{"id":61,"date":"2019-05-30T05:11:56","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T05:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hsp10.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=61"},"modified":"2019-06-10T05:34:13","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T05:34:13","slug":"language-development-nativist-and-behaviourist-perspectives","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/chapter\/language-development-nativist-and-behaviourist-perspectives\/","title":{"rendered":"Language development \u2013 Nativist and behaviourist perspectives"},"content":{"raw":"<div><span style=\"float: right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/gDdmE7gjBM4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"http:\/\/epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/download.png\" alt=\"epgp books\" width=\"75px\" height=\"75px;\" \/><\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The previous module on cognitive development that focussed on Piaget's cognitive theory and Information Processing had made you understand how a child could make sense of this incredible, multifaceted world. However, the organization of the thinking process has to get manifested towards the expression of knowledge, which would be made possible only through the development of language. This module gives you an insight of the development of language in young children and presents the strategies of fostering the same.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>1. OBJECTIVES<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThis module would facilitate you\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">To know the meaning and concept of language and its components.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">To understand the theoretical framework underpinning language development.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">To apprehend the process of language acquisition and comprehend its milestones and<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0To realize the teacher\u2019s role in fostering language development among young children<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>2.\u00a0 <\/strong><strong>LANGUAGE - MEANING, DEFINITION, AND CONCEPT<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Many of us speak more than one language. But, what makes a language? How is it expressed? To put in simple terms \u2018language is a system that relates sounds or gestures to meaning' and language is expressed through speech, writing, and signals. However, to understand the term language better, there is an important aspect to ponder upon \u2013 communication<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>2.1 How do you communicate successfully?<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nAn individual communicates successfully because he\/she can do at least four different things\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>First <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to perceive and produce sounds that make up a language and form new words that convey meaning to other people.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Second <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to understand the meaning of the formed words<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Third <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Capacity to put these words together in grammatically appropriate ways so that others understand it.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Fourth <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to use language to communicate with others.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">These four skills seem to be a usual process of how we communicate. But psychologists who study the language acquisition refer to each of these processes by different names<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>First <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to perceive and produce meaningful sounds \u2013 <em>Phonology <\/em>&amp; Formation of new words - <em>Morphology<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Second <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to understand the meaning of the formed words - <em>Semantics<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Third <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Capacity to put these words together in grammatically appropriate ways \u2013 <em>Grammar\/syntax.<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Fourth <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to use language to communicate with others \u2013 <em>Pragmatics<\/em>. Therefore the four components of language namely phonology &amp; morphology, semantics, grammar\/syntax and pragmatics helps you to communicate successfully. Let us look into some examples to understand each of the components better.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li><strong>Morphology <\/strong>- Making new word from a known word<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0 \u00a0 Eg. From the known word \u2018Happy\u2019 you can make new words like \u2018Unhappy,' \u2018Happiest,' \u2018Happiness,' \u2018Unhappiest.'<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>Semantics <\/strong>\u2013 Understanding what does a word mean?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0 \u00a0 Eg. Understanding the utterance \u2018Doggie\u2019 only for dogs and not for cats<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0<strong>Syntax\/Grammar <\/strong>\u2013 It is how we put words together to convey meaning<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0 Eg. \u2018We will discuss violence on TV.' This statement delivers two different meaning based on how we put the words together<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>Pragmatics <\/strong>\u2013 It is the word combinations we use in certain social situations<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Eg. \u2018Excuse me' &amp; \u2018Get out of my way.'<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As we are focussing on the development during early years, we must facilitate children to learn language through the below mentioned four steps.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Understand the differences in speech sounds and find out how to produce them.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Learn the meaning of words<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Follow the rules to combine them into sentences<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Learn effective ways of communicating with others.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Though\u00a0 these\u00a0 steps\u00a0 in\u00a0 developing language\u00a0 seem\u00a0 to\u00a0 be\u00a0 very simple\u00a0 and\u00a0 routine process, it is amazing to know how the children do it. Several theories attempted to explain\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">the same. But before trying to understand the theories of language let us try to answer this\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">question from our view point.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>Is language a biologically determined behaviour or is it an innate, learned behaviour?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Now, justify your answer with the following clues provided by Eric Lenneberg. He had arrived at a set of criteria for identifying whether a trait\/a process\/a behaviour is a biologically determined one. The clues are<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">The behaviour emerges before it seems necessary.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Its appearance is not the result of a conscious decision.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Its emergence is not triggered by external events (though the surrounding environment must be sufficiently rich for it to develop adequately).<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Direct teaching and intensive practice have relatively little effect.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">There is a regular sequence of \"milestones\" as the behaviour develops, and these can usually be correlated with age and other aspects of development.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">There is likely to be a critical period.