First Language Acquisition Theories and Theorists

1. All agrees that some innate structures are needed for language learning

2. Social Interactionist

2.1. Lev Vygotshy (1978)

2.1.1. Language is developed from social human intercation

2.1.2. The linguistic enviroment plays a huge role in language aquisition

2.1.2.1. Active participants in their learning

2.1.3. Zone of Proximal Development

2.1.3.1. zone of actual leaarning

2.1.3.2. zone of potential development

3. Behavorist

3.1. B.F. Skinner (1957)

3.1.1. Language is a culturally learned behavior

3.1.1.1. learned by training and practice

3.1.1.2. on going cycle of stimulus and responce

3.1.2. Writing is not universal across cultures

3.1.2.1. learned by trial and error

3.1.2.2. some cultures do not have written history

3.1.3. Emphasizes the importance of environmental factors that shape what we learn

3.1.3.1. Learners are empty vessels

3.1.4. Fails to explain how children create novel utterances

3.1.4.1. children develop their own grammar

3.1.4.2. changes in the oral pronunciation (example on page 146, stop)

3.1.4.3. children do not simple imitate adult speach

4. Nativist/Mentalist

4.1. Noam Chomsky

4.1.1. Language learning is biological

4.1.2. LAD (Language acquisition device) general knowledge of languages

4.1.2.1. phonology

4.1.2.2. phonological rules

4.1.2.3. distictive features

4.1.3. Little emphasis on how the environment affects language learning

4.1.4. Children construct their own grammar by listening to language around them

4.1.4.1. example: ed to past tense verbs = wented, holded, eated

4.1.4.2. children do not respond to error correction unless they are developmentally ready

4.1.5. The theory of children learning language on their own lacks enough support

4.1.5.1. mental stimulation through social interaction is extremely important for brain development.