Theories of Psycholinguistics

BABY LYN O. EUSEBIO

MAEd-ENGLISH
 OBJECTIVES:

•a. Identify the different Theories of

Psycholinguistics.
•b. explain theories of psycholinguistics
•c. apply these theories in teaching language to
students
 Psycholinguistics

•Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is

the study of the psychological and
neurobiological factors that enable humans to
acquire, use, and understand language.
 Theories of Psycholinguistics.

Main schools of thought, which provide theoretical paradigms in guiding the

course of language acquisition are:

•Imitation, Nativism or Behaviorism: based on the empiricist or behavioral

approach.

•Innateness: based on the rationalistic approach.

•Mentalist Theory: based on the cognitive-psychological approach.

 1) Imitation, Nativism or Behaviorist
Theory.

•Main Figure: B. F. Skinner.

Language has long been thought of a process of
imitation, and reinforcement. Imitation theory
is based on an empirical or behavioral
approach.
• Children start out as clean slates and language
learning is process of getting linguistic habits
printed on these slates.

• Language Acquisition is a process of experience.

• Language is a ‘conditioned behavior’: The

stimulus response process.
Stimulus > Response > Feedback > Reinforcement.
 •Thus, Children learn language step by step,
i.e.:
1. Imitation.
2. Repetition.
3. Memorization.
4. Controlled drilling.
5. Reinforcement. (Reinforcement can either
be positive or negative.)
 2) Nativist or Innateness Theory
 
• Main Figure: Noam Chomsky.
• Main Argument: Children must be born
with an innate capacity for language
development.
• Children are born with an innate propensity
for language acquisition,
• Chomsky originally theorized that children
were born with a hard-wired Language
Acquisition Device (LAD) in their brains.
• Universal Grammar, a set of innate principles
and adjustable parameters that are common
to all human languages.
 -there is a critical period for language
acquisition,

OUTPU
INPUT LAD
T
 3) Cognitive Theory.

• Most influential figure: Genevan Psychologist Jean

Piaget; Who proposed the model of cognitive
development.
• Main Argument: Language Acquisition must be
viewed within the context of a child’s intellectual
development.
 The theory Focuses on exploring the links
between the stages of cognitive development
and language skills.
•Sensory-Motor Period- (birth to 2 years)
•Pre-Operational Period- (2 years to 7)
•Operational Period- (7 to 11 years) and
•(11 years to adulthood)
•A child has to understand a concept before he or she
can acquire the particular language which expresses
that concept.
 4. Social Interactionist Theory

•Main Figure: Lev Vgotsky

•social interaction theory incorporates nurture
arguments in that children can be influenced by
their environment as well as the language input
children receive from their care-givers .
•The interaction theory proposes that language exists
for the purpose of communication
 and can only be
learned in the context of interaction with adults and
older children.
•private speech which is when children must speak to
themselves in a self guiding and directing way- initially
out loud and later internally
•the zone of proximal development which refers to the
tasks a child is unable to complete alone but is able to
complete with the assistance of an adult.