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Language Acquisition

The purpose of this research is to examine theoretical approaches to the study of language acquisition. The plan of the research will be to set forth the major tenets of the five theoretical approaches discussed by Bohannon and Warren-Leubecker, and then to explore the role of environmental input in language acquisition, with reference to reportage of the results of recent studies that were designed to measure the impact of environment on successful language acquisition.

Bohannon and Warren (1989) summarize the major features of and describe relevant supporting and contrary research in five theoretical approaches to explaining hoe language development occurs: the behavioral approach, linguistic approach, cognitive approach, information-processing approach, and the social-interactionist approach.

The behavioral approach to explain language development owes much to B.F. Skinner's ideas about conditioning subjects (in the case of language development, principally children who are learning to talk) to affect particular behavior patterns. The idea is to reinforce acceptable language choices with positive response, so as to encourage the development of such choices. Bohannon and Warren-Leubecker make two general points about behaviorist research. First, they note the focus on imitation, called "imitation training" (1989, p. 192) as a technique of achieving language development, which appears to have been effective in training children to "use the targeted linguistic rule in novel sentences" (1989, p. 192). Secondly, they note that most behaviorist research has been conducted on adults. This leads to a whole body of research that questions the validity of conclusions about initial language acquisition in children by way of adult-oriented studies. As Bohannon and Luebecker put it, "If a factor proven to be effective in increasing [adult] learning in the lab does not exist in the child's natural environment, then that factor cannot be rel...

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Language Acquisition. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:42, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1684200.html