Dr. Hashim Noor

FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Dr. Hashim Noor

Dr. Hashim Noor

GENERAL POINTS...

Language is something specific to human.

Human beings are provided with tools to acquire language from infancy stage.

Dr. Hashim Noor

GENERAL QUESTIONS

How can children make use of these tools in order to comprehend and produce the language?

What is that enables a child not only to learn words, but to put them together in meaningful sentences?

Dr. Hashim Noor

GENERAL QUESTIONS

WhatWhat motivatesmotivates and pushes children and pushes children to go on developing complex to go on developing complex grammatical language even though grammatical language even though their early communication is their early communication is successful for most purposes?successful for most purposes?

Dr. Hashim Noor

SCHOOLS OF FIRST LANGUAGE SCHOOLS OF FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUSITIONACQUSITION

BhaviouristsBhaviourists

InnatistsInnatists

CognitistsCognitists

InteractionistsInteractionists

Dr. Hashim Noor

BEHAVIOURISTSBEHAVIOURISTS

Language is behaviour acquired according to the following steps:– 1) Imitation & RepetitionImitation & Repetition– 2) Reinforcement:Reinforcement:

a. Positiveb. Negative

– 3) Habit formationHabit formation

Behaviorism

is simply a behavior

Imitation and Repetition Reinforcement Habit Formation

Language Acquisition

Skinner(1957)

Dr. Hashim Noor

Imitation & RepetitionImitation & Repetition

Children imitate the sounds and Children imitate the sounds and patterns which they hear around patterns which they hear around them. They repeat what they hear them. They repeat what they hear when they receive positive when they receive positive reinforcement for doing so.reinforcement for doing so.

Dr. Hashim Noor

ReinforcementReinforcement

The reinforcement could be POSITIVE: that’s the child may receive support or aid from the people around him (e.g. rewards rewards or approval or just successful or approval or just successful communicationcommunication),),

Dr. Hashim Noor

Reinforcement

The reinforcement could be NEGATIVE: that’s the child could be corrected by the people around him (e.g. by saying to child “no you should not say this word or sentence this way, you should say it that way”).

Dr. Hashim Noor

Encouraged by the environment, the child continues to imitate and practice (repeat) these sounds and patterns until he/she forms ‘habits’ of correct language use, i.e. coincide with the result models or forms of the adults- correct use of language.

Habit formation

Dr. Hashim Noor

BEHAVIOURISTS

Note..

Within this theory, a child’s MISTAKES or ERRORS are simply considered as a result of

imperfect learning.

Dr. Hashim Noor

BEHAVIOURISTS

CriticismThis theory faced 2 critical points regarding:

1. What children produce

2. What children do not produce

Dr. Hashim Noor

Criticism

What children produce

Children sometimes say goed and taked instead of went and took or they say mouses and sheeps instead of mice and sheep.

Dr. Hashim Noor

Criticism

What children do not produce

For example, in the following dialogue where a child proved unable to use a pattern, even though the parent presented the correct adult model several times:

Dr. Hashim Noor

Criticism

What children do not produce

CHILD: Nobody don’t like me.MOTHER: No, say ‘Nobody likes me.’

(Eight repetitions of this dialogue)

CHILD: Oh, Nobody don’t likes me.

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