Theories of How Children Learn

‘THEORIES OF HOW CHILDREN LEARN – LANGUAGE ACQUISITION'

ASSESSMENT 03B/4 PART 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION 2
MAIN STAGES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 5
NURTURE, OPERANT CONDITIONING AND LEARNING THEORY 9
NATURE/NATIVIST THEORY 13
PIAGET'S COGNITIVE THEORY 16
VYGOTSKY AND BRUNER'S COGNITIVE THEORIES 19
CULTURAL RELATIVITY 24
FACTORS THAT AFFECT LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 25
HOW ADULTS CAN PROMOTE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 28
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 29
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 30
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 31


INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Linguistics is the scientific study of language.   It endeavours to answer the question – what is language and how is it represented in the mind?   Language is a system of symbols and rules; exclusive in its form to human beings that enables us to communicate.   Symbols are things that stand for other things: words, either written or spoken, are symbols and the rules specify how words are ordered to form sentences.   Language symbols are arbitrary, with no necessary connection between the symbol, be it word or gesture, and the object or idea to which it refers.   For example, if one wanted to construct a new word for ‘tree', they could use almost any legitimate combination of sounds that are not already being used for other purposes.   However, symbols must be used systematically for effective communication to occur.   The arbitrary symbol system must be shared; for communication to take place at least two people must have access to the system.  

There are a number of dimensions to language acquisition and development and each stage occurs chronologically.   These are as follows:
· Phonology – study of the sound patterns of language.   It is concerned with how sounds or ‘phonemes' are organised and examines what happens to speech sounds when they are combined to form words and how these sounds... [continues]

Read full essay