i love english language

4.1 child language acquisition theory chomsky, crystal,

Aitchison & piaget
Chomsky
Noam Chomsky believes that children are born with an inherited ability to learn any human language.
He claims that certain linguistic structures which children use so accurately must be already imprinted
on the childs mind. Chomsky believes that every child has a language acquisition device or LAD which
encodes the major principles of a language and its grammatical structures into the childs brain.
Children have then only to learn new vocabulary and apply the syntactic structures from the LAD to
form sentences. Chomsky points out that a child could not possibly learn a language through imitation
alone because the language spoken around them is highly irregular adults speech is often broken up
and even sometimes ungrammatical. Chomskys theory applies to all languages as they all contain nouns,
verbs, consonants and vowels and children appear to be hard-wired to acquire the grammar. Every
language is extremely complex, often with subtle distinctions which even native speakers are unaware of.
However, all children, regardless of their intellectual ability, become fluent in their native language
within five or six years.
Evidence to support Chomskys theory
Children learning to speak never make grammatical errors such as getting their subjects, verbs
and objects in the wrong order.
If an adult deliberately said a grammatically incorrect sentence, the child would notice.
Children often say things that are ungrammatical such as mama ball, which they cannot have
learnt passively.
Mistakes such as I drawed instead of I drew show they are not learning through imitation
alone.
Chomsky used the sentence colourless green ideas sleep furiously, which is grammatical
although it doesnt make sense, to prove his theory: he said it shows that sentences can be
grammatical without having any meaning, that we can tell the difference between a grammatical
and an ungrammatical sentence without ever having heard the sentence before, and that we can
produce and understand brand new sentences that no one has ever said before.
Evidence against Chomskys theory
Critics of Chomskys theory say that although it is clear that children dont learn language
through imitation alone, this does not prove that they must have an LAD language learning
could merely be through general learning and understanding abilities and interactions with
other people.
Dialogue
Parent and Child (3 years old)
Parent: What did you do today?
Child: Me drawed a cat. (applies ed suffix rule but gets wrong)
Parent: You drew a cat?
Child: Yeah. (understands correction)
Parent: Who did you play with at breaktime?
Child: Me played with Sarah and Helen. (wrong pronoun not learnt passively)
Parent: That sound fun. Now what do you want for tea?
Child: Dunno. What you having?
Parent: Daddy and I are having fish.
Child: You having fishes? (incorrect use of plural noun but shows child applying rules)
Parent: Yes. Ill do you some fish fingers and if youre a good girl and eat them all you can have a
sweetie. (applying plural noun rule)
Child: Me want two sweeties.
Parent: Alright then. Now go and watch Postman Pat while I start the tea.
Child: When Daddy coming home? (gets SVO order correct all the time)
Parent: Hell be here soon.
David Crystal

David Crystals Theory On Child Language Acquisition
Professor Crystal is best known for his two encyclopaedias The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of
Language and The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language. So what does this have
to do with child language acquisition?
David Crystal has the theory that children learn language in five stages, which arent clearly
defined and some tie in with each other.
These stages are:
Stage One:
This is where children say things for three purposes:
1. To get something they want
2. To get someones attention
3. To draw attention to something
Then they begin to make basic statements such as daddy car
During this stage children begin naming things with single words and then move on to relating
objects with other things, places and people, for example, there mummy. They also relate
objects with events, for example, bird gone.
At this early stage they dont have much vocabulary so they use intonation to ask a question.
Children use words like: there, want and allgone to express a full sentence. This could be said
that part of this stage is holophrastic.
Stage Two:
This is when children usually ask questions, where questions come first. Their questions often
begin with interrogative pronouns (what, where) followed by a noun or verb such as where
gone?
Children become concerned with naming and classifying things by frequently asking Wassat?
They may also begin to talk about the characteristics of things for example: big/small. Children
are taught to learn things in opposite pairs such as up/down and hot/cold.
Stage Three:
By now children would be asking lots of different questions but often signalling that they are
questions with intonation alone, for example: Sally play in garden mummy? This is made into
a question by varying the tone of voice.
Children soon begin to express more complex wants by using more grammatically correct
language, for example: I want mummy to take it work meaning I want mummy to take it to
work
Verbs such as listen and know are also used. Children refer to events in the past and less
often in the future. They usually talk about continuing action for examples: she still in bed and
ask about the state of actions (whether something is finished or not)
The basic sentence structure has expanded such as: [subject]+[verb]+[object]+[adverb or any
other element used] Sentences like: You dry hands and A man dig down there begin to
appear and auxiliary verbs are used in sentences such as I am going and phrases like on the
table [preposition]+[article]+[noun]
Stage Four:
This is when children use increasingly complex sentence structures and begin to:
Explain things
Ask for explanations using the word: why?
