The document discusses two primary theories of language acquisition: the behaviorist theory by B.F. Skinner, which posits that language develops through imitation and operant conditioning, and Noam Chomsky's nativist theory, suggesting that humans are innately equipped with a 'language acquisition device' that facilitates language learning based on universal grammar principles. While Skinner's theory emphasizes reinforcement and imitation, it fails to account for critical periods and developmental milestones in language learning. Conversely, Chomsky's theory highlights the innate capacity for understanding language but faces criticism for lacking scientific evidence of the proposed mechanisms.

1. Good evening!

2. Activity time!
Word Puzzle

5. Answers:
Acquisition
Communicate
Cognitive
Language
Learning
Theories
Factors
Genetic
Grammar
Social

6. Question:
What makes us human?

7. Question:
When did we learn to
speak?

8. Question:
How did we learn to speak?

9. - in psychology refers to the process by
which humans acquire the ability to
perceive, produce, and use words to
understand and communicate.This innate
capacity typically develops in early
childhood and involves complex interplay
of genetic, cognitive, and social factors.
(Lemetyinen, ed. 2023)
Language Acquisition

10. - Infants as young as 12 months are
reported to have sensitivity to the
grammar needed to understand causative
sentences (who did what to whom; e.g.,
the bunny pushed the frog (Rowland &
Noble, 2010).
Language Acquisition

11. Language Acquisition Theory:
Behaviorist Theory
Burrhus Frederic
Skinner
- American Psychologist
- Author of the Verbal
Behavior

12. Language Acquisition Theory:
Behaviorist Theory
- This theory proposes that language
develops as a result of children trying to
imitate their caregivers or those around
them.

13. Language Acquisition Theory:
Behaviorist Theory
- The theory assumes that children have no innate
ability to learn the language and rely on operant
conditioning to form and improve their
understanding and use of it.
- The theory believes that children are born 'tabula
rasa' - as a 'blank slate'.

14. What is Operant Conditioning?
- Operant conditioning is the idea that actions are
reinforced.
- There are two types of reinforcement that are vital to
this theory: positive reinforcement and negative
reinforcement.
In Skinner's theory, children alter their use of language
in response to this reinforcement.

15. What is Operant Conditioning?
For example, a child may correctly ask for food, (eg.
saying something like 'mama, dinner'). They then receive
positive reinforcement by receiving the food they'd asked
for, or being told they're clever by their caregiver.
Alternatively, if a child uses language incorrectly, they
may simply be ignored, or may be corrected by the
caregiver, which would be negative reinforcement.

16. Evidence for Skinner's theory
Operant conditioning is well understood and supported
as a behaviorist explanation for many things, and there may
be some ways that it can be applied to language
development.
For example, children may still be able to learn that certain
sounds or phrases get certain results, even if this doesn't
contribute to their language development as a whole.

17. Limitations of Skinner's theory
Developmental Milestones
Contrary to Skinner's behavioral theory, research has shown
that children go through a series of developmental
milestones at around the same age. This suggests that
there may be more than just simple imitation and
conditioning taking place, and that children may actually
have an internal mechanism that facilitates language
development.

18. Limitations of Skinner's theory
The critical period of language acquisition
Age 7 is thought to be the end of the critical period for
language acquisition. If a child has not developed
language by this point, they will never be able to fully
grasp it.

19. For example:
Genie (as studied by Curtiss et al., 1974) is perhaps the most
notable example of someone who has failed to develop language
by the critical period. Genie was a young girl who was raised in
complete isolation and never given a chance to develop language
due to her solitude and poor living conditions.
When she was discovered in 1970, she was twelve years old. She
had missed the critical period and was therefore unable to become
fluent in English despite extensive attempts to teach and
rehabilitate her.

20. Limitations of Skinner's theory
The complicated nature of language
It has also been argued that language and its
development are simply too complicated to be taught
sufficiently through reinforcement alone.

21. Behavioural Theory - Key Takeaways
1.BF Skinner proposed that language
acquisition was a result of imitation and
operant conditioning.
2.This theory suggests that operant
conditioning is responsible for a child's
progress through the stages of language
acquisition.
3.According to the theory, a child will seek
positive reinforcement and wish to avoid
negative reinforcement, consequently
amending their use of language in response.

22. Behavioural Theory - Key Takeaways
4.The fact that children imitate accents and
colloquialisms, alter their use of language
when entering school, and associate some
sounds/phrases with positive outcomes, may
be evidence for Skinner's theory.
5. Skinner's theory is limited. It can't account for
the critical period, comparative
developmental milestones regardless of
language background, and the complexities
of language.

