What is language? Language is a set of arbitrary symbols that enables every individual in the community to communicate and interact. These symbols contain acceptable meanings by the society and culture. Possessing a language is essential in all human; every normal human speaks but nonhuman does not. Acquisition, on the other hand, means learning or getting. Therefore, language acquisition basically means the learning or the gaining of a language. Language acquisition is normally viewed as a part of cognitive science. Many psychologists like Pavlov, Skinner, Jean Piaget, Vygotsky and Chomsky had done researches on this particular field. Language acquisition is an interesting subject to study and discuss on. Every normal child acquires his or first language – usually the mother tongue successfully in their first few years. The matter that most psychologists concern on is the critical age in first language acquisition. Is there a limit in the aspect of age for first language acquisition? Is it true that once a child passes the critical age, he will not be able to learn a language properly? Noam Chomsky proposed that language learning is innate. This simply means that human are born with wired-in capability of acquiring language. All children are able to discover the structures and rules of their native languages themselves. He claimed that children need not be taught formally to acquire language; input does not play an important role. Unlike what Behaviorists had proposed earlier that learning is an imitation, Chomsky stated that language acquisition involves very minimum imitation. Even though language is a complex system, children are able to acquire it without much effort and in a short period of time. Chomsky had also claimed t... ... middle of paper ... ... on Language and Deaf Education. Washington: Gallaudet University Press. 6. Pinker S. (1994). The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind. UK: Penguin. 7. http://www.tsuyama-ct.ac.jp/kats/papers/kn7/kn7.htm Retrieved on March 5, 2010 8. http://www.timothyjpmason.com/WebPages/LangTeach/Licence/CM/OldLectures/L3_ExtremeCircs.htm Retrieved on March 5, 2010 9. http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Critical_period_-_Linguistics/id/4954851 Retrieved on March 5, 2010 10. http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Language_acquisition_-_The_Critical_Period_Hypothesis/id/5222171 Retrieved on March 5, 2010 11. http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/harnad/Papers/Py104/pinker.langacq.html Retrieved on March 5, 2010 12. http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm433991.html Retrieved on March 8, 2010 13. http://www.lauraleemoore.com/criticalperiod.html Retrieved on March 8, 2010
Heilman, K. M. (2002). Chapter 2 Language. In Matter of mind: A neurologist's view of brain-behavior relationships (p. 17). Oxford: Oxford University Press
Within this paper we will take a brief look at the Language Acquisition Principles and how they work on the behalf of ELL students. We will see how these principles can be applied within our own learning environment. There is much information from Walqui article that gives a brief overview of ELL students and how things looked in the past for these students. Now that times has change we will see how educators can make the requirements for ELL students better and more effective for teacher and students. Hopefully, as we look at ways of changing learning for our ELL students we must remember that every student learns differently. Even if you follow the principles from 1-8 we must keep in mind that everyone is unique and process things within their own time table.
This essay is about a child’s development and learning, focusing primarily on language development. It will describe the main stages of developmental "milestones" and the key concepts involved for children to develop their language skills, discussing language acquisition and social learning theory. The essay will also look into the key theorists involved in language development, primarily Vygotsky and Chomsky, and how these theories have had an impact on the way society views language and their implementation within schools. The essay will describe the factors affecting language development, both biological and environmental. While also discussing key arguments among theorists, one being the nature vs nurture debate, and how these play a part in the teaching in schools.
Various hypotheses have been made by scholars to study the second language acquisition (SLA) in order to benefit the understanding of the language learning process. According to Beller (2008), most hypotheses focus on the successive SLA, such as the behaviouristically oriented ‘contrastive hypothesis’, the nativist-oriented ‘identity hypothesis’, as well as the interlanguage hypothesis, while few of the studies have paid attention to the SLA of bilingual pre-school-aged children. With the increasing immigrants and importance of SLA realized by the bilingual parents, their children tend to learn the second language (L2) together with the first language (L1) at an early stage. As the limitation of the cognition and maturity, children learn language mostly from the outer environment stimulation created by their parents, educators and peers. The quality and quantity of language input, functioning as the stimulation, by interacting with the people around the children have a positive influence on children’s language learning (Bradley and Caldwell 1976; Clarke-Stewart 1973; McCartney 1984; and NICHD 2000). Therefore, it is beneficial for both parents and teachers to know how the interaction can improve the children’s English proficiency.
According to the nativist perspective, language leaning is a biological fact. Chomsky (1975) declared that the human brain designs to learn and understand the use of language and grammatical rules. Chomsky named this as a language acquisition device. Chomsky proposed that children are born with the ability to generate grammar, thanks to a universal grammar (Chomsky, 1982), which is a set of principles that underlies all languages. The criticism of this perspective is that it does not take account the social influences and environment in children’s language development.
For a number of years, Noam Chomsky has produced written artefacts relating to the use and acquisition of language. In his works, Chomsky argues that humans have an innate ability to learn how to use language. The question of an innate ability to learn language is a cross-disciplinary one, relating to the fields of psychology, philosophy and linguistics. This essay will review Chomsky’s claim of an innate predisposition to acquire language by first attempting to determine precisely what Chomsky means by this term, before looking at key arguments both supporting and refuting the claim. Finally, a conclusion will be reached as to whether Chomsky’s position can be held as valid based on the evidence reviewed to discuss the claim.
This meant that humans have a built in mechanism to help them recognise and speak language. Chomsky believed that children simply neede... ... middle of paper ... ... rmal language acquisition early in life. q Sachs reported the case of Jim, whose parents deaf but who was surrounded by spoken language from the television and radio in the hope that he would learn normal language.
