Language Acquisition Theories

Language Acquisition

• Languages are complex systems
• Humans learn language, potentially through innate rules
• Children go through stages of development (babbling, one-word, two-word, etc.)
• Second language acquisition can differ from first-language acquisition

Theories of Language Acquisition

• Innateness hypothesis is a prominent theory
• This theory suggests humans are born with language capacity and ability to create rules
• Other theories include imitation and reinforcement, but these have been refuted
• Active Construction of a Grammar Theory is a prominent current theory
• Connectionist Theories and Social Interaction Theory are other relevant theories

Innateness Hypothesis

• Language ability is innate in humans
• Humans have a genetic predisposition to learn language
• Innate knowledge that language has patterns and ability to find patterns
• Language is understood in terms of linguistic universals
• Universal grammar is the inborn set of structural characteristics shared by all languages
• This innate ability is supported by the work of biologist Eric Lenneberg
• He argued that learned behavior differs from certain biologically controlled behaviors, which suggest a genetic component for language.

Critical Period Hypothesis

• There is a critical period for language acquisition between birth and puberty
• Language exposure during this period is crucial for development of language structures
• Limited or no exposure might result in difficulties or inability to acquire normal language skills
• Evidence from feral or neglected children support critical period hypothesis but may have confounding variables like abuse

Cases of Genie and Isabelle

• Genie (discovered when 14): severe language delay due to abuse and isolation
• Isabelle (discovered at 6.5): less severe delay due to isolation in non-abusive environment
• These cases support critical period/innateness theory to some extent but confounding factors present, therefore difficult to fully support.

Deaf Children

• Deaf children who grow up with homesign (communicative gesture), eventually develop sophisticated language and grammatical systems from these signs - This demonstrates language development without explicit formal language knowledge.

Explore the complexities of language acquisition through various theories including the Innateness Hypothesis and Active Construction of Grammar. This quiz will guide you through stages of development in both first and second language learning. Test your understanding of key concepts and theories in linguistics.