Making a wide range of requests: shall I do it?
Now they are able to use complex sentence structures they have flexible language tools for
expressing a wide range of meanings. Probably the most remarkable development is their
comprehension of language and use of abstract verbs for example know to express mental
operations. They begin to communicate meaning indirectly by replacing imperatives such as
give me with questions; can I have?
As well as saying what they mean they now have pragmatic understanding and suit their
utterances to context or situation. Children also use negation (denial/contradiction) for
example: he doesnt want one! They dont rely on intonation and signals anymore as they
explain more fully.
They are now able to use auxiliary verbs and may duplicate modal verbs please, can I, may I
This could be showing that may is required for courtesy whilst can indicates being able to do
something.
And Finally
Stage Five:
By this stage children regularly use language to do all the things that they need it for. They give
information, asking and answering questions, requesting directly and indirectly, suggesting,
offering, stating and expressing.
Children are now able to talk about things hypothetically and conditionally for example If I
were you, I would
They are now able to explain conditions required for something to happen; Youve got turn the
tap on first in order to wash your hands
As well as making general references to past and future, children now talk about particular
times such as: after tea and before bedtime
By this stage children are very comfortable with all questions beginning with words like:
What? and When? where the subject and verb are reversed such as what does that mean?
Scripts
Stage 1:
Child: Allgone!
Mother: Yes, the milk is all gone.
Child: Mummy, here.
Mother: Mummys here.
Child: Want more!
Mother: Thats enough milk now.
Child: No, more.
Mother: Look at dolly, shes sleeping.
Child: Dolly, there?
Mother: Yes, dolly is in the bed.
Child: Dolly bye-bye.
Stage 2:
Child: Wheres Daddy?
Mother: Outside, look?
Child: Outside hot.
Mother: Yes its sunny.
Child: Wassat?
Mother: Its a book.
Child: Big book.
Mother: Good girl.
Stage 3:
Child: Daddy is sleeping?
Mother: Uhuh Daddys sleeping on the couch isnt he?
Child: Him wake up!
Mother: No because he is sleeping. That wouldnt be very nice would it?
Child: I want Daddy.
Stage 4:
Mother: What would you like for lunch? Sandwiches? Pasta?
Child: Please, may, can I have ham?
Mother: On sandwiches?
Child: *nods*
Mother: Whats the magic word?
Child: Please!
Mother: Do you want a cup of orange juice?
Child: *shakes head* Not that one. Can I have apple juice?
Stage 5:
Mother: Did you have a good day at school today?
Child: Yeah, I played aeroplanes with Jake. I want to be an aeroplane
driver when Im older.
Mother: A pilot?
Child: Yeah and fly to the moon.
Mother: No thats an astronaut. Do you want to be a pilot or and
astronaut?
Child: I would like to be an astra-, astra-
Mother: -naut.


Scripts
Stage 1:
Child: Allgone! Holophrase to express a full sentence. They are operators
when manipulating language this way.
Mother: Yes, the milk is all gone.
Child: Mummy, here. Only a statement as they dont have much vocab or
language forms that they can control.
Mother: Mummys here.
Child: Want more!
Mother: Thats enough milk now.
Child: No, more. Direct imperative.
Mother: Look at dolly, shes sleeping.
Child: Dolly, there? Intonation to ask question.
Mother: Yes, dolly is in the bed.
Child: Dolly bye-bye.
Stage 2:
Contraction = passively
Child: Wheres Daddy? Begin to ask questions usually beginning with
where interrogative pronoun.
Mother: Outside, look?
Child: Outside hot. Able to describe characteristics.
Mother: Yes its sunny.
Child: Wassat? Holophrase.
Mother: Its a book.
Child: Big book. Able to describe concrete nouns with descriptive
adjectives.
Mother: Good girl.
Stage 3:
Child: Daddy is sleeping? Intonation = passively. sleeping-able to use
and understand continuous action.
Mother: Uhuh Daddys sleeping on the couch isnt he? Parentese.
Child: Him wake up! More complex command but words mixed up.
Mother: No because he is sleeping. That wouldnt be very nice would it?
Child: I want Daddy. Complex want structured correctly = Subject + Verb
+ Object.
