unit-10-Language-acquisition

Chapter10Languageacquisition•LanguageacquisitionThechild’sacquisitionofhismothertongue,i.e.howthechildcomestounderstandandspeakthelanguageofhiscommunity.Theoriesofchildlanguageacquisition•Abehavioristviewoflanguageacquisition(Skinners)•Aninnatistviewoflanguageacquisition(Chomsky)•Aninteractionistviewoflanguageacquisition•CognitivefactorsinchildlanguagedevelopmentAbehavioristviewoflanguageacquisition•Traditionalbehavioristsviewlanguageasbehaviorandbelievethatlanguagelearningissimplyamatterofimitationandhabitformation.ImitationRecognitionReinforcement•Theinadequacyofbehavioristviewliesinexplaininghowchildrenacquirecomplexlanguagesystem.Aninnatistviewoflanguageacquisition•AccordingtoNoamChomskyhumanbeingsarebiologicallyprogrammedforlanguageandthatthelanguagedevelopsinthechildjustasotherbiologicalfunctionssuchaswalking.UG•Universalgrammar(UG)isatheoryoflinguisticspostulatingprinciplesofgrammarsharedbyalllanguages,thoughttobeinnatetohumans(linguisticnativism).Itattemptstoexplainlanguageacquisitioningeneral,notdescribespecificlanguages.Universalgrammarproposesasetofrulesintendedtoexplainlanguageacquisitioninchilddevelopment.UG•Somestudentsofuniversalgrammarstudyavarietyofgrammarstoabstractgeneralizationscalledlinguisticuniversals,oftenintheformofIfXholdstrue,thenYoccurs.Thesehavebeenextendedtoarangeoftraits,fromthephonemesfoundinlanguages,towhatwordorderslanguageschoose,towhychildrenexhibitcertainlinguisticbehaviors.Aninteractionistviewoflanguageacquisition•Theinteractionistviewholdsthatlanguagedevelopsasaresultofthecomplexinterplaybetweenthehumancharacteristicsofthechildandtheenvironmentinwhichthechilddevelops.Integratedwiththeinnatistview,theinteractionistfurtherclaimsthatthemodifiedlanguagewhichissuitableforthechild’scapabilityiscrucialinhislanguageacquisition.•Motherese•Childdirectedspeech•CaretakertalkCognitivefactorsinchildlanguagedevelopment•Languagedevelopmentisdependentonboththeconceptschildrenformabouttheworldandwhattheyfeelstimulatedtocommunicateattheearlyandlaterstagesoftheirlanguagedevelopment.•Thecognitivefactorsdeterminehowthechildmakessenseofthelinguisticsystemhimselfinsteadofwhatmeaningsthechildperceivesandexpresses.Languageenvironmentandthecriticalperiodhypothesis•Twoimportantfactors:thelinguisticenvironmentchildrenareexposedtoandtheagetheystarttolearnthelanguage.•Inbehavioristapproach,languageenvironmentplaysamajorroleinprovidingbothlanguagemodelstobeimitatedandnecessaryfeedbacks.•Theinnatistviewemphasizesmoreonchildren’sinternalprocessingofthelanguageitemstobelearnt.Theenvironmentfunctionsasastimulusthattriggersandactivatesthepre-equippedUGtoprocessthematerialsprovidedbythelinguisticenvironmentaroundthechildren.•Theinteractionistviewcallsforthequalityofthelanguagesamplesavailableinthelinguisticenvironment,onlywhenthelanguageismodifiedandadjustedtothelevelofchildren’scomprehension,dotheyprocessandinternalizethelanguageitems.CriticalPeriodHypothesis•EricLennebergarguesthattheLAD,likeotherbiologicalfunctions,workssuccessfullyonlywhenitisstimulatedattherighttime----aspecificandlimitedtimeperiodforlanguageacquisition.CPH•Inthelatefiftiesandsixties,PenfieldandRoberts(1959)andLenneberg(1967)werethefirsttoproposethattherewasacriticalperiodforlanguageacquisition.Theybasedthisproposalondifferenttypesofevidence:•-evidencefromferalandabusedchildrenwhogrewupwithoutbeingexposedtohumanlanguageinchildhoodandwhodidnotacquirelanguagenormallyaftertheywerefoundlevelattained•-evidencethatchildrenwithaphasiarecoveredmuchbetterthanadultswithaphasia•Allthisevidencecomesfromfirstlanguageacquisition.CPH•Thecriticalperiodhypothesisisthesubjectofalong-standingdebateinlinguisticsandlanguageacquisitionovertheextenttowhichtheabilitytoacquirelanguageisbiologicallylinkedtoage.Thehypothesisclaimsthatthereisanideal'window'oftimetoacquirelanguageinalinguisticallyrichenvironment,afterwhichthisisnolongerpossible.•Thecriticalperiodhypothesisstatesthatthefirstfewyearsoflifeisthecrucialtimeinwhichanindividualcanacquireafirstlanguageifpresentedwithadequatestimuli.Iflanguageinputdoesn'toccuruntilafterthistime,theindividualwillneverachieveafullcommandoflanguageCPH•Insecondlanguageacquisition,thestrongestevidenceforthecriticalperiodhypothesisisinthestudyofaccent,wheremostolderlearnersdonotreachanative-likelevel.However,undercertainconditions,native-likeaccenthasbeenobserved,suggestingthataccentisaffectedbymultiplefactors,suchasidentityandmotivation,ratherthanacriticalperiodbiologicalconstraint•ThestrongversionofCPHsuggeststhatchildrenmustacquiretheirfirstlanguagebypubertyortheywillneverbeabletolearnfromsubsequentexposure.•Theweakversionholdsthatlanguagelearningwillbemoredifficultandincompleteafterpuberty.Stagesinchildlanguagedevelopment•Phonologicaldevelopment•Vocabularydevelopment1)Under-extension2)Over-extension3)Prototypetheory•Grammaticaldevelopment1)Telegraphicspeech(2)2)Sentencesofthreemainelements(2.5)•Pragmaticdevelopmentunder-extension•wordsareusedtoclassifyallsortsofthings,andtheclassificationsystemtheyrepresentissomewhatcomp