OBJECTIVES
1. Define the term language.
2. Describe the typical sequence of language learning.
3. Describe the three major models of language learning:
- Behaviorist
- Linguistic
- Constructivist
4. Observe the language learning of children more skillfully.
5. Plan for language learning in a classroom environment.
6. Describe any different patterns or needs related to language learning for special needs children.
7. Plan strategies for celebrating diversity in language use.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. The text advocates the position that language is developed, as part of children's internal
cognitive structure, rather than acquired.
2. Language is a an arbitrary, rule-governed system of communication that is shared by a
group of humans, and which can be oral, written or signed. Because language is based
on the arbitrary consensus of the group, it is always changing.
3. Every language is made up a set of systems.
A) Phonology is the system of sounds that make up words. Different languages have
different phonologies
B) Morphology is the system of sounds that carry meaning. A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of sound in a language.
C) Syntax is the system of rules for combining words.
D) Semantics is the system for assigning meaning to words.
E) Pragmatics is the use of language to express and accomplish goals, based on
situational demands.
F) Communicative competence is the individual's ability to use all the systems of language.
G) Sociolinguistics is the study of language in a social context.
4. There are three major theories explaining ianguage development.
A) The Behaviorist Model is based on the principles of operant conditioning, suggesting that infants are rewarded for imitating language in meaningful ways.
i. Behaviorism fails to explain children's novel constructions, particularly
those exemplifying linguistic rules.
ii. Behaviorism clearly explains why children only learn languages that they
are exposed to on a regular basis in interactive settings.
B) The Linguistic Model, created by Chomsky, is based on the Maturationist principle
that language is inherent at birth and only requires time and social contact to develop.
i. The Linguistic model suggests that there is a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) in the brain that allows language development.
ii. The Linguistic model explains why all humans with normal brain structures and experiences, and only humans, develop language, and why all children's language development follows similar patterns.
C) The Constructivist Model suggests that language is just one example of children's active construction of cognitive structures based on patterns in their environments.
i. The Constructivist model suggests that children produce hypotheses and
test them by speaking while experimenting with different words and organizational rules.
ii. The Constructivist model emphasizes the importance of social interaction in language development.
iii. The language acquisition support system described by Bruner is an example of adults' scaffolding of children's learning, in accordance with the principle of the ZPD.
iv. The functions, or goals, of language are acquired before the form, or rules of the language.