Theories of
Language
Development
BY – PRIYANSHU OJHA
244PBP018
M.Sc. APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
( 1ST YEAR )
"Humans are designed to walk; that tl are taught
to walk is impossible. Pretty much the same, is
true with language. Nobody taught us language. In
fact, you can't prevent a child from learning it.”
~Noam Chomsky
What Is Language Acquisition ?
Language Acquisition is the process by which humans acquire
the capacity to perceive and comprehend language as well as
to produce and use words; sentences to communicate.
i.e. gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand
it.
The Early Stages of Language Development
• From Birth • 2 – 3 Months • 4 – 6 Months
•The sole mechanism •The baby starts to • The starts to
babies use for utter vowel sounds utter not only the
communication • e.g eee, aaa vowels but also
•e.g hungry, wet, get
up
the consonants
souns
Crying Cooing Babbling
Example: A baby mimicking her mother
These first three stages is believed to be hardwired in the
human instinct. It is unlearned. It is universal and is uniform
in expression.
In the babbling stage children start to pick prosody; the
rhythmic and intonational aspect of language.
Twins Communicating With Each Other
Single – Word
For over a year, the child then begins to utter
his/her first words.
*Holophrase- one word as if a sentence.
Telegraphic Speech
During 18 months, the child now speaks almost complete sentence but
misses important articles; conjunctions, etc.
Fast – Mapping
This is the part of the telegraphic speech in which a child aged 2-6 years
old has the ability to perfectly copy and use a word correctly even when
he/she just heard it once.* This ability however will be lost over time as
a child grow into an adult.
Overregularization
Children include rules that don't apply to the rules of
grammar.
Groundbreaking
Many have been always fascinated with the human
linguistic ability, particularly on where it started; or some
call it the initial acquisition. Numerous studies have
conducted to find out how humans are able to learn
language and use it for day-to-day communication. Thus,
here are some of the many theories that have emerge to
understand how we learn the language we speak of today.
Theories of Language
Development
Navist
Behaviourist Theory
theory
Innateness
Learning Social
Cognitive Interactionist
Theory Theory
Behaviourism/Behaviourist Theory
In the behaviourist view,
language is reinforced input.
Skinner proposed that
language acquisition is really At its core, it is all pattern
one big and complex case of recognition-associating words
conditioning. with meanings.
Language Acquisition is a stimulus-response
mechanism.
Language is acquired through principles of
conditioning.
Including association, imitation and
reinforcement.
According to this theory, children learn words
by associating sounds with objects, actions
and events.
In the early stages of language development an
infant doesn't have the ability to talk but he/she
listens.
This means that understanding comes first. The infant
receives comprehensible input.
The theory can be summed up as
LISTEN RECEIVE A
(motivating REWARD
operation) (response)
IMITATE REPEAT OR
(discriminative RECALL
stimuli) (reinforcing
stimuli)
Innateness/ Nativist Theory by Noam Chomsky
To Chomsky, language is an innate faculty.
Chomsky asserts that human beings are biologically wired for language—that
we have a "Language Acquisition Device
(LAD)" that allows us to learn any language.
Linguistics ability is innate to us.
Chomsky claims that language acquisition is greatly dependent upon a
linguistic faculty which he terms as LAD.
The LAD is an innate mechanism or process that allows children to develop
language skills or "Universal Grammar", around which all languages are built.
Based on the assumption that, "There are core and language specific rules in all
languages."
When a learner comes across language specific, he will tend to refer to his first
language (L I).
Thus, if a learner discovers that a second language (L2) rule is not in accordance
with the universal rule, he will attempt to interpret that rule by means of the
equivalent rule in his Ll.
Learning / Cognitive Theory By Jean Piaget
The Cognitive Theory of Language Acquisition recognizes that both processes
(behaviourist & nativist) have their role to play.
The idea is that humans are able to learn language because of their ability to
learn; it is because of human cognitive development
Piaget believed that the understanding of concepts must first come before
language.
The more nuanced and layered our thinking, the more textured the language
that comes out.
That is why children talk one way and adults talk a different way.
A good example of this is seriation. There will be a point in a child's intellectual
development when s/he can compare objects with respect to size. This means that if
you gave the child a number of sticks, s/he could arrange them in order of size.
Piaget suggested that a child who had not yet reached this stage would not be able to
learn and use comparative adjectives like "bigger" or "smaller".
Social / Interactionist Theory By Lev Vygotsky
Interactionist's argue that language development is both biological and social.
That language is influenced by the desire of children to communicate with
others.
They believe that, "Children are born with a powerful brain that matures slowly
and predisposes them to acquire more understanding that they are motivated
to share with others.
i.e Social interaction to learn language for communication use.
ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT
Lev Vygotsky’s theory of language development focused on social learning and the
zone of proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD is a level of development obtained
when children engage in social interactions with others; it is the distance between a
child’s potential to learn and the actual learning that takes place.
Vygotsky’s theory also demonstrated that Piaget underestimated the importance of
social interactions in the development of language.
References
Solso, R. L., MacLin, M. K., & MacLin, O. H. (2008). Cognitive psychology (8th
ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
Santrock, J. W. (2022). Life-span development (18th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
LibreTexts. (n.d.). Theories of language development. Social Sci LibreTexts.
https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Courses/Rio_Hondo/CD_106%3A_Child_Growth_
and_Development_(Andrade)/11%3A_Middle_Childhood_-
Cognitive_Development/11.10%3A_Theories_of_Language_Development
Thankyou
For Yours
Attention
