1. Interactionist
1.1. Associated Theorists - Vygotsky, Bruner, and Halliday
1.1.1. Acquire language through interactions with people and surroundings
1.1.2. Theory is based on nurture
1.1.3. Focuses on development of pragmatic knowledge
1.1.4. Believes that the role of adults in the communication process with children is a vital and crucial part of the developmental process
2. Behaviorist
2.1. Associated Theorist - Skinner
2.1.1. Focuses on nurture theory
2.1.2. Helps to develop semantic, syntactic, and morphemic knowledge
2.1.3. Theory states that learning occurs due to the associations made between child and stimuli, responses, and the events or response that occurs after a specific event or communication
3. Nativist
3.1. Associated Theorist - Chomsky
3.1.1. Focuses on nature theory
3.1.2. Main focus is on development of syntactic knowledge
3.1.3. Theory emphasizes that humans are born with the ability to acquire language based on cognitive abilities that differ from the way processing of other stimuli occurs and that this is responsible for language development.
4. Cognitive Developmentalist
4.1. Associated Theorist - Piaget
4.1.1. Focuses on nature theory
4.1.2. Focus is on the development of semantic and morphemic language knowledge development
4.1.3. Theory states that language develops as maturation occurs and with the development of cognitive competencies or abilities.