Language Learning Lecture 2 (LCS 121) PDF

LCS 121: Part II Language Learning Lecture 2: Theories of Language Acquisition pp.233-239 (2nd ed. 2019)/ 225-231 (1st ed. 2014) Ms Rivalani Maluleke ([email protected]) Babalwayashe Molate ([email protected]) Recap Lecture 1 What LL component is a...

LCS 121: Part II Language Learning Lecture 2: Theories of Language Acquisition pp.233-239 (2nd ed. 2019)/ 225-231 (1st ed. 2014) Ms Rivalani Maluleke ([email protected]) Babalwayashe Molate ([email protected]) Recap Lecture 1 What LL component is about Distinction between language acquisition and language learning Expected learning outcomes for the course Today… Theories of Language Acquisition … the age old question, “HOW do we acquire language?” Theories of Language Acquisition A number of theories aim to explain language acquisition. An evaluation and critique of the most dominant, which are…  Theories of Language Acquisition Behaviourist Innateness Theories Social Theories Theories Innateness Social Imitation Theory Hypothesis/ Interactionism Universal Grammar Reinforcement Usage-based Model Theory Behaviourist Theories According to these theories, language acquisition is seen as a form of habit formation. Such as by imitating the speech of other humans, being rewarded for demonstrating the expected linguistic behaviour (e.g. correct pronunciation, grammar, etc.) or getting punished for failing to do so. Behaviourist theories focus on behaviour that is directly observable. 1. Behaviourist Theories They do not focus on mental system underlying the behaviour. Sub-theories of Behaviourist Theory - Imitation - Reinforcement 1.1. Imitation Theory This theory claims that children acquire language by listening to speech (of adults and older children) in their environment and repeating it. Thus, through this process of imitating speech in their surrounding, children acquire language. Testing the hypothesis: Does it work all the time? Consider the examples on next slide. Examples Example 1 Example 2 Adult: (pointing to pictures in a book) car, Child: Look in the tlee. book, pen. Mother: Do you mean to say that I should Child: (doing the same after a few minutes) look in the tree? car, book, pen. Child: Yes, look in the tlee. Mother: Tree Child: (Pointing at the tree) mommy look the tlee! An evaluation of Imitation Theory The above two examples show that this theory only works to a certain extent and not all the time. Therefore, the theory is not adequate to explain language acquisition, because… An evaluation of Imitation Theory Children produce many utterances not observed in adult speech (e. g. “goed” instead of “went”; “flyed” instead of “flew” among others) Exercise: Can you think of similar examples? Children who are unable to speak are still able to understand the language in their environment. Children can produce and understand new phrases and sentences they have never heard before. An evaluation of Imitation Theory If language is acquired just by imitation, how do children understand or form new utterances they have never heard before? Do you recall the design feature ‘creativity’/ ‘productivity’ ? 1.2. Reinforcement Theory This theory claims that children learn grammatical utterances through reinforcement. Reinforcement refers to the process of encouraging/ establishing a belief or pattern of behaviour. It refers to anything that increases the likelihood that a response will occur. Reinforcement Theory Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement Children are positively Children are negatively reinforced when they say reinforced when they say something right (e. g. something wrong (e. g. rewarded for ‘good’ corrected or denied a grammar). reward when producing ‘bad’ grammar). Reinforcement Theory Testing the hypothesis: Does it work all the time? Example 1 Example 2 Child: Want other one spoon Daddy. Child: Nobody don’t like me. Father: You mean you want the other spoon? Mother: No, say “nobody likes me.” (negative reinforcement correction) Child: Nobody don’t like me. (dialogue repeated eight Child: Yes, I want the other one spoon, please, Daddy. times) Father: Can you say, “the other spoon”? Mother: *Getting impatient* Now, listen carefully, say *slowly* “Nobody likes me”. Child: The other spoon. Child: Oh! Nobody don’t likes me. Father: *Handing over the spoon* Yes good boy you got it, here you are. (positive reinforcement praise). An evaluation of Reinforcement Theory Reinforcement theory is not adequate to explain language acquisition because: Correction is also not always successful and that, generally, children do not acquire language by being explicitly taught the rules of language. Besides, researchers have found that adults very often correct and/or agree with the truth value and pronunciation of child utterances and not the grammaticality of them. An evaluation of Reinforcement Theory According to research, children from different backgrounds show great similarity in their language development (that is, in the way they acquire language). This has led many linguists to believe that children are equipped with an innate (inborn) blueprint, sometimes referred to as Universal Grammar (UG), that makes language acquisition possible. This is called the Innateness Hypothesis or nativism. 