Behaviourist and Nativist Theory in Language Learning.pptx

Theories that English teachers should remember.

1. Good evening!

2. Activity time! Word Puzzle

3. Answers: Acquisition Communicate Cognitive Language Learning Theories Factors Genetic Grammar Social

4. Question: What makes us human?

5. Question: When did we learn to speak?

6. Question: How did we learn to speak?

7. - in psychology refers to the process by which humans acquire the ability to perceive , produce , and use words to understand and communicate . This innate capacity typically develops in early childhood and involves complex interplay of genetic, cognitive, and social factors . ( Lemetyinen , ed. 2023) Language Acquisition

8. - Infants as young as 12 months are reported to have sensitivity to the grammar needed to understand causative sentences (who did what to whom; e.g., the bunny pushed the frog (Rowland & Noble, 2010). Language Acquisition

9. Language Acquisition Theory: Behaviorist Theory Burrhus Frederic Skinner American Psychologist Author of the Verbal Behavior

10. Language Acquisition Theory: Behaviorist Theory This theory proposes that language develops as a result of children trying to imitate their caregivers or those around them. 

11. Language Acquisition Theory: Behaviorist Theory The theory assumes that children have no innate ability to learn the language and rely on operant conditioning to form and improve their understanding and use of it. The  theory believes that children are born 'tabula rasa' - as a 'blank slate '.

12. What is Operant Conditioning ? Operant conditioning is the idea that actions are reinforced. There are two types of reinforcement that are vital to this theory:  positive reinforcement  and  negative reinforcement .  In Skinner's theory, children alter their use of language in response to this reinforcement.

13. What is Operant Conditioning ? For example, a child may correctly ask for food, ( eg . saying something like 'mama, dinner'). They then receive positive reinforcement by receiving the food they'd asked for, or being told they're clever by their caregiver. Alternatively , if a child uses language incorrectly, they may simply be ignored, or may be corrected by the caregiver, which would be negative reinforcement.

14. Evidence for Skinner's theory Operant conditioning is well understood and supported as a behaviorist explanation for many things, and there may be some ways that it can be applied to language development . For example, children may still be able to learn that certain sounds or phrases get certain results, even if this doesn't contribute to their language development as a whole.

15. Limitations of Skinner's theory Developmental Milestones Contrary to Skinner's behavioral theory, research has shown that children go through a series of developmental milestones at around the same age . This suggests that there may be more than just simple imitation and conditioning taking place, and that children may actually have an internal mechanism that facilitates language development.

16. Limitations of Skinner's theory The critical period of language acquisition Age 7 is thought to be the end of the critical period for language acquisition. If a child has not developed language by this point, they will never be able to fully grasp it.

17. For example: Genie (as studied by Curtiss et al., 1974 ) is perhaps the most notable example of someone who has failed to develop language by the critical period . Genie was a young girl who was raised in complete isolation and never given a chance to develop language due to her solitude and poor living conditions. When she was discovered in 1970, she was twelve years old. She had missed the critical period and was therefore unable to become fluent in English despite extensive attempts to teach and rehabilitate her.

18. Limitations of Skinner's theory The complicated nature of language It has also been argued that language and its development are simply too complicated to be taught sufficiently through reinforcement alone.

19. Behavioural Theory - Key Takeaways BF Skinner proposed that language acquisition was a result of imitation and operant conditioning. This theory suggests that operant conditioning is responsible for a child's progress through the stages of language acquisition. According to the theory, a child will seek positive reinforcement and wish to avoid negative reinforcement, consequently amending their use of language in response .

20. Behavioural Theory - Key Takeaways 4. The fact that children imitate accents and colloquialisms, alter their use of language when entering school, and associate some sounds/phrases with positive outcomes, may be evidence for Skinner's theory. 5. Skinner's theory is limited. It can't account for the critical period, comparative developmental milestones regardless of language background, and the complexities of language.

