CLA Theorists

Question-and-Answer flashcards covering the 18 key theories, stages, and research studies on children’s language development presented in the lecture. A-Level AQA CLA

What does B. F. Skinner’s Behaviorist theory propose about how children learn language?

They acquire language by imitation and operant conditioning through positive and negative reinforcement.

According to Behaviorism, what is negative reinforcement in child language development?

Lack of response or misunderstanding by caregivers, discouraging reuse of the form.

Give one major limitation of the Behaviorist view highlighted in the lecture.

Children produce creative overgeneralisations (‘virtuous errors’) that they have never heard.

Which linguist is most closely associated with the Nativist/Innateness theory of language acquisition?

Noam Chomsky (supported today by Steven Pinker).

What is the Language Acquisition Device (LAD)?

Chomsky’s innate mental mechanism that enables children to deduce grammatical rules.

What does the term “universal grammar” refer to?

An inherent set of structural principles shared by all languages that children are predisposed to learn.

How do ‘virtuous errors’ made by children support Nativism?

They show children applying internal grammatical rules creatively rather than merely copying adults.

Which case study of a hearing child of deaf parents challenges pure Nativism by showing the need for interaction?

Jim (Bard & Sachs, 1977).

Which Swiss psychologist proposed the Cognitive theory of language development?

Jean Piaget.

In Piaget’s view, what is the relationship between thought and language?

Language development tracks cognitive development; language follows thought.

Name Piaget’s first stage (0–2 yrs) and its main linguistic characteristic.

Sensorimotor stage; language is deictic and tied to here-and-now concrete objects.

What is object permanence and why is it important for language?

Realising objects exist when out of sight; it allows talk about absent people, places and events.

What does Jerome Bruner’s Social Interactionist theory emphasise?

Caregiver interaction and Child Directed Speech (CDS) are crucial to language development.

What does LASS stand for in Bruner’s theory?

Language Acquisition Support System – caregiver scaffolding that aids language learning.

Give one typical feature of Child Directed Speech (CDS).

Repetition, simplified syntax, exaggerated intonation, or over-articulation of phonemes.

Which cross-cultural example questions the necessity of CDS?

The Kaluli tribe of Papua New Guinea, who largely ignore infants yet children develop language normally.

According to the Structuralist approach, what universal stages do children pass through?

Preverbal, Holophrastic, Two-Word, Telegraphic, and Post-Telegraphic stages.

Name the two types of babbling in the Preverbal stage.

Reduplicated babbling (ba-ba-ba) and variegated babbling (ba-da-ga).

What characterises the Holophrastic stage?

Single-word utterances that can convey whole sentences or functions.

During the Two-Word stage, what key grammatical development appears?

Emergence of conventional English word order (basic syntax).

Why is children’s early multi-word speech called the Telegraphic stage?

They omit grammatical/functional words, leaving mainly lexical (content) words like a telegram.

Who created the Functional approach with seven language functions?

Michael Halliday.

What is Halliday’s instrumental function of language?

Using language to satisfy material needs (e.g., “me hungry”).

What is Halliday’s heuristic function?

Using language to explore the environment by asking questions.

Which researcher offered eight early language functions such as labeling and repeating?

John Dore.

In Vygotsky’s theory, what does MKO stand for?

More Knowledgeable Other – a person who helps the child learn.

Define Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

The range between what a child can do alone and what they can do with guidance.

What does Eric Lenneberg’s Critical Period Hypothesis state?

There is a biologically limited window (approx. before puberty) in which full language mastery must occur.

Which feral-child case strongly supports the Critical Period Hypothesis?

Genie, discovered in 1970 at age 13 with severely limited language.

What was the main purpose of Jean Berko Gleason’s ‘Wug Test’?

To show children can apply morphological rules (e.g., plural –s) to words they have never heard.

In the Wug Test, roughly what percentage of 4–5-year-olds produced the correct plural 'wugs'?

About 76 %.

What does the Fis phenomenon demonstrate about phonological development?

Children may perceive correct phonemes before they can physically articulate them.

What does IRF stand for in caregiver-child exchange structure?

Initiation, Response, Feedback.

According to Catherine Nelson, about what proportion of first words are concrete nouns?

Approximately 60 %.

What is overextension as described by Eve Clark?

Using a word for a broader set of referents than in adult language (e.g., “cat” for all four-legged animals).