Stage 4:
Mother uses more complex sentences as child can understand them.
Mother: What would you like for lunch? Sandwiches? Pasta? Prompting.
Child: Please, may, can I have ham? Duplicate modal verbs. Indirect as
replaces imperative with question as learning manners/rules of general
conversation.
Mother: On sandwiches?
Child: *nods*
Mother: Whats the magic word? Pragmatic.
Child: Please!
Mother: Do you want a cup of orange juice?
Child: *shakes head* Not that one. Can I have apple juice?
Able to use gestures/signals. Negation.
Stage 5:
Mother: Did you have a good day at school today? Able to give information
about his/her day. Knows time phrase for future.
Child: Yeah, I played aeroplanes with Jake. I want to be an aeroplane
driver when Im older.
Mother: A pilot?
Child: Yeah and fly to the moon. Expressing exactly and has knowledge
i.e. actually knows about the moon.
Mother: No thats an astronaut. Do you want to be a pilot or and
astronaut?
Child: I would like to be an astra-, astra- Able to use conditional tense.
Trying to pronounce as it is a difficult word.
Mother: -naut.



Development of Grammar
The learning of grammar is an unnoticeable process and it happens very
quickly. Over three or four years, children master the grammar of the
language. When they attend their first school, they give the impression of
having assimilated at least 3/4 of all grammar there is to learn.
Stages of Grammatical Growth:
The earliest stage is hardly like grammar at all, as it consists of
utterances of only one word long, for example dada or hi.
Approximately 60% of these words have a naming function and 20%
express and action. Most children of around 12-18 months go
through this stage, known as the holophrastic stage as they put the
equivalent of a whole sentence into a single word.
This next stage is more like real grammar from 18 months to 2 years.
It is known as the two-word stage as the children put 2 words
together to make one sentence structure. For example, cat jump
which is subject + verb, or shut door which is verb + object. By
the end of this stage we are left with the impression that children
have learned several basic lessons about English word order.
This next stage is filling simple sentence patterns by adding extra
elements of clause structure and making the elements more
complex. 3 elements for example Daddy got car and then 4
elements you go bed now, show this progress. Or the children start
to ask questions like where Daddy put car?. This takes up much of
the third year and is known as the telegraphic stage as simple words
like determiners e.g. the, are left out but the sentence is still
understood.
At 3 years, sentences become much longer as the children string
clauses together to express more complex thoughts and to tell
simple stories. Children at this stage commonly use and or other
linking words such as because, so, then etc.
At 4 years, the children are sorting out their grammar. For example
most children at the age of 3 might say him gived the cheese to
the mouses. However at 4 years they would say he gave the
cheese to the mice. This explains that they have learnt the forms of
the irregular noun mice and the verb gave, and the pronoun he.
After 4 years, there are still features of grammar to be used such as
sentence-connecting features. This process will continue until early
teens when the learning of grammar becomes more
indistinguishable.
Active with Passive
Crystal carried out an experiment testing whether children at certain ages
used active or passive sentences. His study shows that at around 3 years
old, none of the children produced a passive sentence. However as he
tested older children they were beginning to use more passive sentences.
At 7 years, the ability to use passives dramatically increased.
Foundation Year
Crystal believes that language acquisition is not just about producing
sounds, but also about being able to perceive sounds and understand the
meaning of utterances that people make.
He says that babies respond to different types of sounds by being able
to distinguish between different voices. Before the babies are 1 day
old they can tell which is their mothers voice to someone elses
voice. As well as contrasts in intonation and rhythm.
The babies also show signs of comprehension between 2 and 4
months. They do this by responding to different adult tones of voice
such as angry or soothing.
Between 6 and 9 months, the child learns to recognise different
utterances in situations for example clap hands or say bye-bye.
Towards the end of the first years, the children show a sign of verbal
learning whether it is names of people or objects. Therefore knowing
the meaning of at least 20 words by the end of the first year before
even uttering a word.
Overall Crystals theory was that children learn in amorphous stages by
trial and error to successfully learn the language. They learn in stages
of grammar, different types of questioning e.g. intonation and
recognising the rhythms of voices.

Jean Aitchison
Jean Aitchison is a Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication in the Faculty of
English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford.

Idea that language has a biologically organized schedule.
Children everywhere follow a similar pattern. In their first few weeks, babies mostly cry. As
Ronald Knox once said: A loud noise at one end, and no sense of responsibility at the other.