21. Activity time!

22. Innate Device Acquisition Language Noam Chomsky Answers:

23. Language Acquisition Theory: Nativist Theory Noam Chomsky American Linguist R eviewed (1959) the Verbal Behavior by   B.F. Skinner Authored Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965) and Cartesian Linguistics (1966)

24. Language Acquisition Theory: Nativist Theory is a biologically-based theory which argues that humans are pre-programmed with the innate ability to develop language. t his theory claims that our capacity for producing and understanding verbal correspondence is coded into our brains from birth.

25. Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Chomsky developed the idea of the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) which is a hypothetical ‘tool’ hard-wired into the brain that helps children rapidly learn and understand language.

26. Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Chomsky added that this is not a physical part of the brain like the hypothalamus, or the medulla oblongata. The LAD is a general term used to explain the many complex processes the brain has for learning languages. Compared to other species, humans have developed a complex language with structure and rules . The LAD is part of the reason for this.

27. Universal Grammar (UG) Chomsky does not believe that a child from England is born with the innate ability to learn English, or that a child from Japan has a LAD containing Japanese vocabulary. Instead , he suggests that all human languages share many of the same common grammar principles. For example, most languages: Differentiate between verbs and nouns Have a way of talking about the past and  present tense Have a way of asking questions Have a counting system

28. Universal Grammar (UG) According to  Universal Grammar theory , the basic grammatical structures of language are already encoded in the human brain at birth.  It is a child’s environment that will determine which language they will learn .

29. So, let's break down how the LAD supposedly works: The child hears adult speech, which triggers the LAD . The child automatically applies universal grammar to speech. The child learns new vocabulary and applies the appropriate grammar rules. The child is able to use the new language.

30. Virtuous Errors When children are first learning a language, they will, of course, make mistakes. These mistakes can give us information as to how children learn. For example, children have an unconscious ability to recognize the past tense and will begin to associate words ending with a /d/ /t/ or /id/ sound with the past.

31. Virtuous Errors Chomsky suggests this is why children make ‘ virtuous errors ’ such as, ‘ I goed ’ rather than ‘ I went ’ when first learning a language. Nobody taught them to say ‘ I goed ’; they figured that out for themselves. To Chomsky, these virtuous errors suggest that children are born with the subconscious ability to work out the grammatical rules of language.

32. The Poverty of Stimulus T his argument by Chomsky states that children are not exposed to enough linguistic data in their environment to learn every feature of the language. Chomsky suggested that the human brain must have evolved to contain certain linguistic information from birth, which helps children figure out the basic structures of language.

33. Criticisms of Chomsky's theory Behaviorists argue that there is not enough scientific evidence to support the existence of a language acquisition device. For example, we do not know where the LAD is located in the brain. For this reason, many linguists reject this theory.

34. Language Acquisition Device (LAD) - Key takeaways The Language Acquisition Device is a hypothetical tool in the brain that helps children understand the fundamental rules of human language. The LAD was proposed by the American linguist Noam Chomsky in the 1960s. Chomsky suggests that the LAD contains information on  Universal Grammar,  a shared set of grammatical structures that all human languages follow.

35. Language Acquisition Device (LAD) - Key takeaways 4. The fact children show signs of understanding grammar structures before being shown or taught them is evidence that a LAD exists. 5. Some theorists, particularly behaviourist theorists, reject Chomsky's theory as it lacks scientific evidence.

36. Question: Nature or Nurture?

37. Question: As teachers, why is it important for us to understand how learners acquire the language?

38. References: Curtiss et al . (1974) The Development of Language in Genius: a Case of Language Acquisition beyond the "critical period“. Retrieved from: https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/language-acquisition/behavioral-theory / Lemetyinen , H. (ed. 2023) Language Acquisition Theory. Retrieved from: https://www.simplypsychology.org/language.html McGilvray , J. A. (2024, June 18). Noam Chomsky. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Noam-Chomsky Smith, D. S. (2018) Language: Nativism. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312474843_Language_Nativism StudySmarter ( n.d. ) Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Retrieved from: https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/language-acquisition/language-acquisition-device lad/#:~:text=A%20Language%20Acquisition%20Device%20(LAD,structures%20common%20to%20all%20languages. StudySmarter ( n.d. ) Behavioral Theory. Retrieved from: https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/language-acquisition/behavioral-theory/

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