How Do Child Learn a Language?

2. Language
Acquisition
Roll # 11111046
Gift University
Gujranwala

3. ❝Language is the blood of
the soul into which
thoughts run and out of
which they grow.❞
‒Oliver Wendell Holmes

4. Psycholinguistics
 Psycholinguistics
Psychology + Linguistics
Psyche + Logi Scientific Study
Mind Study of
Soul of Language
Something

5. William James
“The Science of Mental Life

6. Psycholinguistics
 Study of Psychological and
Neurobiological factors that
enables Human beings to
Acquire , Use and
Understand Language.
The study of the relationships
between linguistic behavior
and psychological processes,
including the process of
language acquisition.

7. Language
Acquisition

8. Theories of Language
Acquisition Acquisition
Language
1. Behaviorism
(imitation)
2. Reinforcement
(Rewards and
Punishment)
3. Analogy
4. Motherese

9. Issues…
Acquisition
 How do children acquire such a
Language
complex system
 Does a child consciously learn
this skill? (e.g. Walking).
 Do babies make conscious
decision to start learning?
 In spite of different backgrounds,
locations and upbringings---
children follow the same
milestones of learning.

10. Theories…
Acquisition
 Innateness Hypothesis
Language
 Children are equipped with an
innate template for language
(Universal Grammar).
 The same stages in all cultures
and languages
Basic Requirement
 The Child must be Physically
capable to hear

11. Theory Central idea linguist
Behaviorist Children imitate adults. Their correct Skinner
utterances are reinforced when they
get what they want or are praised.
Theories
Innate Chomsky
Language is an innate capacity. A
child's brain contains special
language-learning mechanisms at
birth.
Cognitive Lang. is just one aspect of a child’s Piaget
overall intellectual development
Cognitive Language is a symbolic Lev
Vygotsky
representation which allow the
children to abstract the world.

12. 1. Behaviorism
 Russian Scientist “ Ivan Pavlov”
 Edward lee Thronedlike
 B.F Skinner

14. B.F Skinner
American Psychologist,
Behaviorist,
author, inventor,
and
Social Philosopher
Stimulus Response Reinforcement
Repetition

15. • People’s behaviors are directly observable, rather than the mental
systems underlying these behaviors.
• Children are born with a mind that is like a blank state. This state is
called Tabula Rasa
• Language is a verbal observable behavior .
• Chunking theory: Language is learned in parts, then linked together
• 1st words 2nd phrases 3rd sentences
• Reinforcement will generalize similar stimulus generalizations

16. Making Associations:
Only hearing speech does not guarantee learning
Children make an association between what they hear
and the meaning of the message
Vocabulary: Cold A child doesn‟t learn the
word just by hearing it, but must also
experience cold weather or drinking cold
water.
Grammar: Daddy‟s sleeping A child learns
the present progressive by making an
association between the action observed and
the grammar used.

17. 2 . Reinforcement
B.F Skinner
“Law Of Effect”
1. Positive Reinforcement (“Positive
response on positive Behavior”)
2. Negative Reinforcement (“Removing
negative and undesired consequences”)
3. Punishment (“Romoving Positive
Consequences”)
4. Extinction (“Absence of Reinforcement”)

19. 2. Analogy
Analogy involves the formation
of sentences or phrases by
using other sentences as
samples.
Hear a Sample and Extend it to all cases
I painted a Red Barn
Gradually Children switch over to the process of
„analogy‟ –
“a reasoning process as they start working out for
themselves”.

20. Immitation
Repetition
Memorization
Controled Drilling
Reinforcement

21. 1. Children learn to speak by imitating the utterances
heard around them and analogy .
2. Children strengthen their responses by the repetitions,
corrections, and other reactions that adults provide,
thus language is practice based.
3. General perception is that there is no difference
between the way one learns a language and the way
one learns to do anything else.
4. Main focus is on inducing the child to behave with the
help of mechanical drills and exercises.
5. Learning is controlled by the conditions under which
it take place and that, as long as individual are
subjected on the same condition, they will learn in the
same condition

22. 4. Caretaker speech
(Mothersese)

23. Caretaker speech
Acquisition (Mothersese)
 A type of simplified speech adopt
Language
by someone who spends time
with child characterized by:
 Frequent use of questions
 Simplified lexicon
 Higher pitch and loudness
 Phonological reduction
 Stress in notation
 Simple sentences
 Lots of repetition

24. Caretaker speech
Acquisition (Mothersese)
Language
Mother: look what is this.
Child : touches the pictures
Mother: what are those?
Child : vocalizes a babble strings
and smile
Mother: These are Rabbits.
Child : vocalizes and smiles
Mother: (Laughs) Yes these are
Rabbits.

25. Stage Typical Description
Age
Cooing 3-5 Vowels like sounds
Acquisition months
Language
Babbling 6-10 Repetitive CV
months patterns
One word stage 12-18 Single open-class
months words
Two word stage 18-20 Mini sentences
months
Telegraphic stage 24-30 Sentence structure
months
Later multiword stage 30+ Grammatical structure
months

26. Basic Requirements
Acquisition
 Environment and Interaction to
Language
bring this capacity into operation
e.g. Genie – Cultural Transmission.
 The Child must be Physicaly
capable to hear.

27. Conclusion
The limits of my language are
the limits of my
‒

28. Any
Questio
n