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">If yes is the answer for all the clues then language is said to be a biologically determined behaviour. But for sure, some of the clues do have \u2018No' as an answer and few with both \u2018Yes and No.' Then, how do you conclude?<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>3. THEORIES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">To arrive at a reply let us understand and develop an insight into the three top perspectives in the theories of language development. The three aspects are<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Behaviourist perspective<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nativist perspective<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Interactionist perspective<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>3.1 Behaviourist Perspective<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The process of language acquisition is explained by the principles of learning such as conditioning, and observational learning is termed as behaviourism. Two theorists namely B.F.Skinner (Operant conditioning) and Bandura (Observational learning\/Imitation) explained language acquisition as per behaviourist perspective.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.1.1 Skinner\u2019s Perspective<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nConsider this example.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2018A 12-month-old baby often babbles book-a-book-a dook-a dook- a nook- a book \u2013aaa....\u00a0<\/em><em>Coincidently the mother holds a picture book in front of the baby while he babbled the same for which the mother smiles, hugs and speaks in return. This reinforcement now aids the baby to say \u2018book- aaa\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 in the presence of books.<\/em><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As an outcome of this example, Skinner concluded that children learn the language as they are selectively rewarded for sounds\/behaviours that are considered as appropriate or correct utterances.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.1.2 Bandura\u2019s Perspective<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Bandura, also a behaviourist explained language development and its acquisition by young children as initiated by imitation which then later combines with reinforcement for fostering language learned. In other words, children tend to overhear language being used by others, and they try to imitate the same.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>For example, a parent when repeatedly asks a child to say \u2018I want the biscuit,' the child overhears and resembles the language and puts it in its own words as \u2018Wanna Biscuit.' The parent praises and treats the child with a biscuit after the needed response which in turn\u00a0<\/em><em>reinforces the child to use the same utterance again and again.<\/em><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.1.3 Supporting Pieces of evidence for Behaviourism<\/em><\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Behaviourist's believe that all learning is acquired step-by-step, through associations and reinforcements<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">According to this view, the reinforcement of the quantity and quality of talking to child affect rate of language development.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">When a six month-old says, \"ma-ma-ma\" they are showered with attention and praise. This is exactly what the baby wants and will make the sounds again to get the same rewards.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The finding of research conducted by Tamis-Le Monda et al.,(2001) further supports behaviourism. The study had concluded that the percentage of toddlers knowing at least 50 words is on the rise for toddlers of highly responsive mothers in comparison with little sensitive mothers.<\/p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/hsp10.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64\" src=\"http:\/\/hsp10.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"522\" height=\"421\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Though Skinners's and Bandura's perspective explains how reinforcement and imitation contribute to early language learning, there are certain flaws as their assumptions do not tell the whole story.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.1.4 Flaws of Behaviourism<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe major flaws of behaviourism in language development are as follows\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Children produce many sounds\/words\/sentences that are never uttered by adults. For example, \u2018I want a biscuit,' is the phrase uttered by an adult. If only imitation helps in fostering language, then the child is expected to say it in the same way, but the other way happened. The child responds as \u2018wanna biscuit.'<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Children make consistent errors (though not attributed to mispronunciation) and produce words that are not ever heard in the adult language.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Moreover, the children seem to continue to produce incorrect utterances despite being corrected several times.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>3.2 Nativist Perspective<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Noam Chomsky(1957) was the first one to recognize that language learning is the wholesome responsibility of the child himself\/herself. He proposed that language is the\u00a0<span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">product of an unlearned, biologically based, internal mental structure. This innate mental structure is termed as LAD (Language Acquisition Device) by Chomsky.<\/span><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"><em>3.2.1 Characteristics of LAD as proposed by Chomsky<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0LAD contains a set of features common to all languages which he termed as Universal grammar. Universal grammar refers to the entire set of rules or linguistic parameters which specify all possible human languages.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">LAD allows children to combine the words learned to form grammatically consistent sentences at an early age<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong><em>3.2.2 Supporting Pieces of evidence for Nativism<\/em><\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">The significant milestones of language development have seen a similar sequence in young children from any part of the world.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">The rules that underlie a language are too complex to be acquired by children in their early years. However, children do learn it which concludes that certain aspects of language are innately specified.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">If an adult deliberately says a grammatically incorrect sentence, the child would notice.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Children often say things that are ungrammatical such as \u2018mama ball,' which they cannot have learned passively.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Mistakes such as \u2018I drawed\u2019 instead of \u2018I drew\u2019 show they are not learning through imitation alone.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong><em>3.2.3 Falls of Nativism<\/em><\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Linguists have failed to specify the nature of universal grammar. Many linguists have speculated that this may not be possible.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>There is little neurological evidence to support the existence of a biologically-based LAD.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Children first word combinations like \u2018biscuit give\u2019 instead of \u2018give biscuit\u2019 reveals no grammatical rules followed by them as proposed by Chomsky.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The well-known fact that children are mastering the language usage happens as a gradual and steady process and it is not of a sudden innately determined process.