Summary
The behaviourist perspective The innatist perspective Interactionist/
developmental perspectives
Time Frame
Advocates
What is language?
Why is it the way it is?
Why just humans?
How do children get language?
How do you find out about human language?
Early 1900& 1940s &1950s
B.F. Skinner
“Habit”
It is the surface forms that are imitated and practiced.
We can say what we hear.
They learn by strengthening the correct response through positive reinforcement.
Repeat language forms produced by people in the environment (making a connection between stimuli& responses)
1960s& 1970s
Noam Chomsky
“Knowledge”
It is an arbitrary system consistent with the structure of human brain.
We have language genes.
They are born with a genetic predisposition to acquire language.
Use native speaker intuitions to reveal allowable structures, usually out of context
1980s,1990s & early 2000
Piaget &Vygotsky
“Use”
It’s designed for efficient communi-cation & processing.
We’re generally smart.
They learn language through general learning strategies.
Observe how language is actually used, in discourse context.