1. Theories of Language Development Nature or Nurture?

2. Study Guide Questions 1.Which theory of language acquisition do you support? Why? Consider the nature-nurture continuum, strengths, and limitations of your theory. 2.Know your definitions! 3.Speech, language, and communication are different aspects of the same process. Contrast these. 4.Describe each of the 5 parameters of communication. Place them in Bloom & Lahey’s (1988) model.

3. Chinn & Brewer, 1993 Response options when confronted with anomalous data that challenge beliefs: 1. 1.Ignore it 2. 2.Reject it 3. 3.Exclude it 4. 4.Hold it in abeyance 5. 5.Reinterpret it 6. 6.Make a peripheral 7. 7.Make a central change

4. Psycholing:SyntacticPsycholing:Sem/CogSociolinguisticBehavioral Lang Form Syntactic units (nouns, verbs) Semantic units (agents, objects) Speech acts (requesting, commenting) Functional units (mands, tacts) Method of Acqui- sition LAD: universal phrase structure rules used to decipher transformational rules Universal cognitive structures  nonlinguistic relationships  semantic relationships Reaction  preverbal intention  verbal form Selective reinforcement Environ- mental InputMinimal Cognitive relationships established thru active involvement with the env’t Interaction  modeling & feedback Reinforcement & extinction; modeling Nature Nurture

5. Behavioral Theory  Language is considered is a subset of other learned behavior  Language is learned or condition through association between meaning & word, word & phoneme, statement & response  Language is conditioned through association between a stimulus and the following response (S  R)  The strength of the stimulus-response bond determines the probability of occurrence  Complexity occurs through chains of S  R sequences

6. Operant Conditioning  Reinforcer: any event that increases the probability of occurrence of preceding behavior  Punisher: any event that decreases the probability of occurrence of preceding behavior  Learning/operant conditioning: the resultant behavior

7. Complex Behavior  Shaping: gradual modification through reinforcement of ever-closer (successive approximation)  Chaining: a sequence of behaviors is trained in such a way that each step serves as a stimulus for the next  Based on:  modeling  imitation  practice  chaining

8. Language Acquisition  Language is modified by the environment  Examples: Need for attention  vocalization  selective reinforcement of English sounds Mother’s presence  “mama”  Mother responds  Complex responses are learned through successive approximation: Model “do you want a cookie or an apple?”  cookie … cookie please … want cookie please… may I have a cookie please  receives cookie

9.  Grammar develops through the learning of sentence frames  Words or phrases fill “slots”  The environment provides the original motivation  Through chaining one unit is the stimulus for the next which in turn is the stimulus for the next unit Mealtime: I  want  supper. I  like  dessert

10. Limitations  Limited direct parent reinforcement  Grammatical errors are ignored  Ignores meaning and content  Imitation is infrequent and limited to new words and stabilizing forms  Children produce words and structures they have never heard  Fails to explain the generative aspects of language  Does not consider what the child brings to the task

11. Contributions  Takes the environment in to consideration  Contributed to sociolinguistic theory  Processes have contributed to intervention strategies used to remediate behaviors such as speech and language disorders

12. Sociolinguistic Theory  Language is a process of socialization  The goal is effective communication – language is acquired because it is efficient and effective.  The child learns to understand the rules of dialogue, not semantics or syntax  Language is mapped onto communication  Social interactions and social relationships provide the framework for decoding and encoding language

13.  Focus is on the communication unit that is required to convey the information (the whole rather than the parts)

14. Speech-Act Theory  Language is used for intrapersonal and interpersonal purposes  Speech acts have propositional force (i.e., meaning) and illocutionary force (i.e., intention)  Primitive Speech Acts (PSA) allow the child to use the same utterance for multiple purposes  PSAs develop into adult pragmatic acts governed by syntactic and semantic structures

15. Primitive Speech Acts (Dore, 1974)  Universal, single gesture or vocal/verbal pattern that conveys intention 1.requesting action: gimme 2.Protesting: no 3.Requesting answer: hunh? 4.Labeling: cookie 5.Answering: mine 6.Greeting: bye-bye 7.Repeating: imitation of uh-oh 8.Practicing: allgone, allgone, allgone 9.Calling: mom!

