The document discusses several theories of first language acquisition: - Behaviorism views language learning as habit formation through reinforcement, but cannot explain how children learn despite variable input or produce novel utterances. - Universal Grammar posits an innate language acquisition device that guides rule formation even with variability, but does not fully account for vocabulary or social aspects of language. - Cognitive development theory links language learning to cognitive stages and categorization, explaining vocabulary but less so grammar. - The functional theory emphasizes learning through social interaction, but cannot alone explain consistency across learners or initial rule-forming. Overall, the document concludes that no single theory is sufficient and that aspects of each may contribute to explaining language acquisition.

1. Theories of First Language
Learning
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2. Questions
• Why do children learn their first language in a
short time?
• Why do children learn their first language in
sequences and stages?
• How do children learn the rules of their first
language when what is heard is variable?
• Why do children produce language that they
have never heard?
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3. Behaviorism in general
• Learning is habit formation
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4. Behaviorism in language learning
• Language learning is also habit
formation
• Successful performance of a behavior
• Good pronunciation
• Grammatically correct sentences
• New words
• Leads to reward from parents
• Finally, behavior becomes automatic
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5. Evaluation of behaviorism 1
• Habit formation takes a long time
• The same process must be repeated over
and over again for each grammar feature and
word
• Habit formation would result in variation
• What each child hears is unique so what she
learns should be unique.
• However, we observe sequences and stages
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6. Evaluation of behaviorism 2
• Habit formation requires uniform language
to be successful
• Language is not uniform; it is variable
• Children only imitate what they hear
• Children, however, produce unique words
and sentences
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7. Evaluation of behaviorism 3
• Behaviorism doesn’t answer our four
questions
• Thus, behaviorism doesn’t seem to be a
good explanation of how children learn
languages
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8. Universal Grammar
• Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is an
internal innate ability to process
languages
• LAD is like a computer
• There is no LAD in the brain; it’s an idea to
explain the theory
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9. Universal Grammar
• UG is a set of principles that are
common to all languages
• Not a set of grammar rules
• For example, UG tells us that all languages
use word order and hearing the language tells
children which word order to use
• UG is like software for a computer
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10. Evaluation of Universal Grammar 1
• UG makes it simple for children to
discover rules
• Thus, language learning doesn’t take a lot of
time
• UG is an innate set of principles
• Because UG is the same for everyone,
sequences and stages are likely
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11. Evaluation of Universal Grammar 2
• UG operates like a computer program and
tells children what is possible and not
possible
• Children can still construct rules even though
language is variable
• UG helps children create rules
• Rules allow children to be creative and make
words they’ve never heard before
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12. Evaluation of Universal Grammar 3
• UG is a powerful explanation of how
children learn grammar
• UG doesn’t explain how children learn
words or how to use language socially
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13. Cognitive Development
• The way the we see and understand the
world develops in stages.
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14. Cognitive Development &
Language learning
• Children learn language by making
connections between what they hear and
objects, events and situations
• Children put the connections that they
make in categories and make
generalizations
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15. Cognitive Theory
• Language learning is part of a
child’s cognitive development
• Language ability and cognitive
development are not separate
• How much language children can
understand depends on their cognitive
development.
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16. Evaluation of the Cognitive Theory 1
• Cognitive abilities develop quickly, and so
do language abilities
• Cognitive abilities develop in stages, and
so do language abilities
• Making categories and generalizations
lets children overcome variability
• Making generalizations leads to new
language
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17. Evaluation of the Cognitive Theory 2
• The cognitive theory is a good explanation
of how children learn vocabulary
• The cognitive theory is less satisfactory in
explaining how children learn grammar
• Grammatical features with several meanings
• I’m writing now.
• I’m living in Paris, but I usually live in London.
• I’m playing tennis tomorrow.
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18. Functional Theory 1
• Learning occurs by listening to
people and speaking with people
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19. Functional Theory 2
• Listening is a chance to understand what
is heard
• Speaking is a chance to
• Send a message
• Check one’s understanding
• Learn how to express messages
grammatically
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20. Evaluation of the Functional Theory 1
• Not all parents talk a lot; some more than
others
• All children learn to speak in about the same
time
• Conversations with children are all unique
• Because they are unique, it is difficult to
explain sequences and stages
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21. Evaluation of the Functional Theory 2
• Language is variable
• Checks for comprehension by both parents
and children help make rules clear
• The functional theory provides no
explanation for why children produce
words they’ve never heard
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22. Conclusion 1
• Language is complicated
• Difficult for one theory to explain how we
learn all aspects of language
• Each of the theories explains some
aspects of language
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23. Conclusion 2
• Behaviorism – sociolinguistic knowledge
• Many aspects of being polite are learned
habits.
• When to say please and thank you.
• Universal Grammar – grammatical
knowledge
• An innate computer program perhaps best
explains how we master grammar
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24. Conclusion 3
• Cognitive – Vocabulary
• When we look at the world, we tend to
categorize and generalize about what we see
and this is the same thing that we do with
new words.
• Functional – How to talk
• Babies talking with their parents learn
conversation rules.
• They learn to talk by talking
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