Historical theories of language development

HistoricalHistorical
Theories ofTheories of
LanguageLanguage
DevelopmentDevelopment
Babylen Arit SonerBabylen Arit Soner

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TopicsTopics
Prescriptive Grammar
Descriptive Linguistics
Behaviorism
Transformational Grammar
Krashen's Monitor Model
Communicative Competence
Discourse Theory
Meaning-Centered vs.
Commonsense Approaches
Contributions of Semiotics
Contributions of Research about
the Brain

Prescriptive GrammarPrescriptive Grammar
A set of norms or rules governing how
a language should or should not be used
rather than describing the ways in which a
language is actually used.
A prescriptive grammar is a
set of rules about language
based on how people think
language should be used.
In a prescriptive grammar
there is right and wrong
language.
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Prescriptive GrammarPrescriptive Grammar
There are certain “correct”
forms when using a
language
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Grammarians who proposed
this method used Latin Grammar
as a model and ignored the
syntactic differences between
Latin and English and tried to
force English to fit Latin
description.

PrescriptivePrescriptive
GrammarGrammarCC
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Prescriptive grammarians
limited themselves to using
classical grammar to prescribe
how language should be used.
No effort was made to
describe the nature of language
or how people use it.
Led to the Grammar-
Translation method of instruction

DescriptiveDescriptive
LinguisticsLinguistics
Started in 18th
and 19th
century when
scholars started to notice similarities that
existed among some ancient languages
Descriptive linguists traced the origin of words and
sounds and attempted to show particular changes
languages had undergone over time and the
historical relationships among various languages

Focused on the analysis of sound units of a
language, how these units were organized
and described the structure of sentences.
Descriptive linguists developed a method for
identifying the speech sounds of languages, for
analyzing words into morphemes, and for analyzing
the forms of sentences.

Diagramming sentences is an important tool.
Involves the analysis of sentences by dividing them
into parts.

Believes that a thorough understanding of the
phonetic basis of the first language could help
to contrast the phonemic constituents of the
target language.
Involves the analysis of sentences by dividing them
into parts.

Knowing about the structure of the first and second
language was an important part of the teacher's role,
so that the second language could be explained in
terms of the first.

Goals of Descriptive LinguisGoals of Descriptive Linguist
A description of the phonology of the
language in question.
A description of the morphology of
words belonging to that language
A description of the syntax of well-
formed sentences of that language.
A description of lexical derivations.
A documentation of the vocabulary

Behaviorist TheoryBehaviorist Theory
Behaviorists claim that the mind is
a “blank slate”, a learner must be
filled with content during the course
of teaching.
Principles of timing, repetition,
and reward led to classroom
methodology that incorporated
extensive drill and practice of
language components- from sounds
to complex sentence

A basic assumption of his was that all
language, including private, internal
discourse, was a behavior that developed in
the same manner as other skills.
In 1957, Skinner published his book, Verbal
Behavior, in which he attempted to apply his
form of operant conditioning to language
learning.

Oral language practice is believed to be
the primary means to language learning.
The audiolingual method of language
learning is based on behavioral principle.
There should be the provision of constant
oral pattern drills that are based on specific
grammatical forms.
Meaning is not specifically addressed
only the appropriate form.

Skinner believed that a sentence is merely
part of “a behavior chain, each element of
which provides a conditional stimulus for the
production of the succeeding element”
The probability of a verbal response was
contingent on four things: reinforcement,
stimulus control, deprivation, and aversive
stimulation.
The interaction of these things in a child’s
environment would lead to particular
associations, the basis of all language.

Skinner proposed that language could be
categorized by the way it was reinforced. He
claimed that there were five general types of
speech: echoic behavior, mand, tact,
interverbals and autoclitic.
Echoic behavior is the primary form of verbal behavior of
language learners. These verbalizations include repeated
utterances, as in:
(1) PARENT: [pointing to cookie] That’s a cookie. Can you say
‘cookie’?
CHILD: Cooookie
Mands (short for deMANDS) are defined as utterances
that are reinforced by the elevation of deprivation. So for
instance, if a child were hungry or cold, her requests
(2) Cookie.
Directives such as “Stop,” “Go,” and “Wait” also count as mands.

Utterances that are produced when the speaker is
not deprived are called tact (short for conTACT).
Tacts are verbalizations that the speaker produces to
provide information instead of attending to states of
deprivation. While on the surface, tacts and mands may
seem similar, their underlying motivations (stimuli) and
their reinforcements are different. When a mand is
reinforced, the need is sated. When a tact is
reinforced, there is no need to sate.
The child may be simply naming the object or stating
what she likes.
(3) Cookie!

