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Theoretical Perspectives

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Theoretical Perspectives Week 2 Assignment
Kristina Snyder
ECE 305 Language Development In Young Children
Amy Brown
July 20, 2012

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The four Theoretical Perspectives are the behaviorist, nativist, cognitive developmentalist, and interactionist.

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Behavorists~~ A theory by Burrhus Frederic Skinner. The focus is on nurture instead of nature. The language Knowledge includes Semantic, Syntactic and Morphehmic. Skinner\'s Theory is that children are born as a blank state and we learn from stimuli and repsonses or events.\" emphasizes the role of “nurture” and considers learning to occur based on the stimuli, responses, and reinforcements that occur in the environment\" (Otto, 2010)

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Nativist~~ Is a Theory by Linguist Noam Chomsky. The fous is on Nature and the language knowledge is Syntactic. Chromsky\'s thoughts is that every person has the capability to learn language because of cognitive structures that are processed in language differently from stimulis.\"The nativist perspective emphasizes inborn or innate human capabilities (i.e.,“nature”) as being responsible for language development\" (Otto, 2010)

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Cognitive Development~~ Theory produced by Jean Piaget. The main focus is on nature and the language Knowledge is Semantic and Morphemic. Piaget believes that all childrens understanding of the environment around them comes from experiences and any motor activities. \" language is acquired as maturation occurs and cognitive competencies develop\" (Otto, 2010)

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Interactionists~~Theorists are Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner and Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday. The main Focuses are on Nuture. The language Knowledge is Pragmatic. One perspective is that children learn language from the world around them from attempts of communication.

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References

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Bruner, J. (1971) The Relevance of Education New York: Norton.

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\"Halliday, M. A. K. (1993) ‘Towards a language-based theory of learnin’ Linguistics and Education, 5, 93-116

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Otto, B. (2010). Language development in early childhood (3rd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill

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Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind and Society Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press

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