The Interactionist Position

A little help from my friends

Interactionism

 Focuses on the role of the linguistic

environment in interaction with the
child’s innate capacities is
determining language development
 Language develops as a result of the
complex interplay between the
uniquely human characteristics of the
child and the environment in which
the child develops
 Attributes considerably more
importance to the environment than
the innatists do
Child directed speech

 The language which is not addressed

to children but adjusted in ways that
makes it easier for them to
understand
Interactionist also see:
 Language acquisition is similar to and
influenced by the acquisition of other
kinds of skills and knowledge rather
than something which is largely
independent of the child’s experience
and cognitive development. Langauge
is not based on a separate module of
the mind but one of a number of
symbol systems which are developed
in childhood (Piaget)
Sociocultural Theory of Human
Mental Processing
 Lev Vygotsky
 Langauge develops entirely from
social interaction
Zone of Proximal Development
 Refers to what the child could do in
interaction with another, but not
alone
SUMMARY
Behaviorism

Imitation and practice can explain some

aspect of language acquisition
Innatism
The acquisition of complex langauge
seems to depend on the children’s
possession of some knowledge which
permits them to go well and beyond
imitation and practice and even
simple generalizations
Interactionist
 This shows that children who are
exposed to language in the absence
of one-to-one interaction do not
develop language normally