Theories of language development: Nativist, learning, interactionist | MCAT | Khan Academy

Summary

This script explores the remarkable journey of language development in humans, highlighting three key theories. The nativist perspective, championed by Noam Chomsky, suggests an innate language acquisition device (LAD) that detects universal grammar, active during a 'critical period' up to age eight or nine. The learning theory posits that language is acquired through reinforcement, like a child learning 'mama' for hugs. The interactionist approach, influenced by Vygotsky, emphasizes the role of social interaction and the child's desire to communicate. Each theory contributes uniquely to our understanding of this complex process.

Takeaways

• 👶 Language development is a remarkable human ability that begins in infancy.
• 🧠 The nativist perspective, championed by Noam Chomsky, suggests that children are born with an innate ability to learn language through a hypothetical 'language acquisition device' (LAD).
• 🌐 Chomsky proposed that all languages share a 'universal grammar', which the LAD helps children to recognize and understand.
• 📈 The 'critical period' for language acquisition is believed to be from birth to around age eight or nine, during which learning a language is most facile.
• 🚫 After the critical period, language learning becomes more challenging, as the LAD specializes in the native language and becomes less receptive to other linguistic structures.
• 👂 The learning theory posits that language is acquired solely through reinforcement and imitation, without any innate mechanisms.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 However, learning theory fails to account for children's ability to create novel sentences and use words they've never heard, indicating more complex processes at work.
• 🤝 The interactionist approach combines biological and social factors, emphasizing the role of social interaction and the child's desire to communicate in language development.
• 🌟 Lev Vygotsky is a key figure in the interactionist theory, highlighting the importance of social context in a child's linguistic growth.
• 🔍 All three theories—nativist, learning, and interactionist—contribute to our understanding of the complex process of language acquisition in children.

Q & A

What is the most amazing feat humans accomplish in terms of language?

The most amazing feat is language development, which involves babies figuring out words, breaks between words, and grammatical rules without formal training.

Who is the main proponent of the nativist perspective on language development?

Noam Chomsky is the main proponent of the nativist perspective, which suggests that children are born with an innate ability to learn language.

What is the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) mentioned by Chomsky?

The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is a theoretical construct proposed by Chomsky that suggests humans have an innate ability in their brains to learn language.

What is the role of the LAD in language learning according to Chomsky?

The LAD allows children to pick up and understand the basic elements of language, such as nouns and verbs, and their organization within a sentence in any language.

What is the 'critical period' in language acquisition?

The 'critical period' is the time from birth until about age eight or nine, during which children are most able to learn a language.

Why is it harder to learn a language after the critical period according to nativists?

Nativists like Chomsky argue that the LAD only operates during the critical period, and once it specializes to a specific language, it becomes less capable of detecting other languages' sounds and grammar.

What is the learning theory's view on how children acquire language?

Learning theorists believe that children acquire language through reinforcement, where they learn to make sounds that result in positive responses from their environment.

How does the interactionist approach differ from the learning theory?

The interactionist approach suggests that both biological and social factors must interact for children to learn language, emphasizing the desire to communicate and the role of social interaction.

Who is the main theorist associated with the interactionist approach to language development?

Lev Vygotsky is the main theorist associated with the interactionist approach, highlighting the importance of social interaction in children's language development.

How do these theories contribute to our understanding of language development?

These theories provide different perspectives on the mechanisms behind language development, offering insights into the innate abilities, learned behaviors, and social interactions that contribute to how children learn language.

What should we consider when observing a baby in terms of language development?

We should be impressed by the hard work babies are doing in developing language, as they are navigating complex sounds and structures without formal instruction.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ Language Development Theories

The paragraph introduces the remarkable ability of humans to develop language skills. It highlights the complexity of language learning from infancy and mentions three main theories that explain this development. The nativist perspective, associated with Noam Chomsky, suggests that children are born with an innate ability to learn language, facilitated by a hypothetical 'language acquisition device' (LAD) in the brain. This device is believed to help children recognize universal grammatical elements across languages. The existence of a 'critical period' for language learning, typically up to age eight or nine, is also discussed, during which the LAD is most effective. The paragraph sets the stage for exploring different theories on how children master language.

Keywords

💡Language Development

Language development refers to the process by which humans acquire the ability to use language effectively. In the video, it is highlighted as an amazing feat that occurs naturally during early childhood. The script emphasizes the complexity of this process, as babies learn to distinguish words, grammatical rules, and sentence structures without formal training, which is central to the video's theme of understanding how language is learned.

💡Nativist Perspective

The nativist perspective, also known as innatism, is a theory that suggests humans are born with an innate ability to learn language. The video mentions Noam Chomsky as a key proponent, who proposed the existence of a 'language acquisition device' (LAD) in the brain. This perspective is crucial to the video's exploration of language development, as it contrasts with other theories that emphasize learning through experience.

💡Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

The LAD is a hypothetical construct proposed by Chomsky, suggesting that humans have an innate mental organ dedicated to language learning. The video explains that this device allows children to recognize universal grammar across all languages, which is a key concept in the nativist perspective. The LAD is central to understanding the video's discussion of how language is acquired naturally.

💡Universal Grammar

Universal grammar is the idea that all human languages share a common underlying structure. The video uses this concept to explain how the LAD enables children to understand the basic elements of language, such as nouns and verbs, regardless of the specific language they are exposed to. This concept is integral to the nativist theory and is used to illustrate the innate capabilities of language learners.