Crying exercises the lungs and vocal cords. But crying may once have had a further evolutionary
purpose. Yelling babies may have reminded parents that their offspring exist: deaf ringdoves
forget about their existing brood, and go off and start another.
In 1987, she identified three stages that occur during a childs acquisition of vocabulary:
labeling, packaging and network building.
1. Labeling The first stage and involves making the link between the sounds of particular
words and the objects to which they refer e.g. understanding that mummy refers to the childs
mother. In other words, associating a name with something.
2. Packaging This entails understanding a words range of meaning. This is when Over
extension and Under extension become a hurdle in the development of the language.
3. Network Building This involves grasping the connections between words; understanding
that some words are opposite in meaning.Aitchison argued that there are no EXACT dates to
which a child reaches a certain stage of learning language some children learn faster than
others. She believed that the speed of learning is influenced by both innate abilities and
environment. Language is partly learned by imitation, so parents and brothers/sisters play a role
in the acceleration of learning the language. Baby talk whilst learning to speak could hinder the
child in learning to speak later on. Speech timetable created from birth to ten years old.
Dialogues:1.) According to Aitchesons Timetable of Speech, children grasp the use of
single words at month 12.
M: Mmm! isnt that nice?
C: More.
M: Okay! Here comes the aero plane!
C: Yeh. 2.)
By the age of 2, the understanding of word endings begins to appear. However, its a bit
complicated at times for the child to always get it right, as some past tense verbs require
no ending and it is placed by the child anyway. This is an example of them learning
actively.
D: Are you going to tell Mummy what you did today?
C: I roded on a horsie!!
3.) During the age of 2 is when Aitchison believes negatives are formed and the ability to
ask questions is developed:
M: Catch! *throws ball*
C: *misses* Why didnt I caught it?
M: Its alright, smile dont sulk!
C: I not crying.
4.) At 5 years the child is able to speak using complex constructions and rarely faults:
C: Can I go to Joes for tea? We are going to play football in the park like last week.
M: If you stay clean
C: Whatever!
This is the process of language acquisition. Naturally, children will vary individually when
they reach each stage but there is little variation in the sentence of language learning. By
the end, a childs language is in place and (s)he has a basic lexicon of several thousand
words. From now on, what is learned is retained and increasingly dependant upon
experiences and environment on opportunities to use language and hear it used, for a
wide range of purposes and audiences in a wide range of contexts.
Humans mop up words like sponges.
Jean Aitchison, British linguist, The Language Web, 1997
Piaget
Sensori-motor Stage (0 2 years)
Baby can differenciate from self and objects
Parent: Wheres the ball?
Child: *points to ball* Ball!
P: Yess! And now wheres Tommy?
C: *points to self*
P: Yesss!
Pre-operational Stage (2 7 years)
Can classify objects as a single feature
P: Tommy, can you make a pile of all the yellow bricks?
C: Yes mummy look!
P: Well done!
Still thinks egocentrically
C1: Dolly is sad
C2: No! Dolly is happy!
C1: No!
C2: Yes!
C1: No!
Concrete operational Stage (7 11 years)
Can think logically about objects and events and achieve conservation of number
C: Tomorrow I start ballet, and then I will go every week
Teacher: Oooh! Thats lovely! How old are youy now?
C: 7!
T: Now please can you put these in order for me?
C: Yep! *gets it right*
Formal operational Stage (11 years +)
Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems
C: When I grow up I want to be a doctor
P: And how will you achieve that?
C: Im going to work really, really hard at school and then get lots and lots of money and then
get married, and have children, and live happily ever after!

32 Responses
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1. Susana Leija said, on June 6, 2010 at 2:01 am
I would like to know who first came up with the five phases of language acquisition. I
know that many linguiists/researchers have worked to update these phases but I would
like to know who was the first person to come up with the idea? Thanks
Reply
2. kembo-sure said, on January 21, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Dont we have something more recent than Behaviorist and mentalist aqnd Piagets
cognitivist approaches?
Reply
o aggslanguage said, on January 25, 2011 at 7:05 pm
not as far as i am aware though there is sure to be papers being published on this
kind of thing all the time though im not sure re how to access them
that said i dont think most exam boards want any more than this
Reply
3. maria rosrio lozano said, on January 28, 2011 at 3:33 pm
thank for the info
Reply
4. jihad said, on February 10, 2011 at 8:33 pm
thanks but u dont mentioned the theories of the FLA
Reply
5. Samantha Mcneill said, on February 20, 2011 at 4:39 pm
this is proving useful for my essay, thank you!
