Distinguish between the three theories of language acquisition, including each theory's stance on the nature versus nurture debate, and explain how this relates to the development of semantics and syntax.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A good answer will include the following components:
1. The behaviorist view: This comes from learning theories-language is learned through imitation, association, and punishment and reinforcement. Children imitate the speech patterns of the people around them and receive reinforcement based on the behavior of the adults. This would focus on the nurture side of the debate-consequences for behaviors will shape how a child develops language. A child will be corrected if a statement does not use the correct syntax, and reinforced if the correct syntax is used. This is also the case for semantics: when a word, phrase, or sentence does not make sense in the context of the situation, the child will be corrected, but they will be reinforced when they use words, phrases, and sentences correctly.
2. The nativist view: This follows the nature side of the debate, by proposing that the capacity for language is innate. Humans have a language acquisition device (LAD) that contains a universal set of rules and processes that allow children to learn any language. Humans are born with programming for grammatical rules, which is applied to specific languages to which they are exposed. This view would suggest that humans are born with programming for the rules of syntax and semantics, but that they only maintain those relevant to the languages to which they are exposed. There is a biological window of opportunity for this language acquisition device.
3. The social interactionist view: This incorporates aspects of nature and nurture in explaining the process of language acquisition. The nature side is that children have an innate drive to communicate with others. The nurture side is how the child's early interactions play a role in the development of higher-order thinking skills. Adults use their speech patterns to engage infants. This stimulates their language learning and motivates them to learn language because they want to connect with the people around them. The development of higher-order thinking skills comes from these interactions, which means that the use of syntax and the use of semantics will come from both nature and nurture.
4. Syntax refers to the rules for how words and phrases should be arranged in a sentence. Syntax varies by language, so a sentence may be correct in one language but not in another. Semantics refers to the meanings of words, phrases, sentences. A grammatically correct sentence may have a different meaning in different cultures.