What are Jean Aitchison’s three stages of lexical development?

Labelling, Packaging, and Network Building.

According to Roger Brown, which grammatical morpheme is typically acquired first?

The present progressive –ing ending.

Name two early and two late morphemes in Brown’s order of acquisition.

Early: –ing, plural –s. Late: 3rd-person –s, auxiliary ‘to be’.

What are Ursula Bellugi’s three stages of pronoun development?

1) Use of names not pronouns; 2) Mixing subject/object forms (e.g., “Me do it”); 3) Correct pronoun use (e.g., “I do it”).

How do children form negatives in Bellugi’s first stage?

By placing “no”/“not” at the beginning (e.g., “No juice”).

What marks Bellugi’s third stage of negative formation?

Correct placement of “not/-n’t” with auxiliary verbs (e.g., “I didn’t see”).

What are Bellugi’s three stages in the development of questions?

1) Rising intonation; 2) Use of WH-words; 3) Subject-verb inversion with auxiliary verbs (e.g., “Can you see?”).

What is an example of positive reinforcement in Skinner’s Behaviorist theory of language acquisition?

A parent saying 'Yes, that's a toy!' when a child points to a toy and says 'toy', encouraging the child to repeat the sound.

What is an example of negative reinforcement in Skinner’s Behaviorist theory?

A child's non-standard utterance (e.g., 'goed') being met with a lack of understanding or an explicit correction, leading the child to avoid using that form again.

What is the ‘poverty of the stimulus’ argument in Nativist theory?

The argument that the language input children receive is too incomplete and inconsistent to account for their rich linguistic knowledge, suggesting inherent grammatical principles.

According to Nativism, what is the primary impetus for language acquisition?

Nativism proposes that language acquisition is primarily driven by an innate, biological predisposition in humans, rather than just environmental learning.

How does Piaget's Pre-operational stage influence language development?

Language in this stage (2-7 years) becomes more symbolic but is often egocentric, meaning children struggle with perspective-taking and may engage in monologues.

What are schemas in Piaget’s theory, and how do they relate to language?

The frameworks of knowledge children construct through interaction with their environment; language provides labels for these structured concepts.

What is scaffolding in Bruner’s Social Interactionist theory?

The temporary support provided by caregivers (the LASS) that enables a child to accomplish language tasks they cannot yet do independently, gradually being withdrawn as proficiency grows.

What is joint attention and its significance in Social Interactionism?

When a child and caregiver jointly focus on the same object or event, which is crucial for vocabulary acquisition as caregivers can label what the child is attending to.

What age range is associated with the Holophrastic stage?

The age range typically associated with single-word utterances expressing whole ideas, approximately 12-18 months.

What defines the Post-Telegraphic stage of language development?

The stage (typically from age 3 onwards) where children achieve full grammatical competence, producing complex and compound sentences, correct verb tenses, and a wider range of syntactic structures.

What is Halliday's regulatory function of language?

Using language to influence or control the behavior of others (e.g., “Go away,” “Me want water!”).

What is Halliday's personal function of language?

Using language to express personal feelings, opinions, or to assert one's identity (e.g., “Me tired,” “Look mine!”).

In Vygotsky’s theory, how does social interaction drive language development?

Language and cognitive development are deeply intertwined with social interaction; children learn by internalizing the tools and practices of their culture through dialogue with more experienced individuals.

What is private speech in Vygotsky’s theory?

Children's self-directed speech that helps them plan, guide, and monitor their own thinking and actions, eventually becoming internalised thought.

What biological process is often cited as a basis for the Critical Period Hypothesis?

The observed specialisation of language functions in specific areas of the brain, particularly the left hemisphere, which generally becomes more fixed by puberty.

What are the common observed consequences of language deprivation during the critical period?

Individuals who do not acquire a first language during the critical period often struggle to achieve native-like proficiency in grammar, phonology, and semantic nuances, even with extensive later training.

What defines the Preverbal stage of language development?

This stage (from birth to approximately 12 months) is characterized by a child's communication through sounds and gestures, prior to producing recognizable words, including cooing, babbling, and intonation patterns.

What is characteristic of the Two-Word stage in language acquisition?

Beginning around 18-24 months, this stage sees children combining two words into simple sentences (e.g., 'daddy eat', 'want milk'), demonstrating the emergence of basic syntax and pivot grammar.