Theories of Language and Language Acquisition PDF

THEORIES OF LANGUAGE AND Acquisition is developing a skill, habit, or LANGUAGE ACQUISITION quality using the subconscious part of the The origin of human language and mind. language acquisition, and development...

THEORIES OF LANGUAGE AND Acquisition is developing a skill, habit, or LANGUAGE ACQUISITION quality using the subconscious part of the The origin of human language and mind. language acquisition, and development [Dr. Stephen Krashen, from the University of Linguistic performance and Linguistic Southern California] competence Anthropology professor Bernard ACQUISITION LEARNING Campbell stated flatly in "Humankind Emerging," we simply don't There is no formal Acquiring language know—and never will—how or when transition of learning through formal language began. and mainly through process or first-hand exposure curriculum LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Demands natural Involves more Refers to how humans can develop and meaningful explanation of the ability to understand and use communication in grammar rules and language. the language less natural It is how humans gain the ability to be communication aware of language A subconscious a relatively process deliberately done ORIGIN OF THE HUMAN LANGUAGE conscious process 1. The BOW-WOW theory When our ancestors started imitating the ‘Picking up’ a ‘Knowing about’ a natural sounds around them language language Onomatopoeic – moo, meow, splash, and bang 2. The POOH-POOH theory LINGUISTIC PERFORMANCE VS Automatic vocal responses to pain, fear, LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE surprise, or other emotions — but animals do By definition, competence is regarded as the these kinds of sounds too internal/biological potential of a person to 3. The DING-DONG theory generate grammatical sentences based on the Mystical resonance or harmony connected internal rules of generative grammar. with things He believes in the concept of I-language. It is 4. The YO-HE-HO theory defined as an internalized knowledge of Rhythmic chants, grunts, groans and snorts by language framework which allows for learning heavy physical labor of all languages and, theoretically, the 5. The TA-TA theory production of infinitely many grammatical The use of tongue and mouth gestures to sentences. mimic manual gestures On the other hand, performance is 6. TOWER OF BABEL (Genesis 11) considered as the utterances of these This explains the origins of the multiplicity sentences which are influenced by both of languages. God was concerned that internal and external state of the humans had blasphemed by building the tower environment. In other words, the action of to avoid a second flood so God brought into speaking. Although it might be a fact that existence multiple languages. Thus, humans every human has the potential to create a were divided into linguistic groups, unable to novel grammatical sentence based on the understand one another. linguistics laws, performance is what is generally observed during the utterance. It ACQUISTION VS LEARNING filters only those sentences which Learning is knowledge developed “sounds” cohesive to the receiver, despite consciously by instruction or study. their grammatical correctness.  STAGES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT LINGUISTIC LINGUISTIC 1. Pre-Talking Stage/ Cooing (3-6 PERFORMANCE COMPETENCE months) The production of Knowledge of the Children don't have language skills yet, so actual utterances language they communicate with sounds instead. They may cry, coo, snort, laugh, or murmur during Observable Person’s unseen these months to express distress, alleviation, realization of the potential to speak a or happiness. potential to speak a language 2. Babbling Stage (6-8 months) language Children use their speech organs during this Doing Knowing stage. They make oral articulations, commonly known as babbling, by opening and shutting Actually say Can say their lips and jaws and moving their tongues. These articulations are typically noises or Using the language Natural ability syllables that aren't words yet, such as "baba.” 3. Holophrastic stage (9-18 months) Children have developed enough language STAGES IN FIRST LANGUAGE skills to say single words during this stage. ACQUISITION The words are usually simple and refer to 09/02 everyday objects or help children identify their Simone, Jaira, Djell, Klesly, Daughney, Wyatt, basic needs. For example, common words Refers to the infants acquisition of children say during this stage are "mama" or their native language or the acquisition "dada" to get their parent's attention. of the mother tongue 4. Two-stage (18-24 months) Infants have the capacity to perceive Children start using two words instead of one, and comprehend language as well as combining words they learned during the to produce and use words and holophrastic stage. For example, instead of sentences to communicate just saying mama, a child may say, "Thank Input is where human infants are mama," to show appreciation. Children may certainly helped in their language follow simple grammatical rules during this acquisition by the adult in the home stage, such as adding inflection at the end of a environment. The baby talk is a question. speech style adopted by someone 5. Telegraphic Stage (24-30 months) who spends a lot of time with a young Children can speak phrases that are longer child: poo-poo, pee-pee and others. and have more than two elements. For It's not advisable to teach infants instance, a child might say, “The cat stands up baby talk since there's no real on the table.” Correct grammar still isn't functional language being used. And prevalent in this stage, but the sentence though it might encourage the child to conveys that the cat is standing up in addition imitate you, ultimately you don't want to being on the table. The child also develops children to learn and repeat incorrect the ability to understand basic instructions, grammar or silly words. including two-part orders like, "Go to your table The caregivers are very influential to and get your books.” the development of the child's 6. Later multiword Stage (30+months) language and communication. They build increasingly complex sentences Four types of caregivers speech: that allow them to communicate their ideas use of questions, use of exaggerated better. They also start to incorporate intonation, the extra loudness in morphemes to make more semantically sound speaking and the slower tempo with phrases. For instance, they know to use the longer pauses word “dogs” instead of “dog” when referring to more