if it is a structure the child has not yet started to use. For example, David McNeill proved this. Data - The child is asked to say 'Nobody likes me' several times by the mother but can only say 'Nobody don't like me' or 'Nobody don't likes me'.

Limitations of Behaviourism - Critical Period.

Children who have not acquired language by the age of about seven will never entirely catch up. For example, Genie. Lenneberg coined the term 'critical period' in reference to the period of early childhood when children must be exposed to social interaction and language in order to master it for themselves.

Limitations of Behaviourism - Bee (1989).

Bee found that while motherese can be used to explain how aspects of individual children's environments help or hinder them from talking, it doesn't explain the underlying causes of language acquisition.

What does the Innate Theory suggest about language acquisition?

Chomsky argued that children must have an inborn faculty for language acquisition. The process is biologically determined.

What is the Language Acquisition Device (LAD)?

A child is able to interpret what it hears through the natural faculty LAD. Chomsky stated that all human languages share common principles. It is the child's task to establish how the specific language they hear expresses these underlying principles. For example, the LAD contains the concept of verb tense and the children work this out through hearing words.

Universal Grammar - Chomsky

The notion that all human language possess similar grammatical properties which the brain is 'hard wired' to be able to decode and use.

What was the Wug Test?

Jean Berko Gleason:
The Wug test was designed to investigate the acquisition of the plural and other inflectional morphemes in children. It aimed to show that children learn language through patterns and not imitation. A child was shown a bird-like drawing called a 'wug'. They were then showed another 'wug'. Children who successfully acquired the allomorph /s/ of the plural morpheme will respond with 'wugs'. 76% of 4 and 5 year olds responded correctly with 'wugs' meaning that children's understanding of morphology goes beyond what they have been taught.

Evidence to support the Innateness Theory - Slobin.

Slobin has pointed out that human anatomy is peculiarly adapted to the production of speech. We have evolved a vocal tract which allows the precise articulation of a wide repertoire of vocal sounds. Also, Broca's area and Wernicke's area of the brain have been identified as being involved in speech development.

Evidence to support the Innateness Theory - Sign Language.

Sign language is a complex and fully grammatical language. Children learning to sign as a first language pass through similar stages to hearing children learning spoken language. Children who have never learnt speech through hearing but can use sign language shows that language is an innate ability.

Limitations of the Innateness Theory - Chomsky.

Chomsky's work on language was theoretical. He didn't study real children. It doesn't take into account the interaction between children and their carers. It also doesn't take into account the functions of language.

Limitations of the Innateness Theory - Bard and Sachs (1977).

Bard and Sachs published a study of a child known as Jim, the hearing son of deaf parents. Jim's parents wanted him to learn speech. He watched a lot of TV and listened to the radio. However, his progress was limited until a speech therapist was enlisted to work with him.

What does the Cognitive Theory say about language acquisition?

Piaget argued that a child has to understand a concept before they can acquire the particular language form which expresses that concept. Language can't develop until cognitive development occurs. For example, a child can't use comparative adjectives like 'small', 'smaller' and 'smallest' until they understand the concept of size.

What is seriation?

There will be a point in a child's intellectual development when they can compare objects with respect to size. Piaget suggested that a child who hadn't yet reached this stage wouldn't be able to learn and use comparative adjectives like 'bigger' or 'smaller'.

What is object permanence?

During the first year of life, children seem unaware of the existence of objects they can't see. By 18 months, they have realised that objects have an existence independently of their perception. There is a link between object permanence and the learning of labels for objects.

Limitations of the Cognitive Theory - Nelson (1985).

Nelson and others, using this cognitive processing explanation, think language is an extension of the child's existing meaning making capacity. This fits with the fact that children will generally begin to engage in pretend play at about the same time as their first words are expressed, indicating they are using symbols in the form of words and also symbolic pretend objects.

Limitations of the Cognitive Theory - Vygotsky.

Zone of proximal development - 'The distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.'

What does the Interactionist Theory say about language acquisition?

This theory stresses the importance of language input from care-givers. Language can only be learnt in the context of interaction. Bruner suggests that the language behaviour of adults when talking to children (child-directed speech or CDS) is specially adapted to support the acquisition process. This is known as scaffolding.

Features of Child Directed Speech

1) Change in pitch
2) Slower and clearer speech
3) Repetition
4) Grammatically simpler sentences
5) Tag Questions
6) Use of nouns in place of pronouns

Child Directed Speech - Expansion

When a caregiver develop or add detail to a child's utterance

Child Directed Speech - Recast

When a caregiver repeats the child's utterance but provides a corrected version

Child Directed Speech - Mitigated Imperatives

An instruction given in a way that means that it doesn't appear as a command - but a more gentle suggestion (This is a politeness strategy).

