1. COUNTERARGUMENTS ON BEHAVIOUSIRT THEORY
OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
Presented by :
Gina Tria Astuti
MIN. 2003512053
Post graduate student(S2)
SEMARANG STATE UNIVERCITY

2. INTRODUCTION
Behaviorist theory about
stimulus and respond of
language learning

3. INTRODUCTION
There are some basic theories of language
acquisition:
1. Behaviorist theory For the acquisition of native
2. Mentalist theory language
3. Rationalist (cognitive T)
4. Empiricist theory ( audiolingualism T) For the acquisition
foreign language
5. Cognitive-code theory

4. COUNTERARGUMENTS ON BEHAVIOUSIRT THEORY
OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY COUNTER ARGUMENTS
1. Basic strategies: 1. Basic strategies:
• Imitation • Imitation,
(i) children’s imitation of structures show no
innovation,
(ii) children vary in the amount that they
• Reinforcement and imitate.
rewarding
• Reinforcement and rewarding,
in fact, the parents correct (only) the simple
structures not the complex ones.
Hebert H. Clark and Eve V. Clark, (1977; 336) stated
“Unfortunately this view of learning receives little
support from the available evidence”

5. COUNTERARGUMENTS ON BEHAVIOUSIRT THEORY
OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY COUNTER ARGUMENTS
2. Process of learning relies 2. Process of learning
on • This process encourages the learner to
• Generalization construct phrases, clauses, and sentence
• Rewarding which was set of rules and drills, this obstruct
• Conditioning or block the instinctive of production of
language.
which support the
development of • Habit formation exercises may not naturally
analogical learning in promote intrinsically-oriented language
children. learning.

6. COUNTERARGUMENTS ON BEHAVIOUSIRT THEORY
OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY COUNTER ARGUMENTS
3. This Process of language 3. Process of learning
learning….. • There is threshold ambang batas level in
language learning.
• Before obtaining threshold level language
learner is not creative, cannot use the
language properly in new situation in a real
sense.
• It is that the intrinsic learning will be delayed
due to the late acquisition of threshold level
caused by previous settled set of rules and
drills.

7. COUNTERARGUMENTS ON BEHAVIOUSIRT THEORY
OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY COUNTER ARGUMENTS
4. The rate of social 4. The rate of social influence on learning is not
influence satisfactory explained.
• To what extent and rate, does the social
surrounding promote language learning?
In other words, Behaviorist Theory does not
consider the support or influence of social
surrounding.

8. COUNTERARGUMENTS ON BEHAVIOUSIRT THEORY
OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY COUNTER ARGUMENTS
5. Each individual will learn 5. It is impossible for learning to be the same for
lang similarly each individual. Because each person cannot
learn equally well in the same conditions where
learning takes place for their different background
and experiences.
• According to Chomsky, there must be some
innate (or instinctive) capacities which
human being posses that predispose
(influence) them to look for basic patterns in
language.

9. COUNTERARGUMENTS ON BEHAVIOUSIRT THEORY
OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY COUNTER ARGUMENTS
6. The strategies of 6. The strategies of behaviorist theory can only be
behaviorist theory… true for the early stages of learning which take
place when the kids are in infancy and in early
childhood periods.
• Moreover, this theory is fruitful (successful)
for the most part on animal experimentation
and learning.

10. COUNTERARGUMENTS ON BEHAVIOUSIRT THEORY
OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
BEHAVIOURIST THEORY COUNTER ARGUMENTS
7. The strategies of 7. Many of the learning process are mostly too
behaviorist theory… complex, and for this reason there are intervening
campurtangan variables, which cannot be observed
between stimulus and response.
• “That’s why language acquisition can not take
place through habit formation, since
language learners are thrown between
stimulus and response chain, for language is
too far complicated to be learned in such a
matter, especially given the brief time
available”.