| Theories of language development differ, name and describe. some of them. | 1. Nativist theory. Emphasis hereditary and suggests that all humans are genetically wired to learn a language (Chomsky, 1972, 2006).
2. Behaviourism. Suggests that children learn language through practice and reinforcement (Skinner, 1953, 1957). For example, a 2-year-old picks up a ball and says, "Baa." Mom smiles broadly and says, "Yes, ball! Good job!". Mom saying "Good job!" reinforces the child's efforts, and over time, language is shaped.
3. Social cognitive theory. Emphasises the role of modeling, feedback, and children's imitation of adult speech (bandura, 1986, 2001; Balog, 2010). For example, the father models an expression "Give Daddy some fruit.", the child attempts to imitate it, and he expanded and refined it.
4. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. Suggest that children learn language by practicing it in their day-to-day interactions with others, and adults adjust their speech to operate within childrens' ZPD (Karniol, 2010). For example, infant-directed speech, uses simple words, short sentences, and voice inflections to provide linguistic scaffolding for young children. As their children's language skills advance, parents use bigger words and more complex sentences which adjust the process to each child's changing ZPD (Lieven & Stoll, 2010; Sterponi, 2010). |
| According to the father of nativist theory, Noam Chomsky, what is the language acquisition device (LAD) in humans? | Chomsky proposed an innate, genetically controlled language acquisition device (LAD) which predisposes children to learn the rules governing language.
When children are exposed to language, the LAD analyses patterns for the rules of grammar- such as the subject after a verb when asking a question- that govern language.
Some research suggests that young infants are indeed neurologically wired or predisposed to attend to human speech (Gervain & Mehler, 2010; Koenig & Woodward, 2010; MacWhinney, 2010, 2011). |
| What are the patterns in early language development seen in children? | 1. To infants, adults should say "ooh" and "aah" and "Pandainya baby!" to encourage infant's gurgling and cooing (Arnon & Ramscar, 2012).
2. Children also gradually learn to use intonation and emphasis to convey meaning (MacWhinney, 2011). Differences in intonation signal the beginnings of using language to communicate. For example, "Cookie" means "That's a cookie" but "Cookie!" says "I want a cookie.".
3. In the later stages of being a toddler, overgeneralisation and undergeneralisation emerge. Overgeneralisation occurs when a child uses a word to refer to a broader class of objects than is appropriate. For example, using "car" to refer to buses and trucks. Undergeneralisation, which is harder to detect, occurs when a child uses a word too narrowly, such as using "kitty" for her own cat but not for cats in general (Feldman, 2014; Gelam & Kalish, 2006). Both are normal aspects of language development. Parents or caretakers should gently correct these instances through routine interaction.
4. Young children bring to school a healthy and confident grasp of language and how it can be used to communicate with others. The importance of this foundation to learning in general (such as reading and writing), can't be overstated (Hammer, Farkas, & Maczuga, 2010; Tompkins, 2014). |
| Elementary students enter school knowing approximately 10,00 words, but by the time they leave, they have mastered more than 8 times as many (Marinellie & Kneilie, 2012; MacWhinney, 2011). How do children achieve that? | 1. Children are immersed in engaging experiences with explicit instruction that focuses on key concepts. Explicit instruction is valuable for learning terms that are unlikely to be acquired incidentally, and it's particularly important for abstract, complex, and technical terms with precise definitions.
2. Children encounter words in context, and this process relates to semantics, which is a branch of linguistic that examines the meaning of words (Mayor & Plunkett, 2010). For example, the sentence "They were too close to the door to close it," has the word close in 2 different meanings, and the meanings are determined by the context of the sentence. |
| What is syntax? | Syntax refer to the rules we use to create meaningful sentences (Haskill & Corts, 2010). For example, "I do love you." and "Do I love you?" contain identical words, but the meanings are very different because of syntax. |
| What is grammar? | Grammar is a SUBCATEGORY of syntax that includes punctuation and capitalisation, which aids in communication. |
| Describe the process of learning syntax and grammar in school. | The learning of syntax and grammar proceeds slowly and with practice (Tomasello, 2006, 2011). During the school years, children gradually learn more complex language constructions, and this development parallels other aspects of cognitive development.
For example, "Jack paid the bill" and "She had asked him out" becomes "Jack paid the bill because she had asked him out." The ability to use more complex sentences reflects the child's developing understanding of cause-and-effect relationships. |