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<strong>3.3 Interactionist Perceptive<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Interactionist theories of language development appraise the interplay between environmental and biological factors in the process of language acquisition. Interactionists accept the fact that children have a strong biological predisposition to acquire a language. However, they differ from nativists assumption in providing strong evidence that the social support provided by the parents of a young language learner and the social context in which language learning child is instructed as important as a biological predisposition.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.3.1 Bruner\u2019s perspective.<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Bruner, an Interactionist proposed that parents provide their children a language acquisition support system or LASS.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>LASS is a collection of strategies that parents employ to facilitate their children\u2019s acquisition\u00a0<\/em><em>of language.\u00a0<\/em>Few major strategies of facilitating young children in learning language are<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Scaffolding <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 the parents deliberately use language at a level that is slightly beyond what children can comprehend. With this support, the child acquires complex language more quickly than they might on their own<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Infant- directed speech or motherese <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 it refers to the pattern of speaking wherein parents talking in a higher pitch, stress important words and talk more slowly to their infants. This method grabs a young child's attention and increases the chances of their understanding the message.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Expansion and recast <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 this is a paired technique language support system. It occurs when an adult takes a child\u2019s utterance and expands on its complexity<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">For example when a child utters a wrong sentence \u2018Sara eaten,' the parent expands the complexity, adding \u2018Yes that\u2019s right, Sara ate her dinner.' In this example the parent recasts the child\u2019s utterances, as well they correct the grammar of it.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">In sum, each of the three theoretical perspectives namely Behaviourism, Nativism and Interactionism adds valuable insight to the study of human language as follows<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Behaviourism provides some thoughts on plausible mechanisms that underlie the acquisition of few facets of human language.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">Nativism highlights that an innate language mechanism serves as a part of our brain that facilitates the learning of a language in a time that children can typically do.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Interactionism focuses the key role of the social environment and the importance of social input in structuring the learning of language.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<strong>3.4 HOW DOES YOUNG CHILDREN GET READY TO TALK<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">In congruence with the above-said theories, young children prepare for language in many ways before uttering the first word. Let us discuss the stages of language acquisition in two major heads<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First two years\r\n\r\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two years to six years\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>3.4.1 First two years<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The milestones to be accomplished in the first two years of life in the language domain are discussed in the following heads<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>3.4.1.1 Cooing and babbling<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Making vowel like noises called cooing begins by two months. Gradually consonants are added and around 6 months babbling appears. Babbling is the sound made by infants while repeating consonant-vowel combinations in long strings, such as \u2018babababababa' or \u2018nananananana'. Around seven months babbling starts to include sounds of mature spoken languages. Through babbling, babies experiment different sounds and later blends it into their first words.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.4.1.2 First words<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Children's first word usually refers to objects that move (such as car, ball, cat), familiar actions (bye-bye, more) or outcomes of familiar actions (dirty, hot, wet). While learning a new word, every infant does not use it the right way as adults do. Hence two errors are commonly found among the infants in using words. They are<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">1.\u00a0\u00a0<strong><em>Under extension <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 when the toddler applies a learned word too narrowly, the error is referred as under extension.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>For example, a baby uses the word \u2018doll\u2019 only for the worn and tattered doll that she\u00a0<\/em><em>carried around with her much of the day.<\/em><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">2.\u00a0\u00a0<strong><em>Overextension <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 when the toddler applies a learned word to a wider collection of objects and events\u00a0<em style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">For example the word \u2018car' is used for even buses, trains, trucks, etc.<\/em><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"><em>3.4.1.3 The two-word utterance phase<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">The two-word utterance phase is called as telegraphic speech because the toddlers speak just as given in telegram. They leave out smaller and less significant words.\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em\">Some of the two-word utterances are \u2018give biscuit,' \u2018daddy outside,' \u2018more milk' etc.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.4.1.4 Comprehension versus Production<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>Language production <\/em>\u2013 the words and word combinations that children can say is language production<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>Language comprehension <\/em>\u2013 the words that the child could actually understand is called language comprehension.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">At all ages\u2019 comprehension develops ahead of production. Comprehension needs only to recognize the meaning of the word, while production demands that they should pronounce by recalling the word from their memories and recognizing its meaning.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>3.4.2 Two to six years<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The cognitive development facilitates language development. In turn, language helps the children to express a broad range of cognitive skills. Between 2-6 years the language development is remarkable. The following section details the language development in certain aspects like pronunciation, vocabulary development, grammatical development, forming sentences and becoming an effective conversationalist<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.4.2.1 Pronunciation<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Certain sounds and sound combinations such as \u2018z,w, d, s\u2019 and \u2018st, str, dr, fl\u2019 respectively are very difficult to pronounce at this age. Constant listening to such words can only help in pronouncing it rightly<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.4.2.2 Vocabulary development<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">By the age of two a vocabulary of 200 words could be observed. But by age 6 these children would know about 14,000 words. This tremendous improvement in vocabulary happens through a process called fast mapping.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>Fast mapping \u2013 connecting a new word with an underlying concept after only a brief encounter is called false mapping.<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Also, preschoolers learn the meaning of new words by a special rule called the principle of contrast<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>The principle of contrast \u2013 it is a principle used by young children to find the meaning of a new word by comparing it with word meanings that they already know. For example, the child saying plant-man in place of gardener.