Reply
o move5000 said, on December 18, 2011 at 4:57 pm
how did u cite the example of Piaget?
thanks
Reply
6. Madeleine said, on March 7, 2011 at 11:56 am
Thank you for this its very helpful when Im revising.
Reply
7. mobeen khan said, on March 11, 2011 at 3:57 pm
Thanks for really useful aritcle it has helped me alot in my thesis but i could able to
understand the term hard-wired please kindly explain it to me
Reply
o aggslanguage said, on March 11, 2011 at 4:22 pm
hard wired meaning that we / he brain is preprogrammed to react / respond a
certain way, to deal with language a certain way, that when we are born we
already have some content in the brain, were not a tabla rasa or blank slate,
we dont just pick up words and then pick up grammar, but that, at a deep level,
we already know grammar, each of us, everyone before they speak any
language, already knows how language works, that it is a rule bound system of a
certain kind
Reply
8. mobeen khan said, on March 11, 2011 at 3:58 pm
i will be very thankful to u
Reply
9. Megan said, on May 24, 2011 at 7:20 pm
could you write a breif summary of skinners behaviourist theory and Piaget and
Vygotskys cognative theorys??? I would be so thankful as I have my exam soon and you
explain it so well
Reply
10. Gemma Marie Millere said, on June 20, 2011 at 5:13 pm
you should consider the months that the children would be using the different stages
Reply
11. ciara knorm said, on June 23, 2011 at 5:33 pm
what are the limitations of Aitchisons theory?
Reply
12. MFAGA CYPRIAN said, on July 29, 2011 at 10:34 am
THANK U FOR THE INFORMATION
Reply
13. Mfaga Cyprian said, on July 29, 2011 at 10:42 am
which is the best theory of child development
Reply
o aggslanguage said, on September 7, 2011 at 6:56 pm
like all theories, theyre all wrong not sure which is the wrongest though
Reply
vicky palmer said, on September 21, 2011 at 8:48 am
wrongest? you sound so intelligent.
14. zildjian said, on August 4, 2011 at 11:52 am
THank you for this big help for new preschool teachers:)
Cheers!
Reply
15. canhota said, on October 8, 2011 at 7:48 am
The development of grammar IS noticeable if you happen to be around at the time and
interested or a little aware.
Example: 20 month old child very verbal often giving a running commentary in
toddlerese about her present and past activiites- uses the word off to signify she is
taking off her shoes.
Next stage offing shoes clearly beginning to assimilate the ing and come up with
novel expressions.
Also at this stage, increasingly consistent use of possessive Mary Mum becoming
more often but still not always Marys Mum
Ok this is only one child but I suppose it is pretty universal (where child is surrounded
with meaningful child-directed and other speech)
Reply
16. kim said, on November 7, 2011 at 12:16 am
is it possible for you to shed some more light on the behaviorist theory. what are the
arguments against the innateness of language.
Reply
o aggslanguage said, on November 9, 2011 at 9:24 pm
there is little or no evidence for behaviourist theories there never was and there
never is likely to be not taken seriously for some time
Reply
17. ait tia said, on November 15, 2011 at 5:24 pm
thank you for allowing us to connect with you.i have question about limitation and
objective in language.please reply me.
Reply
18. playadvocate said, on November 16, 2011 at 12:09 am
How do I cite your blog? APA is the devil.lol
Reply
19. Miss Holland's English Blog - CLA Theory Revision said, on November 27, 2011 at
6:54 pm
[...] CLA Theories Posted by missjholland on November 27th, 2011 at 18:56 | Comments
& Trackbacks (0) Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!) [...]
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20. Alhawarizmi said, on December 1, 2011 at 2:53 am
I like your blog, Im also learning about Language Acquisition. Here is my blog
http://www.cyberpekanbaru.blogspot.com
hopefully we can share about anything :D
Reply
21. Guaymi said, on December 1, 2011 at 11:58 am
Thanks for the Information, I love Chomsky
Reply
22. sumayyah said, on December 1, 2011 at 3:39 pm
please cite the page
Reply
23. move5000 said, on December 11, 2011 at 8:15 pm
Hello,
what is the reference of Piaget dialogue ?
thanks
Reply
24. James battle said, on December 13, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Has anybody from TRC actually looked at this?
Reply
25. Montanus Mchopa said, on December 13, 2011 at 7:49 pm
Didi Noam Chomsky alive?
Reply
26. move5000 said, on December 18, 2011 at 4:29 pm
hello,
please I need the your reference of piaget example
Reply