LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Introduction

Learning Goals

Today we will cover:

An

Introduction to Language Development

The

Four Components of Language

The

Behaviorist Approach vs. The Nativist Approach

What are all the parts of language?

Components of language

Phonology: the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages and to explain the variations that occur. The focus on only those sounds, or properties of sound, that are important for the communication of meaning.

Example: Even when someone has an accent, there are certain words that we can understand when pronounced

Semantics: The components of language concerned with understanding the meaning of words and word combinations

Example: What is the actual definition of the word, what

Components of Language

Grammar: The syntax (the rules by which words are arranged into sentences) and morphology (the use of grammatical markers that indicate number, tense, case, person, gender, active or passive voice, and other meanings (e.g. the use of prefixes & suffixes) Pragmatics: The social context that determines how to engage in effective and appropriate communication with others. This usually involves Sociolinguistic Knowledge: Where society dictates how language should be spoken

QUESTIONS?

The Behaviorist Nativist

The

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.
*Image via Bing *Image via Bing

B.F Skinner

Noam

The Behaviorist vs. The Naturist

We will break up into even study groups, and each group will read one of the two articles Each member must answer the study guide completely, and be prepared to teach the class what you have learned

Article Analysis

What is the major idea in the article? What points of the article are unclear? What do you agree with in the article?

What do you disagree with in the article?

The Interview Assignment

I will split you up into smaller study groups, and each group will get one of the two articles Complete the following questions based on information in the article. After you are complete, you will be paired up with one of your classmates that was assigned the other article .You will be both the interviewer and the interviewee, and you will be required to answer questions to determine your understanding of the article.

Both you and your partner will use the questions from the worksheet that you HAVE NOT completed as interview questions. When your partner is speaking, you write in their responses. If you need them to clarify, ask them! You can use your own worksheet answers and the actual article as a reference, but you cannot read from the sheet directly! The teacher will be walking around observing interviews to make sure that you

Lets Discuss as a Class

The Behaviorist Approach

Operant Conditioning: Learning language through reinforcement of parent and imitation of the child Positive Reinforcement: Pleasant consequences that strengthen the responses before them Primary Reinforcement: Positive reinforcement related to basic needs Conditioned Reinforcement: Money, prizes, status, grades, trophies, and praise from others

The Behavior Perspective Big Picture

Human being behave based on conditioning or training. Children learn language based on the positive and negative responses that they receive from adults (parents, teachers, etc.). If a baby is babbling and a parent reinforces that with words, the baby will pick up that word

We learn everything, even speech, based on what someone else teaches us

The Behavior Approach (contd)

Premack Principle: Using preferred activity to reinforce less preferred behavior Negative Reinforcement: Strengthening behavior that removes undesired consequences Avoidance Behaviors: The actual behaviors that are strengthened by the negative reinforcements Punishment & Omission Training: Weakening of behavior when the consequence is the removal of something pleasurable

The Nativist Perspective Big Picture

Children have a natural biological ability to learn language. A childs mental ability to learn language is a unique human accomplishment All we need is inside our brain, we are born with ability Language Acquisition Device: A biological based, innate module for picking up language that needs only to be triggered by verbal input from the environment. Once children have sufficient vocabulary, they can form correct grammar and understand words that they hear

The Nativist (contd)

Universal Grammar: A built-in storehouse of rules that apply to all human languages. Children use this to decipher grammatical categories and relationships in any language.
All

the worlds languages have common features Children do not need sophisticated abilities to understand, and parents do not need to deliberately train their children to speak. The children will learn themselves

The Nativist (contd)

Language Areas of the Brain:

Brocas Area: Located in the frontal lobe, controls language production. Damage results in aphasia, a communication disorder where a person has good comprehension but speaks in a slow, labored, ungrammatical, emotionally flat fashion.
Wernickes area: located in the temporal lobe, responsible for interpreting language. When damaged, speech is fluent and grammatical, but may contain nonsense words. Comprehension of others speech is also impaired

The Nativist (contd)

Erik Lenneneberg: Children must acquire language during the age span of brain lateralization or time where the left & right sides of the brain begin to perform different functions (left brain analytical, right brain emotional) Basically, language development is optimal at the time when the brain begins to develop parts that will be responsible for different functions This is complete by puberty

Case Study; Genie

Isolated at 20 months in the back of her parents house, found at 13 Abused, beaten if she would make noise (operant conditioning) She learned to speak, however it was never as fluent as others her age

In Summary

Components of Language:
Phonology
Semantics Grammar

Pragmatics

Behaviorist Perspective on Language Nativist Perspective on Language

QUESTIONS?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!