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This chapter from Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners Facilitator's Guide, by Jane D. Hill and Cynthia L. Björk, offers information on the second language acquisition process and effective ELL instruction. It includes a a simplified chart of language acquisition levels and the kinds of language teachers can use to help students at each level.
In the classroom Implications for the language classroom include the ideas that the teacher can create contexts for communication which facilitate acquisition, that there is a natural order of acquisition of language, that there are affective filters which inhibit acquisition, especially for adults, and that comprehensible input is very important.
Feb 4, 2023 · One of the most widely recognised language acquisition theories is the behaviourist approach, which suggests that language is learned through imitation and reinforcement. According to this theory, language learners need to be exposed to a rich and varied language environment, where they can imitate native speakers and receive positive feedback for their efforts.
- Behaviorist Theory of Language Acquisition
- Chomsky Theory of Language Development
- Universal Grammar
- Contemporary Research
- Conclusion
- References
- Further Reading
One of the earliest scientific explanations of language acquisition was provided by Skinner (1957). As one of the pioneers of behaviorism, he accounted for language development using environmental influence, through imitation, reinforcement, and conditioning. In this view, children learn words and grammar primarily by mimicking the speech they hear...
However, Skinner’s account was soon heavily criticized by Noam Chomsky, the world’s most famous linguist to date. In the spirit of the cognitive revolutionin the 1950s, Chomsky argued that children would never acquire the tools needed for processing an infinite number of sentences if the language acquisition mechanism was dependent on language inpu...
Consequently, he proposed the theory of Universal Grammar: an idea of innate, biological grammatical categories, such as a noun category and a verb category, that facilitate the entire language development in children and overall language processing in adults. Universal Grammar contains all the grammatical information needed to combine these catego...
A decade or two later, some psycho-linguists began to question the existence of Universal Grammar. They argued that categories like nouns and verbs are biologically, evolutionarily, and psychologically implausible and that the field called for an account that can explain the acquisition process without innate categories. Researchers started to sugg...
However, finding a solid answer to the problem of language acquisition is far from being over. Our current understanding of the developmental process is still immature. Investigators of Universal Grammar are still trying to convince that language is a task too demanding to acquire without specific innate equipment, whereas constructivist researcher...
Ambridge, B., & Lieven, E.V.M. (2011).Language Acquisition: Contrasting theoretical approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press. Pine, J.M., Conti-Ramsden, G., Joseph, K.L., Lieven, E.V.M., & Serratrice, L. (2008). Tense over time: testing the Agreement/Tense Omission Model as an...
An excellent article by Steven Pinker on Language Acquisition Pinker, S. (1995). The New Science of Language and Mind. Penguin. Tomasello, M. (2005). Constructing A Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition. Harvard University Press.
Dec 22, 2021 · Displaying classroom signs and labels in multiple languages and using multilingual resources or texts can make language learning a natural part of the day for all children, Goldin says.
The Language Acquisition Device, or LAD, is part of Chomsky's acquisition hypothesis. The LAD is a system of principles that children are born with that helps them learn language, and accounts for the order in which children learn structures, and the mistakes they make as they learn. Second language learning theory proposes that acquisition is ...
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Sep 9, 2017 · Implications for the language classroom include the ideas that the teacher can create contexts for communication which facilitate acquisition, that there is a natural order of acquisition of ...
