behaviorism

1. Behaviorism Personal Notes
(3/9/23)
University Buddies
Keywords/Questions Notes
 Topic: Behaviorism
and B.F. Skinner
 Ivan Pavlov
 Skinner
 Operants
 In the past, no learning theories specific to
language learning existed. General theories on
learning were applied to language learning.
 One such general theory was behaviorism,
popularized by B.F. Skinner. It was applied to
language learning.
 Language is a set of habits, according to
behaviorism.
 Predecessor of B.F. Skinner in classic
behaviorism.
 Habits are regularly associated responses to
stimuli, result of repeated stimulus-response
cycle, observable, not concerned with internal
mental processes, and automatic difficult to
change.
 Published "Verbal Behavior" in 1957.
 Skinner's operant conditioning downplayed the
stimulus because we don't really know which
stimulus prompted a particular response.
 The behavior (consequence) after the response
is what reinforces the habit - reinforcement is
more powerful than association (in classical
behaviorism).
 kinds of responses to stimuli that produce (and
therefore are governed) by the consequences
they produce, while respondents are elicited by
identifiable stimuli.

2.  Children imitate utterances and are rewarded
or corrected in their speech (reinforcement) in
L1 language learning.
 L2 language learning proceeds the same way
with L2 learners imitating utterances and
getting rewarded or corrected.
 Language learning is most successful when
language tasks are broken down into individual
stimulus-response links which could be
practiced and mastered.
 The language programmed into your mind (old
habits) interferes with learning the new
language (new habits) in L1 interference, which
produces errors.
 Errors are undesirable, evidence of non-learning
(not wrong learning), and might become habits
if uncorrected. Areas of potential error are the
concern of CAH.
 Transfer will take place from L1 to L2. Where L1
<> L2, errors will result, while where L1 L2, easy
and rapid learning will result.
 A teaching approach based on behaviorism
and audio-lingualism uses imitation, practice,
and reinforcement since language is a set of
habits.
 Conclusion: Since language is a set of habits, it
follows the same rules of general habit-
formation.

3. Summary
 The self-learning video provide information about behaviorism and B.F.
Skinner's theory on language learning, focusing on habits as the set of
responses to stimuli resulting from repeated stimulus-response cycles.
Skinner's operant conditioning emphasizes reinforcement as a powerful
tool to reinforce the behavior that follows the response. Language learning
follows the same rules of general habit-formation, which can be improved
through a teaching approach based on behaviorism and audio-lingualism
that uses imitation, practice, and reinforcement. L1 interference produces
errors that can become habits if uncorrected, while transfer from L1 to L2
can result in errors or easy and rapid learning, depending on the
relationship between the two languages.