Sigmund Freud Theory

1. Language Learning Theories

2. Definitions of L1 & L2
• Definition of “first language” (L1):
– The language(s) that an individual learns first.
– Other terms for “first language”-
• Native language or mother tongue
• Definition of “second language” (L2):
– Any language other than the first language
learned (in a broader sense).
– A language learned after the first language in a
context where the language is used widely in the
speech community (in a narrower sense).

3. Overview
• This power point presentation is designed to make you
think about language learning (both L1 and L2).
• This presentation begins with guiding questions that
you should think about as you see this presentation.
• A discussion question appears at the end of this
presentation.

4. Guiding questions
• How do babies learn
their first language (L1)?
• Do children have to be
“taught” how to speak?
• How long does it take a
child to become
“fluent” in her native
language?
mama
papa

5. Patterns in L1 Development
Characteristics of the language of children:
• Their language development shows a high degree of similarity
among children all over the world. There are predicable
patterns in the L1 development and their L1 developmental
patterns are related to their cognitive development
(predictability).
• Their language reflects the word order of the language that
they are hearing. The combination of the words has a meaning
relationship (learning through imitation).
• Their language also shows they are able to apply the rules of
the language to make sentences which they have never heard
before (creativity).

6. Patterns in L1 Development
Before First Words -
• The earliest vocalizations
– Involuntary crying (when they feel hungry or
uncomfortable)
– Cooing and gurgling – showing satisfaction or
happiness
• “Babbling”
– Babies use sounds to reflect the characteristics of the
different language they are learning.

7. Patterns in L1 Development
First Words –
• Around 12 months (“one-word” stage):
– Babies begin to produce one or two recognizable words
(esp. content word); producing single-word sentences.
• By the age of 2 (“two-word” stage):
1) at least 50 different words
2) “telegraphic” sentences (no function words and
grammatical morphemes)
e.g., “Mommy juice”, “baby fall down”
3) reflecting the order of the language
e.g., “kiss baby”, “baby kiss”
4) creatively combining words
e.g., “more outside”, “all gone cookie”

8. Patterns in L1 Development
• By the age of 4:
– Most children are able to ask questions, give commands,
report real events, and create stories about imaginary
ones with correct word order and grammatical markers
most of the time.
– They have mastered the basic structures of the language
or languages spoken to them in these early years.
– They begin to acquire less frequent and more complex
linguistic structures such as passives and relative clauses.
– They begin to develop ability to use language in a
widening social environment.

9. Three theories:
1.Environmentalist or Behaviourist: Say what I say
1. Nativist (Innatists): It’s all in your mind
1. Interactionist: Learning from inside and out

10. 1. Environmentalist theories
• Environment shapes learning and behavior
• Children react to their surroundings
• Children learn language through
– Input (provides stimulus)
– Response through imitation
– Feedback and Reinforcement
– Habit formation

14. 2. Nativist theories
• Children do not need any kind of formal teaching to
learn to speak.
• Children are born with a natural capacity to learn
language.
• The brain contains systems for recognizing patterns
of sound.
• Chomsky’s innate hypothesis and “critical period”
theories are important in nativist theories.

15. Noam Chomsky’s L-A-D
Chomsky’s theory of the LAD
(Language Acquisition
Device) states that every
human is born with innate
principles of language.
Children learn language
spontaneously and speak
creatively.
According to Chomsky, the
Behaviourist theory is
inadequate because what
children hear is incomplete
and often ungrammatical,
and cannot account for the
creativity of their utterances.

17. Critical period hypothesis:
• There is a critical period for language learning.
• There is no agreement about how long this sensitive
period lasts.
• Genie – the American wild child – provided evidence
that language cannot be learned after puberty.

18. Genie …
In the fall of 1970, social workers took custody of a 13-
year-old child who had spent much of her life chained to a
potty chair in her bedroom. She could not speak, walk, or
respond to other people. She was called "Genie." Her case
attracted psychologists who were interested in finding out
whether she could still learn to speak. At the time, some
linguists, led by MIT's Noam Chomsky, believed that human
speech is a genetically programmed ability. Eric Lenneberg,
a neuropsychologist, agreed with Chomsky and added
further that if a person did not learn to speak by
adolescence, then the natural ability to learn language might
be lost forever. This theory was the so-called "critical period
hypothesis."

19. Genie …
Genie's vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds, but she was still not
able to string words together into meaningful sentences. Normal
children begin by learning to say simple sentences, like "No have
toy." Soon they are able to say "I not have toy." Eventually they will
learn to say, "I do not have the toy.' Later they will refine the
sentence to say, "I don't have the toy." Genie seemed to be stuck at
the first stage.
We do learn many words from experience, from seeing, hearing,
reading, and asking. But some scientists think that learning how to
speak in sentences and sensing how words get put together in
logical order also depends on something that is built into our
brains from birth. Was Genie's brain missing something which was
necessary for learning language?

20. 3. Interactionist theories:
• Children require interaction
with a care-giver to develop
language.
• Children follow the
attention of the care-giver
and learn to direct the
attention of the care-giver;
these activities involve
intention reading and
pattern finding skills.
• Communication is 3-way:
child, adult, object.
• Language structure emerges
from language use.

21. Interactionist Perspectives: Learning from
Inside & Out
• This position views that language develops as a result of the
interplay between the innate learning ability of children and
the environment in which they develop.
• Developmental psychologists attribute more importance to
the environment than the innatists, though they also
recognize a powerful learning mechanism in the human brain.
• They see language acquisition as similar to and influenced by
the acquisition of other kinds of skill and knowledge, rather
than as something that is largely independent of the child’s
experience and cognitive development.

22. Summary
Each of the three theoretical approaches explains a
different aspect of first language acquisition.
1. Behaviorists (learning through imitation, practice,
reinforcement, habit-formation) – the acquisition
of vocabulary and grammatical morphemes.
2. Innatists (LAD/UG/CPH) – the acquisition of
complex grammar (structure of the language).
3. Interactionists (social interaction) – the acquisition
of how form and meaning are related, how
communicative functions are carried out, and how
language is used appropriately.

23. Second language learning …
Most people agree that there is a fundamental
difference between L1 and L2 learning because:
– All children learn their first language easily and
well whereas adults vary in their ultimate mastery
of a second language.
– Children do not need to be taught their first
language whereas adults benefit from formal
instruction.
– Children are intrinsically motivated to learn their
native language whereas adult mastery of a
second language is dependent upon attitude,
motivation, and aptitude.

24. Question…
Which theory of L1 acquisition makes the most sense
to you: environmental, nativist, or interactionist?
Explain in about 200 words with the help of some
examples from what you have observed in life.