University of Education Lahore

Department of English

Course Title: Psycholinguistics

Programme: BS English

Course Code: ENGL3127

Instructor Name: Safdar Hussain

1st Language Acquisition

Theoretical Controversies of 1stLanguage Acquisition

(Lecture 01)
Language Related Amazing Ability of Children

• From cooing and babbling to imitation of words

• Telegraphic utterances

• Comprehension of every type of linguistic input

• Language learning is different from other forms of learning

Positions in First Language Acquisition

• Behavioristic Position

• Nativist Position

• Functional Position
Behavioristic Approach

• Locke's philosophy, tabula rasa believes that at birth

human mind is in a blank state.
• Language like other human behaviours is shaped by
the environment through various schedules of
reinforcement.
B. F. Skinner

• Operant conditioning means to operate

• Experiments performed in the Skinner Box

• Role of Reward and Punishment

• Can explain language learning

Operant Conditioning

• Language learning is a process of habit formation.

• Increasing a language related behaviour with a reward or reinforcer

• Decreasing an incorrect language behaviour with punishment

Reinforcement & Punishment

• Reinforcement
• Positive
• Negative
• Reinforcement Schedules
• Continuous
• Partial
Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning

• Reinforcement & Punishment

• Shaping
• Extinction
• Generalization
Bibliography

Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. Harvard U. Press.

Chomsky, N. (1959). A review of BF Skinner’s Verbal Behavior. Language, 35 (1), 26–
58.
Harris, M. (2013). Language experience and early language development: From
input to uptake. Psychology Press.
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html on March 27,
2020.
Sha, L. I. U. The Understanding of the Audio-lingual Method under the Perspective
of Higher Education Circumstance. Retrieved from http://www.o-
ke.cn/Public/uploads/Contribute/5bbc4fc389062.pdf on March 27, 2020.