IRF Structure (initiation, response, feedback) - Sinclair and Coulthard (1975)

This was originally suggested as a way of analysing educational discourse but is also a useful construct in early childhood conversation, as the aim is often to educate. For example, Mother asks 'What do we say to Granny?' Child responds with 'Thank you.' Mother praises child for correct response by saying 'Well done Timmy.' This is one of many ways that child directed speech can be used to model pragmatic/discourse conventions.

Jean Berko Gleason (1975)

Jean Berko Gleason identified that father's tended to use more commands and teased their children a little more. She found that fathers referred the children to their mothers if domestic needs arose. Mothers tended to use less complex constructions and were more sensitive and responsive to their children. (This study may be a little outdated).

Shieffelin and Ochs (1984)

Shieffelin and Ochs have studied how language is acquired in different cultures. Although it is generally regarded as important that caregivers employ child directed speech, this is not a universal concept. The Kaluli Tribe in Papua New Guinea has been identified as not using specific child directed speech and yet the children do not experience late language acquisition as a result.

What is the Language Acquisition Support System (LASS)?

1) Gaining attention - Drawing the baby's attention to a picture.
2) Query - Asking the baby what the object is.
3) Label - Telling the baby what the object is.
4) Feedback - Responding to a baby's utterance.

What did Wells find (1987)?

Wells showed that the rate of language development at 30 months is related to the proportion of mother's speech to the child during shared activities such as joint book-reading, play or sharing household chores.

Limitations of the Interactionist Theory.

We have seen that there are cultures in which adults don't adopt special ways of talking to children, so CDS may be useful but seems not to be essential.

What do Karmiloff and Karmiloff-Smith argue? (2001)

They argue that none of these theories are able to explain language on its own. We need to take all of them into account.

Features of the Pre-verbal Stage (0-12 months).

Crying to communicate a physical need to their caregiver like hunger. Cooing is used as an attempt of a response by the infant.
From 6 months onwards babies are able to point to things as an answer to a question.

Features of the Holophrastic Stage (12-18 months).

This is when the child starts to produce one-word utterances. These one word-utterances can mean a whole sentence. For example they could say 'juice', implying they want some more juice. Neologisms are common if the infant can't pronounce the word they require. Intonation is used to signify different meanings.

Features of the Two-Word Stage (18-24 months).

Two-word utterances usually contain two nouns or a noun and a verb. For example, 'dog bark' meaning 'the dog is barking'. Pronunciation is inconsistent with words being shortened and syllables being under stressed. They start to experiment with inflections. They also begin to ask questions with intonation.

Features of the Telegraphic Stage (24-30 months).

The child starts to produce longer and more complex grammatical utterances. Syntax appears to be in the correct order. the child's vocabulary extends massively. Pronunciation of words isn't always accurate. Suffixes are sometimes overused, for example 's' to mark plural nouns like 'information' into 'informations'. Present participles are more likely to be used.

Halliday's Functional Language Model

Phase One: 9-12 months
Instrumental - Language as a means to obtaining material needs, e.g. generalised requests for objects.
Regulatory - Language to control the behaviour of others, e.g. request for an action to be performed.
Interactional - Language to communicate with others, e.g. Vocalisation upon appearance of person.
Personal - Language for direct expression of feelings, attitudes, and for the personal element of interaction, e.g. comment on objects, expression of pleasure.

Halliday's Functional Language Model

Phase Two: 16-35 months
Heuristic - Language to investigate reality and learn about things, ask questions, explore.
Imaginative - Language to create one's environment, e.g. pretend play language.
Informative - Language to communicate new information about something, e.g. tell someone something.

Eva Clark

Eva Clark has studied the ways that children attribute meaning to lexical choices. She has coined these terms:
Overextension - When a child uses a more specific word to label a more general noun, e.g. thinking that all men are called 'daddy'/ all green spaces are called 'gardens'.
Underextension - The opposite - Using a general term and thinking that it only applies to one specific version, e.g. learning that the family pet is called a 'dog', but not understanding that other pets are also called 'dogs'.

Types of overextension (0-3 years)

Categorical - Name for one member of a category is extended to all members of the category.
Analogical - A word for one object is extended to one in a different category.
Mismatch Statements - Seemingly abstract sentences. Child makes a statement about one object in relation to another.

What is the difference between hypernym and hyponym?

Hypernym - A word that labels a category, e.g. 'fish'.
Hyponym - A word that belongs to a category, e.g. 'clownfish'.

Bellugi's stages of negative formation (0-3 years)

Uses 'no' or 'not' at the beginning or end of a sentence, e.g. 'No I don't want to go to nursery'.
Attaches the negative auxiliary verb securely, e.g. 'No wear shoes'.
Moves 'no'/'not' inside the sentence, e.g. 'I no want it'.