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Preschoolers also extend language meanings through metaphor.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Metaphors permit children to communicate in a special, memorable way. For example, a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>child to represent his stomach-ache says \u2018fire engine in my tummy.' 3.4.2.3 Grammatical development<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Grammar is the way the words are combined to form meaningful sentences. By 2-3 years, English speaking children use simple sentences in the subject-verb-object word order. Later they add' s' to plural words, add prepositions (\u2018in,''on'etc.). By the age of three and a half, children would have mastered the rules of grammar.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">However, they apply these rules so consistently that they overextend the rules to exceptional words. This type of error is called <em>over regularization<\/em>. Eg. \u2018My toy car breaked,' \u2018I runned faster' etc.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Between 3-6 years these children master even more complex grammatical forms but do make certain errors.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.4.2.4 Forming sentences<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">By 2-3 years 3-4 word sentences are used. But these sentences are incomplete. After three years the child forms 6-8 word sentences containing all parts of speech.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong><em>3.4.2.5 Becoming an effective conversationalist<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As and when the children acquire vocabulary and grammar rules, they also learn to use language in social contexts. The practical, social side of language that helps to converse with others effectively is called <strong>pragmatics<\/strong>. The young children during their preschool years make considerable improvement in mastering pragmatics.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>3.5 FACTORS INFLUENCING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe key factors involved are\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Intelligence <\/em><\/strong>- More intelligent the child, better is their language development.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Type of discipline <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Children growing up under permissive disciplinary technique talk more than children brought up by authoritarian disciplinary technique.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>\u00a0Ordinal position <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 First born talk faster as parents give more attention and have more time to talk to them<\/span><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>Family size <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 Bigger the size of family, the child, has more people to talk to and could develop language at a faster rate<\/span><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>Socioeconomic status <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 The children born in upper and middle-class families are more exposed to organized activities, and hence their language is faster than lower-class families.<\/span><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>Bilingualism <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 Children exposed to two or more languages at a time could talk at a faster rate.<\/span><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>Sex-role typing <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 Boys are expected to talk less than girls. Also, boys are supposed to talk matters that boast and criticise others.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>3.6 ROLE OF TEACHERS IN FOSTERING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">After realizing the theoretical inputs of language acquisition of children in 0-6 years, recognizing its milestones, and understanding the factors influencing the same, a teacher\/facilitator should apprehend their role in fostering effective language learning in a young child. Researchers had found that early childhood teachers can play a crucial role in promoting young children's emerging language skills when they<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Value their role in children\u2019s language development<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Children learn many important things from them as they look at the teacher as a role model<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Read with children as it is enjoyable, a time to feel close and a special time to share<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0Regularly engage children in language enhancing activities<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Expose children learn new word, colours, names from books<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Foster children to become better talkers and listeners<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Understand that children are never too young to know about books<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Organize the class room to support language<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Plan regular time during the day to read to children<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Display lots of books to read<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Provide a quiet place for reading<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Allow children to read on their own<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Actively engage parents in the school<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Seek parents help in the classroom<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0Involve parents as guest speakers\/advisory or parent board<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0Converse with parents to form a strong partnership<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Are themselves role models for literary<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Personally, enjoy reading<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Spend more time in reading<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Have good memories of being read to as a child.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<strong>3.7 CONCLUSION<\/strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">To sum up, hope this module had given you an in-depth insight into the four broad components of language and the way it has been used in day-to-day communication without much effort. This to be effortless language learning being supported by behaviourism and nativism does conclude that active learning of language is both to the social support and the social context the child is provided with (Interactionism). Also, this module elaborates the process of language learning concerning the milestones proposed for children of 0-6 years. However, the most important part of the module focuses on the role of early childhood teachers in fostering the language acquisition of every child.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>you can view video on Language development \u2013 Nativist and behaviourist perspectives <\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/gDdmE7gjBM4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"alignnone wp-image-120\" src=\"http:\/\/epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/download.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"36\" height=\"36\" \/><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nWeb links\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">raisingchildren.net.au\/articles\/language_development.html<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/child-development\/language_development\/<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"text-align: justify\">www.parents.com \u203a ... \u203a 9 Ways to Help Your Child's Language Development<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","rendered":"<div><span style=\"float: right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/gDdmE7gjBM4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/download.png\" alt=\"epgp books\" width=\"75px\" height=\"75px;\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The previous module on cognitive development that focussed on Piaget&#8217;s cognitive theory and Information Processing had made you understand how a child could make sense of this incredible, multifaceted world. However, the organization of the thinking process has to get manifested towards the expression of knowledge, which would be made possible only through the development of language. This module gives you an insight of the development of language in young children and presents the strategies of fostering the same.