than one dog. MYTHS ON SLA then be corrected or simply be ignored. TRUE : Adults learn second languages quickly Negative reinforcement teaches the child and easily than children. which mistakes to avoid and how to correct MYTH : The younger the child, the more them. skilled in acquiring a second language MYTH: The more time students spend in a 2. NATIVIST THEORY second language context, the quicker they Noam Chomsky (1957) proposes that learn the language. children are born with an instinct or MYTH: Children have acquired a second drive for language learning which he language once they can speak it. calls the language acquisition device (LAD). THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION He argued that even if a child is not 1. BEHAVIOURAL THEORY educated in their country's language, Behaviourism proposes that we are a product so long as they grow in a normal of our environment. Therefore, children have environment, they will still devise a no internal mechanism or ability to develop system of verbal communication. language by themselves. BF Skinner (1957) Therefore, there must be an innate, suggests that children learn the language first biological component to language by imitating their caregivers (usually parents) acquisition. and then modifying their use of language due to operant conditioning. Chomsky suggests that the language acquisition device (LAD) must be Operant conditioning is a way of learning located somewhere in the brain, that focuses on the reward (positive serving as an encoder that provides reinforcement) or punishment (negative us with a baseline understanding of reinforcement) of desired or undesired grammatical structure. As children behaviour. learn new words, they are able to Example: incorporate them into their use of You can train a dog to sit by feeding it a treat language independently. when it obeys your commands, or you can stop it from sleeping on your bed by ignoring it Chomsky argues that this independent or verbally discouraging it. 'building' of language is evidence that language acquisition is biological and Skinner suggested that children first learn not purely a product of being taught or words and phrases from their caregivers or copying caregivers. Chomsky others around them and eventually try to say suggested that the LAD contained and use those words correctly. In this case, knowledge of universal grammar - operant conditioning occurs when a the basic shared grammar rules that caregiver responds to the child's attempt at all human languages share. using language. If the child uses language correctly, the caregiver may respond by telling the child they're clever or otherwise showing 3. COGNITIVE THEORY their approval. If the child makes a request, The Cognitive theory of language such as asking for food, the caregiver may acquisition suggests that the primary reward the child by providing it. This is positive drives behind our actions are our reinforcement. thoughts and internal processes. If the child uses language incorrectly, makes a Jean Piaget (1923) assumes that mistake, or is incoherent, they are more likely children are born with relatively little to receive negative reinforcement from the cognitive ability, but their minds caregiver. They can be told they're wrong and develop and build new schemas  (ideas and understanding of how the They can also speak to others about world works) as they age and their beliefs and understand how experience the world around them. outcomes or viewpoints may differ. Eventually, they can apply language to their schemas through assimilation Finally, we have the formal (fitting new information into what is operational stage. This takes place already known) and accommodation from twelve years old to adulthood. At (changing one's schemas to support this stage, children can engage in new information). higher reasoning and think and speak about the abstract, such as Piaget believed that cognitive development hypotheticals, morals, and political had to come before language development systems. Language is essentially because it would be impossible for children to unlimited, as there is no cognitive limit express things that they don't yet understand. to one's understanding of the world at For example, a younger child with no sense of this stage. time couldn't express things in the future tense or speak hypothetically, no matter how much 4. SOCIAL INTERACTION THEORY they are taught language. Lev Vgotsky (1896-1934) social interaction first before formal Piaget proposed that this cognitive schooling. ZDP (the zone proximal development could be split into four stages: development) zone of potential sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete development in which a child can be operational, and formal operational stages. developed. First is the sensorimotor stage. This “Knowledgeable other” takes place from birth to around two years of age. At this stage, the child is Jerome Bruner (1961) believed that developing sensory coordination and children are born with an ability to interacting with their environment by develop language but they require feeling and playing with things. Their regular interaction with their use of language extends primarily to caregivers or teachers to learn and babbles and few spoken words. understand it to a level of full fluency. This idea is known as the Language The next stage is the pre-operational Acquisition Support System stage, which takes place from ages (LASS). two to seven. At this stage, children are able to use language with a better Combination of both nativity and grasp of grammatical structure, behavioural theory. context, and syntax. Child thinking at this stage is still very egocentric (their Caregivers tend to correct mistakes understanding of the world is limited to that children make when using how it affects them). language and also regularly teach them what objects are and what their Next is the concrete operational purposes are. Bruner suggests that stage. It takes place from ages seven this helps to build the scaffolding to eleven. At this stage, children that children will later rely on when understand concepts such as time, further developing language. numbers, and object properties and gain reasoning and logic, which allows A caregiver may also use them to rationalise their beliefs and child-directed speech (CDS), altering speak in greater detail about their own their own use of language to make it thoughts and the world around them.  easier for a child to conceptualise Cultural Practice language independently. Positive Attitude Acculturation is the process of two CDS or child-directed