Cognitive Theories of Language Acquisition - LANG 3037

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of language acquisition, delving into the cognitive theory of language learning and contrasting it with behaviorist and innatist theories. The introduction establishes the core concepts of language and acquisition, highlighting the complexity of the process. The essay examines various theories, including the behaviorist, innatist, and cognitive approaches, emphasizing the cognitive theory's focus on mental processes and intellectual readiness. It explores the influence of experimental psychology and artificial intelligence on the cognitive theory's development. The essay also addresses the cognitive theory's explanation of second language acquisition, contrasting it with the behaviorist perspective. The conclusion emphasizes the cognitive theory's reliability and its ability to bridge the gap between the innatist and behaviorist theories, while also acknowledging its limitations in explaining the initial emergence of language. The essay references key works by DeHouwer and The Douglas Fir Group to support its arguments.

Language Acquisition
Language Acquisition
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Language Acquisition
Introduction
In trying to understand language acquisition it is better that we look at the words
language and acquisition separately. The word language can be regarded as the primary
method of human communication. It is important to also note that although there are some
other patterns of communication; language is quite unique since it's characterized by the
verbal and also written components (DeHouwer, 2011 p.57).The term acquisition, on the
other hand, refers to the process of developing and learning a particular skill or behaviour.
Language acquisition can, therefore, be regarded as the systematic processes by which
human beings acquire the capacity to both perceive and comprehend a particular language.
Language acquisition is quite complex and many times it is often pinned to the first language
acquisition rather than second language acquisition
Well, this particular write up is going to look at language acquisition in depth and consider
the various theories of language learning but particularly the cognitive theory of language
learning, what it entails and what is it that we actually learn from this particular theory.
Diverse theories of language acquisition
There are quite a number of language acquisition theories and each of these theories
brings with it a totally different perspective and thought of language learning, both first and
second language acquisition. Some of the diverse theories in language acquisition consist of
the behaviourists, innatist and the cognitive theories. All these theories depict a very different
understanding as far as language acquisition is concerned.
As stated above, the main focus of this particular write up is to prove a much deeper and
wider understanding of the cognitive theory and how it works, we are therefore just going to

Language Acquisition
highlight in these two theories, the behaviourist theory, and the innatist theory so that one
would be in a position to have an insight on what they mean.
Diverse theories with their relevant examples
The behaviourist theory-This theory reinstates that language is just like a behaviour and it
often learned just like any other behaviour either through positive or negative reinforcements.
Solid examples and normal happenings have been related to this theory. For instance, an
infant or any child for that matter would make a mimicking sound that he/she hears from the
people around him especially the adults. The child would copy the behaviour of the adult
around and try to behave just like them but in this case in form of a mimicking sound (The
Douglas Fir Group, 2016 p.29).
This theory has been regarded as a psychological theory and was originally founded and
developed by J.B Watson and it's more of native language learning. The main principle of
this particular theory has been pegged to the analysis of the coherent human behaviour and
the significant observable stimuli-response (McLaughlin, 2013,p.88).There are some very
crucial strategies of language learning under this theory and these are imitations, rewarding
and also reinforcements. It's basically a process of learning that teachers and also encourage
the learners to come up and construct phrases and sentences that they observe and see others
around them do and say.
Under this theory for example it has been clearly stated that it's often not possible and highly
unlikely to find that children learn at the same rate/speed. Each and every person has their
own speed and pace of learning and is usually greatly dependent on the conditions and
immediate environment that the child has been exposed to. This theory has proven to be

Language Acquisition
dependent and reliable only at the infancy stage, it has also proven this for animal
experimentation.
The innatist theory-This theory is quite different from the others in the sense that unlike the
other theories, the innatist theory dictates that learning is natural for human beings and it is
believed that babies get into the world with an inbuilt capability and some kind of biological
propensity that allows and enables them to learn the various types of languages (The Douglas
Fir Group, 2016 p.36).
This theory for example has been used to explain the reasons why children can easily invent
an also generate languages that they have never heard before or that have never even existed
in the first place. This theory is solely and mainly concerned with the first language
acquisition. Here the theory dictates that human beings have the natural access to the
knowledge that is usually processed innately.
It is important to note that although this theory provides a solid and a more reasonable
explanation as far as language acquisition is concerned, it also likes some sufficient amount
of evidence to these claims (VanPatten & Williams, 2014,p.56).There are some cases that
have been raised against this theory and they are much more reasonable than the theory itself.
They expose the deficiencies and some important features that make this theory not reliable.
The cognitive theory of language learning-The cognitive theory is much more of a mental
theory; this simply means that there are some habits that unconsciously happen in our brains
that makes us respond to certain actions and information that has been passed to us (The
Douglas Fir Group, 2016 p.68).

