B.F.Skinner
Behavioural psychologist, who wrote a book in 1957 called "Verbal Behaviour", which included his theory of language acquisition. Even though it could be argued that is was written a long time so context has change, the main points are still relevant. The ides that the consequence of language will occur when the correct context is performed.
Operant Condtioning Theory
This is the idea that imitation and reinforcement will stimulate behaviours and it can be applied to children's language too. This can be linked to the use of role play and how children learn from their parents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSyGRut7T0s. This clip is of a little girl in the telegraphic stage and how she Inis imagining she is telling her mother off but she must have got the content from listening and coping her parents.
When caregivers reinforce language through praise, interest and attention, language is stimulated and we must remember when getting a text in an exam, that looking and referring to the context is important. There are three points to remember:
1. Developmental milestones - how everyone learns at different rates
2. Logical Mistakes
3. Exceptions - this linked back to Eric Lennenburg and C.A.P (critical acquisition period) and what's happens when language is stimulated like in the case of Geni.
Also remember Hallidays functions, which I have posted already in my blog but compare at how they can be linked to children acquiring language.
1. Instrumental e.g crying
2. Regulatory e.g through parents
3. Interactions e.g maintains friendly relationships
4. Personal e.g expression and indentfying
5. Heuristic e.g information seeking
6. Imaginative e.g role play, stories etc
7. Representational e.g using delacritve syntax and later going into post-telegraphic stage
8. Performative e.g controlling reactivity
Anther interesting study is done by Penrose where they looked at gender sterotyping in children books - Peter and Jane
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