2024年3月17日发(作者：电脑磁盘清理工具)

Views on Language Acquisition: A Differentiated Analysis

Faraj M Sawani

University of Essex

PhD Student

Quotes from this document must be acknowledged

Abstract

Although there are several theories of language acquisition, this work briefly explains only

three of them. The theories discussed in this project are the behaviourist theory, the

Chomskyan theory and the interactionist theory. This study has shown that each of the

mentioned theories can be used to account for the acquisition of certain language aspects. For

example, while the behaviourist explanations may be very useful in describing the acquisition

of routine aspects of language, the Chomskyan expositions can be utilised to explain the

learning of the more complex language structures. Finally, the interactionist approach to

language acquisition seems plausible to account for understanding how children relate form to

meaning, interaction in conversations, and how to use language appropriately.

Introduction

Language is a very complicated system, yet children use their first language effectively before

they even enter school. They acquire the intricate system of language without teaching

because children do not have to be taught how to talk. The scientific study of language has

tried to account for what children do when they are acquiring or learning a language. The

study of how children acquire their first language has promoted considerable research. The

term of first language acquisition is used mainly to describe the process of acquiring a mother

tongue, but child may acquire two languages right from the beginning. Here we may still speak

of a first language acquisition except that two languages are first. In other words we can say

that a language is first if it is learned first; otherwise it is second. The distinction is clear when

the acquisition of the second starts after the acquisition of the first is complete (Klein 1986).

Second language acquisition is of similar importance to linguists and psychologists.

The research in these fields has resulted in the formulation of several different theories which

all focus on the topic of language acquisition but from rather distinct angles. To investigate this

human phenomenon, the following sources provide useful background (Lado 1964; Chomsky

1968, 1972; Long 1985; Klein 1986; Cook and Newson 1988; Lightbown and Spada 1993;

Pinker 1994; Stern 1996; Flynn et al 1998; Bratels 1999; Davies A. and Catherine E. 2004).