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Theories of language acquisition
Language acquisition theory
Infant Directed Speech And Its Affects
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Over thousands of years language has evolved and continued to develop to what we know it as today. Throughout the years, it has been studied how we learn language and the benefits of learning it as well as the deficits of not learning it. While studying language it is important to consider the language acquisition device, language acquisition support system, and Infant-Directed and Adult-Directed Speech. Not only is it important to learn language in general, but there are specific sensitive periods in which a human must learn the language in order to obtain developmental milestones. The sensitive period is also crucial when learning a second language and can greatly affect the human when speaking that language. During the sensitive period while a child is learning language it is important that they learn the specifics about language structure and the aspects of language. Once the child has learned the aspects of language, they are also emerged into learning universal grammar. Lastly, the learning of language has influenced ontogeny and phylogeny in various ways. This influence will continue to arise as change occurs and humans and the world continue to develop and evolve. Understanding how to define a subject matter is the first step in any successful study, and for the successful explanation of language and it’s acquisition and development, a definition must first be understood. Language, as defined by Webster’s dictionary reads as, “a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings”. This definition provides as a useful explanation of language for an evolutionary developmental psychological perspective because the definition... ... middle of paper ... ...on. Cognition, 40(3), 159-201. Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of instructional state on the acquisition of english as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21, 60-99. Merriam-Webster. (n.d.) An Encyclopedia Britannica Company. Retrieved December 3, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com Mayberry, R., I. & Eichen, E., B. (1991). The long-lasting advantage of learning sign language in childhood: Another look at the critical period for language acquisition. Memory & Language, 30, 486-512. Nowak, M. A., Komarova, N. L., & Niyogi, P. (2001). Evolution of Universal Grammar. Science, 291 (5501), 114-118. Smith, P. K., Cowie, H., Blades, M. (2011). Understanding Children’s Development. United Kingdom: Wiley. Yang, C. (2013). Ontogeny and phylogeny of language. PNAS, 110 (16) 6324-6327.
How can it be that something so uniquely human and commonplace in our everyday existence as language, could transcend the limits of our immediate understanding? We all know how to speak and comprehend at least one language, but defining what we actually know about that language an infinitely more demanding process. How can a child without previous knowledge of the construction and concepts of language be born into the world with an innate ability to apprehend any dialect? Mark Baker, in his book The Atoms of Language, seeks to address these unsettling questions, proposing as a solution, a set of underlying linguistic ingredients, which interact to generate the wide variety of languages we see today.
In Suzette Haden Elgin’s Native Tongue, infants of linguistic households are required to acquire various alien languages to become native speakers of Earth for the new languages studied. Our society, for the most part, understands that adults acquire foreign languages differently from the acquisition of a second language by a child. Furthermore, most people generally have the understanding that children learn languages quickly and easily compared to adults. Adults, however, are able to acquire foreign languages in fair or controlled conditions. There may be resulting differences between language acquisitions of new languages, but the rate at which adults acquire second languages should not be a factor.
In the first years of life children transcend from infancy, in which they cannot speak nor comprehend language, to age four in which they begin to be able to express themselves in their own language (Hoff, 2006). Overall, the language acquisition process has the same endpoint for all capable children. The only difference in the language acquisition process between children is the different languages they learn, which is completely dependent upon the language the child hears. If the child were to only hear Klingon, the child would in theory learn Klingon, but the child would later reject this language because of the lack of acceptance of the fictional language in society (Clark, 1987). The first process of acquiring language is known as phonological development. In natural lan...
Stephen Krashen is one of the experts when it comes to language acquisition. He has theorized on the subject of second language acquisition for years and has been quite influential in this field of linguistics. He approaches the subject of second language acquisition by presenting his five theories for acquiring a second language. Aida Walqui is another expert; however, she approaches the subject from the aspect that contextual factors are involved in second language learning.
6) Evolution of Universal Grammar by Martin A. Nowak, Natalia L. Komarova, and Partha Niyogi.
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.
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. Google Books. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fhnbMj597-4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=second
In the discussion of nature verse nurture, one controversial issue is language. Arguing on the side of nature, children across the world seem to exhibit universal stages of linguistic development. Infants as young as seven months old are able to recognize simple linguistic rules from a string of sounds. When a child is first learning to speak, they typically combine words in ways that an adult would not. They can also speak and communicate clearly without adult correction. These observations suggest that we are born with the capacity to communicate verbally and through the use of kinesics, or gestures. However, nurture also plays a large role in the use of language. Linguistics differ amongst children from region to region based on the way the people around them speak. Thousands of languages such as: Spanish, English, Italian, and Creole are spoken around the world. Vernacular and accents also vary within each language and is acquired through a learning process, not genetics(Brown, 10/1/13). Another major environmental factor is correction from parents and adults. A child may be born with the ability to speak, but grammatical correctness and annunciation requi...
The tragic case of feral child Genie provides a unique perspective on the roles of socialization and linguistic exposure as they relate to post-puberty language acquisition. After eleven years of isolation and abuse, Genie was discovered possessing no known language, having already passed what has theorized to be the critical period. Utilizing a variety of methods and testing, professionals attempted to aid Genie in first language acquisition over the next five years with little success. Using examples of stalled grammatical development, language acquisition compared to both normal children and late learners of American Sign Language (ASL); and the roles of linguistic exposure, socialization and brain lateralization, this paper will demonstrate support of the theory of critical period for first language acquisition as it relates to Genie’s case.
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 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...
... proposes LAD as the innate mental mechanism that makes language acquisition possible. Chomsky's linguistic competence is the underlying knowledge that enables individuals to speak and understand their language. A native speaker has access to knowledge about the structure of his language which guides him in his language use. Second, Chomsky distinguished linguistic knowledge from language performance which is the use of language in a particular social context. Third, a child must acquire linguistic competence in order to be able to use language successfully. Forth, also he suggested universals of language which is languages share certain features. Fifth, also he suggested a critical period for language acquisition which is by the age of five children acquire almost the structure of their language. Elliot, J. A. (1981). Child Language . Cambridge University Press.
Children’s acquisition of language has long been considered one of the uniquely defining characteristics of human behaviour.
In linguist and psychologist Noam Chomsky’s Language and Mind, he asserts that a “universal grammar provides a highly restrictive schema to which any human language must conform” (55). The theory of universal grammar that Chomsky proposed states that the ability to comprehend and produce a language is already built in the human brain before birth. Even from an early age, children’s brains are programmed to constantly analyze grammar and syntax. To back up his claim, Chomsky elaborates on “the intrinsic structure of a language-acquisition device” (99).
Language is crucial to young children’s development; it is essential for learning and communicating with others. Children learn most effectively through being involved in rich experiences and practical activities promoted through play, and adults need to join this play talking with and listening to them. There have been several theories about how young children acquire language. Some argued that the environment is an important factor, while others state that language is innate and that environment has a minor role in shaping knowledge.