THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
by Jenny Dickinson
1. NATIVIST PERSPECTIVE Theorist Noam Chomsky
1.1. Emphasizes inborn or innate human capabilities "NATURE" as being responsibile for language development.
1.2. All people inherently have the capacity to acquire language due to cognitive structures that process language differently from other stimuli.
1.3. The ability to learn language is a quality of the human species because humans obviously are not designed to acquire one language over another.
2. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE =Theorist Jean Piaget
2.1. Emphasis of this perspective is that human language is acquired as maturation accures and cognitive competencies develop,
2.2. Cognitive development is the "prerequisit and foundation for language learning".A child learns language by using the same mechanisims as for other learning, Thus, there is no unique language mechanism. For language to develop, specific cognitive growth must occur first.
2.3. Piaget contended for language to exist the "capacity for mental representation must be present".
3. BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE Theorist B.F. Skinner
3.1. Emphasizes the role of "NURTURE" and considers learning to be based on the stimuli, response and reinforcements that occur in the environment.
3.2. A child is considered a "Blank Slate" and learning occurs due to associations established between stimuli, response, and events that occur after the response behavior.
3.3. Language is taught through situations in which children are encouraged to imitate others' speech such as phrases and sentences produced by a child is considered evidence that chain of speech units has been reinforced.
4. INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE Theorist Lev Vygotsky
4.1. Focuses on the primary role of socialcultural interaction in children's development of language knowledge.
4.2. This perspective contends that children acquire language through their attempt to communicate with the world around them.
4.3. Language is acquired by individuals out of a need to funcation in society and accompanying need for knowledge of how language functions in society.
