Child Language Acquisition Theory Flashcards
Skinner’s ______ Theory.
Behaviorist.
What does Skinner’s theory state.
Children acquire language by imitating speech and being rewarded for it - positive reinforcement.
What was Gean Berko’s experiment thet refutes Skinner’s claim?
The Wug Experiment. Bound morphime (plural S) at the end of wugs.
What did Chomsky claim that criticises Skinner’s theory?
He said that the language used by adults when speaking to a child is impoverished. Children would never learn to be adult speakers if they only copied what they heard from adults.
What was Braine’s examples that criticises Skinner’s theory.
“Other one spoon” - Children can not be corrected.
Why in Berko and Brown’s Fis Phenomenon was the child making the mistake.
Plosive sounds (‘s’) are early but fricatives (‘sh’) are late.
Chomsky’s ____ Theory.
Nativist.
What did Chomsky’s Nativist Theory suggest.
Children have an innate ability to understand grammar. Our brains have an LAD.
How are virtuous errors used to support the existence of the LAD?
They show that the child us attempting to apply rules they learned.
What did Eric Lenneberg propose?
The critical period - the age before which you must be exposed to language and social interaction or you will be unable to learn it.
Piaget’s ____.
Cognitivism.
Explain Piaget’s cognitivism.
A child’s language development is tied to their greater cognitive development.
Piaget’s Cognitivism - explain object permanent.
Children learn that objects continue to exist even if they can not see/feel them. After they learn this they learn names more readily. 18 months.
Piaget’s Cognitivism - explain classification.
Children learn to classify objects and actions. Some are eaten, some are sat on etc. After this children can divide words into linguistic categories eg nouns, verbs etc.
Piaget’s Cognitivism - explain seriation.
Children learn that things come in a series/order. After this they can learn to use comparative terms eg big -> bigger, small -> smaller.
CA Piaget’s Cogntivism.
-Many people with language difficulties do not have poor cognitive development.
-Some children with retarded mental development still learn to speak fluently.
Bruner’s ____ Theory.
Input.
Explain Bruner’s Input Theory.
Child-directed language is specifically designed to help children to learn. LASS (Language Acquisition Support System)
What did Vygotsky say to develop Bruner,cs theory?
Adults provide scaffolding to help children to form an utterance. They act as a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO).