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. OBJECTIVES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This module would facilitate you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">To know the meaning and concept of language and its components.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">To understand the theoretical framework underpinning language development.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">To apprehend the process of language acquisition and comprehend its milestones and<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0To realize the teacher\u2019s role in fostering language development among young children<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2.\u00a0 <\/strong><strong>LANGUAGE &#8211; MEANING, DEFINITION, AND CONCEPT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Many of us speak more than one language. But, what makes a language? How is it expressed? To put in simple terms \u2018language is a system that relates sounds or gestures to meaning&#8217; and language is expressed through speech, writing, and signals. However, to understand the term language better, there is an important aspect to ponder upon \u2013 communication<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.1 How do you communicate successfully?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>An individual communicates successfully because he\/she can do at least four different things<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>First <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to perceive and produce sounds that make up a language and form new words that convey meaning to other people.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Second <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to understand the meaning of the formed words<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Third <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Capacity to put these words together in grammatically appropriate ways so that others understand it.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Fourth <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to use language to communicate with others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">These four skills seem to be a usual process of how we communicate. But psychologists who study the language acquisition refer to each of these processes by different names<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>First <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to perceive and produce meaningful sounds \u2013 <em>Phonology <\/em>&amp; Formation of new words &#8211; <em>Morphology<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Second <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to understand the meaning of the formed words &#8211; <em>Semantics<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Third <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Capacity to put these words together in grammatically appropriate ways \u2013 <em>Grammar\/syntax.<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Fourth <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 The ability to use language to communicate with others \u2013 <em>Pragmatics<\/em>. Therefore the four components of language namely phonology &amp; morphology, semantics, grammar\/syntax and pragmatics helps you to communicate successfully. Let us look into some examples to understand each of the components better.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Morphology <\/strong>&#8211; Making new word from a known word<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0 \u00a0 Eg. From the known word \u2018Happy\u2019 you can make new words like \u2018Unhappy,&#8217; \u2018Happiest,&#8217; \u2018Happiness,&#8217; \u2018Unhappiest.&#8217;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>Semantics <\/strong>\u2013 Understanding what does a word mean?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0 \u00a0 Eg. Understanding the utterance \u2018Doggie\u2019 only for dogs and not for cats<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0<strong>Syntax\/Grammar <\/strong>\u2013 It is how we put words together to convey meaning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0 Eg. \u2018We will discuss violence on TV.&#8217; This statement delivers two different meaning based on how we put the words together<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>Pragmatics <\/strong>\u2013 It is the word combinations we use in certain social situations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Eg. \u2018Excuse me&#8217; &amp; \u2018Get out of my way.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As we are focussing on the development during early years, we must facilitate children to learn language through the below mentioned four steps.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Understand the differences in speech sounds and find out how to produce them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Learn the meaning of words<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Follow the rules to combine them into sentences<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Learn effective ways of communicating with others.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Though\u00a0 these\u00a0 steps\u00a0 in\u00a0 developing language\u00a0 seem\u00a0 to\u00a0 be\u00a0 very simple\u00a0 and\u00a0 routine process, it is amazing to know how the children do it. Several theories attempted to explain\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">the same. But before trying to understand the theories of language let us try to answer this\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">question from our view point.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>Is language a biologically determined behaviour or is it an innate, learned behaviour?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Now, justify your answer with the following clues provided by Eric Lenneberg. He had arrived at a set of criteria for identifying whether a trait\/a process\/a behaviour is a biologically determined one. The clues are<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">The behaviour emerges before it seems necessary.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Its appearance is not the result of a conscious decision.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Its emergence is not triggered by external events (though the surrounding environment must be sufficiently rich for it to develop adequately).<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Direct teaching and intensive practice have relatively little effect.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">There is a regular sequence of &#8220;milestones&#8221; as the behaviour develops, and these can usually be correlated with age and other aspects of development.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">There is likely to be a critical period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">If yes is the answer for all the clues then language is said to be a biologically determined behaviour. But for sure, some of the clues do have \u2018No&#8217; as an answer and few with both \u2018Yes and No.&#8217; Then, how do you conclude?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. THEORIES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">To arrive at a reply let us understand and develop an insight into the three top perspectives in the theories of language development. The three aspects are<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Behaviourist perspective<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nativist perspective<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Interactionist perspective<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.1 Behaviourist Perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The process of language acquisition is explained by the principles of learning such as conditioning, and observational learning is termed as behaviourism. Two theorists namely B.F.Skinner (Operant conditioning) and Bandura (Observational learning\/Imitation) explained language acquisition as per behaviourist perspective.