CLA Terms #2 - English Cambridge A Lvl

Nature vs Nurture

The debate over whether language development is driven mainly by biology (innate ability) or environment (interaction and input)

Aitchison

3 Stage Model (Person)

3 Stage Model

- Describes the process of learning meaning
- Labeling, Packaging, Networks

BF Skinner

Behaviorist Theory (Person)

Behaviorist Theory

- Describes how children develop language

- Roots of theory lie in conditioning (after Pavlov & classical conditioning/association)

- Children imitate what their parents say & receive reinforcement (positive/negative)

- Language is acquired by operant conditioning (process where a child imitates the sounds around them and receives praise & approval)

- Early Theory, would serve as the basis for future theories

Criticisms:

- Children produce infinite original sentences, make "virtuous errors", language develops in consistent stages across children, children self-correct even w/o adult correction

Chomsky

Nativism Theory (Person)

Nativism Theory

- Language is a human-specific trait (that our brains are specifically adapted & developed to do)

- Human brain has an innate ability to learn language thru a LAD (part of the brain that allows the spontaneous development of language in a child from birth)

- All children are born with an instinct for a universal grammar (makes them receptive to the common features of all languages)

Lenneberg

Supplemented Chomsky's initial theory in 1967 and stated that the LAD must be activated at a critical period (this period has broadened to a sensitive period when language learning might be more successful; e.g. 7 yrs old it stops)

Brown

U-Shape Graph (Person)

U-Shape Graph

- Children initially seem to acquire irregular grammar correctly, then suddenly start to get it wrong, and then eventually get it right again
2: Correct form is initially used because of imitation
3: Incorrect form as a result of applying acquired rules -> virtuous error
4: Exception has been learned & corrected

Bruner

Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) (Person)

Bruner's Criticism of LAD

Ignores social interaction
- No physical evidence of LAD
- Feral children fail to develop language without input
- Children are active learners, not passive recipients

LASS

The idea that adults scaffold children’s language development through interaction (aided by preschool education).

Caretaker Language (CDS): Simplified speech used by adults (songs, repetition, naming, encouragement).

Ages 2–5 : The period when [this term] is most important due to intense language learning (links w the idea of a critical period for native language learning to flourish).

Piaget

Cognitivism (Person)

Cognitivism

-revolutionized child development w the assertion that a child was not a miniature adult but went through stages of increasingly complex mental development alongside their language development
-believed that language development goes with cognitive development

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 yrs)

- acquire earliest knowledge thru physical actions & sensations
- coordinate senses and motor control
-development of object permanence (~8 months) where they realize that things have an independent existence and have names
- language is used for demands

A part of Cognitivism

Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs)

- able to think in more definite terms
- Rapid language growth
- Egocentric thinking
- Development of symbols and basic grammar

A part of Cognitivism

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 yrs)

- Logical thinking about concrete situations
- Understanding of conservation
- Language used beyond immediate experience

A part of Cognitivism

Formal Operational Stage (12+ yrs)

- Abstract, hypothetical, and theoretical thinking
- Advanced language use
- Development of mature moral reasoning

A Part of Cognitivism