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Five Theories of Language Development

The document outlines five main theories of language development: Daniel Everett's theory emphasizes the social necessity of language; Noam Chomsky's nativist theory posits that language is innate and governed by universal grammar; and B.F. Skinner's behaviorist theory suggests language is learned through imitation and reinforcement. Additionally, Lev Vygotsky's social interactionist theory highlights the role of social interactions in language acquisition, while Jean Piaget's constructivist theory links language development to cognitive growth. The document also mentions Arnold Gesell's Maturation Theory, which focuses on the biological basis of language development and milestones from ages 0 to 5.

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33 views5 pages

Five Theories of Language Development

The document outlines five main theories of language development: Daniel Everett's theory emphasizes the social necessity of language; Noam Chomsky's nativist theory posits that language is innate and governed by universal grammar; and B.F. Skinner's behaviorist theory suggests language is learned through imitation and reinforcement. Additionally, Lev Vygotsky's social interactionist theory highlights the role of social interactions in language acquisition, while Jean Piaget's constructivist theory links language development to cognitive growth. The document also mentions Arnold Gesell's Maturation Theory, which focuses on the biological basis of language development and milestones from ages 0 to 5.

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Five Theories of Language Development

There’s no right place to start from when discussing the theories of language
development. Many schools of thought have developed and influenced the
history of language acquisition as an academic discipline.

Let’s get into five main theories and approaches that give us insights into
the language phenomenon.
1. Daniel Everett’s Theory: Language Scratches the Communicative
Itch
Picking up and using a language is something, inventing it from scratch is a
whole another thing. Here come the homo Erectus!
The language phenomenon may not have started with us, homo sapiens.
According to linguist Daniel Everett, nearly two million years have passed
since “homo Erectus” first started uttering meaningful sounds.

Homo erectus is considered the first human species, which also includes
homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

These early hominins had big brains, walked upright, and were the first
gatherer-hunters. They traveled in groups across the islands, and the ocean
couldn’t get in their way.

The Erectus needed language because they had to communicate more


complex ideas than just pointing to a mammoth to alert the hunting party.

“You need communication with symbols, not just grunts,” says


Everett. “They accomplished too much for this to simply be the sort of
communication that we see in other species without symbols.”

Settlement evidence found on the island of Flores, in Indonesia, suggests


that the Erectus came together in groups — on rafts.

They crossed strong currents surrounding the island. For that, they had
to paddle together and know when to stop. Homo erectus needed “words”
to give commands and instructions.

Homo erectus had a vocal apparatus similar to gorillas, so they couldn’t


make all the sounds we can make. Their linguistic capabilities were just
enough to make them one of the most successful species to ever walked the
Earth.

They roamed the face of the planet for over 2 million years. For as many
as 350,000 years, we haven’t lived but about a sixth of the time.
2. Chomsky’s Nativist Linguistic Theory: Universal Grammar
Evertt’s work suggests that a language is a social tool that humans
developed to communicate and share knowledge to solve problems.
Linguist Noam Chomsky, however, thinks language is innate.
What is grammar?
It is “The whole system and structure of a language or of languages in
general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including
inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics.”
For Chomsky, who formulated the concept of universal grammar, language
has a genetic component to it.
The nativist linguistic theory postulates that every human being is born
with innate language ability. Pioneered by Chomsky, this theory suggests
that a human baby’s brain comes to the world pre-equipped with language-
learning systems.

Chomsky thinks there could be a single master language that served as the
origin of all other languages.

A child comes to the world with the prerequisites for language learning.
Namely, a built-in tool Chomsky calls the Language Acquisition
Device (LAD).

This brain device allows the child to acquire linguistic abilities rapidly. Worth
noting, Chomsky’s LAD is a hypothetical concept. There’s no brain region
recognized as such by neuroscientists.