speech is cultures coming into contact and commonly known as ‘baby talk’ in exchanging ideas, behaviors, and everyday life. It is when an adult values, while assimilation refers to the changes their use of language when adoption of the dominant culture's talking to a young child. This includes practices, beliefs, and values by a changes such as slower speech in a minority group. Assimilation occurs higher voice, more obvious intonations when the minority group loses its for different types of speech (i.e., distinct cultural identity and becomes questions, statements, orders), and absorbed into the dominant culture. very simple sentence structure. These strategies all simplify language to 6. NATIVIZATION MODEL make it as easy as possible for the A theory by Roger Andersen (1983), child to understand. views language acquisition as a process predetermined by two Bruner believed that CDS was notions, nativization and adapted to make language more denativization. simple, accessible, and easy to understand. According to this theory, L1 knowledge in shaping L2 children cannot develop an acquisition understanding of the more complex parts of language alone. Thus, CDS the birth of World Englishes acts as an infant-friendly introduction to language that can be Nativization is characterized by built on throughout infancy, early assimilation, which is visible when a childhood, and into school. learner seeks an accordance of input he receives with his own idea of the L2 1. Exchange: the most basic form of system. Thus, a learner has a social interaction. tendency to oversimplify the learning 2. Cooperation: is when individuals process as well as to create work together to achieve a common hypotheses founded on the knowledge goal. he already has, e.g. knowledge of the 3. Competition: is when individuals or world, knowledge of his first language, groups rival one another in order to then he fits to what Andersen refers to win a reward. as ‘internal norm’ (Ellis 1985). 4. Conflict: is when there is a clash Nativization is also evident in between the personal interests of pidginization, as well as in early groups or individuals; failed to second and first language acquisition. cooperate with one another. 5. Accommodation: is a sort of Denativization is associated with middle-ground between conflict and accommodation phenomena, in that a cooperation. learner adapts his inner system of a target language, his interlanguage, to 5. ACCULTURATION MODEL the input he receives. Hence, a learner adapting to or borrowing traits from uses his inferencing strategies to another culture, including language reshape his interlanguage to be in John Schumann’s (1978) acquring a correspondence with the linguistic second language: properties of the input he receives Social Interaction (Ellis 1985). By doing that he suits the Cultural Immersion ‘external norm’. Denativization is a  part of depiginization, also late second 8. THE MONITOR MODEL and first language acquisition. Linguist Stephen Krashen proposes that language learning is accomplished either 7. DISCOURSE THEORY through learning (formal, conscious learning - Rooted in scholars like Foucault and about language) or through acquisition Habermas, provides a framework beyond (informal, subconscious learning through traditional approaches. experience with language). Applied to language acquisition, emphasizing He suggests that there is an internal the role of context, power dynamics, and "monitor," which is developed through formal social interaction. learning which is a part of the conscious process of error correction in when speaking a Discourse theory broadens this view, new language. considering language as a social practice within diverse contexts, including cultural The monitor plays only a minor role in and historical dimensions. developing fluency, compared to the role of acquisition. This model later became part of Key Concepts: Krashen and Terrell's Natural Approach to a. Power and Knowledge: Language is language teaching influenced by power relations in society, affecting linguistic development in educational, Language acquisition is subconscious and familial, and societal settings. results from informal, natural communication. b. Social Construction of Reality: Language Language learning is conscious and driven constructs and perpetuates social reality, by error correction (more formal). implying that learners internalize societal norms through language use. Grammar structures are acquired in a c. Context and Interaction: Emphasizes predictable order. context's significance, viewing language as fluid and context-dependent, with interaction Language acquisition occurs with playing a crucial role in language acquisition. comprehensible input (i.e. hearing or reading things that are just slightly above our current Application: language level). a. Socialization and Identity: Language shapes identity, with social interactions This theory suggests that we should both contributing to the construction of one's strive to increase our second language inputs identity. (like viewing videos, television, and going b. Classroom Dynamics: Discourse theory through books for reading) and make sure we highlights power dynamics in classrooms, receive proper error correction in one form or where teachers influence linguistic another. development through established discourse patterns. 9. THE VARIABLE COMPETENCE c. Multilingualism and Cultural MODEL Competence: Encourages exploring language acquisition in diverse contexts, promoting Proposed by Ellis 1984 cultural competence in a globalized world. The ability to use language varies Challenges and Critiques: systematically within functional domains and Being abstract and challenging to linguistic contexts, and that such variability is operationalize in empirical research. inherent in interlanguage as well. Critics argue it may overlook individual agency and cognitive processes in language learning.  10. NEUROFUNCTIONAL THEORY A neurofunctional perspective on language attempts to characterize the neuro linguistic information processing systems responsible for the development and use of language Neurofunctional accounts of SLA have considered the contribution of the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere of the brain. Right hemisphere functioning is generally associated with holistic processing. - storing and processing of formulaic speech - involved in patterned practice in classroom SLA The left hemisphere is associated with creative language use, including syntactic and semantic processing and the motor operations involved in speaking and writing. WALA SI SIR NEXT WEEK