Behaviorist Theory
The behaviorist theory, which emerged in the 1900s, is somewhat similar. This is the belief that learning is а mechanical process, caused by stimulus and response and by imitation. The theory maintains that we learn through small, concrete, progressively sequenced tasks, with positive and negative reinforcements (such as praise/reward or criticism/punishment) and consistency in the use of these reinforcements during the teaching and learning period. Watson, Guthrie and Hull were exponents of the behaviorist theory, which arose largely from experiments with animals. Although there is some truth in it, there is evidence showing that it cannot explain all learning (Minnis, 1994)?
The first argument involves the structural nature of language. There are rules that dictate where words should come in а sentence (for example, in English this is usually subject-verb-object: the boy kicks the ball). Children must develop, or already possess, а firm grasp of these rules to be able to understand sentences they probably would have never heard before. For example, it is unlikely an adult would ever have previously told their child 'that dog is flying' but if they did then say this, the concept would be understood. So the imitation behaviorist theory cannot fully explain language acquisition because of the understanding and imaginative skills necessary to comprehend utterances which have not been heard before, and to be able to invent new ideas and to be able to express them in language (John & Tatter, 1983).
The behaviorist theory is also contradicted by the fact that young children very often make 'intelligent mistakes' as they learn а language. As they progress beyond the two-word stage, they begin to understand and try to express more complex concepts, such as plurality, past tense and negation. Mistakes such as 'sheeps', 'goed', and 'I no want to', are all formed from formulae in the English language. In the first case, the child has grasped the general rule that /s/ at word endings implies more than one, but has not yet distinguished irregularities. The same applies to the second; /ed/ is а regularized past tense ending. In the third instance, the child definitely understands the concept of negation, but cannot yet distinguish between the different forms of expressing it (such as 'do not, don't'; 'will not, won't'; 'no'; 'none' etc) or completely comprehend the complex syntax involved (Panofsky & Smith, 1992). If children only learned through repetition and imitation, would they be able to produce utterances with grammar applied that they would never have heard their parents use?
Innatist Theory
The Language Acquisition Devise (LAD), according to Chomsky, is an inborn mechanism facilitating the learning of language, consisting of neural wirings and brain structures unique to human beings. А child does not need to be taught language formally, but simply needs to be exposed to adult speech. This effortless discovery of the language system is due to LAD. The four properties of LAD are (John & Tatter, 1983):
- Ability to distinguish speech sounds from over environmental sounds
- Ability to organize linguistic events into various properties
- Knowledge that only а certain kind of linguistic system is possible
- Ability to engage in constant evaluation of developing linguistic systems, such as generating new sentences and selecting the correct tense.
Chomsky argues that language develops in а uniform way, which is genetically determined, and that learning develops in an individual with the trigger of experience. The human brain is ready for language intake from birth, and exposure to adult speech activates it. An ancient experiment where an emperor ordered for а group of children to grow up in isolation with no exposure to language resulted in none of them developing language for communication. This shows that exposure to adult language is essential for linguistic development, as language will not appear without it. А child's language develops through hypothesis testing: deciding an utterance and trying it on parents. Through trial and error, their speech will eventually correspond to adult speech (John et al, 1994).
Interactionist tenets
Piaget's Cognitive Theory identifies language as an element of knowledge acquisition. He assumed that the growth of acquaintance is а progressive structure of logically embedded structures replacing one another by а procedure of inclusion of lower, less powerful logical means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. This means that children's logic and thinking methods are originally different to adults. Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development. The first, the Sensor motor Stage, occurs in infancy (Bruner, 1962).
Children are learning about themselves and their environment through motor and reflex actions, and realize they are separate from their environment. They begin to understand that objects can exist 'outside the reach of their senses'. The second is the Pre-operational stage, occurring in toddlers. Now the child is better able to think about objects and events which are not immediately present, although he does has difficulty conceptualizing time. The third is Concrete operational stage, in children up to adolescence. Now the child can mentally manipulate information, and make rational judgments about abstract phenomena, whereas previously he would have needed а physical stimulus. Cognition reaches its final form in the Formal operational stage. The adolescent or adult is capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning and can consider possibilities from many perspectives (Minnis, 1994).
Piaget's cognitive theory suggests language is one of many cognitive behaviors, and it emerges from cognitive development or learning to think and problem solve. However, this theory is contradicted by the 'cocktail party chatterer' children. Observations of these children have suggested that an ability to cope with language structure is largely separate from general intelligence. They talk for the sake of talking and their sentences may not make sense. However, as the behaviorist theory might have suggested, they are not simply repeating phrases they have heard, because they make grammatical mistakes such as 'three tickets were gave out by а police last year' which they would not have heard said (Bruner, 1962).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is not possible to distinguish whether language is acquired due to environmental exposure or due to innate faculties. All of the theories discussed in this essay have their merits, because the reason humans learn language and the way in which they do so are determined by many factors. Humans do uniquely possess innate faculties which enable linguistic development, but the correct environment, with exposure to adult language throughout the critical period, must be present in order for а child to develop and become а proficient adult speaker.
References
Bruner, J. (1962). Introduction. In Piagets, Thought and language (pp. v-x). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
John-Steiner, C. P. Panofsky, & L. W. Smith , (1994), Socio-cultural approaches to language and literacy: An interactionist perspective (pp. 170-190). New York: Cambridge University Press.
John-Steiner, V., & Tatter, P. (1983). An interactionist model of language development. In B. Bain (Ed.), The sociogenesis of language and human conduct (pp. 79-97). New York: Plenum Press.
Minnis, M. (1994). Toward a definition of law school readiness. Sociocultural approaches to language and literacy: An interactionist perspective (pp. 347-390).
Panofsky, & L. W. Smith (1992), Sociocultural approaches to language and literacy: An interactionist perspective (pp. 223-242). New York: Cambridge University Press.
