First Language Acquisition

First Language Acquisition

1. Behaviorist Perspective

   • Positive Reinforcement
   • B.F. Skinner
     • Language develops as a habit, after repeated practice and imitation by child
   • Imitation and practice
   • Quality and quantity of language a child hears shapes their learning behavior

2. Innatist Perspective

   • Noam Chomsky
     • Children born with innate ability to learn rules of language
     • Children biologically programed for language learning
     • Universal Grammar
   • Connected to Critical Period Hypothesis
     • There is a critical period for first language acquisition

3. Interactionist/Developmental Persepctive

   • Language learned from experience
   • Vygotsky
     • Language develops from social interaction
     • Zone of Proximal Development
   • Piaget
     • Child's cognitive development determines how he or she acquires a language
     • Language used to represent knowledge acquired from interaction with environment
     • Language as a symbol system

4. Usage-based Learning/Cognitive Linguistics

   • What the child needs to know is available to them in the language they are exposed to
   • Creating networks of associations, not process of imitation