The fourth type of utterance is the interverbals.
These include such things as “Please” and “Thank
you.” These utterances are not necessary to
provide information. Rather, they are used in
discourse situation and pertain to the interactive
nature of dialog. So for example, in (4), the second
utterance, the response to the question, is an
interverbal.
Likewise, the associative response in number (5) is
also an interverbal.
            (4) SPEAKER A: Who’s your favorite
graduate student?
                 SPEAKER B: You
            (5) WORD: CAT
                 RESPONSE: Dog

With the final category, autoclitics,
Skinner attempted to deal with internal
speech, or thought. Autoclitics, by his
account, are subject to the same effects
of reinforcement as verbalized speech
and that previously reinforced internal,
or thought behaviors, will influence not
only current and future thought but also
current and future verbal behavior.

The following implications of the behaviour
model of learning are relevant:
1. Language is learnt only through use or practice. The
more the learner is exposed to the use the better the
chances of learning it.
2. The production of language depends on the situation,
which makes its use necessary.Language cannot be
taught in divorce from situation; the teacher has to
introduce each new pattern of language in a meaningful
situation.
3. Producing the correct linguistic response also
requires effort. If the learner is not called upon to make
this effort there is no learning.

4. Producing the correct response also requires attention.
Attention is bound to slacken after a time to prolong. So
prolonged practice is less useful than spaced practice.
5. The spoken language comes earlier than the written, and
the receptive (passive) experience of language is
necessary before any productive (active) use can begin.
6. Learning takes place faster if the correct response
toward stimulus is confirmed. The learner must know at
once if his effort is right or wrong (rewarded).

7. Learning is still faster if the learner is placed to the
situation where he can produce only the correct response.
Each incorrect response builds up a faculty behavior
pattern, which interfere with the process of conditioning.
8. Every new item learnt must be reinforced by further
practice before further learning begins.

TransformationalTransformational
GrammarGrammarAssume that language consists of a set of rules that
human beings unconsciously know and use
Believes that human beings, once exposed to the
languages of their environment use their innate ability to
understand and produce sentences they have never
before heard because the mind has the capacity to
internalize and construct these rules.
Human beings do not need prior experience with a
particular sentence in order to produce or understand it.

The rules help native speakers
distinguish whether a group of words
forms a sentence in their language.
The goal of transformational grammar
is to understand and describe these
internalized rules

Krashen's MonitorKrashen's Monitor
ModelModelKrashen's theory includes five hypotheses:
1. Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
2. Natural Order Hypothessis
3. Monitor Hypothesis
4. Input Hypothesis
5. Affective Filter Hypothesis

Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis
Defines acquisition and learning as two separate
processes in mastering the second language.
Learning
Knowing about the
language.
The formal knowledge one
has of a second language.
Formal teaching promotes
learning about the rules of the
language.

Acquisition
An unconscious process that
occurs when language is
used for real communication.
Formal teaching of
grammatical rules is not a
part of acquisition.
Acquirers gain a “feel” for
the correctness of their own
utterances but cannot state
any specific rules as to why
such utterances are
“correct”

Natural Order Hypothesis
This hypothesis draws on studies done in first
and second language acquisition of children.
Certain rules of the language tend to be
acquired before others.
Second language researchers have
discovered that there appears to be a natural
order of acquisition of English morphemes for
child second learners.

Critics argue that there is insufficient evidence
for the natural order hypothesis claiming that
there is too much variability in the learner's
contexts to support the notion of a predictable
order of acquisition.
The importance of this hypothesis is that
learners go to a process to achieve full control
of the structure and that language learners
seem to find order by seeking patterns fro the
input they see and hear.

The Monitor Hypothesis
States explicitly the relationship between
acquisition and learning. Acquisition initiates
an utterance and is responsible for fluency
while learning serves to develop a monitor, an
editor.
The monitor is an error-detecting mechanism;
it scans utterances for accuracy in order to
make corrections.

The Input Hypothesis
Claims that language is acquired in an
“amazingly simple way- when we understand
messages.
Language is acquired not by focusing on form
but by understanding messages
In order to be understood, language must
contain comprehensible input.

The relevance of this hypothesis lies in its
emphasis on “comprehensible”.
When working with English learners, teachers
need to use a variety of techniques and
modalities, including visual and kinesthetic, to
ensure their speech is comprehensible.

The Affective Filter Hypothesis
This relates to emotional variables , including
anxiety, motivation, and self-confidence.
These are crucial because they can block
input from reaching the LAD.

 th e a b ility to u s e th e la n g u a g e
c o rre c tly a n d a p p ro p ria te ly to a c c o m p lis h
c o m m u n ic a tio n g o a ls

The term was introduced by Hymes (1972). It is
the aspect of langauge users' competence,
their knowledge of the langauge, that enables
them to convey and interpret messages and to
negotiate meanings interpersonally within
specific contexts.
Canale (1983) identifies four components of
communicative competence.

