Noam
Chomsky’s LAD Theory
Noam Chomsky suggested that children are born with an
ability to learn human language and that it is already imprinted on the child’s
mind. Chomsky thinks that every child has a language acquisition device or LAD
which contains the major principles of a language and grammar. Children
therefore only need to learn new vocabulary and then apply the syntactic
structures from the LAD to form sentences. Chomsky’s 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 no matter how intelligent they are become fluent in
their native language within 5 or 6 years.
B.F Skinner’s Imitation and Behaviourist
Theory
Skinner,
an American psychologist, behaviorist and social philosopher suggested that language is learned through operant
conditioning: the imitation of stimuli and the reinforcement of correct
responses. This is the idea that when something is rewarded for its behaviour
the behaviour is reinforced, as individuals repeat behaviour that lead to
pleasure. Children begin to speak babble, which parents do not give any
reward. When they start to speak recognisable words, they are rewarded by their
parents. As a result, those words and phrases are remembered and the babble
(that gets no reward) is forgotten. This perspective has not been widely
accepted at any time, but by some accounts, is experiencing a revival. New
studies use this theory now to treat individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum
disorders.
Piaget's
Cognitive Development Theory
Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. To Piaget, cognitive development was a
progressive reorganization
of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental
experience. Children construct an understanding of the world around them, and
then experience differences between what they already know and what they
discover in their environment.
Bruner’s Social Interactionist Theory
The outcome of cognitive
development is thinking. The intelligent mind creates from experience "generic
coding systems that permit one to go beyond the data to new and possibly
fruitful predictions". So, to
Bruner, important outcomes of learning include not just the concepts,
categories, and problem-solving procedures invented previously by the culture,
but also the ability to "invent" these things for oneself. The aim of education should be to create autonomous
learners.