23. Activity time!

24. • Innate
• Device
• Acquisition
• Language
• Noam Chomsky
Answers:

25. Language Acquisition Theory:
Nativist Theory
Noam Chomsky
- American Linguist
- Reviewed (1959) the Verbal
Behavior by B.F. Skinner
- Authored Aspects of the Theory of
Syntax (1965) and Cartesian
Linguistics (1966)

26. Language Acquisition Theory:
Nativist Theory
- is a biologically-based theory which argues that
humans are pre-programmed with the innate ability
to develop language.
- this theory claims that our capacity for producing
and understanding verbal correspondence is coded
into our brains from birth.

27. Language Acquisition Device
(LAD)
- Chomsky developed the idea of the Language
Acquisition Device (LAD) which is a
hypothetical ‘tool’ hard-wired into the brain that
helps children rapidly learn and understand
language.

28. Language Acquisition Device
(LAD)
Chomsky added that this is not a physical part of the
brain like the hypothalamus, or the medulla oblongata.
- The LAD is a general term used to explain the many
complex processes the brain has for learning languages.
Compared to other species, humans have developed a
complex language with structure and rules. The LAD is
part of the reason for this.

29. Universal Grammar
(UG)
Chomsky does not believe that a child from England is born
with the innate ability to learn English, or that a child from Japan
has a LAD containing Japanese vocabulary.
Instead, he suggests that all human languages share many of the
same common grammar principles.
For example, most languages:
- Differentiate between verbs and nouns
- Have a way of talking about the past and present tense
- Have a way of asking questions
- Have a counting system

30. Universal Grammar
(UG)
According to Universal Grammar theory, the
basic grammatical structures of language are
already encoded in the human brain at birth. It is a
child’s environment that will determine which
language they will learn.

31. So, let's break down how
the LAD supposedly
works:
1. The child hears adult speech, which triggers
the LAD.
2. The child automatically applies universal
grammar to speech.
3. The child learns new vocabulary and applies
the appropriate grammar rules.
4. The child is able to use the new language.

32. Virtuous Errors
When children are first learning a language, they
will, of course, make mistakes. These mistakes can
give us information as to how children learn. For
example, children have an unconscious ability to
recognize the past tense and will begin to associate
words ending with a /d/ /t/ or /id/ sound with the
past.

33. Virtuous Errors
Chomsky suggests this is why children make
‘virtuous errors’ such as,‘I goed’ rather than ‘I went’
when first learning a language. Nobody taught them
to say ‘I goed’; they figured that out for themselves.
To Chomsky, these virtuous errors suggest that
children are born with the subconscious ability to
work out the grammatical rules of language.

34. The Poverty of Stimulus
This argument by Chomsky states that children
are not exposed to enough linguistic data in their
environment to learn every feature of the language.
Chomsky suggested that the human brain must have
evolved to contain certain linguistic information
from birth, which helps children figure out the basic
structures of language.

35. Criticisms of Chomsky's theory
Behaviorists argue that there is not enough
scientific evidence to support the existence of a
language acquisition device. For example, we do not
know where the LAD is located in the brain. For this
reason, many linguists reject this theory.

36. Language Acquisition Device (LAD) -
Key takeaways
1.The Language Acquisition Device is a
hypothetical tool in the brain that helps
children understand the fundamental rules of
human language.
2.The LAD was proposed by the American
linguist Noam Chomsky in the 1960s.
3.Chomsky suggests that the LAD contains
information on Universal Grammar, a shared
set of grammatical structures that all human
languages follow.

37. Language Acquisition Device (LAD) -
Key takeaways
4.The fact children show signs of understanding
grammar structures before being shown or
taught them is evidence that a LAD exists.
5. Some theorists, particularly behaviourist
theorists, reject Chomsky's theory as it lacks
scientific evidence.

38. Question:
Nature or Nurture?

39. Question:
As teachers, why is it important
for us to understand how learners
acquire the language?

40. References:
Curtiss et al. (1974) The Development of Language in Genius: a Case of
Language Acquisition beyond the "critical period“. Retrieved from:
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/language-
acquisition/behavioral-theory/
Lemetyinen, H. (ed. 2023) Language Acquisition Theory. Retrieved from:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/language.html
McGilvray, J. A. (2024, June 18). Noam Chomsky. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Noam-Chomsky
Smith, D. S. (2018) Language: Nativism. Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312474843_Language_Nativism
StudySmarter (n.d.) Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Retrieved from:
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/language-
acquisition/language-acquisition-device lad/#:~:text=A%20Language
%20Acquisition%20Device%20(LAD,structures%20common%20to%20all
%20languages.
StudySmarter (n.d.) Behavioral Theory. Retrieved from:
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/language-
acquisition/behavioral-theory/

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