 “The capacity to learn language is deeply ingrained in

us as a species, just as the capacity to walk, to grasp

objects, to recognize faces. We don’t find any serious
difference in children growing up in congested urban
slums, in isolated mountain villages, or in privileged
suburban villas”
 Dan Slobin, The Human Language Series 2 (1994)
 “ We are designed to walk.. That we are taught to walk
is impossible. And pretty much the same is true of
language. Nobody is taught language. In fact you can’t
prevent a child from learning it”
 Chomsky 1994
 What is meant by First
Language?

 Definition of “first language” (L1):

 The language(s) that an individual learns first.
 Other terms for “first language”-
 Native language or mother tongue
 Questions on First Language
Acquisition

 How do children acquire such a complex system so

quickly and effortlessly?
 Does a child decide to consciously pursue certain
skills? (e.g., walking)
 Do babies make a conscious decision to start learning
a language?
 We correct children’s errors sometimes. Does it Help?
 (To answer these questions, there are different theories)
Theories on First Language
Acquisition
 Behaviourism
 Nativism
 Cognitive Approach
 Interaction Approach
Behaviourism
 Proponent: B. F. Skinner
 Popular in 1950’s and 60’s
 Principle: Say what I say

 “Language Learning is a kind of behavior similar to

other human behavior. Language is learnt in much
the same way as anything else is learnt.”
 B. F. Skinner:
 language behavior is the production of correct
responses to stimuli through reinforcement.

 Language learning is the result of 1) imitation (word-

for-word repetition), 2) practice (repetitive
manipulation of form), 3) feedback on success (positive
reinforcement), and 4) habit formation.

 The quality and quantity of the language that the child

hears, as well as the consistency of the reinforcement
offered by others in the environment, would shape the
child’s language behavior.
 Children imitate language

stimulus → organism → response

↓ ↓ ↓
lg input the learner imitation

e.g. ‘This is a pencil → ‘This is a pencil’.

Four steps for a child to acquire his/her L1:

imitation→reinforcement→repetition→habituation

positive negative good habit bad habit

 positive reinforcement: praise or reward

 negative reinforcement: corrections
 good habit: correct performance
 bad habit: errors
Criticism on Behaviourism
 overemphasize the external factors like of parents to
provide a model of imitation
 ignore the internal factor, i.e. the role of learner
himself in language learning process
 overemphasize the role of imitation
 children do use language creatively, not just repeat
what they have heard.
2. Nativism
 Proponent: Noam Chomsky
 1959
 Principle: It’s all in your mind

 “We are born with a Language Acquisition Device

(LAD) and access to Universal Grammar (UG)”
 Chomsky

 Children are biologically programmed for language and

language develops in the child in just the same way that
other biological functions develop.

 The environment makes only a basic contribution, that

is, the availability of people who speak to the child.
Therefore, the child’s biological endowment (LAD) will
do the rest.

 Children are born with a specific innate ability to

discover for themselves the underlying rules of a
language system on the basis of the samples of a natural
language they are exposed to.
 Chomsky against Behaviourism:

 Chomsky argues that behaviorism cannot provide sufficient

explanations for children’s language acquisition for the
following reasons:

1. Children come to know more about the structure of their

language than they could be expected to learn on the
basis of the samples of language they hear.
2. The language children are exposed to includes false
starts, incomplete sentences and slips of the tongue, and
yet they learn to distinguish between grammatical and
ungrammatical sentences.
3. Children are by no means systematically corrected or
instructed on language by parents.
 Children’s ability to learn a language is innate.

 Universal grammar (UG):

Chomsky’s term for the abstract principles that
comprise a child’s innate knowledge of language and
that guide LA
 LAD
 (an imaginary “black box” existing somewhere in the
brain)

 LAD contains the principles which are universal to

all human languages (i.e.. Universal Grammar –
UG).
 For the LAD to work, children need access only to
samples of a natural language, which serve as a
trigger to activate the device.
 Once the LAD is activated, children are able to
discover the structure of the language to be
learned by matching the innate knowledge of basic
grammatical principles (UG) to the structures of
the particular language in the environment.
 Evidence used to support Chomsky’s innatist
position:

1. Virtually all children successfully learn their native

language at a time in life when they would not be
expected to learn anything else so complicated (i.e.
biologically programmed).
2. Language is separate from other aspects of cognitive
developments (e.g., creativity and social grace) and may
be located in a different “module" of the brain.
3. The language children are exposed to does not contain
examples of all the linguistic rules and patterns.
4. Animals cannot learn to manipulate a symbol system as
complicated as the natural language of a 3- or 4-year-old
child.
5. Children acquire grammatical rules without getting
explicit instruction. Therefore, children’s acquisition of
grammatical rules is probably guided by principle of an
innate UG which could apply to all languages.
Criticism on Nativism
 The nativists/ 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.