16. Limitations  does not adequately explain language acquisition  how does the child learn referents and meaning  how does the child acquire syntax  no common classification system for communication acts

17. Contributions  emphasizes language function  incorporates a model of learning that is grounded in the child-parent relationship:  input, modeling, and feedback

18. Psycholinguistic Theory: A Semantic/Cognitive Model   Syntax is not enough – the meaning of individual words, word combinations and sentences is important too.   Language structure should be examined in relation to intended meaning while taking linguistic and non-linguistic context into account (i.e., rich interpretation)   Child grammar is semantic, not syntactic   The semantic relationships are expressed through simple word order rules initially.   Simple word or rules underlie syntax and are later replaced by syntactic rules.

19.   Mental experience and cognitive development are what are universal/innate   Syntactic rules are not innate.   Utterances represent mental experience (i.e., cognitive development).   It is an “information-processing approach” (Reber, 1973)

20. Basic Relationships   Ability to represent objects and events not perceptually available   Cognitive structures and operations related to   Space and time (where and when)   Action classification (transitive vs intransitive)   Embedding of action patterns within each other (bowling, tying a bow)   Object permanence and constancy (symbolic representation)   Relationships between objects and action (causitives)   Construction of a model of one’s own perceptual space (this and that; diexis)

21.   Ability to derive linguistic-processing strategies from general cognitive structures and processes   Ability to formulate concepts and strategies to serve as structural components for the linguistic rules.   Visual attention to and discrimination of location, action, agent, and objects   Discrimination of animate and inanimate objects.   Receptive language skills – produce only those linguistic forms of which they have former knowledge. (but…)   Knowledge of persons, social categories and events

22. Example of Language Classification Case Grammar (Fillmore, 1968)   7 major universal cases:   Agentative: The girl runs   Dative: Give it to the girl   Experiencer: The girl is happy   Factitive: The author wrote a poem   Instrumental: The author wrote with a pen   Locative: The author wrote in her office   Objective: The author hit her computer

23. Limitations Cognition alone does not adequately account for acquisition   not all children with normal cognition acquire language   language can precede cognition (“actually, probably”, songs) Some aspects of linguistic development can only be explained by earlier linguistic input (i.e., not cognitive development)

24. Model reflects an adult perspective even though generated in observation of child productions Link between cognitive abilities and language acquisition is not adequately explained   why do cognitive concepts become linguistically encoded   does not take into account the basic nature and purpose of children’s communication within social contexts

25. Contributions Its description of child language resembles actual early child production Links adult and child language Links language development to child development

26. Linguistic Theory  Basic Tenet: Chomsky  Growth is believed to be guided by an underlying genetic program (Ritchie & Bhatia, 1999)  Genetic program guides language acquisition and only with growth and maturation will children acquire adult like grammar (Wexler, 1998).

27. Development of a Theory 1950’s – 1960’s: Phrase Structure and Transformational Rules Purpose: “to provide a finite set of universal rules from which all language generate an almost infinite number of sentences” (p. 40).

28. Phrase Structure Rules  Universal basic relationship among constituents  Noun phrases  Verb phrases  Adverbial phrases  Adjectival phrases

29. Transformational Rules  Govern the specific arrangement of phrase structure elements based on a specific language (not universal)  Transformational rules specify an underlying relationship between surface and deep structure and between various surface structures

30. 1990’s – 2000’s: Minimalism Lemma (interface btw concepts & words) Phonological Form Logical Form Spellout

31. Limitations  Ignores phonology, semantics & pragmatics  Does not address 1- and 2-word development  Based on adult grammar  Not wholistic –doesn’t incorporated other aspects of development  “LAD” is inadequate to describe innate mechanisms

32. Contributions  Because of linguistic theory other theories must account for:  Detailed syntax  cross-linguistic similarities and differences  Generative nature of language  Internally driven growth

33. Emergentism  Replaces the dichotomy of nature and nurture  Based on interactions of general cognitive processes  Language development depends on the interaction of many genes together with experience  Language is grounded in the physical body experience, the brain, and social interaction

34.  Cognitive architecture: organization and structure at 3 levels: 1.Neuron: properties of neurons 2.Local: layers of cortex, cell density, interconnection 3.Global: connections between lobes  Timing  Of input, brain development & learning  Gradual improvements in memory/cog skills have the effect of limiting language processing in exactly the right way to enable a child’s brain to start small and han dle increasingly complex information  Result of evolution and embryology

35. Limitations  Requires complicated mental models to explain processing of linguistic information  Models are just as complicated as nativist linguistic models  Gaps in defining what language knowledge is

36. Contributions  Product of the function of the human brain consistent with other cognitive skills and learning mechanisms  Recognizes that language is a special form of information

37. What is your theory of language acquisition?