2. THEORIES OF FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Behavioral approaches
Publicly observable responses
Reinforcement & punishment
Nativist approach
Universal grammar Language acquisition is innate
LAD (language acquisition device)
Ability to distinguish speech sounds
Ability to organize linguistic data into classes
Knowledge that only certain system is possible
Constant evaluation of the linguistic system
3. FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
Language: dealing with the world
Social context functions purposes
Pragmatics
Cognition Social interaction
What children know about the Language is used for
world determines what they interactive communication
learn about the code.
4. ISSUES IN FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Competence: ability to do something
Performance: manifestation of competence
Comprehension & production
(listening , reading)(speaking, writing)
Nature or Nurture?
Problems with the nativist approach
Genetic transmission?
What are the behaviors given by nature ? And by teaching?
5. Universals: language is universally acquired in the
same manner and the deepest structure is the same in
all languages.
Word order
Negation
Principles: are universal Question Formation
Agreement
Parameters : vary across languages
6. Systematicity and Variability
The acquisition process is systematic but it is not clear where the
limit of its stages is (variability)
Language and thought
Piaget: Language
depends on cognition
Behaviorist: cognition Each language imposes on Jerome Bruner:
is too mentalistic to be Its speaker a particular Language influences
studied worldview cognition
Benjamin Whorf & Edward Sapir:
Linguistics relativity
7. Imitation
Surface-structure imitation
Repeating exactly the same but no understanding
Deep-structure imitation
My teacher holded the baby rabbits…
Did you say that the teacher held the baby rabbits?
Yes, she holded the baby rabbits…
Practice and frequency
Children’s practice and frequency of meaningful
occurrence seem to be key factors in first language
acquisition.
Input
Parental input is selective. Grammatical
8. Discourse
Children acquired language through interaction rather
than exposure.Context.
Can you go to the movies tonight?
I’m busy.
How do they detect pragmatics?
FLA & language teaching
Weak theory
François Gouin & Maximilian Berlitz
Budget
problems /
public schools
Series Method /
Direct Method Difficult to use
Naturalistic
9. “The second time around on something is always
easier. In the case of language, this is not
necessarily true.”
Douglas Brown