CLA - SPOKEN - THEORIES

Question 1

SKINNER

Answer 1

MAIN IDEA
- believes biology plays no part in loans development - nurture stance instead
- conducted a study on rats and realise they learn through conditioning and thought this could be applied to humans too

• believes in behaviourism and the importance of imitation + reinforcement
• children learn language by imitating the speech and language structures that they hear
• believes reinforcement is also important for lang development as it allows for correction and means that it forms the basis of what a child knows about language
• suggests that language is shaped by the environment - children associate sounds with words and meanings through conditioning

AO3 :
- children delibarelty trying to imitate often are unable to produce sentences beyond their grammatical abilities
- research shows that children will repeatedly use particular grammatical structures which may be incorrect despite being corrected
- it doesn’t exoplanets how children can produce structures they have never heard of before

Question 2

CHOMKSY

Answer 2

MAIN IDEA :
- believes in nativism / innateness
- believes that children are born with the innate capacity to learn , understand and generate language through their LAD which is triggered when language is heard
- believes in linguistic universals which is the idea that all human languages share the same basic rules which children can pick up on

A03 :
- underestimates the importance of social interaction in lang development
- case of genie
- shows they pay insufficient attention to the idea of ‘input’

Question 3

CHILD DIRECTED SPEECH - MOTHERESE / FATHERESE

Answer 3

MAIN IDEA
- a special way to talk to children to help them learn language

features :
+ higher pitch
+ exaggerated intonation
+ slower, clearer speech
+ simple vocab
+ repetition
+ promoting questions

allows children to :
- help understand language
- easier to understand
- model patterns of language
- encourage interaction

A03 :
- parents in new guinea speak to their children like adults rather than using CDS and they still develop language the same

Question 4

PIAGET

Answer 4

MAIN IDEA
- cognitive development theory
- he suggested that language comes with developing our mental processess- these need to be understood before they can be used
- children are actively constructing and developing their own understand of language and the world which reflects their logical thinking

features : stages
1. sensorimotor stages - 0-2 years - children acquire knowledge through sensory expiernces and object permanence develops
2. pre - operational stage - 2-7 years - emergence of language, use words and symbols and they don’t understand other peoples POV
3. concrete operation stage - 7-11 years - increase in logical thinking
4. formal operational - 11+ - increase in logical thinking and use of deductive reasoning to make and see solutions

AO3 :
- research shows that in some children there is not a close match between linguistic development and cognitive development
- such as berko and browns fis phenomenon

Question 5

BRUNER

Answer 5

MAIN IDEA
- social interactionist theory
- believes that language is about social support and scaffolding through the LASS
- the LASS helps them learn to talk and requires interaction
- without the input of a aregiver the child cannot communicate
- adults provide opportunities for acquisition of language often through ritualised scenarios
- parents should engage in cds
- every LAD needs a LASS

features : stages

1. enactive - learning through actions and doings
2. iconic - imagery and representation
3. symbolic - words and symbols for experience

AO3 :
- supported by observations of CDS and how routines can help support learning
- they provide a predictable language environment so children can connect words with their contexts

Question 6

VYGOTSKY

Answer 6

MAIN IDEA
- language develops through social interaction
- children learn lang by talking with adults and interacting with other MKO’s
- private speech - children often talk to themselves while trying to guide their thinking and learning
- adults can provide help to them forming a sentence by providing parts and gradually letting the child take over
- came up with zpd and scaffolding

AO3 :
- evidence in real life and children learn faster with guidance
- helps with problem solving and thinking

Question 7

TOMASELO

Answer 7

MAIN IDEA
- usage based theory
- children develop language using their general cognitive skills
- intention reading and pattern finding
- copy patterns of speech of others

AO3 :
- challenges chomsky idea of innateness
- explains how children can produce language structures they have never heard of before which chomsky can’t do

Question 8

HALLIDAY

Answer 8

MAIN IDEA
- proposed 7 main functions of language that makes a child want to use language

features :
1. instrumental - fulfil a speakers needs
2. regulatory - influence others behaviour
3. interactional - build social relationships
4. personal - express personal feelings / preferences
5. heuristic - explore and learn envrionment
6. imaginative - explore imagination
7. representational - convey facts and info

CATHERINE GARVEY
- supports Halliday’s functions especially the imagination element as she suggests sociodramatic play develops by the age of 4