Child Language Acquisition Theorists

B.F.Skinner (1940-90)

• All behavior is a result of the conditioning we have experienced and not through freedom of choice
• Children learn through imitation
• Operant conditioning: the idea that either a positive or negative response given by a caregiver can influence the way in which the child talks on future occasions.  This is spontaneous behaviour from which consequences affects future behavior
• Positive reinforcement: the positive feedback given to a child which is thought to encourage similar performances again.  For example: if a child is using a grammatically correct sentence a mother may praise the child for their verbal efforts.
• Negative reinforcement: the lack of feedback, correction or negative feedback that might prevent a child from making the same error repeatedly.  
• The issue with this argument is that children are more likely to be corrected on the truth of their utterances rather than the grammatical accuracy, so negative reinforcement does not occur often.  For example, if a child says: "I threwed some paint at the wall", a parent is more likely to question the child about whether the statement is true, rather than to correct the verb 'threwed' to 'threw'
• There is evidence to suggest that children do not respond to correction, and it can hamper their language development.
• One of the main arguments against the imitation theory is the fact that children do not suddenly produce Standard English sentences, which would happen if the children are mimicking the people around them.  Instead the language they use is built up gradually, becoming more defined as they develop
  

Noam Chomsky, born 1928

• Provided response to Skinner's theories in opposing view
• Introduced the concept of Language Acquisition Devices (LAD): the idea that all…