 Language acquisition is an example of children’s ability to

learn from experience. What children need to know is
essentially available in the language they are exposed to.
Criticism on Nativism
 Developmental psychologists attribute more importance to
the environment than the innatists, though they also
recognize a powerful learning mechanism in the human
brain.

 They see language acquisition as similar to and influenced

by the acquisition of other kinds of skill and knowledge,
rather than as something that is largely independent of the
child’s experience and cognitive development.
3. Cognitive Approach
 Proponent: Jean Piaget
 1952
 Principle: Language Learning is part of a child’s
cognitive development

 “Children’s language development relies on their

understanding of the world or cognition.”
 Piaget:

 Language is dependent upon and springs from cognitive

development. That is, children’s cognitive development
determines their language development.
(e.g., the use of words as “bigger” or “more” depends on
children’s understanding of the concepts they represent.)

 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.

 For him, language was one of a number of symbol systems

developed in childhood, rather than a separate module of
the mind. Language can be used to represent knowledge
that children have acquired through physical interaction
with the environment.
Piaget stages of cognitive
Development
 Sensory Motor Stage
 During the early stages, infants are only aware of what
is immediately in front of them.
 Because they don't yet know how things react, they're
constantly experimenting with activities such as
shaking or throwing things, putting things in their
mouths, and learning about the world through trial
and error.
 At about age 7 to 9 months, infants begin to realize
that an object exists even if it can no longer be seen.
This important milestone -- known as object
permanence -- is a sign that memory is developing.
 After infants start crawling, standing, and walking,
their increased physical mobility leads to increased
cognitive development. Near the end of the
sensorimotor stage, infants reach another important
milestone -- early language development, a sign that
they are developing some symbolic abilities.
 Preoperational Stage
 During this stage, young children are able to
think about things symbolically. Their language
use becomes more mature. They also develop
memory and imagination, which allows them to
understand the difference between past and
future, and engage in make-believe.
 But their thinking is based on intuition and still
not completely logical. They cannot yet grasp
more complex concepts such as cause and effect,
time, and comparison.
 Concrete Operational Stage
 At this time, elementary-age and preadolescent
children demonstrate logical, concrete
reasoning.
 Children's thinking becomes less egocentric and
they are increasingly aware of external events.
They begin to realize that one's own thoughts and
feelings are unique and may not be shared by
others or may not even be part of reality. Children
also develop operational thinking -- the ability to
perform reversible mental actions.
 During this stage, however, most children still
can't tackle a problem with several variables in a
systematic way.
 Formal Operational Stage
 Adolescents who reach this fourth stage of
intellectual development are able to logically use
symbols related to abstract concepts, such as
algebra and science. They can think about
multiple variables in systematic ways, formulate
hypotheses, and consider possibilities. They also
can ponder abstract relationships and concepts
such as justice.
4. Interactionist Approach
 Focus on interaction

 Proponent: Bruner, Vygotsky

 “Interactionist theories are concerned with the

interplay between environmental & biological factors
in the process of acquiring language.”
Bruner: Interactionist
 Bruner (1983) argues parents provide their children a
language acquisition support system or LASS.

 The LASS is a collection of strategies that parents

employ to facilitate their children’s acquisition of
language.

 One of these strategies is scaffolding, the deliberate

use of language at a level that is slightly beyond what
children can comprehend.
Vygotsky:
sociocultural theory of human mental processing.
He argued that language develops primarily from
social interaction.
Zone of proximal development (ZPD): a level that a
child is able to do when there is support from
interaction with a more advanced interlocutor. That
is, a supportive interactive environment enables
children to advance to a higher level of knowledge
and performance than s/he would be able to do
independently.
He observed the importance of conversations which
children have with adults and with other children and
saw in these conversations the origins of both
language and thought.
Criticism on Interactionist Theories
 deVilliers & deVilliers (1992) suggest that parents
rarely offer their children direct feedback on the
appropriateness of their grammar.

 Linguistic & social practices vary widely across

cultures. Some cultures do not use anything like the
practices described by interactionists and yet, their
children still learn language at a similar rate to
Western children.
Conclusion
 Each of the three theoretical perspective adds
something to the study of human language.
Recap
 First Language Acquisition Theories

 Behaviourism
 Nativism
 Cognitive Approach
 Interaction Approach
References
 Levine, Laura E. and Joyce Munsch. (2010). Child
Development. Sage Publications. (Chapter 9.
Language and Communication.)
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-
data/36720_Levine_final_PDF_09.pdf