L IN G U I S T I C S O C IO C U LT U R A L
D IS C O U R S E S T R A T E G IC
C O M M U N IC A T IV E
C O M P E T E N C E

• E n ta ils n o t s o le ly g r a m m a t ic a l
a c c u r a c y b u t a ls o a k n o w le d g e o f
s o c io c u lt u r a l r u le s o f
a p p r o p r ia te n e s s , d is c o u r s e n o r m s ,
a n d s t r a te g ie s fo r e n s u r in g t h a t a
c o m m u n ic a t io n is u n d e r s to o d .

C O M P O N E N T S O F C O M M U N IC A T IV E
C O M P E T E N C E
1 . L in g u is tic c o m p e t e n c e is k n o w in g h o w to u s e
t h e g r a m m a r, s y n ta x , a n d v o c a b u la r y o f a
la n g u a g e .
This type of competence focuses on the skills
and knowledge necessary to speak and write
accurately.

2 . S o c io lin g u is t ic c o m p e t e n c e is k n o w in g h o w t o u s e a n d
r e s p o n d t o la n g u a g e a p p ro p r ia t e ly , g iv e n t h e s e tt in g , t h e
t o p ic , a n d t h e r e la t io n s h ip s a m o n g t h e p e o p le
c o m m u n ic a t in g .
S o c io lin g u is t ic c o m p e t e n c e a s k s :
W h ic h w o r d s a n d p h ra s e s f it t h is s e t t in g a n d t h is t o p ic ?
H o w c a n I e x p r e s s a s p e c if ic a tt it u d e ( c o u r t e sy , a u t h o r it y ,
f r ie n d lin e s s , r e s p e c t ) w h e n I n e e d t o ? H o w d o I k n o w
w h a t a tt it u d e a n o t h e r p e rs o n is e x p r e s s in g ?

• R e fe r s t o t h e le a r n in g o f p ra g m a t ic a s p e c t o f
v a r io u s s p e e c h a c t s , n a m e ly, c u ltu r a l v a lu e s ,
n o r m s a n d o t h e r s o c io c u ltu r a l c o n v e n t io n s in
s o c ia l c o n t e x t s . T h e y a r e t h e c o n t e x t a n d to p ic
o f d is c o u r s e , t h e p a r t ic ip a n t ’s s o c ia l s ta t u s ,
s e x , a g e a n d o t h e r fa c to r s w h ic h in flu e n c e
s t y le s a n d r e g is t e r s o f s p e e c h .
S O C IO L IN G U IS T IC C O M P E T E N C E

3 . D is c o u r s e c o m p e t e n c e is k n o w in g h o w t o in t e r p r e t t h e
la r g e r c o n t e x t a n d h o w t o c o n s t r u c t lo n g e r s t r e t c h e s o f
la n g u a g e s o t h a t t h e p a r t s m a k e u p a c o h e r e n t w h o le .
D is c o u rs e c o m p e te n c e a s k s :
H o w a r e w o r d s , p h r a s e s a n d s e n t e n c e s p u t
t o g e t h e r t o c r e a t e c o n v e r s a t io n s , s p e e c h e s ,
e m a il m e s s a g e s , n e w s p a p e r a r t ic le s ?

This involves the ability to combine
and connect utterances (spoken)
and sentences (written) into
meaningful whole.

4 . S t r a t e g ic c o m p e t e n c e is k n o w in g h o w t o r e c o g n iz e
a n d r e p a ir c o m m u n ic a t io n b r e a k d o w n s , h o w t o w o r k
a ro u n d g a p s in o n e ’s k n o w le d g e o f t h e la n g u a g e , a n d
h o w t o le a r n m o r e a b o u t t h e la n g u a g e a n d in t h e c o n t e x t .
S t ra t e g ic c o m p e t e n c e a s k s :
H o w d o I k n o w w h e n I’v e m is u n d e rs t o o d o r w h e n
s o m e o n e h a s m is u n d e rs t o o d m e ? W h a t d o I s a y t h e n ?
H o w c a n I e x p r e s s m y id e a s if I d o n ’t k n o w t h e n a m e o f
s o m e t h in g o r t h e r ig h t v e r b fo r m t o u s e ?

It involves the manipulation of language in order to
meet communicative goals. It involves verbal and
nonverbal behaviors.
Canale (1983) notes that speakers employ this
competence for two main reasons:
1. to compensate for breakdowns in communication (as when
speaker forgets or does not know a term and is forced to
paraphrase or gesture to get the idea across)
2. To enhance the effectiveness of communication ( as when a
speaker raises or lowers the voice for effect.)