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.1.1 Skinner\u2019s Perspective<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Consider this example.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2018A 12-month-old baby often babbles book-a-book-a dook-a dook- a nook- a book \u2013aaa&#8230;.\u00a0<\/em><em>Coincidently the mother holds a picture book in front of the baby while he babbled the same for which the mother smiles, hugs and speaks in return. This reinforcement now aids the baby to say \u2018book- aaa\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 in the presence of books.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As an outcome of this example, Skinner concluded that children learn the language as they are selectively rewarded for sounds\/behaviours that are considered as appropriate or correct utterances.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.1.2 Bandura\u2019s Perspective<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Bandura, also a behaviourist explained language development and its acquisition by young children as initiated by imitation which then later combines with reinforcement for fostering language learned. In other words, children tend to overhear language being used by others, and they try to imitate the same.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>For example, a parent when repeatedly asks a child to say \u2018I want the biscuit,&#8217; the child overhears and resembles the language and puts it in its own words as \u2018Wanna Biscuit.&#8217; The parent praises and treats the child with a biscuit after the needed response which in turn\u00a0<\/em><em>reinforces the child to use the same utterance again and again.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.1.3 Supporting Pieces of evidence for Behaviourism<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Behaviourist&#8217;s believe that all learning is acquired step-by-step, through associations and reinforcements<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">According to this view, the reinforcement of the quantity and quality of talking to child affect rate of language development.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">When a six month-old says, &#8220;ma-ma-ma&#8221; they are showered with attention and praise. This is exactly what the baby wants and will make the sounds again to get the same rewards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The finding of research conducted by Tamis-Le Monda et al.,(2001) further supports behaviourism. The study had concluded that the percentage of toddlers knowing at least 50 words is on the rise for toddlers of highly responsive mothers in comparison with little sensitive mothers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hsp10.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64\" src=\"http:\/\/hsp10.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"522\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15.png 522w, https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15-300x242.png 300w, https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15-65x52.png 65w, https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15-225x181.png 225w, https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/259\/2019\/05\/Untitled-15-350x282.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 522px) 100vw, 522px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Though Skinners&#8217;s and Bandura&#8217;s perspective explains how reinforcement and imitation contribute to early language learning, there are certain flaws as their assumptions do not tell the whole story.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.1.4 Flaws of Behaviourism<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The major flaws of behaviourism in language development are as follows<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Children produce many sounds\/words\/sentences that are never uttered by adults. For example, \u2018I want a biscuit,&#8217; is the phrase uttered by an adult. If only imitation helps in fostering language, then the child is expected to say it in the same way, but the other way happened. The child responds as \u2018wanna biscuit.&#8217;<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Children make consistent errors (though not attributed to mispronunciation) and produce words that are not ever heard in the adult language.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Moreover, the children seem to continue to produce incorrect utterances despite being corrected several times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3.2 Nativist Perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Noam Chomsky(1957) was the first one to recognize that language learning is the wholesome responsibility of the child himself\/herself. He proposed that language is the\u00a0<span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">product of an unlearned, biologically based, internal mental structure. This innate mental structure is termed as LAD (Language Acquisition Device) by Chomsky.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"><em>3.2.1 Characteristics of LAD as proposed by Chomsky<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0LAD contains a set of features common to all languages which he termed as Universal grammar. Universal grammar refers to the entire set of rules or linguistic parameters which specify all possible human languages.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">LAD allows children to combine the words learned to form grammatically consistent sentences at an early age<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>3.2.2 Supporting Pieces of evidence for Nativism<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">The significant milestones of language development have seen a similar sequence in young children from any part of the world.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">The rules that underlie a language are too complex to be acquired by children in their early years. However, children do learn it which concludes that certain aspects of language are innately specified.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">If an adult deliberately says a grammatically incorrect sentence, the child would notice.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Children often say things that are ungrammatical such as \u2018mama ball,&#8217; which they cannot have learned passively.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Mistakes such as \u2018I drawed\u2019 instead of \u2018I drew\u2019 show they are not learning through imitation alone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>3.2.3 Falls of Nativism<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Linguists have failed to specify the nature of universal grammar. Many linguists have speculated that this may not be possible.<\/li>\n<li>There is little neurological evidence to support the existence of a biologically-based LAD.<\/li>\n<li>Children first word combinations like \u2018biscuit give\u2019 instead of \u2018give biscuit\u2019 reveals no grammatical rules followed by them as proposed by Chomsky.<\/li>\n<li>The well-known fact that children are mastering the language usage happens as a gradual and steady process and it is not of a sudden innately determined process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>3.3 Interactionist Perceptive<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Interactionist theories of language development appraise the interplay between environmental and biological factors in the process of language acquisition. Interactionists accept the fact that children have a strong biological predisposition to acquire a language. However, they differ from nativists assumption in providing strong evidence that the social support provided by the parents of a young language learner and the social context in which language learning child is instructed as important as a biological predisposition.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.3.1 Bruner\u2019s perspective.