HOW CHILDREN ACQUIRE LANGUAGE

Four Theories about Language Acquisition

1.   Imitation (modeling)

2.   Reinforcement (Rewards and Punishment)

3.   Constructing grammar from input/experience

          (1- 3  are all learning theories)

4.   Absorption of a specific language into an already existing general language structure in the brain:  “innateness hypothesis”

Imitation :  Children memorize words and sentences they hear from a language.

•         Language symbols are arbitrary and not logically connected to the things they represent

•         Children only learn the language people around them speak

•         Children use forms of words that adults never say

•         The mistakes children make are consistent between children and between language groups

•         Children produce words and sentences they have never heard.

•         Children undertand words and sentences they have never heard.

Reinforcement:  Children learn to speak by being praised or corrected by adults.

•         Corrections are rare when total number of speech events is considered.

•         Praise is rare when the total number of speech events is considered.

•         Even without ANY praise or corrections children acquire language

•         Praise or corrections  frequently don’t change child language.

Input/Experience :  Children figure out and learn grammatical patterns from hearing adult language patterns

Children make systematic mistakes in grammar by “over regularizing” forms

The speed with which children acquire all of the grammatical patterns of a language is so rapid that is is difficult to see how they can figure out all grammar from experience in so short a time

Over Regularized Forms

Verb Forms

Children learn such past tense patterns as           e.g. walked, hugged, wanted,

     then apply the rules to irregular verbs

          e.g.“bringed”, “eated”, “runned”

Nouns

                   Given nonsense nouns like “wug” children make them plural by adding “s”

and

Children regularize plurals of      irregular nouns  e.g. womans, mans

Innateness Hypothesis

1.  Children’s brains have a “language acquisition device” that already contains the full range of structural possibilities inherent in language (“universal grammar”) .  This device absorbs the specific language the child hears.

2.  Children use the structural patterns they hear and discard the structural patterns they do not hear.

3.  Children do not have to learn structural patterns.  They only have to choose between them.

Arguments for Innate Language Acquisition Device

–       Perception for speech sounds is better than perception for other sounds

–       Congenitally deaf children will learn sign language at about the rate that normal children learn spoken language, and will progress through roughly the same stages.

–       Children are not exposed to as rich a variety of speech as they are able to develop.

–       Parts of the brain seem to be specialized for language processing

–       Parts of our physiology (larynx, highly manipulable tongue) seem to have no purpose except to facilitate the use of speech.

Lenneberg’s  Six Components of Innate Behavior

1.   Emerges before it is necessary.

2.   Is not the result of a conscious decision.

3.   Is not triggered by external events.

4.   Teaching and practice have little effect

5.   There is a regular developmental sequence

6.   Emerges during a critical period of development

Language emerges before
it is necessary.

•         Language emerges between the ages of 12 and 24 months while the child is completely dependent on parents for survival.

•         Although language will be an important survival tool, it is not important to survival at this age.

Language acquisition is not the result of a conscious decision.

•         There is no evidence that children decide to learn language.

•         Early language is an spontaneous game that happens between babies and their caretakers, not a conscious goal.

Language acquisition is not triggered by external events.

•         There is nothing that causes the emergence of language to begin.  All children begin playing with sound and language regardless of the context in which they live.

•         Children require input, but even children who do not interact with others begin the stages of language acquisition.  Without external input they may not succeed in acquiring language, but they still initiate the same behaviors as isolated children.

Teaching and practice have little effect on language acquisition.

•         Parents do not give lessons to their children to get them to acquire language.

•         Praise and correction do not occur with enough frequency to account for language proficiency

•         Praise and correction may have little effect on language acquisition.

•         Children produce language they have not heard from others

•         Children learn language too rapidly to logically derive all linguistic rules from experience