Katherine Nelson (0-3 years)

Katherine Nelson studied 18 children's first words and categorised them in relation to word class. 60% of words acquired first were nouns.
1) Naming things, e.g. 'Ball' and 'Dog'.
2) Actions/Events, e.g. 'Give' and 'Put'.
3) Personal/Social, e.g. 'Yes' and 'Hi'.
4) Modifying things, e.g. 'Nice' and 'More'.

Catherine Garvey (1977)

Catherine Garvey considered play to be important to language development as 'pretend play' provided the opportunity for lexical growth. Susan Ervin Tripp (1991) furthered this, with a focus on how children playing with other children allowed them to experiment with language in unfamiliar situations.
Most Early Years Foundation Stage Classrooms and learning environments (Nursery and Reception) are ow set up to facilitate this - with lots of opportunities for imaginative play - e.g. 'role play corner'.

Berko and Brown (1960) 'Fis' Study

Berko and Brown demonstrated that children can hear the correct pronunciation of words even if they are unable to articulate the phonemes accurately themselves. A child was shown rejecting the adult's articulation of the word 'fish' as 'fis' in favour of the adult articulating it correctly. Even though the child was unable to articulate the sound in the word for themselves - they could still hear it has been said correctly to them.

Barclays Stages of Learning to Write.

1) Scribbling - Random marks on the page, which aren't related to letters or words. They're learning the skill of holding a pencil or crayon.
2) Mock Handwriting - Children practise drawing shapes on paper. Pseudo-letters begin to appear in or with drawings as the first sign of emergent writing.
3) Mock Letters - Children produce random letters, but there is still no awareness of spacing or of matching sounds with symbols.
4) Conventional Letters - Children start matching sounds with symbols Words are unlikely to be spaced out.
5) Invented Spelling - Most spelling is phonetic.
6) Appropriate Spelling - Sentences become more complex as the child becomes more aware of standard spelling patterns.
7) Correct Spelling - Most words are spelt correctly.

Kroll's Stages of Development in writing.

Phase One - Preparation (until age 5-6): Children learn the basic skills of handwriting and spelling in the following order; drawing and sign writing, making letter-like forms, writing capital letters, writing the child's first name and letter strings, forming words, forming sentences and writing short texts.
Phase Two - Consolidation (ages 6-8): Writing catches up with speech. Their writing will be longer than the first phase. Declarative sentences.
Phase Three - Differentiation (9-10 years): Children learn to distinguish between speech and writing.
Phase Four - Integration (11 years): Children begin to develop their own personal styles, a personal 'voice' develops in writing, adapting to different requirements confidently.

Features of writing between the ages of 3-7. (Chronological order)

Large typography due to lack of motor skills to hold a pencil, mock letters, lack of digraphs, capitalisation due to ease of movement, phonetic spelling due to learning phonetics at school, conjunctions, compound sentences, text/image cohesion, story-like, ascenders/descenders, complex sentences, demarcation.

Stages of Spelling Development - Richard Gentry (1987)

1) Pre-Communitive or non-alphabetic - Up to the age of 7 years. Scribbles. Some letters may emerge.
2) Semi-phonetic or partial alphabetic - Can range from 4-9 years. Symbols begin to become recognisable as alphabetic. Children will try to distil writing to key consonant sounds within a word.
3) Phonetic Spelling - Words are spelt how they sound. More letters appearing than previously and with vowels emerging.
4) Transitional - More straightforward patterns like doubling of consonants are now understood and spelling is increasingly accurate.
5) Conventional or Correct - From age 10 onwards. Children can usually spell most words accurately with an understanding of unusual patterns.

Chall's stages of reading development

0) Pre-reading and pseudo-reading (up to age 6) - 'Pretend' reading by turning pages and repeating memorised stories that may have been read to them. Some letter and word knowledge. Predicting single words or the next stage of the story.
1) Initial reading and decoding (ages 6-7) - Children start to link letters with their corresponding sounds. They can read simple texts containing frequently used words.
2) Confirmation and fluency (ages 7-8) - Children become more fluent in recognising and decoding words, gaining fluency, accuracy, speed and confidence. Chall believes this stage is marked by children consolidating their understanding by using their knowledge of stories that they may have come across before.

Chall's stages of reading development

3) Reading for learning (ages 9-14) - Their confidence with words lets children move to less familiar material and shifts children into an approach of 'reading to learn'. They can now focus on the meanings and messages within the text.
4) Multiplicity and complexity (ages 14-17) - There seems to be a growing appreciation of different viewpoints and responding critically to the texts they need. Freedom to read more mature young adult fiction.
5) Construction and reconstruction (ages 18+) - Reading changes to more selection and forming their own opinions about the things they read. They have the ability to read from a variety of sources and views and create their own understanding. They can now make decisions about how to read, for example read quickly or slowly and when to skim read.

CLPE's reading development scale

This is a continuum that shows the process of becoming an independent reader. It maps a child's reading behaviour.