Theories Of Language Development - Chomsky and Skinner

The nature-nurture debate on language is inconclusive. In my opinion it seems likely that learning language has elements of both nature and nurture. I believe there is some genetic influence on language development but also children’s experiences after birth are very important to their development of language. I think Chomsky’s is correct in the sense of the ability to learn language by a built in or genetic factor. But I believe that the actual sounds, words and grammar that children learn will depend on their environment. The speed at which children learn will also be influenced by their environment.  

Language Acquisition                                                                     Emma Smith 

Skinners Learning Theory Evaluated                                                            10/10/03

Arguments For Skinner’s Theory

There has being little direct support for skinner’s theory. However there has being a great deal of interest in the nurture side of language development, especially the social interaction between parents and children involving language.

• There is evidence that children who are talked to a lot by their parents have larger vocabularies where as children that have suffered linguistic deprivation show inhabited language ability.
• Environmental experience and reinforcement must have some effect on language development because children frequently make mistakes. For example saying “gooses” instead of “geese” but they are able to correct this over time.
• The way that adults speak to children and use language around the (sometimes known as BTR) is proved to be a very successful form of teaching. Speech is simplified and clarified through tone, pace and pitch. Rhymes are also used to draw attention to and provide interest in word. For example “Doggy-woggy”. Although this is more the input and social approach and is not quite what skinner had in mind, it does support the idea that environmental factors are important to language acquisition and development.
• A psychologist called Rheingold found that a programme of reinforcement and non-reinforcement of three-month-old babblers affected the frequency of their vocalisations.
• The learning theory also explains the acquisition of the meaning of words.  

Criticisms Against Skinner’s Theory

Very few people now believe that Skinner’s learning theory completely explains how language is leaned. Therefore there is no surprise that the theory was widely criticised and just like any other theory developed some cracks.

• Evidence from observational studies does not support Skinner’s theory. Children seem to be able to learn and understand grammar despite the exposure to incorrect grammatical sentences.
• Brown found that parents do not correct or reinforce grammar, but respond more to the truth of sentences. For Example, if the child says “he a girl” the mother would reply “Yes. That’s a girl”.
• Trial and error learning cannot explain the rapid acquisition of language and the huge overall language comprehension that young children learn. For example, Braine observed a two year old with fourteen different vocabulary combinations, seven months later had two hundred and fifty thousand.
• There is simply not enough time in life to hear and be directly reinforced for all the sentences we use.
• If language acquisition is a process of trail and error and specific reinforcement then perhaps language development should not show the stages of progression that it does.
• Children make consistent grammatical mistakes that they are unlikely to have heard or that have being reinforced. For example saying “goed” or “wented” instead of went, or “mouses” instead of mice.
• If language acquisition took place according to Skinner’s theory the n researchers should have achieved greater success in teaching animals such as apes. Apes have mastered reasonable language abilities but their use of grammar is very limited compared to human children.
• Nelson found that children who have their grammar corrected actually develop language a lot slower than children who don’t. Nelson proved that training grammar can improve language acquisition but only in a limited way.

Language Acquisition                                                                                      Emma Smith

Chomsky’s Nativist Theory Evaluated _                                                                     10/10/03                         

Arguments for Chomsky’s Theory

• The speed at which young children acquire the huge complexity of language (even those children who are mentally retarded) suggests that something more than environmental stimulation is required.
• Surveys of many different languages have shown that they all contain linguistic universals (verbs, nouns, adjectives etc) foe a language acquisition device to work upon.
• All children go through the same universal stages of language development; even deaf babies will babble at the same time as hearing ones. A psychologist called Feldman found that four deaf children actually managed to create their own simple form of sign language without any parental aid, which suggests that the innate influence to acquire language is very powerful.
• Humans have got the appropriate vocal apparatus and special parts of the brain for language; therefore we may expect language acquisition to be innate.
• Chomsky’s theory explains why children make some mistakes in the way they join words together.

Criticisms Against Chomsky’s Theory

• The idea that children will automatically develop language by just being exposed to it has being opposed to by those psychologists that believe social interaction is necessary.
• Learning has to play a role in correcting errors (such as “goed”). Chomsky’s theory ignores the active role of parents in teaching language to their children.
• The case of Genie provides mixed evidence for the role of innate language acquisition abilities, but does seem to encounter the idea of a critical time period (also known as the sensitive period) for acquisition as proposed by Lenneburg. Genie was deprived of proper verbal stimulation for thirteen years because she had been locked in a room away from human contact since birth. Although she was able to learn language she never developed completely normal linguistic abilities. This implies that humans have a sensitive period for normal language acquisition early in life.
• Sachs reported the case of Jim, whose parents deaf but who was surrounded by spoken language from the television and radio in the hope that he would learn normal language. Jim showed no signs of learning language until a speech therapist took up his case at the age of three. Without the human interaction with the speech therapist there was no sign that Jim would have learned to speak. He needed the interaction before his language ability could develop.
• If language development was innate, surely it would develop soon after we are able to control our voices, which is soon after one year of age. It does not explain why language takes a few years to develop.
• Chomsky’s theory also doesn’t explain why there are such large variations in the rate children learn language.