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Bruner, an Interactionist proposed that parents provide their children a language acquisition support system or LASS.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>LASS is a collection of strategies that parents employ to facilitate their children\u2019s acquisition\u00a0<\/em><em>of language.\u00a0<\/em>Few major strategies of facilitating young children in learning language are<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Scaffolding <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 the parents deliberately use language at a level that is slightly beyond what children can comprehend. With this support, the child acquires complex language more quickly than they might on their own<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Infant- directed speech or motherese <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 it refers to the pattern of speaking wherein parents talking in a higher pitch, stress important words and talk more slowly to their infants. This method grabs a young child&#8217;s attention and increases the chances of their understanding the message.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Expansion and recast <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 this is a paired technique language support system. It occurs when an adult takes a child\u2019s utterance and expands on its complexity<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">For example when a child utters a wrong sentence \u2018Sara eaten,&#8217; the parent expands the complexity, adding \u2018Yes that\u2019s right, Sara ate her dinner.&#8217; In this example the parent recasts the child\u2019s utterances, as well they correct the grammar of it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">In sum, each of the three theoretical perspectives namely Behaviourism, Nativism and Interactionism adds valuable insight to the study of human language as follows<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Behaviourism provides some thoughts on plausible mechanisms that underlie the acquisition of few facets of human language.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;text-align: initial\">Nativism highlights that an innate language mechanism serves as a part of our brain that facilitates the learning of a language in a time that children can typically do.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Interactionism focuses the key role of the social environment and the importance of social input in structuring the learning of language.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>3.4 HOW DOES YOUNG CHILDREN GET READY TO TALK<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">In congruence with the above-said theories, young children prepare for language in many ways before uttering the first word. Let us discuss the stages of language acquisition in two major heads<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First two years<\/p>\n<p>2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two years to six years<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.4.1 First two years<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The milestones to be accomplished in the first two years of life in the language domain are discussed in the following heads<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>3.4.1.1 Cooing and babbling<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Making vowel like noises called cooing begins by two months. Gradually consonants are added and around 6 months babbling appears. Babbling is the sound made by infants while repeating consonant-vowel combinations in long strings, such as \u2018babababababa&#8217; or \u2018nananananana&#8217;. Around seven months babbling starts to include sounds of mature spoken languages. Through babbling, babies experiment different sounds and later blends it into their first words.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.4.1.2 First words<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Children&#8217;s first word usually refers to objects that move (such as car, ball, cat), familiar actions (bye-bye, more) or outcomes of familiar actions (dirty, hot, wet). While learning a new word, every infant does not use it the right way as adults do. Hence two errors are commonly found among the infants in using words. They are<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">1.\u00a0\u00a0<strong><em>Under extension <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 when the toddler applies a learned word too narrowly, the error is referred as under extension.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>For example, a baby uses the word \u2018doll\u2019 only for the worn and tattered doll that she\u00a0<\/em><em>carried around with her much of the day.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">2.\u00a0\u00a0<strong><em>Overextension <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 when the toddler applies a learned word to a wider collection of objects and events\u00a0<em style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">For example the word \u2018car&#8217; is used for even buses, trains, trucks, etc.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\"><em>3.4.1.3 The two-word utterance phase<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">The two-word utterance phase is called as telegraphic speech because the toddlers speak just as given in telegram. They leave out smaller and less significant words.\u00a0<\/span><em style=\"font-size: 1em\">Some of the two-word utterances are \u2018give biscuit,&#8217; \u2018daddy outside,&#8217; \u2018more milk&#8217; etc.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.4.1.4 Comprehension versus Production<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>Language production <\/em>\u2013 the words and word combinations that children can say is language production<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>Language comprehension <\/em>\u2013 the words that the child could actually understand is called language comprehension.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">At all ages\u2019 comprehension develops ahead of production. Comprehension needs only to recognize the meaning of the word, while production demands that they should pronounce by recalling the word from their memories and recognizing its meaning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.4.2 Two to six years<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The cognitive development facilitates language development. In turn, language helps the children to express a broad range of cognitive skills. Between 2-6 years the language development is remarkable. The following section details the language development in certain aspects like pronunciation, vocabulary development, grammatical development, forming sentences and becoming an effective conversationalist<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.4.2.1 Pronunciation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Certain sounds and sound combinations such as \u2018z,w, d, s\u2019 and \u2018st, str, dr, fl\u2019 respectively are very difficult to pronounce at this age. Constant listening to such words can only help in pronouncing it rightly<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.4.2.2 Vocabulary development<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">By the age of two a vocabulary of 200 words could be observed. But by age 6 these children would know about 14,000 words. This tremendous improvement in vocabulary happens through a process called fast mapping.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Fast mapping \u2013 connecting a new word with an underlying concept after only a brief encounter is called false mapping.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Also, preschoolers learn the meaning of new words by a special rule called the principle of contrast<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>The principle of contrast \u2013 it is a principle used by young children to find the meaning of a new word by comparing it with word meanings that they already know. For example, the child saying plant-man in place of gardener.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Preschoolers also extend language meanings through metaphor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Metaphors permit children to communicate in a special, memorable way. For example, a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>child to represent his stomach-ache says \u2018fire engine in my tummy.