Different Theories That Account For First Language Acquisition In Children

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Discuss at least three different theories that account for first language acquisition in children. Explain which theory provides a more complete account of child language acquisition and why. “Nobody is taught language. In fact you cant prevent the child from learning it” - Noah Chomsky. The process of children acquiring their first languages is called ‘Language acquisition’. This process is possible for all humans because of their innate capability to acquire language. When children acquire language they do not understand grammatical rules and their acquisition happens subconsciously, However, in order to subconsciously acquire their first language a source of natural communication must be available, this communication can usually come from …show more content…

The ‘imitation’ theory states that children will imitate words they hear, and learn them by practising. This theory, although recognised is frequently questioned as liable. This is because when children imitate utterances they've heard from their surrounding environment they have no understanding of internal syntactic structure. Children are also assumed to be born with no knowledge of syntactic categories or ability to structure their own sentences which in turn creates a slow and difficult process for the child whereby using the utterances they have imitated they must try to decipher their meanings in order to properly use them when communicating. This can be detrimental as the child develops, as they may continue using verbs and tenses they have learnt through imitation and their own creativity. For example ‘go-ed’ and ‘come-ed’ are often used by children and although they are understood they are grammatically incorrect. These habits are inclined to lead to problems as they get older because they child may not be able to remember to correct their grammatical errors, as they are comfortable to continue speaking the way they acquired their language through imitation and their inability to fully imitate

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