Language Acquisition
This theory has existed for quite some time now and there are certain factors that influenced
the development of the cognitive theory. Some of these factors are explained below;
Experimental psychology-This is one of the factors that resulted in the development of the
cognitive theory of language acquisition. This factor basically emphasized on how the human
memory was jogged and laid down by using quite insignificant syllables. This factor focused
on and tried to explain the fact that not all forms of learning can be explained through
behaviours that are observable; there are some instances where learning can be explained by
the unobservable behaviours.
Computer and artificial intelligence-This factor brought about the relationship that existed
between computers and the cognitive theory. Based on this factor, the computer is more of a
cognitive function while the brain is just a mere computing tool. To be particular, the
cognitive theory comprised of an information processing unit and the input and output
devices (DeHouwer, 2011p.213).For quite some now it has always been assumed that
language is learned separately form most of the cognitive skills and operates in line with
some very fundamental principles that differ significantly from most of the learned
behaviour.
Here mental processing plays a very crucial role in both the learning and acquisition
processes. It is indeed regarded as the basic mediating variable that influences the learning of
some very important external information to the learner (Slobin, 2014, p.78). The mental
capacity also oversees quite a number of activities in language learning and acquisition such
as task characteristics, complexity and also internal influences for instance motivation and the
ability to learn and master the language even much quicker. This theory is more of mental; it
tries to get into the mental structure of the child and examines the types of thinking processes

Language Acquisition
that actually take place. This theory clearly states that any child whatsoever will not be in a
position to learn any new language until they are intellectually ready.
As the depicted by the Swiss psychologist Jean Plaget, this theories clearly dictates that for a
child to master and be in a position to lean any language then it is compulsory that they have
a possession of a certain psychological capacity or that fundamental cognitive ability before
they can embark on the processes of learning certain aspects about a particular language (The
Douglas Fir Group, 2016 p.179). This Swiss psychologist believed that the whole concept of
language acquisition is in line and somewhat directly related to the child's mental and
intellectual development. He also argued that it is a very systematic process where the child
first by understanding the concepts of the language then later with time depending on certain
factors the child slowly and systematically acquires the words and right pattern to convey the
message they intend to. In conveying of the intended message, it is also important to note that
the much simpler ideas and concepts would be conveyed much earlier that the more complex
ones.
A good example is of how these cognitive theory works are that in all levels of dimensions
then the child must first possess the mental ability to people or even things around him/her
exists even when they are totally out of sight at that particular moment (DeHouwer, 2011
p.349). Not being in a position to understand simple things such as this makes it even much
difficult for the child to understand and also respond to simple questions such as how their
day was and where the parents are. Even when their parents are not around they should be in
a position to recognize that and still appreciate that their parents still exists it's just that they
are not present at that particular moment. This is a cognitive ability that s referred to as object
performance.

Language Acquisition
Individual cognitive development is considered as a solitary act, this coupled with biological
timetables and various stages of development were considered to be very basic in
understanding the process and concept of language acquisition (Hyams, 2012, p.226). This
theory has been said to be more direct and also much intuitively correct since most of the
times it is common logic that older a much-developed children could definitely learn how to
speak and also play much easier than the less developed ones. It was considered as a much
predictable theory since based on the mental capabilities then one would definitely know that
the much older and more developed children would do much better than the young and less
developed children as by all measures they were much more intellectually able (Saville-
Troike & Barto,2016,p.66) .This is not the case, however, since research conducted and also
statistics have clearly shown and proven that a younger child would be in a position to learn a
second language much more easily than an older adolescent. It is not actually straightforward
as people thought it was but it solely reliant and dependent on a developing intellect that the
younger kind possesses.
The cognitive theory also tries to explain the second language acquisition. Unlike the first
language acquisition, cognitive theory sees the second language learning and acquisition as a
much more conscious and reasoned thinking process that involves learning
strategies(DeHouwer, 2011 p.363). Learning strategies are considered to be a much unique
and special way of processing very vital information that somehow assists the comprehension
and retention of very vital information. This is in direct contrary with the behaviourist theory
of language learning which sees language learning as an unconscious and automatic process.
Conclusion

Language Acquisition
There are various theories that explain the aspect of language acquisition and
learning. These theories have been highlighted above and a brief description is given on how
each and every one of its states. The cognitive theory has been regarded to be more reliable
despite the fact that all these three theories can be used to complement each other at a much
greater degree and helps in the understanding the general aspect of language learning and
acquisition.
The cognitive theory is very essential and it has proven to be reliable in explaining the art of
language learning and acquisition. It is considered as a compromise between the innatist and
behaviourist theory is what gives it the credibility it deserves. It is reliable in the sense that it
explains the majority of language acquisition questions that the innatist and behaviourists
theories cannot address.
It is also important to note that despite of its significant reliability and the fact that clearly
helps in the explanation of the concept of language learning and acquisition in a much
simpler manner, this theory does not explain how the language emerges in the first place
(Richards, 2015, p.115). It has also been proven that apes have the ability to develop in the
same way as young children but the aspect of language acquisition does not naturally come in
handy with this development. The common bees also have and often develop that cognitive
ability to respond to various colors and shades but have not been seen under any
circumstance whatsoever developing any communication patterns and signals regarding to
that. This greatly affects and compromises the cognitive theory of language acquisition.

Language Acquisition
References
DeHouwer (2011). Language input environments and language development in bilingual
acquisition. In Li Wei, (Ed.), Applied Linguistics Review, 2011: 221 239.
The Douglas Fir Group (2016) A transdisciplinary framework for SLA in a multilingual
world. The Modern Language Journal, 100. pp.19-47. DOI:10.11/modl.123010026-
7902/16/19-47.
McLaughlin, B., 2013. Second language acquisition in childhood: Volume 2: School-age
Children. Psychology Press.
VanPatten, B. and Williams, J. eds., 2014. Theories in second language acquisition: An
introduction. Routledge.
Hyams, N., 2012. Language acquisition and the theory of parameters (Vol. 3). Springer
Science & Business Media.
Saville-Troike, M. and Barto, K., 2016. Introducing second language acquisition. Cambridge
University Press.
Richards, J.C., 2015. Error analysis: Perspectives on second language acquisition.
Routledge.
Slobin, D.I. ed., 2014. The crosslinguistic study of language acquisition (Vol. 4). Psychology
Press.