Building on Strategies for Communicative
Competence
Repetition- imitating a word or structure used
by another.
Memorization- recalling by rote songs,
rhymes, or sequences
Formulaic expressions- using words or
phrases that function as units, such as greeting
(“Hi! How are you?”)
Verbal attention getters- using language to
initiate interaction

Answering in Unison- responding with
others.
Talking to self- engaging in subvocal or
internal monologue
Elaboration- Providing information beyond
what is necessary.
Monitoring- correcting one's own errors in
vocabulary, style or grammar.
Appeal for Assistance- asking another for
help
Request for clarification- asking the
speaker to explain or repeat.
Role play- interacting with another by taking
on roles.

The Social Context for Language
Learning
Lev Vygotsky emphasized the role played by social
interaction in the development of language and
thought.
Teaching must be matched in some manner with the
student's development level, taking into
consideration the student's zone of proximal
development”.
Zone of proximal development- the distance between
the actual development level as determined by
independent problem solving and the level of
potential development...under adult guidance or in
collaboration with more capable peers.

Discourse Theory
Discourse theorist have analyzed conversation to
understand how meaning is negotiated.
Face to face interaction is a key to second language
acquisition.
By holding discourse/conversations, nonnative speakers
acquire commonly occuring formulas and grammar as
they attend to the various features in the input they obtain
Teachers need to provide many opportunities for
nonnative speakers of English to interact with native
speakers in a variety of situations.

Top-Down Approaches
(Meaning-Centered)
Support the view about language that it is a complex
system for creating meanings thorugh socially shared
conventions.
Language is social in that it occurs within a community of
users who attach agreed upon meaning to their
experiences.
The notion of meaning-making implies that learners are
generating hypothesis from and actively constructing
interpretations about the input they receive, be it oral or
written.

Language is learned not from drills and worksheets but,
rather, from the active process of seeking meaning
through learners exchanging information.
This view about language learning underlies a
constructivist perspective.
Constructivist-oriented classrooms tend to be those in
which students' lives and experiences are valued, and
where children explore the multiple functions of literacy,
reading and writing to satisfy their own needs and goals.
Skills and strategy lessons emerge from students' needs.

Bottom-Up Approaches
(Commonsense)
Advocates of bottom up approaches are concerned that
learners connect the individual sounds of language with
its written form as soon as possible , leading to the ability
to decode whole words. Once words are identified,
meaning will take care of itself.
The students are exposed to regularly spelled words from
which to unconsciously infer common spelling/sound
patterns.
Emphasis is on skills for identifying words and sentence
patterns, rather than on strategies for creating meaning
from text.

Semiotics
A discipline that studies the ways in which humans use
signs to make meaning.
Symbols- are signs in which there is an arbitrary
relationship between the object and its sign. Ex. The word
table is arbitrarily linked to the object “table”.
Icons- are signs that resemble what they stand for, such
as a drawing of a table.
Indexes- are signs that indicate a fact or condition, Ex.
Nimbus clouds indicate rain.

Contributions of Research about the
Brain
Neurofunctional theories attempt to explain the
connection between language function and
neuroanatomy- to identify which areas of the
brain are responsible for language functioning.

Principles and Implications for Brain-
Based Instruction
1. The brain can perform
multiple processes
simultaneously.
2. Learning engages the
entire physiology
Learning experiences can
be multimodal. As
students perform
experiments, develop a
play from a text etc,
many facets of the brain
are involved.
Stress management,
nutrition, exercise, natural
rhythms and timing
should be taken into
consideration

3. The search for meaning
is innate.
4. The brain is designed to
perceive and generate
patterns
5. Emotions are crucial to
memory
Language learning should
involve a focus on
meaning.
The ideal teaching process
presents information in a
way that allows brains to
extract patterns and
create meaning rather
than react passively.
Interaction should be
marked by mutual
respect and acceptance.

6. The brain processes
parts and wholes
simultaneously.
7. Learning involves both
focused attention and
peripheral perception
Language skills are best
learned in authentic
language environments in
which parts (specific
language skills) are
learned together with
wholes (problems to be
solved)
Music, art, and other rich
environmental stimuli can
enhance and influence
the natural acquisition of
language.

8. Learning always involves
conscious and
unconscious processes
9.There are at least two
types of memory, spatial
memory and rote learning
systems.
Students need opportunities
to review what they learn
so they can reflect, take
charge, and develop
personal meaning. This
encourages and gives
shape to unconscious
learning.
Teaching techniques that
focus on the
memorization of
language bits-words and
grammar points- use the
rote learning system.
Teaching that actively
involves the learner in
novel experiences taps
into the spatial system

10. Learning occurs best
when facts and skills are
embedded in natural,
spatial memory
11. Learning is enhanced by
challenge and inhibited
by threat.
Discrete language skills can
be learned when they are
embedded in real-life
activities
(demonstrations, field
trips, performances,
drama, visual imagery
Teachers need to create an
atmosphere of
acceptance. There
should be a balance of
support and challenge.

12. Each brain is unique Teaching should be
multifaceted. English
learners can express
their understanding
through visual, tactile,
emotional and auditory
means.

Historical theories of language development

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