Theoretical Perspectives
by danielle bush
1. interactionist
1.1. Theorists: Vygotsky, Bruner, Halliday Nurture Oriented Focus on the acquisition of pragmatic knowledge. Children acquire language by their attempts to communicate with the world around them. It builds on each of the 3 other perspectives by its focus on the process of language development.
2. Behaviorist
2.1. Theorist: Skinner Nurture Oriented Focus on the acquisition of semantic, syntactic, and morphemic knowledge. Learning occurs based on the stimuli, responses, and reinforcements happening in the environment. Each child is considered to be a "blank slate."
3. Nativist
3.1. Theorist: Noam Chomsky Nature Oriented Focus on the acquisition of syntactic knowledge. Emphasizes the inborn language mechanism, LAD.
4. Cognitive Developmental
4.1. Theorist: Jean Piaget Nature Oriented Focus on the acquisition of semantic and morphemic knowledge. Cognitive growth must first occur for language to develop.
