CSpoken- Bruner Flashcards
(16 cards)
Bruner’s theory of language acquisition
Interactionist theory
Interactionist theory
Language Acquisition Support System
Idea that interaction with caregivers is crucial to a child’s language development.
What is language acquisition dependent on according to Bruner?
Contribution made by caregivers
When was interactionist theory proposed?
1983
Language Acquisition Support System
Caregivers support their children’s linguistic development in social situations
Patterns of interaction(eg. bedtimes and mealtimes) encourage the child to talk back when the parent asks questions, causing a gradual understanding of their roles in social situations
How do adults support children’s language acquisition?
By using Child Directed Speech
Child Directed Speech
The dialect used by caregivers towards children to help their vocabulary build and improve their language acquisition.
Aims of CDS
Attract and hold the baby’s attention
Break down language into understandable chunks
Make conversation more predictable for the child
Features of Child Directed Speech
Slower, clearer pronunciation
More frequent and longer pauses
Higher pitch
Exaggerated intonation
Simplified vocabulary
How does Clarke-Stewart (1973) link to interactionist theory?
Found that children whose mothers talk more have larger vocabularies.
How does Nelson (1973) link to interactionist theory?
Found that children in the holophrastic stage whose language was corrected more often progressed slower than children whose language was praised.
Brown et al. (1969)
Found parents more often respond to the truth rather than a baby’s grammatical correctness. Can contradict Skinner’s behaviourist theory.
Berko and Brown (1960)
Found that children corrected adults who spoke incorrectly, even if they also said the word incorrectly. Shows they cannot hear themselves the way they hear others and they know the correct pronunciation of a word, but perhaps cannot articulate it yet.
Strengths of interactionist theory
Easy to see application in real life (Brown et al.)
Limitations of interactionist theory
Difficult to measure the relationship between input from caregiver and child language acquisition
Different cultures don’t use CDS and children develop normally
How to identify interactionist theory in transcripts
Caregivers using CDS
Parents reinforcing children’s attempts to speak
Children enjoying interaction with caregivers
Conversation skills being modelled by the caretaker.