💡Critical Period

The critical period is a concept in language acquisition that suggests there is an optimal time frame during which language learning is most effective. The video mentions this period as being from birth to around age eight or nine. This concept is important to the video's discussion of the timing and ease of language learning, as it contrasts with the idea that language can be learned at any age.

💡Learning Theory

Learning theory, as discussed in the video, is the perspective that children acquire language through reinforcement and imitation. This theory is contrasted with the nativist perspective, as it emphasizes the role of environmental factors and social interaction in language development. The video uses the example of a child learning to say 'mama' through positive reinforcement, illustrating how learning theory views language acquisition.

💡Reinforcement

Reinforcement is a key concept in learning theory, referring to the process by which behaviors are strengthened through rewards or positive feedback. In the context of the video, reinforcement is used to explain how children learn language by associating certain sounds with positive responses from caregivers, such as smiles and hugs, which encourages them to repeat those sounds.

💡Interactionist Approach

The interactionist approach, also known as the social interactionist approach, is a theory that combines biological and social factors to explain language development. The video mentions Vygotsky as a leading proponent of this view, emphasizing the importance of social interaction in children's language learning. This approach is significant to the video's message, as it suggests that language is not solely an innate ability but also a social skill.

💡Social Interaction

Social interaction is the process of communication and engagement with others, which is highlighted in the interactionist approach as a crucial factor in language development. The video explains that children's desire to communicate with adults and others in their environment motivates them to learn language. This concept is central to the video's exploration of how social factors contribute to language learning.

💡Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist and a key figure in the development of the social-cultural theory of cognitive development. In the video, Vygotsky is mentioned as a main theorist associated with the interactionist approach, emphasizing the role of social interaction in children's language development. His work is important to the video's discussion of the social aspects of language learning.

Highlights

Language development is one of the most amazing feats humans accomplish.

Babies are able to figure out words, breaks between words, and grammatical rules without formal training.

The nativist or innatist perspective suggests children are born with the ability to learn language.

Noam Chomsky is associated with the theory of a language acquisition device (LAD) in the brain.

LAD allows children to learn language by detecting universal grammar across all languages.

The critical period for language learning is from birth until about age eight or nine.

After the critical period, it becomes harder to learn a language due to the specialization of the LAD.

Learning theorists believe children acquire language through reinforcement and rewards.

Learning theory struggles to explain how children produce novel words and sentences.

The interactionist approach combines biological and social factors for language learning.

Vygotsky emphasizes the importance of social interaction in children's language development.

All three theories contribute to our understanding of children's language development.

Babies are constantly working hard to develop language skills.

The 'critical period' is a key concept in understanding language acquisition.

The interaction between biology and social environment is crucial for language learning.

Chomsky's LAD theory highlights the innate aspects of language learning.

Learning theory attributes language acquisition to environmental reinforcement.

Vygotsky's social interactionist approach underscores the role of communication in language development.

Transcripts

So this might surprise you, but one of the most amazing feats

you'll ever accomplish as a human being already happened,

and that is language development.

I mean, think about it.

When you're a baby, all these sounds are coming at you,

and somehow, you're able to figure out

which sounds are words, where there are breaks

between the words, general grammatical rules,

and you're able to apply them without

any real formal training.

This is amazing.

So naturally, a lot of research has

been done into how this ability develops.

And I'm going to tell you about the three main theories that

look at language development.

So first, we start out with the nativist,

or innatist perspective.

And what this perspective says is

that children are born with the ability to learn language.

And the main guy associated with this theory is Noam Chomsky.

And he thought the humans had something called a language

acquisition device, or LAD, in their brains

that allowed them to learn language.

And this isn't really supposed to be

in a specific part of the brain.

It's just an idea that this ability exists.

And this works because he thought

that all languages shared a universal grammar,

or the same basic elements, so all languages would

have nouns, verbs, things like that.

So the language acquisition device

enables the child to pick up on and understand

those types of words and their organization

within a sentence for any language.

This goes along with the idea that there

is a "critical period" or a "sensitive period."

The "critical period" is usually thought

to be from birth until about age eight or nine,

and it's the period of time in which

a child is most able to learn a language.

So if you try to learn a language after that age,

it's a lot harder.

It's not impossible.

It's just a lot harder.

And nativists like Chomsky would say

that that's because the LAD only operates

during that critical period.

Once you start using it, then it specializes to your language,

and it becomes unable to detect other sounds and grammar

from other languages.

The second theory I want to tell you about

is the learning theory.

Learning theorists think that children

aren't born with anything.

They only acquire language through reinforcement.

So a learning theorist would say that a child learns to say

"mama" because every time it makes it sound that approaches

that-- so "ma-something"-- then Mom starts smiling,

hugging the child, so over time, the child learns, oh,

the more I make this sound, the more I get hugs and smiles.

And so then, eventually, it learns to say "ma,"

and then say it again, and learns to say "mama."

So this makes sense.

But a strict learning theory doesn't

explain how children are able to produce words they've never

heard before or produce unique sentences.

So we have another theory called the interactionist approach.

Sometimes this is called the social interactionist approach,

because these theorists believe that biological and social

factors have to interact in order for children

to learn language.

So they would say that children strongly

desire to communicate with others,

such as the adults in their lives,

and that desire motivates them to learn

to communicate via language.

And the main theorist associated with this school of thought

is Vygotsky.

He was a big proponent of the importance

of social interaction in the development of children.

All three of these theories have made big contributions

to our understanding of how children develop language.

So the next time you look at a baby, be impressed.

They're actually working really hard.