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First Language

AcquisitionOla Sayed Ahmed

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First Language Acquisition

"language learning is doubtless the greatest

intellectual feat any one of us is ever

required to perform."

By Leonard Bloomfield

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First Language Acquisition

" Language acquisition seems much like the growth of organs generally; it is

something that happens to a child, not that a child does. And while the

environment plainly matters, the general course of development and the basic

features of what emerges are predetermined by the initial state [which

is] a common human possession "

By Noam Chomsky

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Stages of Child Language Acquisition

Crying (birth to 4 months) cooing- 6 months- use phonemes from

every language babbling- 9 months- selectively use

phonemes from their native language one word utterances- 12 months- start

using single words telegraphic speech- 2 years- multi-word

utterances that lack in function normal speech- 5 years- almost normal

developed speech

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Babies are not born talking. They learn language, starting

immediately from birth .

• What do they learn when they acquire their mother tongue?

• How do they learn what they learn? Is it a conscious decision to learn?

• Why do they learn what they learn? Is it because language is taught to them? Or because it’s in their minds? Or because they’re programmed to acquire

it? Or because of their need to communicate?

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Two Sides of the Coin

Nature

Continuity

Universal

Competence

Structure

Autonomy

Rules

Nurture

Discontinuity

Individual

Variations

Function

Dependency

Association

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Theories of First Language Acquisition

Behaviorist Theory

Nativist Theory

Cognitive Theory

Behaviorist Theory9

Behaviorism

F.B.Skinner

Ivan Pavlov

John Watson

Edward Thorndike

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Behaviorism

Behaviorism was the primary paradigm in psychology between 1920s to 1950.

Pavlov (1897) published the results of an experiment on conditioning after originally studying digestion in dogs.

Watson (1913) launches the behavioral school of psychology (classical conditioning), publishing an article, "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It".

Thorndike (1905) formalized the "Law of Effect". Skinner (1936) wrote "The Behavior of

Organisms" and introduced the concepts of operant conditioning and shaping.

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Ivan Pavlov’s Conditioning

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John Watson

Watson coined the term "Behaviorism" in 1913. Watson's theory was more concerned with effects of

stimuli. He derived much of his thinking from Pavlov's animal studies (classical conditioning). He applied classical conditioning to humans.

He rejected the notion of individual differences. He thought complex behaviors came about through

combinations of identifiable reflexes. He was a chief proponent of "nurture" and believed

that all human differences were the result of learning. He believed that practice strengthens learning.

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Edward Thorndike

He is famous for his work on learning theory that lead to the development of operant conditioning within behaviorism.

He experimented with cats and dogs in his Puzzle box. He put forward a “Law of effect” which stated that

any behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and any behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped.

The “Law of Exercise” states that the more a stimulus is connected with a response, the stronger the link between the two.

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Burrhus Frederic Skinner

He is the father of Operant Conditioning. learning is a function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual's response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a word, hitting a ball, or solving a math problem. When a particular Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to respond.

He created a device known as an operant conditioning chamber, most often referred to today as a Skinner box.

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Skinner’s Box

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Burrhus Frederic Skinner

He introduced a new term into the Law of Effect Reinforcement. Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened). E.g. children completing homework to earn a

reward from a parent or teacher, or employees finishing projects to receive praise or promotions.

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Reinforcement & Punichment

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Behaviorism Main Concepts

When born our mind is 'tabula rasa' (a blank slate). It focuses on spoken language because we learn

how to speak before learning how to read or write. Language teaching and learning is a habit-

formation process children‘s language learning as a rather passive process of imitating the speech they heard from adults, accompanied by positive reinforcement when they got it right and negative reinforcement when they got it wrong.

It “emphasizes conditioning and building from the simplest conditioned responses to more and more complex behavior” (David S. 19)

Learning due to its socially-conditioned nature can be the same for each individual.All behavior is learnt from the environment. We learn new behavior through classical or operant conditioning. language is learned when children's verbal operants are brought under the ‘control’ of environmental conditions as a result of training by their caregivers.People have no free will. A person’s environment (S-R) determines their behavior .There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals. Therefore research can be carried out on animals as well as humans.

