Theories of language acquisition
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Theories of language acquisition
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[post_date] => 2024-12-28 08:18:16
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[post_content] => Practice Passage (Question 1-5)
*This passage is the property of Khan Academy and has been reformatted into an AAMC-style interface in their entirety by MedLife Mastery. MedLife Mastery does not endorse and is not an affiliate of Khan Academy.
Babies begin babbling around the age of 6 months, and graduate to 2-word utterances sometime around 1½ years of age . These phrases are often quite basic, such as “daddy shoe,” or “kitty play,” and tend to make some amount of grammatical sense. Even mistakes made later on, such as using “runned” as the past tense for “run” show a basic understanding of grammar. Yet no one sits down to teach a child how to speak, the way they would teach them to brush their teeth or tie a shoe. Language acquisition seems to be a passive, innate process. Precisely how it happens is the subject of much debate in the linguistic community.
The Nativist approach posits the existence of a “language acquisition device” (LAD) in the brain that allows for language learning. The LAD is not necessarily a physical structure, but is used to explain the idea of a Universal Grammar programmed into our brains that allows five year olds to master the complicated mess that is language. On the other end of the spectrum is the learning theory. This is the idea that we learn language like we learn anything else – by repetition and through reinforcement. The final approach is the Interactionist theory, which says language acquisition comes from the desire to better interact with our environment, and that acquisition is a mix of social and biological factors.
[post_title] => Theories of language acquisition
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[question] => Someone who subscribes to the Interactionist theory would probably disagree with which of the following statements?
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Interactionists believe that language acquisition is driven by the desire to communicate.
They also think that infants must receive some sort of stimulus from the environment – like parents talking to their child.
Interactionists believe that a mix of social and biological factors go into language acquisition, so twins who were separated at birth should have differing language acquisition.
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[answers] => Array
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. A child who socializes more will learn language faster
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[1] => Array
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[each_answer] => B. Parents directing “babytalk” at their child can speed development
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[each_answer] => C. A child who does not want to communicate will learn more slowly than one who does
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[each_answer] => D. Identical twins who are separated at birth will still have identical language acquisition
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[1] => Array
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[quiz_unique_key] => 3873426850
[question] => Part of the reason that the language acquisition debate continues is that it is difficult to prove one theory over another. Which of the following is not an obstacle to proving a language acquisition theory?
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[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Although the theories have overlapping ideas, each is distinct enough to have certain testable aspects.
The theories are, however, intertwined enough that it is unlikely that only one is present in language acquisition.
Thanks to technology such as CT scans and MRIs, we are able to visual the parts of the brain active during language use and acquisition, so this is not an obstacle that must be overcome.
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[each_answer] => A. In reality, we probably use some of each theory in order to learn our native language
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[each_answer] => B. Language acquisition has a critical period in early life, and it is difficult to conduct experiments with such young children
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[each_answer] => C. We don’t know which parts of the brain are active during language acquisition
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[each_answer] => D. The theories are not distinct enough from each other to be able to completely rule one out
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[quiz_unique_key] => 83407773
[question] => Which of the following is not a critique of the learning theory?
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Learning theory holds that language is a skill we learn like any other – repetition and reinforcement.
This implies that we are only able to say the things that we hear as small children, so phrases like “daddy shoe” or unique sentences should not arise.
Though real dialogue is often unorganized, this is not a critique of learning theory – we would still grow up speaking like those around us.
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. Language is far more complicated than tying a shoe
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[each_answer] => B. Phrases like “daddy shoe” could not be learned passively
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[each_answer] => C. If children learned only through repetition, there would be no new sentences
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[each_answer] => D. Real dialogue is often unorganized and interrupted – not good for teaching
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[quiz_unique_key] => 2261298308
[question] => How would a nativist end this sentence: “A child learning a first language is like…
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[answer] => 1
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Nativists think that everyone has some innate language learning ability.
Japanese has a different sentence structure than English, which is different from Russian.
Nativists think of the universal grammar as a guiding principle, the way that birds have some innate sense of direction.
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[answers] => Array
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[0] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. A bird migrating to the same spot each year, using the sun and stars as a guide
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[1] => Array
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[each_answer] => B. A computer using a pre-programmed algorithm to solve a math problem
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[2] => Array
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[each_answer] => C. A mouse running a maze trying to find cheese and avoid being shocked
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[each_answer] => D. A lone wolf trying to join a new pack
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[quiz_unique_key] => 574431310
[question] => In order to test language acquisition theory, a scientist has children listen to the following phrases. According to Nativists, which sentence should bother them the least?
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[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Nativists believe there is a biological basis for language.
Though children may start off saying more basic sentences, they should still sense which are correct and which are not, according to Nativists.
Chomsky argued that even nonsense sentences can be identified as “correct” based on our innate grammar, so even a sentence full of non-words such as “the worples brimbled in the lorten” is correct to our ears based on grammar rules.
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[answers] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. Ball the he threw
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[each_answer] => B. The worples brimbled in the lorten
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[2] => Array
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[each_answer] => C. He go to the store for milk
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[3] => Array
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[each_answer] => D. Put toy basket
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[559666|1] => D
[559666|2] => C
[559666|3] => D
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