Child Language Acquisition Theory's

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.