Nativist Theory19

Nativism

Noam Chomsky

Eric Lenneberg

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Nativism

In 1959 Chomsky wrote a review of F.B Skinner’s book 1957 Verbal Behavior which led to the decline of behaviorism.

Chomsky’s Transformational Grammar and then Generative Grammar led to change in the way language is viewed.

Chomsky’s Innateness Hypothesis. Lennebergin’s Critical Period

Hypothesis 1967 with Biological Foundations of Language

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Chomsky’s Arguments against Skinner Language use is stimulus independent: virtually any words

can be spoken in response to any environmental stimulus, depending on one's state of mind.

Language use is also historically unbound: what we say is not determined by our history of reinforcement, as is clear from the fact that we can and do say things that we have not been trained to say. i.e. imitation cannot account for linguistic creativity Or children’s errors.

The primary linguistic data (pld) which is the data children are exposed to while they are learning their native language will not be sufficient to cover all aspects of how sentences could be constructed, and that humans therefore have some other form of aid in their process of acquiring their native language. (Poverty of Stimulus)

Learning cannot account for the rapid rate at which children acquire language.

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Avram Noam Chomsky•Grammar and complex language usage seem also to be a `uniquely human capability' as no other species on the planet seem to posses such proficiency as humans.•The stages of language development occur at about the same ages in most children, even though different children experience very different environments.•Children’s language development follows a similar pattern across cultures. •Children generally acquire language skills quickly and effortlessly. •Deaf children who have not been exposed to a language may make up their own language. These new languages resemble each other in sentence structure, even when they are created in different cultures.

Language Acquisition Device LAD

LAD: an innate mechanism or process that allows children to develop language skills

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Avram Noam Chomsky

Transformational Grammar Only a grammar containing both phrase structure and

transformation rules could generate a natural language.

All languages of the world share similar characteristics of using nouns, verbs, pronouns, though not necessarily

in a similar order

Innate Generative Grammar UG

"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously*“

"Ideas furiously green colorless sleep*"

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Eric Lenneberg

He elaborated on Wilder Penfield’s term Critical Period Hypothesis in his book Biological Foundations of Language; A term which is problematic till now in FLA as well as SLA.

“certain environmental events must happen at certain times in development of an organism in order for normal development to occur” (Gazzaniga. 92).

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LAD & Critical Period

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Cognitive Theory

Cognitivism

Jean Piaget

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Jean Piaget

His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology“ which is the study of the origins (genesis) of knowledge.

His theory consists of : Schemas Stages of Development Adaptation Processes (equilibrium,

assimilation and  accommodation)

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Schemas

'a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning‘ .A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.

They are : Critically important building block of conceptual

development. Constantly in the process of being modified or

changed. Modified by on-going experiences . A generalized idea, usually based on experience or

prior knowledge.

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Stages of Development

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Adaptation Processes

Assimilation- The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schemas is known as assimilation. E.g. Labeling animals.

Accommodation- Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves altering existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this process. E.g. adding or modifying a label.

Equilibration – the mechanism to achieve the balance between assimilation and accommodation. Equilibration helps explain how children are able to move from one stage of thought into the next.

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Modern Theories

Interactionism Lev Vygotsky & BurnerLanguage is learned through active interaction between the

child and the environment. Language learning is a process of socialization.

CDS--> bootstrapping LAD exists, but No critical period LASS (Language Acquisition Socialization System) 

Watching TV or listening to  the radio Marriage of Chomsky's LAD and Bruner's LASS.

Children are not little grammarians, motivated to decode the syntax of the language around them through the operation of their LAD, but social beings who acquire language in the service of their needs to communicate with others.

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Modern Theories

Connectionist Models: McClelland & Rumelhart.

Language is built through connections, but not rules. (Post-behaviorist theory).

PDP (Parallel Distributed Processing). Sufficient exposure.

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Ola Sayed Ahmed