CLD Theories and evidence Flashcards
(12 cards)
Skinners Theory
Imitation theory:
Children copy and imitate others to learn language
Skinner: Evidence For
Accents - Children pick up their parents accents
Skinner: Evidence Against
Virtuous errors - Errors that match grammatical patterns (irregular verbs)
+ No one teaches babies to cry
Chomsky’s Theory
Innateness theory:
Children have a deep structure in their brain (LAD) that enables children to recognise and construct language
Chomsky: Evidence For
Poverty of the stimulus (POS) - children are not exposed to rich enough input within their environment to produce every feature of their language, but still can
+ Nicaraguan Sign language - Deaf kids who were disconnected from their teachers and school made up their own sign language
Chomsky: Evidence against
No mention of input/interaction - children need interactionto learn language
Genie - she was a flaw in the LAD theory, did not learn language naturally (supports Lenneburg and Piaget)
Piaget’s Theory
Cognitive Theory:
Children’s development runs along a route - need to complete and understand certain phases of language
Piaget: Evidence For
Object permanence (OP) - before about 18 months children don’t understand this. Vocab increases after understanding OP
Under extensions - children accumulate one word to lots of objects - needs to understand concept before language
Piaget: Evidence against
People with learning disabilities - intellectual development doesn’t equal language development always
Bruner’s theory
Interaction theory:
Stresses the need for interaction in language acquisition. A CDS is needed to help with things such as turn taking in a conversation. MKO (more knowledgeable other)
Bruner: Evidence for
Jim - Jim was born to deaf parents so they put him in front of a radio and TVs hoping he would learn language. However at age 4 his language was not as good as his peers. However after speech therapy his progress skyrocketed
