Question

For this Discussion, you examine a case study of hearing-impaired children who developed their own language system. To do this, you will apply one theory from the behaviorist, linguistic, or interactionist approaches as a lens through which to interpret the phenomena present in the case.

To prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider the different theories and their approaches to explaining language development.
• Read the article “A Linguistic Big Bang” and consider the language developed by the children in the case study.
• Select a theory from one of the following categories to apply to the case study: behaviorist, linguistic (e.g., Chomsky), or interactionist.

With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 4

Post an explanation of how your selected theory would explain the language development of the children in the case study and why.

Answer 1

Learning theories

Behaviorism refers to a psychological approach which emphasizes scientific and objective methods of investigation. The approach is only concerned with observable stimulus-response behaviors, and states all behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment.The behaviorist movement began in 1913 when John Watson wrote an article entitled 'Psychology as the behaviorist views it,' which set out a number of underlying assumptions regarding methodology and behavioral analysis:

Basic Assumptions - All behavior is learned from the environment:Behaviorism emphasizes the role of environmental factors in influencing behavior, to the near exclusion of innate or inherited factors. This amounts essentially to a focus on learning.We learn new behavior through classical or operant conditioning (collectively known as 'learning theory').Therefore, when born our mind is 'tabula rasa' (a blank slate).

Psychology should be seen as a science:Theories need to be supported by empirical data obtained through careful and controlled observation and measurement of behavior. Watson (1913) stated that:'Psychology as a behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is prediction and control.The components of a theory should be as simple as possible. Behaviorists propose the use of operational definitions (defining variables in terms of observable, measurable events).Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion:While behaviorists often accept the existence of cognitions and emotions, they prefer not to study them as only observable (i.e., external) behavior can be objectively and scientifically measured.Therefore, internal events, such as thinking should be explained through behavioral terms (or eliminated altogether).

There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals:

There's no fundamental (qualitative) distinction between human and animal behavior. Therefore, research can be carried out on animals as well as humans (i.e., comparative psychology).Consequently, rats and pigeons became the primary source of data for behaviorists, as their environments could be easily controlled.

Behavior is the result of stimulus-response:

All behavior, no matter how complex, can be reduced to a simple stimulus-response association). Watson described the purpose of psychology as:'To predict, given the stimulus, what reaction will take place; or, given the reaction, state what the situation or stimulus is that has caused the reaction.'

Types of Behaviorism- Historically, the most significant distinction between versions of behaviorism is that between Watson's original 'methodological behaviorism,' and forms of behaviorism later inspired by his work, known collectively as neobehaviorism (e.g., radical behaviorism).

Methodological Behaviorism- Watson's article 'Psychology as the behaviorist views it' is often referred to as the 'behaviorist manifesto,' in which Watson outlines the principles of all behaviorists:'Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness.The behaviorist, in his efforts to get a unitary scheme of animal response, recognizes no dividing line between man and brute. The behavior of man, with all of its refinement and complexity, forms only a part of the behaviorist's total scheme of investigation'.

Radical Behaviorism-Radical behaviorism was founded by B.F Skinner and agreed with the assumption of methodological behaviorism that the goal of psychology should be to predict and control behavior.Skinner, like Watson, also recognized the role of internal mental events, and while he agreed such private events could not be used to explain behavior, he proposed they should be explained in the analysis of behavior.Another important distinction between methodological and radical behaviorism concerns the extent to which environmental factors influence behavior. Watson's (1913) methodological behaviorism asserts the mind is tabula rasa (a blank slate) at birth.In contrast, radical behaviorism accepts the view that organisms are born with innate behaviors, and thus recognizes the role of genes and biological components in behavior.

Linguistic theory

Language is a cognition that truly makes us human. Whereas other species do communicate with an innate ability to produce a limited number of meaningful vocalizations (e.g. bonobos), or even with partially learned systems (e.g. bird songs), there is no other species known to date that can express infinite ideas (sentences) with a limited set of symbols (speech sounds and words).This ability is remarkable in itself. What makes it even more remarkable is that researchers are finding evidence for mastery of this complex skill in increasingly younger children.