&#8217; 3.4.2.3 Grammatical development<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Grammar is the way the words are combined to form meaningful sentences. By 2-3 years, English speaking children use simple sentences in the subject-verb-object word order. Later they add&#8217; s&#8217; to plural words, add prepositions (\u2018in,&#8221;on&#8217;etc.). By the age of three and a half, children would have mastered the rules of grammar.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">However, they apply these rules so consistently that they overextend the rules to exceptional words. This type of error is called <em>over regularization<\/em>. Eg. \u2018My toy car breaked,&#8217; \u2018I runned faster&#8217; etc.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Between 3-6 years these children master even more complex grammatical forms but do make certain errors.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.4.2.4 Forming sentences<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">By 2-3 years 3-4 word sentences are used. But these sentences are incomplete. After three years the child forms 6-8 word sentences containing all parts of speech.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>3.4.2.5 Becoming an effective conversationalist<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As and when the children acquire vocabulary and grammar rules, they also learn to use language in social contexts. The practical, social side of language that helps to converse with others effectively is called <strong>pragmatics<\/strong>. The young children during their preschool years make considerable improvement in mastering pragmatics.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.5 FACTORS INFLUENCING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The key factors involved are<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Intelligence <\/em><\/strong>&#8211; More intelligent the child, better is their language development.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong><em>Type of discipline <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Children growing up under permissive disciplinary technique talk more than children brought up by authoritarian disciplinary technique.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>\u00a0Ordinal position <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 First born talk faster as parents give more attention and have more time to talk to them<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>Family size <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 Bigger the size of family, the child, has more people to talk to and could develop language at a faster rate<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>Socioeconomic status <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 The children born in upper and middle-class families are more exposed to organized activities, and hence their language is faster than lower-class families.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>Bilingualism <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 Children exposed to two or more languages at a time could talk at a faster rate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong style=\"font-size: 1em\"><em>Sex-role typing <\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 1em\">\u2013 Boys are expected to talk less than girls. Also, boys are supposed to talk matters that boast and criticise others.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.6 ROLE OF TEACHERS IN FOSTERING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">After realizing the theoretical inputs of language acquisition of children in 0-6 years, recognizing its milestones, and understanding the factors influencing the same, a teacher\/facilitator should apprehend their role in fostering effective language learning in a young child. Researchers had found that early childhood teachers can play a crucial role in promoting young children&#8217;s emerging language skills when they<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Value their role in children\u2019s language development<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Children learn many important things from them as they look at the teacher as a role model<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Read with children as it is enjoyable, a time to feel close and a special time to share<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0Regularly engage children in language enhancing activities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Expose children learn new word, colours, names from books<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Foster children to become better talkers and listeners<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Understand that children are never too young to know about books<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Organize the class room to support language<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Plan regular time during the day to read to children<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Display lots of books to read<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Provide a quiet place for reading<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Allow children to read on their own<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Actively engage parents in the school<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Seek parents help in the classroom<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0Involve parents as guest speakers\/advisory or parent board<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">\u00a0Converse with parents to form a strong partnership<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Are themselves role models for literary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Personally, enjoy reading<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Spend more time in reading<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Have good memories of being read to as a child.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>3.7 CONCLUSION<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">To sum up, hope this module had given you an in-depth insight into the four broad components of language and the way it has been used in day-to-day communication without much effort. This to be effortless language learning being supported by behaviourism and nativism does conclude that active learning of language is both to the social support and the social context the child is provided with (Interactionism). Also, this module elaborates the process of language learning concerning the milestones proposed for children of 0-6 years. However, the most important part of the module focuses on the role of early childhood teachers in fostering the language acquisition of every child.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>you can view video on Language development \u2013 Nativist and behaviourist perspectives <\/strong><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/gDdmE7gjBM4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-120\" src=\"http:\/\/epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/download.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"36\" height=\"36\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Web links<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">raisingchildren.net.au\/articles\/language_development.html<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/child-development\/language_development\/<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">www.parents.com \u203a &#8230; \u203a 9 Ways to Help Your Child&#8217;s Language Development<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"menu_order":5,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["dr-k-arockia-maraichelvi"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[58],"license":[],"class_list":["post-61","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-dr-k-arockia-maraichelvi"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317,"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/61\/revisions\/317"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/61\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/hsp10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}