Language Acquisition Theories Essay

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BEHAVIORIST THEORY – A stimulus response psychological theory that applies to the attainment of native languages, stresses the fact that human and animal learning is a process of habit formation. And according to Skinner, considers all learning to be the establishment of habits as a result of reinforcement and reward, (Wilga Rivers, 1968, 73)., Doc. Demirezen,M Dr. Hacettepe Vniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi. Yıl 1988 i Sayı 3 i ss. 135 - 140. INNATIST THEORY – Proposes that the ability to learn language is inborn, that the nature is more important than nurture and that experience using language is only necessary in order to activate the LAD. It asserts that humans have access to the knowledge that is processed innately. Naom Chomsky hypothesizes that infants are born with a biological ability he calls (LAD) Language Acquisition Device, this device contains the main rules for all possible human languages, he calles this set of common rules Universal Grammar (UG). Scribd, (Upload date Oct. 2010) Tags: Chomsky, sla, Krashen, ug, innatist theory INTERACTIONIST THEORY – Posits that children can only learn language from someone who wants to communicate with them. Vygotsky, believed that all cultural development in children is visible in two stages. First, the child observes interaction between other people and then behavior develops inside the child. Bruner believes that learners, be they adults or children, learn best when they discover knowledge for themselves, and that 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. Henschel, K. (Mar. 2012) edtd by: Gromisch, E. S. Bright Hub Inc. (2012) • References: http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html
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