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Characteristics of language acquisition
Characteristics of language acquisition
Biological factors affecting language development
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Recommended: Characteristics of language acquisition
Language: Inheritance vs Environment
Introduction
Language is the sequence of random symbols, combined in an arranged fashion. These symbols must follow a certain convention, based on the grammar, and result in a meaningful sentence. There are three basic rules needed in order to grasp a language and to be able to communicate. Semantics, that is the vocabulary and the meaning of words, syntax which concerns the arrangement of words and phrases to create expressive sentences and pragmatics which is the knowledge behind the use of a language such as staying on topic and language customs and routines. Yet, not all individuals have the same linguistic skills and the question of whether language is innate or learned has rose controversies with linguists.
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His theory about “Universal Grammar” is very important when considering the genetic role in language acquisition. Chomsky thinks of the Universal Grammar as model that all languages follow and he says that it defines the various sections of grammar and the relation between them (Fromkin 14). Also, Chomsky believes that this innate ability controls the laws of language (Fromkin 15). “Poverty of stimulus” is an argument supporting the innateness of language where children receive a sequence of sounds and not different structures of the sentences, but they are still capable of reaching the rules, understanding them, and elaborating on these rules (Fromkin 396:397). For example, children may hear their parents saying, “give me the cup” without learning or analyzing the components of this sentence (declarative form, verb noun…etc) they are capable of using it again, but in different meaning as in “give him the tissue”. This illustrates how the genetic factors, innateness, affect language acquisition.
In addition to theoretical view of innateness of language studies have proved that genetic factors affect language acquisition.
Scientific
The analysis of Chomsky’s argument in Christiansen & Chater’s (2008) article suggests that there may be an innate universal grammar (UG), meaning that humans are born with the biological ability to obtain language across different cultures.... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Behme, C., & Deacon, S. H. (2008). Language Learning in Infancy: Does the Empirical Evidence Support a Domain-Specific Language Acquisition Device?
Language, according to Owens (2012, p. 6), “can be defined as a socially shared code or conventional system for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule-governed combinations of those symbols”. Language is thought to be a complex system; however, it can be broken down into three different components. These three components consist of content, form, and use. Within these three components, language has five main components which includes semantics, morphology, phonology, syntax, and pragmatics (Owens, 2012, p. 18).
As stated earlier, there are different components to language which must be taught and used in conjunction with context and social situations (Gee & Hayes, 2011). These include phonetic (sound patterns of words), syntactic (sentence structures), semantic (meanings of words and sentences) and pragmatic (using language in certain contexts) mechanisms (Fellowes and Oakley, 2014). Learning these can put meaning and purpose to the language that children learn through their surroundings, including contact with other children and adults, their culture and build upon their cognitive functions. Children in the early years are at a crucial time in their learning, the exposure to language they get from their home environment can set them up for the rest of their educational journey and beyond schooling. McInerney (2014) explores Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development, explaining that language is used as a communication instrument and a way to organize our own thoughts.
Nearly every member of the human race learns a language or more to the degree of proficiency only in the first few years of life. How children achieve this astonishing skill in such little time has sparked controversial debates among linguists, psychologists, and scientists throughout centuries. Some believe that language is an innate ability possessed by all human beings due to the remarkable function of the brain, while others maintain that language is learned from childhood experience. However, many are beginning to realize that nature and nurture go hand-in-hand when explaining how children develop their language(s). Despite the claims that language is either pre-learned or environmentally learned alone, the combination of both genes and experience better explains the aspects of first language acquisition.
Language acquisition is perhaps one of the most debated issues of human development. Various theories and approaches have emerged over the years to study and analyse this developmental process. One factor contributing to the differing theories is the debate between nature v’s nurture. A question commonly asked is: Do humans a...
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.
Language is an essential thing needed to communicate and to develop the skills one needs to be a complete, whole, intelligent individual. Language is what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Here we shall define language and lexicon, evaluate the key features of language, describe the four levels of language structure and processing, and analyze the role of language processing in cognitive psychology.
Biological foundation of language may contribute significantly to such universality. The issue here is not whether language is innate, for, clearly, language must be learned. Nor is the issue whether the aptitude for learning a la...
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.
Before language can be defined we must first recognize what it is comprised of: symbols, sounds, and speech. “Symbols are sounds or meanings
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.
Language is a part of our everyday lives, and we can describe the meaning of language in many ways. As suggested in Gee and Hayes (2011, p.6 ) people can view language as something in our minds or something existing in our world in the form of speech, audio recordings, and writings or we can view language as a way of communicating with a group of people. Language can be used to express our emotions, make sense of our mental and abstract thoughts and assists us in communicating with others around us. Language is of vital importance for children to enable them to succeed in school and everyday life. Everyone uses both oral and written language. Language developed as a common ability amongst human beings with the change
Children’s acquisition of language has long been considered one of the uniquely defining characteristics of human behaviour.
Language is a means of human communication whether verbally or nonverbally. In everyday life we use language to express our thoughts, feelings ,attitudes,etc.A great amount of social interactions takes place every day over the telephone ,by online chats, face –to face interaction or at workplaces .We use language of different forms for different functions as in to inform, question , and sometimes to strengthen social relationships or just to keep the social wheels turning smoothly. Moreover, understanding one's own language and even other cultures’ language is important to arrive at a successful and effective communication with others . The study of language can be undertaken in various ways .Semantics and pragmatics are two branches of linguistics which are concerned with the study of meaning.
Chomsky and Skinner and Theories Of Language Development Many psychologists have studied and researched into how we acquire language. Some have concluded that the ability to learn language is a genetically inherited skill. Others believe that language is learned following birth and is due to environmental factors. This is part of the nature vs. nurture debate.