Language Acquisition A brief introduction to a selection of theories behind language acquisition.

Language is the key This might surprise you, but one of the most amazing feats you will ever accomplish as a human being has already happened. Learning to talk, is, unquestionably the most effective piece of learning we will encounter in our lives. Being able to effectively communicate with others around us is essential, to share our needs, desires and preferences.

Theories There are various theories that exist in the acquisition of language. I will briefly explore the three theories that are prevalent in the acquisition of language. These are the behaviourist theory, the social interactionist approach and the nativist view.

Behaviourists Theory The behaviorist theory suggests that language is learnt through a process including imitation, reinforcement and reward. Behaviourist’s like Skinner (1904) suggested that the acquisition of language is a learnt behaviour. Behaviourists believe that human beings learn by associating two events known as classical conditioning. Through this repeated exposure children will learn to associate an object with a sound or word. Another aspect of the behaviorist approach is called operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is a way to change the behaviour, through the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. This allows the child to understand that all behaviour has a consequence.

Social interactionist approach The social interactionist approach is the learning of language through interactions with others. This view places the emphasis on the use of language within a social and cultural context through joint attention, turn taking and communication. This includes repeating back words and sentences in the correct format to a child instead of telling them that what they have said is incorrect. The theorist Vygotsky (1896) believed that language is learnt through social interaction. Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) described the gap or zone between what a child can do alone and what a child can do with the help and interactions of a more able peer or adult thus extending their learning.

Nativist theory We will briefly explore the last theory of language, this being the Nativist theory. This theory states that language learning is innate and that we are preprogrammed to learn language. Chomsky’s (1928) linguistic theory argued that language was inherit or inborn. This being that all children are born with the mechanisms for language and that the learning of language is motivated by the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Chomsky described the LAD as an internal function within a child’s brain which is preprogramed, thus enabling children to understand the rules of language irrespective of which language is being learnt.

I have now got a short clip for you to watch called Starting points: Working with young English language learners.