The document discusses three major theories of how children acquire language: imitation, reinforcement, and innateness with active construction of grammar. Researchers study imitation of sounds and syllables, reinforcement through parenting, and innate language abilities to understand this complex process. While imitation and reinforcement may aid language development, innateness appears to be the driving force behind a child's natural and rapid acquisition of their native tongue.

2. A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.
By Emily Dickinson

3. Researchers of linguistics In layman's terms, the idea is
theorize that infants to discover how children
acquire, develop, and learn language and
transition in language and communication. Here, three
syntax through several theories are presented.
different methods, internal
and external, including
imitation, reinforcement or
teaching, and innateness
plus active construction of
grammar.

4.  He was a pioneer of specialist pediatrics.
 The first man to show a distinct interest in the
development of understanding children.
 His opinions were well respected because he
administered medical aid to so many kids.

5. “As long as a child can
hear, they are quite likely to
develop language
skills, regardless of how
delayed this development
might be.”
“A very active intelligence
often makes a child an
excellent pantomimist [one
who speaks with
gestures]…”

6.  Imitation
 Reinforcement
 Innateness with Active Construction of
Grammar

7.  Mimicking sounds and syllables through what
they are exposed to.
 Taking statistics on the frequency of sounds.
 Subconsciously taking notes.

8.  Things not said by adults
 “nana” versus banana
 “goed” versus went
 Producing sentences that have not been
heard before
 Rearranging words in order to ask something

9.  Adult counterparts who know how to speak
properly.
 Parents teaching their children.
 Preschool and Kindergarten classes.
 Problems
 Parents actually rarely do this.
 Even when they do, it rarely helps.

10.  Meaning existing since birth or originating in
the mind or its intellect.
 A built-in ability to acquire language.
 Genetically wired to speak and communicate
through language.

11.  Appears before it is necessary.
 There seems to be a critical period to acquiring a
new language.
 Hence the difficulty in learning a secondary
language versus a native language.
 Teaching and reinforcement has little to no effect.
Leading to the belief that it is not influenced as
much externally versus internally.

12.  Irregular verbs in childhood
 First, “went” due to imitation.
 Then, “goed” as he or she develops the “-ed” rule.
 Lastly, “went” due to the realization that the rule
does not apply in this instance

13.  Nicaraguan Sign Language
 Segmentation – the brain can learn singular words
according to symbolic meaning without complete
understanding of the language.
 “Culture Bound Listeners”
 After the age of seven, a child will focus on the
most familiar sounds.

14.  A new form of sign language that first
appeared in the 1970’s.
 Observe and record how the language
develops and changes over time.
 Suggests segmentation – where a child
breaks a big word down into several smaller,
simpler words and phrases.

15.  As an infant, he or she will listen to all the
sounds of speech around them.
 The child then takes a kind of statistics on
what sounds arise the most.
 The child then favors these certain sounds
and syllables in order to pick up the language
faster while more or less ignoring the rest.

16.  Three major theories consisting of imitation,
reinforcement, and innateness with active
construction of grammar.
 So far, innateness appears to be the most
accurate theory.
 Researchers of linguistics continue to develop
nuances and proof of this in order to learn more
about how children do in fact acquire language
so quickly and efficiently.

17.  “I cooked the wrong meat for them again” in
the Indigenous Australian language Bininj
Gun-Wok is
“abanyawoihwarrgahmarneganjginjeng.”

18.  Mockingjay. N.d. Photograph. Web Design
BlogWeb. 16 May 2012. <garcya.us>.
 Dr Charles West as a young man. N.d.
Photograph. HHARPWeb. 16 May 2012.
<www.hharp.org>.
 Rainforest Parrot. 2012. Photograph. Animal
CornerWeb. 16 May 2012. <animalcorner.co.uk>.
 All other pictures are from MorgueFile.com.