顺其自然

LanguageDevelopmentTheoriesofLanguageDevelopmentIntroductionThreeDomainsofLanguageDevelopment:Syntax,Semantics,&PragmaticsThreeTheoriesofLanguageDevelopment1.LearningTheory2.NativistTheory3.InteractionistTheoriesIntroductionWhenwecommunicatesuccessfully,wedosobecauseweareabletodoatleastfourdifferentthings.First,weneedtobeabletoperceiveandproducethesoundsthatmakeupalanguageandconveymeaningstootherpeople.Second,weneedtoknowwhatthewordsofalanguagemean.Third,weneedtoknowhowtoputthesewordstogetheringrammaticallyappropriatewayssuchthatotherswillunderstandus.Fourth,weneedtoknowhowtoeffectivelyuseourlanguagetocommunicatewithothers.Psychologistswhostudylanguagerefertoeachoftheseprocessesbydifferentnames.Howweproducemeaningfulsoundsisthestudyofphonology.Semanticsisthestudyofwordmeaningandhowweacquireavocabulary.Thestudyofgrammar(orsyntax)referstohowwelearntherulesofalanguage.Pragmaticsisthestudyofhowweuselanguagetoachievecommunicativegoals.TheoriesofLanguageDevelopment1.LearningTheoryAccountsoflanguagedevelopmentwhichemphasizethatlanguageacquisitioncanbeexplainedusingtheprinciplesoflearningsuchasclassicalconditioning,operantconditioning,andobservationallearning.Skinnerarguedthatchildrenlearnlanguageasparentsselectivelyrewardorpunishonlythosebehaviorswhichtheyrecognizeasappropriate,grammaticallycorrectutterances.Banduraarguedthatlanguagelearningtakesplaceprimarilybyprocessesofobservation&imitation.Simplyput,childrenoverhearlanguagebeingusedandtheyimitatethebehaviorofthesemodels.Learningtheoryhasbeencriticizedonanumberofcounts.Itissimplynotpossibleforparentstoreinforceorpunishallofthepossibleutterancesachildwilluse.Studiesofparent-childinteractionshowthatparentsrewardgrammaticallyincorrectutterancesthataretruthful.Thelanguagethatchildrenhearcontainstoofewexamplesforthemtolearnthecorrectrules(povertyofthestimulusargument).2.NativistTheoryThenativistviewoflanguagedevelopmentistracedbacktotheworkofNoamChomsky(1957).Chomskyarguedthatlanguageistheproductofanunlearned,biologically-based,internalmentalstructure.Becausetheruleswhichunderliealanguagearetoocomplextobeacquiredbychildreninafewshortyears,someaspectsoflanguagemustbeinnatelyspecified.Inshort,manyaspectsoflanguagearenotlearnedbutareapartofourbiologicalendowment.Allnativisttheoriesoflanguagedevelopmentsharecertainelements.First,theyassumethatcertaingrammaticalconceptsarecommontoalllanguagesandarethereforeinnate.Childrenarebiologicallypredisposedtolearnalanguage.Childrencomeequippedwithasetofinnatehypotheseswhichguidetheirattemptstolearntherulesofalanguage.Thesehelptoreducethecomplexityoflearningalanguage.Chomsky(1968)proposedthatchildrencomeequippedwithaninnatementalstructure--thelanguageacquisitiondevice(LAD)--whichmakeslearningeasier.AccordingtoChomsky,theLADcontainsasetoffeaturescommontoalllanguages,whichhetermedauniversalgrammar.Universalgrammarreferstotheentiresetofrulesorlinguisticparameterswhichspecifyallpossiblehumanlanguages.ThelearningofgrammaroccurswhentheLADoperatesonspeechtoabstractoutthelinguisticparameterswhichunderlietheparticularlanguageusedinthechild’senvironment.Chomskytermedthisprocessofdeterminingtheparametersorrulesofone’snativelanguageparametersetting.Nativisttheoryhasbeencriticizedonanumberofcounts.Linguistshavefailedtospecifythenatureofuniversalgrammar.Manylinguistshavespeculatedthatthismaynotbepossible.Grammarisnotlearnedasrapidlyasonemightexpectifagreatdealofinnateknowledgeisassumed.Thereislittleevidenceneurologicalevidencetosupporttheexistenceofabiologically-basedLAD.Presumablythereshouldbesomepatternofdamagethathinderourabilitytolearnalanguage.3.InteractionistPerspectivesonLanguageDevelopmentInteractionisttheoriesareconcernedwiththeinterplaybetweenenvironmental&biologicalfactorsintheprocessofacquiringlanguage.Interactioniststendtoviewchildrenashavingastrongbiologicalpredispositiontoacquirealanguage.However,incontrasttonativists,interactionistsstresstheimportanceofboththesocialsupportthatparentsprovidetheyounglanguagelearner,aswellasthesocialcontextsinwhichlanguage-learningchildisinstructed.Bruner(1983)arguesparentsprovidetheirchildrenalanguageacquisitionsupportsystemorLASS.TheLASSisacollectionofstrategiesthatparentsemploytofacilitatetheirchildren’sacquisitionoflanguage.Oneofthesestrategiesisscaffolding,thedeliberateuseoflanguageatalevelthatisslightlybeyondwhatchildrencancomprehend.Withparentalsupport,scaffoldingleadsthechildtoacquirecomplexlanguagemorequicklythentheymightontheirown.Anotherstrategyiscalledinfant-directedspeechor‘motherese’.Whenusinginfant-directedspeech,parentsspeakinahigherpitch,stressimportantwords,andtalkmoreslowlytotheirinfants.Veryyounginfantsshowaclearpreferenceforinfant-directedspeech.Getsaninfant’sattention&increasesthechancesoftheirunderstandingthemessage.Anotherapairoftechniquesthatadultsemployisexpansion&recast.Expansionoccurswhenanadulttakesachild’sutteranceandexpandsonitscomplexity.Forexample,whenachildmightuttersomethinglikeFelixeated,theparentmightexpandonthecom