English Language A-Level: Children's Language Development Theories

Introduction

• Lecture by Paul focusing on 18 important theories for understanding Children’s Language Development (CLD) relevant for exams.

Theory 1: Behaviorism (B.F. Skinner)

• Language learning akin to learning other skills (imitation and copying).
• Key Concepts:
  • Operant Conditioning:
    • Positive Reinforcement: Child's utterance understood by adults.
    • Negative Reinforcement: Lack of response discourages use of certain language forms.
  • Tabula Rasa: Children are blank slates at birth.
• Evaluation:
  • Limitations include:
    1. Children rarely mimic adults directly.
    2. Children show creative language use (e.g., virtuous errors).
    3. Similar developmental stages across languages undermining reinforcement.
    4. Little explicit grammatical correction from caregivers.

Theory 2: Nativism (Noam Chomsky)

• Brain has a natural ability to acquire language (Language Acquisition Device - LAD).
• Universal Grammar: Children learn languages similarly regardless of linguistic input.
• Evaluation:
  • Limitations include:
    1. Challenges to the idea of a specific LAD.
    2. Criticism regarding reliance on theoretical rather than empirical data.
    3. Downplays interaction with caregivers.
    4. Case study of Jim highlights importance of interaction.

Theory 3: Cognitive Theory (Jean Piaget)

• Language depends on cognitive development; thought precedes language.
• Stages of Cognitive Development:
  1. Sensory Motor Stage (0-2 years): Concrete, immediate language.
  2. Pre-Operational Stage (2-7 years): Imagination, asking questions.
  3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years): Logical thinking.
  4. Formal Operational Stage (11+ years): Abstract reasoning.
• Evaluation:
  • Links between cognitive and language development, but harder to establish as children grow.

Theory 4: Social Interactionism (Jerome Bruner)

• Emphasis on interaction with caregivers (Language Acquisition Support System - LASS).
• Child-Directed Speech (CDS): Specialized speech to help children learn.
• Evaluation:
  • Cross-cultural studies challenge CDS importance.

Theory 5: Structuralist Approach

• Predictable stages of language development regardless of language spoken.
• Stages of Language Use:
  1. Pre-verbal Stage: Crying, cooing, babbling.
  2. Holophrastic Stage: One-word utterances.
  3. Two-word Stage: Beginning of grammar.
  4. Telegraphic Stage: Key words only.
  5. Post-telegraphic Stage: More complex utterances.

Theory 6: Functional Approach (Michael Halliday)

• Focus on the purpose of language in early years.
• Functions of Language:
  1. Instrumental: Basic needs.
  2. Regulatory: Directing actions.
  3. Interactional: Social bonding.
  4. Personal: Expressing feelings.
  5. Heuristic: Learning about the environment.
  6. Imaginative: Playful use of language.
  7. Representational: Information sharing.

Theory 7: Scaffolding (Lev Vygotsky)

• Emphasis on interaction as a learning process.
• More Knowledgeable Other (MKO): Caregivers supporting language acquisition.
• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): Learning area just beyond child's current abilities.

Theory 8: Critical Period Hypothesis (Eric Lenneberg)

• Critical window for language acquisition.
• Case Study: Genie, who missed this opportunity, struggled with language development.

Theory 9: Wug Test (Jean Berko Gleason)

• Children’s understanding of morphological rules demonstrated through made-up words.

Theory 10: Fist Phenomenon (Roger Brown)

• Children may understand phonemes but struggle to articulate them.

Theory 11: IRF Structure (Sinclair & Coulthard)

• Initiation-Response-Feedback model in conversational exchanges.

Theory 12: Early Words (Catherine Nelson)

• Categories of early vocabulary: nouns, verbs, modifiers, social words.

Theory 13: Semantic Development (Eve Clark)

• Overextension: Using a word too broadly.
• Underextension: Narrow use of a word.

Theory 14: Lexical Development (Jean Aitchison)

• Stages: Labeling, Packaging, and Network Building.

Theory 15: Grammatical Development (Roger Brown)

• Predictable order in children's use of inflections.

Theory 16: Pronoun Development (Ursula Bellugi)

• Stages in using pronouns.

Theory 17: Negative Sentences (Ursula Bellugi)

• Stages in forming negative sentences.

Theory 18: Interrogative Development (Ursula Bellugi)

• Stages in forming questions.

Conclusion

• Recap of all theories crucial for exam success in CLD.
• Emphasis on understanding theories and their evaluations.