First Language Acquisition

First Language Acquisition

1. Behaviourism

   • Operational conditioning
     • S-O-R+Rf(+)= learning
       • S= Stmuli R= Response (human behavior) Rf= Reinforcement
     • S-O-R+Rf(-)= non learning
   • Associative chain theory
     • A sentence consists of a chain of associations between individual words in a sentence. Each word in a sentence serves as a stimulus for the next word.
   • "Verbal behavior"
     • behaviour of speaking correctly was the consequence of being raised in an environment in which correct language models were present and in which speech errors were corrected
   • Semantic differential
     • Tool for measuring the associative meanings of words by asking people to rate words.

2. Innatist approach to language acquisition

   • Chains of associations between individual words in a sentence
   • Constituents
     • Discontinuous constituents
   • Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
     • Chomsky; all the cognitive and perceptual systems that allows the child to process linguistic data so he can acquire the language he is exposed to. UG is one of such cognitive systems
     • Poverty of stimulus argument
       • There is not enough information in the language samples given to children to fully account for the richness and complexity of children's language.
     • Issue of the lack of negative evidence
       • Positive evidence= evidence that a particular utterance is grammatical in the language the child is learning. Negative evidence= evidence that a particular sentence is ungrammatical
   • Parameter setting and Universal Grammar
     • Grammar as a set of parameters corresponding to each of the subsystems of the language, with each parameter having a finite number of possible settings. 
     • null-subject parameter
       • default value
   • Availability of Universal Grammar at the onset of language acquisition
     • No consensus with respect to the way in which Ug functions in the process of acquisition and on how developmental facts could be accounted for.
     • The Strong Continuity (or Full Availability) Hypothesis
       • All principles and parameters of UG are available from the very beginning of the acquisition process
     • The Discontinuity (or No-Continuity) Hypothesis
       • UG is not accessed from the start. It becomes available in the course of development in a gradual fashion, perhaps biologically driven
       • The UG-Constrained Maturation Hypothesis
         • Casts the study of UG solidly within a biological framework, where maturation is central to development.
     • The Weak Continuity Hypothesis
       • Some functional projections may be missing at the onset of acquisition but some of the principles are in place. 
       • The No Functional Projection Model
         • There are no functional projections at the onset of acquisition. 
       • The Truncation Structure Model
         • Lower functional projections are available from the start, whereas higher ones are acquired at a later stage

3. Developmental perspective

4. Social interactionist perspective