3. B.F. Skinner Behaviorist Theory

The innatist, or nativist theory, attributes the emergence of language as a


neural mutation (transformation) that occurred way back in a single
individual. Everett thinks it was born from a more social necessity, slowly
shaped by many individuals.
This means there’s no universal grammar shared between all languages and
from which they take their linguistic cues (signals). The notion of universal
grammar and the innateness of the language faculty is also opposed to
the behaviorist concept of language.
It’s American behaviorist and psychologist B.F. Skinner who developed the
behaviorist theory of language acquisition.
This theory suggests that learning a language is much like learning any new
skill through observation, imitation, repetition, errors, rewards, and
punishments. Or what Skinner calls Operant Conditioning.

Behavior theorists posit that language development is a learned behavior.


When babies first speak, they are trying to imitate the behavior of their
parents and adults around them.
A language would develop as responses to stimuli from the environment.
Hugging (Embracing) the baby for his or her first word is a reward that
pushes them further on the learning curve.

Kids in school could get either rewarded or punished for their language
learning acquisition process.

However, Chomsky isn’t a fan of the behaviorist theory because he claims it


doesn’t address syntactic (is relating to the rules of language) acquisition.

4. Vygotsky’s Social Interactionist Theory

The social interactionist theory is based on the work of Soviet


psychologist Lev Vygotsky.

The basic notion of this theory is that language has a social origin. In that
regard, it has some similarities with Everett’s model.

This concept suggests that the child, from birth, is continually engaging
in social interactions, which allows him to develop higher cognitive
functions, namely language, and thought.

According to Vygotsky’s social development model, socio-cultural


interactions come first, then cognition and language development.

5. Piaget’s Constructivist Theory

For Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, language is not only due to genetic
predisposition or imitation
Piaget’s constructivist theory argues that language is constructed by
following cognitive development. In other words, people develop their
language skills and construct overall knowledge based on their own
experience.
Beyond just language development, Piaget’s theory focuses on
understanding the nature of intelligence itself. He defines four stages that
cognitive development goes through:
 Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
 Preoperational stage: 2 to 7 years
 Concrete operational stage: 7 to 11 years
 Formal operational stage: 12 and up

We have barely scratched the surface here. There are several other theories,
each with its unique approach. Like languages themselves, thoughts on them
may overlap and cross-fertilize.
What is the Maturation Theory of Language Development?

An American pediatrician, Dr. Arnold Gesell, introduced the Maturation


Theory of Child Development in 1925. His theory focuses on how genetics
influences development and other behavior.
Gesell believed that human skills — adaptive, motor, and language —
develop and unfold naturally based on our biological makeup.
Be that as it may, he didn’t disregard environmental factors’ influences on a
child’s development. However, the clinical psychologist was convinced that
they were less influential than genetics.
So, Gesell focused his investigation on children’s physiological development
— which he called maturation.
According to the pediatrician, the rate at which children develop depends
primarily on their nervous system’s growth. And that includes
the brain, spinal cord, and a complicated web of nerve fibers.

Gesell’s language acquisition theories about maturation propose that


language development milestones occur between ages 40 weeks and five
years.

 0-50 weeks: A child produces meaningful sounds.


 1 – 2 old: The child uses longer phrases and straightforward sentences.
 2 – 3 old: The child begins to communicate in complete sentences.
 3 – 4 old: The child uses language as a tool to expand their knowledge of
the world.
 4 – 5 old: The child has a basic mastery of the language.

Gesell also pointed out that children under the age of 10 are emotionally
predisposed to learn a second or third language. And that’s because they still
perceive language as fun at that stage of development.

How are the Theories of Language Development Similar and


Different?

The psychological theories of language development have one thing in


common. And that’s the focus on how genetics and the environment may
have influenced language development. Indeed, researchers believe that
language acquisition is partly inborn and partially learned through
interaction. However, each language development theory places a varying
degree of importance on nature and nurture.

For example, BF Skinner’s behaviorist theory focuses on how the


environment influences language acquisition. Similarly, Vygotsky’s social
interactionist theory highlights the impact of nurture on language
development.

Daniel Everett’s theory, on the other hand, explores the genetic disposition
of language development.

With that said, most theories of language development believe that language
acquisition is a blend of nature and nurture.

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