behaviorists second language acquisition

behaviorists, “learning occurs as a result of the consequences of behavior.”

B.F. Skinner

Viewpoint: LL is a kind of behavior similar to other human behavior. Language is learnt in much the same way as anything else is learnt.

Key point : Language as Habit Language Learning = Habit Formation

Criticisms of behaviorist learning theory 1) overemphasize the external factors 2) ignore the internal factor, i.e. the role of learner himself 3) overemphasize the role of imitation

The Innatist approach

1. viewpoint:Children’s ability to learn a language is innate. 2.Chomsky’s Universal grammar

How children acquire a language: What Children receive: Degenerate input .Lack of negative evidence. Poverty of stimulus . But :Children can learn quickly, and effortlessly

2 UG differs from the special grammar which is language specific. It differs from the grammar of English, Chinese, etc. As such, it does not belong to a specific language.

UG means the human capacity, i.e., the initial state, allowing one to learn a language.

The initial state of a language learner is biologically determined.

Innate

UG is built into the human mind.

It does not necessarily mean that UG is present at birth or in an embryo.

It rather means that it automatically appears during the development, regardless on whether it is present at birth or not.

对比Behaviorism It holds the view that language learning is similar to the learning of other things

It attaches great importance to the role of language input

Innativism Language learning is different from the learning of other things; We’re born with a kind of faculty which is unique to LL。 holds that input is needed, but only to ‘trigger’ the operation of the UG

Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH)

There is a biological time table for language learning. Critical point for

language learning occurs around puberty (Lenneberg 1967)

Evidence:Recovery from brain damage. Genie & other feral children, also hearing impaired children with no language exposure until school age or later exhibit incomplete language acquisition.

As of yet, there is no one theory of language development which:

Is universally accepted as the explanation for first language development, or

Explains all aspects of language development: syntax, morphology, semantics, phonology, and pragmatics.

Contributions of Nativism i) able to explore the unseen, observable, underlying, abstract linguistic structures being developed in the child )systematic description of the child’s linguistic repertoire as rule-governed i) the construction of a number of potential properties of UG

Weakness of Nativism

The innatists placed too much emphasis on the “final state” (i.e. the linguistic competence of adult native speakers), but not enough on the developmental aspects of language acquisition.

hard to find out the nature of LAD/UG

difficult to observe LAD/UG

Interactionist/developmental Perspectives

This position views that language develops as a result of the interplay between the innate learning ability of children and the environment in which they develop.

Developmental psychologists attribute more importance to the environment than the innatists, though they also recognize a powerful learning mechanism in the human brain.

Piaget’s Theory What children know (cognition development) will determine what they learn about the code for both speaking and understanding messages (language development)

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

According to Piaget, a child’s development progresses through 4 qualitative stages and an invariant developmental sequence-universal pattern of development, which are:

The Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 Years)

The Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 Years)

The Concrete-Operational Stage (7 to 11 Years)

The Formal-Operational Stage (11-12 Years and Beyond)

Theory: 1 He argued that the developing cognitive understanding is built on the interaction between the child and the things which can be observed, touched, and manipulated. 2 Language can be used to represent knowledge that children have acquired through physical interaction with the environment.3 Children can only use certain linguistic structures when they understand fully the concepts surrounding them (e.g., the use of words as “bigger” or “more” depends on children’s understanding of the concepts they represent.)

An Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory

Piaget’s Contributions

Founded the discipline we know today as cognitive development.

Convinced us that children are curious, active explorers who play an important role in their own development.

His theory was one of the first to explain, and not just describe, the process of development.

His description of broad sequences of intellectual development provides a reasonably accurate overview of how children of different ages think.

Piaget’s ideas have had a major influence on thinking about social and

emotional development as well as many practical implications for educators.

Piaget asked important questions and drew literally thousands of researchers to the study of cognitive development.

Challenges to Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory:

Underestimated developing minds

Failed to distinguish competence from performance

It is believed by some that Cognitive development does not evolve in a qualitative and stage like manner- it tends to develop gradually

Provides a vague explanation on cognitive maturation

Devoted little attention to social and cultural influences

Vygotsky’s Theory an emergent theory that holds that development results from the dynamic interaction between each person and the surrounding social and cultural forces

Who we become depends on the company we keep and what we do and say together

Important Aspects of Sociocultural Theory

1 Individual cognitive development occurs as a result of social processes – cannot be separable from social interactions. 2 Joint productive activities are where learning takes place – novices and experts working together toward a common goal. 3 The “zone of proximal development” (ZPD) is the conceptual development that is just out of reach of a child’s current independent performance, but which s/he can reach with assistance. It is the area of development that that we need to be targeting, as it’s not completely out of reach, but also, not redundant.

The Social Origins of Early Cognitive Competencies:

Zone of Proximal Development range of tasks that are too complex to be mastered alone but can be accomplished with guidance and encouragement from a more skillful partner

Scaffolding- the expert participant carefully tailors their support to the novice learner to assure their understanding

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective

Social interactions shape learning

Knowledge is co-constructed

Adults and peers scaffold

Zone of Proximal Development

Cultural tools

Private speech & self talk are self-guiding