2. Innateness Hypothesis This hypothesis is mostly associated with Noam Chomsky, an American linguist, considered by many as the “father of modern linguistics”. According to this hypothesis… Human beings are born with the ability to acquire language: all we need is to be exposed to a language in order to acquire it. There is a specific area in the brain designed for language acquisition – this device is called Language Acquisition Device (LAD). The LAD is triggered when a child is exposed to favourable conditions – i.e. an environment where language is used (such an environment is typically called a language-rich environment). The strongest supporting evidence for this hypothesis the fact that children seem to know more about language than what they are exposed to in the environment around them. Innateness Hypothesis This argument is called the poverty of the stimulus or the logical argument for language acquisition. Children extract rules that are specific to the language in their environment (regardless of what that language is: English, isiXhosa, Chinese, etc.) The universal principles of language (the principles that all human languages share in common) are already present. Thus, this hypothesis tends to show that the human brain is equipped to acquire language. Criticisms of the Innateness Hypothesis Too much focus on how syntactic rules are acquired, while other aspects of language such as semantics are neglected. Over-emphasis on the mental aspects of acquisition and not enough of a focus on how the environment and the mental system interact to make language acquisition possible. Alternative theories have been proposed: e. g. the Social interactionism. 3. Social Interaction Theory This theory acknowledges the prominent role of social interaction in the language acquisition process. Social interactionists generally do not deny the existence of some type of LAD, but they tend to minimize its importance. Instead, they stress more on the role of the Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) in explaining child language acquisition” (Fasold, 2007: 228). LASS includes the people (such as parents, carers, siblings) who help a child to acquire language. Social Interaction Theory For example, through Child Directed Speech (also known as baby talk/ motherese/ carer-talk) Characteristics of motherese (slow, key words are stressed, vowels are lengthened, grammar simplified, etc.) Social Interaction Theory Evidence for the importance of social interaction in language acquisition of children: Studies show that… there is a direct relationship between the words children hear in their environment and the words they actually produce (usage-based model). hearing children of deaf parents cannot acquire oral language solely by watching television (i.e. without a conversational partner). Criticism: this theory focuses mostly on vocabulary acquisition and does not adequately explain how children acquire the syntactic rules of language. The Critical Period Hypothesis This hypothesis suggests a link between age and the ability to acquire language. – This hypothesis maintains that there is a critical time period [roughly the first 12 years of age] in which children can acquire language effortlessly in a language- rich environment (where sufficient linguistic stimuli exists). – After this critical period, language acquisition becomes increasingly difficult and a full command of language may not be achieved. This suggests that the ability to acquire language is innate. In other words, critical age hypothesis refers to a biologically determined period of life when language can be acquired more easily and beyond which time language is increasingly difficult. E. g. Case study of Genie (next slide) and other feral children (i. e. children who grew up isolated from human contact) The Case of Genie Genie grew up in isolation (not exposed to language) until the age of 13. – She was severely abused by her father since she was a toddler, and he kept her in a silent room, strapped to a potty chair and wearing diapers. – She was forbidden from crying, speaking or making any kind of noise, – Her father only communicated with her by beating her up and growling at her like a dog. When she was discovered by social workers, she only made noises. After being exposed to language, she managed to acquire some English words, but never reached the same kind of complexity of language use that four-year-old children reach. Video of Genie: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3i5x05 Conclusion Question: Based on this lecture, what do you think plays the most important role in the acquisition of language: our innate ability or the environment (social interaction)? Both the environment emphasized in Social Interaction Theory and the LAD in Innate Hypothesis play equally important roles in language acquisition. However, there is currently no unified theory that can adequately explain how the environment and the brain interact in the acquisition of language in all its richness and complexity. … the end.