Language Acquisition Theories

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to language acquisition theories, including behaviorism, innatism, operant conditioning, and various process-related definitions.

Behaviorist Theory

Children imitate adults and their correct utterances are reinforced when they get what they want or are praised.

Innatist Theory

Language is an innate capacity, and a child's brain contains special language-learning mechanisms at birth.

Cognitivist Theory

Focuses on the mental processes involved in understanding language and acquiring knowledge.

Operant Conditioning

A learning principle where behavior is modified by its consequences, including reinforcement and punishment.

Reinforcement

Any event that increases the likelihood of a preceding behavior occurring again.

Positive Reinforcer

A stimulus that increases the likelihood of a behavior by providing a reward.

Negative Reinforcer

A stimulus that increases the likelihood of a behavior by removing an aversive condition.

Tabula Rasa

A theory that suggests children are born as a clean slate, with no innate linguistic abilities.

Imitation Theory

A behavioral approach where children learn language by mimicking adult speech.

Conditioning

Learning process where certain behaviors are elicited by particular stimuli.

Chunking Theory

The idea that language is learned in segments that are later combined to form coherent speech.

Feedback

Responses from the environment that help shape a child's language usage and understanding.

Habit Formation

The process of developing consistent and automatic responses in language use.

Repetition

A learning technique that involves repeating words or structures to reinforce learning.

Phonological Development

The process by which children learn to recognize and produce the sounds of language.

Grammatical Structures

Rules and patterns in language that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words.