There are three main theories of child language acquisition; Cognitive Theory, Imitation and Positive Reinforcement, and Innateness of Certain Linguistic Features (Linguistics 201). All three theories offer a substantial amount of proof and experiments, but none of them have been proven entirely correct. The search for how children acquire their native language in such a short period of time has been studied for many centuries. In a changing world, it is difficult to pinpoint any definite specifics of language because of the diversity and modification throughout thousands of millions of years.
Children are generally gone through the stage of "first sound", "babbling"," first words", "the two word", telegraphy to infinity" and eventually constructing more complex sentence as the stages move on. Human species genetically acquire their first language out of innateness. Moreover, the difficultness of each language is considered equal are children who acquired their first language.
Language is a medium of communication and a carrier of culture because all that people know about their origin is communicated to them using language. In most cases mother tongues are suitable in expressing ones way of life. The native language is the best in expressing basic societal affairs. Language is the key medium of communication and it should be used in its simplest form because the simpler the language the easier the communication (Diyanni 633-639).
How do children acquire language? What are the processes of language acquisition? How do infants respond to speech? Language acquisition is the process of learning a native or a second language. Although how children learn to speak is not perfectly understood, most explanations involve both the observations that children copy what they hear and the inference that human beings have a natural aptitude for understanding grammar. Children usually learn the sounds and vocabulary of their native language through imitation, (which helps them learn to pronounce words correctly), and grammar is seldom taught to them, but instead that they rapidly acquire the ability to speak grammatically. Though, not all children learn by imitation alone. Children will produce forms of language that adults never say. For example, “I spilled milk on hisself” or “Debbie wants a cookie”. This demonstrates that children have the desire to speak correctly and have self-motivating traits to communicate. This supports the theory of Noam Chomsky (1972)-that children are able to learn grammar of a particular language because all intelligible languages are founded on a deep structure of universal grammatical rules that corresponds to an innate capacity of the human brain. Adults learning a second language pass through some of the same stages, as do children learning their native language. In the first part of this paper I will describe the process of language acquisition. The second part will review how infants respond to speech.
... (p. 116). In her article, “Babies Prove Sound Learners,” Sohn (2008), states, “Such studies show that, up to about 6 months of age, babies can recognize all the sounds that make up all the languages in the world” (para.24). B.K. Skinner suggest that the materialization of language is the result of imitation and reinforcement. According to Craig and Dunn (2010), “Language development is linked to cognitive development that, in turn, depends on the development of the brain, on physical and perceptual abilities, and on experiences. Biological and social factors also jointly influence the early development of emotion and personality” (p. 117). In her article, A natural history of early language experience. Hart (2000), states, “Talking is important for children, because complexity of what children say influences the complexity of other people’s response” (para. 1).
The study of language development, one of the most fascinating human achievements, has a long and rich history, extending over thousands of years (Chomsky, 2000). As the nature-versus-nurture argument is inevitable to arise whenever human behaviors are discussed, it is not surprising that language experts have debated the relative influences of genetics and the environment on language development (Hulit & Howard, 2002). Among the various proposals concerning the mechanisms involved in acquiring a language, two opposing theoretical positions, the behaviorist and the nativist, are the most prominent and influential ones (Ayoun, 2003; Garton & Pratt, 1998; Owens, 2001). Due to the indefinite explanation of the exact process, the continuous interest of the inquiring people, and the sheer significance of the precise result, the controversy remains ongoing and popular. In view of the more obvious limitations of the behaviorist interpretation and the prevailing contributions of the nativist interpretation, the latter one is more rational to accept.
The aim of this essay is to explore language acquisition and compare and contrast different theories of language acquisition and language development. Language in its most basic form is used to communicate our needs and wants. It encompasses a range of modes of delivery including signing, spoken and written words, posture, eye contact, facial expressions and gestures. So how do we learn ‘language’? Are we born with the skills for communication, or is it something that we have to learn or have taught to us? Four theories are looked at in this essay to determine how children acquire and then develop language. These theories include behaviourist, nativist, cognitivist and sociocultural. This essay will highlight some similarities and differences in each theory and what impact these have on a child’s acquisition and development of language. Lastly we will look at the implications of these theories when working with children. Can a classroom teacher deliver a quality literacy program based on just one of these theories or does it need to incorporate components of all four? Sims, (2012) pp. 21 states ‘’High-quality learning experiences in the early years of life enhance children’s cognitive and language skills’’. This places a great responsibility on educators and teachers alike to provide an environment which is rich in learning opportunities that will encourage both the acquisition and development of language.
Still today, it is the commonly held belief that children acquire their mother tongue through imitation of the parents, caregivers or the people in their environment. Linguists too had the same conviction until 1957, when a then relatively unknown man, A. Noam Chomsky, propounded his theory that the capacity to acquire language is in fact innate. This revolutionized the study of language acquisition, and after a brief period of controversy upon the publication of his book, Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, in 1964, his theories are now generally accepted as largely true. As a consequence, he was responsible for the emergence of a new field during the 1960s, Developmental Psycholinguistics, which deals with children’s first language acquisition. He was not the first to question our hitherto mute acceptance of a debatable concept – long before, Plato wondered how children could possibly acquire so complex a skill as language with so little experience of life. Experiments have clearly identified an ability to discern syntactical nuances in very young infants, although they are still at the pre-linguistic stage. Children of three, however, are able to manipulate very complicated syntactical sentences, although they are unable to tie their own shoelaces, for example. Indeed, language is not a skill such as many others, like learning to drive or perform mathematical operations – it cannot be taught as such in these early stages. Rather, it is the acquisition of language which fascinates linguists today, and how it is possible. Noam Chomsky turned the world’s eyes to this enigmatic question at a time when it was assumed to have a deceptively simple explanation.