Child Language Acquisition Theories

Child Language Acquisition Theories

1. Nature vs. Nurture

Nurture
Skinner - Operant Conditioning

• Language is learnt through imitation (like other skills such as walking, tying laces etc.)
• Reinforcement through rewards from parental figures (praise, an item they asked for, etc.)

STRENGTHS

• Imitation has a key role in the development of many skills.

WEAKNESSES

• There are clear language development stages in every child.
• All children have an innate understanding of basic grammar rules.
• There is an infinite number of sentences so children cannot learn them all.

Nature
Chomsky

• Children have an innate understanding of grammar
• Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

STRENGTHS

• Children will under/overextend (add suffixes like "-ed" when it is not needed, e.g. "wented").
• Language Acquisition happens at an impressive speed and would not be learned from nurture so quickly.
• Children don't replicate all of their parents' grammatical errors.

WEAKNESSES

• Interaction has a key role in the development of language, as seen in the Bard and Sachs Study where a child with two…