Infants as young as 12 months are reported to have sensitivity to the grammar needed to understand causative sentences (who did what to whom; e.g. the bunny pushed the frog After more than 60 years of research into child language development, the mechanism that enables children to segment syllables and words out of the strings of sounds they hear, and to acquire grammar to understand and produce language is still quite an enigma.

Early Theories

One of the earliest scientific explanations of language acquisition was provided by Skinner (1957). As one of the pioneers of Behaviorism, he accounted for language development by means of environmental influence.Skinner argued that children learn language based on behaviourist reinforcement principles by associating words with meanings. Correct utterances are positively reinforced when the child realizes the communicative value of words and phrases.

For example, when the child says ‘milk’ and the mother will smile and give her some as a result, the child will find this outcome rewarding, enhancing the child's language development

Universal Grammar

However, Skinner's account was soon heavily criticized by Noam Chomsky, the world's most famous linguist to date. In the spirit of cognitive revolution in the 1950's, Chomsky argued that children will never acquire the tools needed for processing an infinite number of sentences if the language acquisition mechanism was dependent on language input alone.Consequently, he proposed the theory of Universal Grammar: an idea of innate, biological grammatical categories, such as a noun category and a verb category that facilitate the entire language development in children and overall language processing in adults.

Universal Grammar is considered to contain all the grammatical information needed to combine these categories, e.g. noun and verb, into phrases. The child’s task is just to learn the words of her languageFor example, according to the Universal Grammar account, children instinctively know how to combine a noun (e.g. a boy) and a verb (to eat) into a meaningful, correct phrase (A boy eats).This Chomskian (1965) approach to language acquisition has inspired hundreds of scholars to investigate the nature of these assumed grammatical categories and the research is still ongoing

Interactionist Theory of Language Acquisition and ESL

ESL Teaching Tips & Strategies for Any Grade Level / By Kate Henschel / Teaching English as a Second Language

Language Learning at an Early Age

From birth, children are surrounded by others who talk to them or with them. This communication plays a part in how the baby learns to speak his or her native language. Some argue that “nature” is entirely responsible for how a baby learns a language, while others argue that “nurture” is responsible for how a baby picks up his or her mother tongue. The idea behind interactionist theory is that the way a baby learns a language is both biological and social.

Everyone loves to coo at babies, and this “baby talk” is exposing the child to language, whether we realize it or not. Interactionists believe that children are born with brains that predispose them to the ability to pick up languages as well as with a desire to communicate. Some Interactionists even argue that babies and children cue their parents and other adults into giving them the linguistic exposure they need to learn a language. The Interactionist Theory posits that children can only learn language from someone who wants to communicate with them.

3. Interactionist therory

Language acquisition starts at a very early age. Perhaps two of the biggest names in the Interactionist Theory of language acquisition are Lev Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner.

Vygotsky and Bruner

Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, created a model of human development now called the sociocultural model. He believed that all cultural development in children is visible in two stages. First, the child observes the interaction between other people and then the behavior develops inside the child. This means that the child first observes the adults around him communicating amongst themselves and then later develops the ability himself to communicate. Vygotsky also theorized that a child learns best when interacting with those around him to solve a problem. At first, the adult interacting with the child is responsible for leading the child, and eventually, the child becomes more capable of problem solving on his own. This is true with language, as the adult first talks at the child and eventually the child learns to respond in turn. The child moves from gurgling to baby talk to more complete and correct sentences.

Bruner, best known for his discovery learning theory, believes that learners, whether they are adults or children, learn best when they discover knowledge for themselves. He believes that students retain knowledge best when it is something they have discovered on their own. Bruner argues that an adult and an infant have conversations despite the child being unable to speak. The interaction between the two, such as games and non-verbal communication, build the structure of language long before the child is able to communicate verbally.