For education

1. Theories of Language
Development
Group 1

2. Theories of language development are explanations
and frameworks that describe how children learn to
understand, produce, and use language. These
theories are based on various research methods,
including observational studies, experiments, and
case studies.

3. Understanding the
theories of language
development is crucial for
educators, linguists,
psychologists, and
parents, as it helps them
to create effective learning
environments, identify
language delays, and
support children's
language development.
Importance

4. Theories of Language Development
The Nativist
by Noam
Chomsky
The Cognitive
Development by
Jean Piaget
The Behaviorist
Perspective by BF
Skinner
The Interactionist
Perspective by Lev
Vygotsky

5. Noam Chomsky
• Born on December 7, 1928
in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
• He is an American Linguist,
Cognitive Scientist,
Philosopher historian,
political activist, and social
critic
• Achieved Bachelors Degree
in Linguistic in 1941
• Masters Degree in 1951 and
Doctorate Degree in 1955

6. Nativist Theory
• Acquisition is innately
determined, that we are born
with a built-in-device of some
kind that predisposes us to
language acquisition.
• Children are biologically
programmed for language
acquisition
• States that children’s brains
contain a Language Acquisition
Device which allows the child
to acquire linguistic abilities
rapidly.

7. Language Acquisition
Device (LAD)
• Is the innate biological ability of
humans to acquire and
develop language.
• Explains how children when
exposed to any human
language are able to learn it
with only a few years following
birth.
• Hold that the structure of
language is innate and that
children are born with an
innate knowledge of the rules
of grammar.

8. Linguistic Properties of
LAD
• Ability to distinguish speech
sounds from other sounds in
the environment.
• Ability to organize linguistic
events into various classes
which can be later be refined.
• Ability to engage in constant
evaluation of the developing
linguistic system.

9. Jean Piaget
• Swiss psychologist famous
for his studies of the
intellectual growth of children.
• As a teenager, gained a
measure of fame for his
studies and publications of
mollusks.
• Became known for his
epistemological studies – how
we know what we know.

10. Cognitive
Development
• Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive
development includes a
perspective on language
development.
• According to Piaget, children's
language abilities develop as
they progress through four
stages of cognitive
development: the sensorimotor
stage, the preoperational stage ,
the concrete operational stage,
and the formal operational stage
.

11. Cognitive
Development
• During the sensorimotor stage,
children begin to develop language
abilities as they form mental
representations of objects and events.
At the end of this stage, children can
use symbols to represent objects and
experiences, which is the foundation of
language development.
• During the preoperational stage,
children's language abilities become
more sophisticated as they develop the
ability to use symbols and mental
images to represent objects and
experiences. Children at this stage
also develop the ability to use
language to communicate their
thoughts and feelings, although their
language is often egocentric and not
yet fully logical.

12. Cognitive
Development
• During the concrete operational
stage, children's language abilities
become more logical and organized.
Children at this stage can use
language to reason and solve
problems, and they develop the
ability to use language in a more
abstract and flexible way.
• During the formal operational stage,
children's language abilities become
even more abstract and flexible.
Children at this stage can use
language to reason about
hypothetical situations and to think

13. BF Skinner
• Burrhus Frederic Skinner
was born on March 20,
1904 in Susquehama,
Pennsylvania.
• Father is a lawyer and
mother is a strong and
intelligent housewife.
• Received his BA in English
from Hamilton College in
New York.

14. Behaviorist Perspective
• Postulates that everything we
do is dictated by our
environment and that our
behavior is a response to
external stimuli through operant
conditioning, the process
through which behavior
changes with positive and
negative reinforcement.
• Theorized that language
acquisition is dictated by the
environment and the positive or
negative reinforcement children
receive from communication.

15. Behaviorist Perspective
• Believes that language
behaviors are learned by
imitation, reinforcement, and
copying adult language
behaviors.
• Considers language to be
determined not by
experimentation or self-
discovery, but by selective
reinforcements from speech
and language models.

16. Imitation and Practice
• Two other concepts that are
important for understanding
the behaviorist ideas of
speech and language
development are imitation and
practice.
• A young child will try to imitate
sounds and words he hears
his parents say the best he
can. When a child says a word
that sounds close to what the
parents say, they accept and
reinforce it.

17. Imitation and Practice
For Example:
A child says "mama" when his
mother starts to pick him up. The
mother is delighted to hear the
child say this and gives the child a
hug and kiss. The mother says
"Mama, that's right, I'm Mama!“
The mother’s affectionate
response makes it more likely that
the child will say "mama" again.
The mother's response to the
child reinforced the behavior.

18. Lev Vygotsky
• A Soviet psychologist who is
known for his sociocultural
theory of language and
thought development.
• Vygotsky's work has had a
significant impact on the fields
of psychology, education, and
linguistics, and his theories
continue to be influential in
these areas today.

19. Interactionist Perspective
• Emphasizes the role of social
interaction between the
developing child and
linguistically knowledgeable
adults.
• This perspective is based on
the socio-cultural theories of
Lev Vygotsky, who proposed
that mental functions are
shaped and influenced by
social and cultural contexts.

20. Interactionist Perspective
• Language development is
viewed as a social process
that occurs through interaction
with others. Children construct
their understanding of
language through socially
mediated interaction, and
language is used to organize
thoughts and regulate
behavior.

21. Interactionist Perspective
Vygotsky's theory says that social
interactions help children develop their
ability to use language. According to
Vygotsky, there are three stages/forms
of language in the development
process:
• Social speech - communication
between children and others (usually
from the age of 2)
• Private speech - private speech that is
directed to the self but has not yet
been internalised (usually from the
age of 3)
• Silent inner speech - a child's internal
monologue (usually from the age of 7)

22. Thank you!

23. Sources
• https://languageacquisitionpsyc220.weebly.com/references.html
• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444310047.refs/pdf
• https://carla.umn.edu/learnerlanguage/refs.html
• https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
• https://jackwestin.com/resources/mcat-content/language/theories-of-language-
development
• https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Early_Childhood_Education/Book%3A_Chil
d_Growth_and_Development_(Paris_Ricardo_Rymond_and_Johnson)/11%3A_Middle
_Childhood_-
_Cognitive__Development/11.10%3A_Theories_of_Language_Development
• https://www.theclassroom.com/jean-theory-child-language-development-6587239.html
• https://openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu/ece-110-172/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2540/2021/05/Theories-of-Language-Acquisition.pdf
• https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Early_Childhood_Education/Infant_and_Tod
dler_Care_and_Development_(Taintor_and_LaMarr)/12%3A_Theories_of_Language_
Acquisition/12.05%3A_Interactionist_Social_Theory
• https://link.springer.com/10.1007%2F978-0-387-79061-9_1522
• https://www.vaia.com/en-us/explanations/english/language-acquisition/interactionist-
theory/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10763675/