Language Development Essay 2022

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Language development
Essay
Student name
1/5/2020

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Language development
Language development is the crucial part of the child’s complete development. It helps in
supporting the child to interact, and express and understand the feelings. It also helps them to
think and solving problems, and developing and maintaining the relationshipsn (Harris, 2013).
Language skills are associated with the learning rules of for using words together in such a way
that can show their feeling and comprehend the meaning of both verbal and written words. From
the birth up to five years, kids develop language skills at very rapid pace. The stages associated
with the development of language are universal. There are different theories associated with
early stages of child language acquisition (Lyytinen et al., 2013). In this particular essay the role
of child development early stages theories to understand the child development will be discussed,
Some of the theories being used to understand the children’s early language development
are nativist theory, the behaviourist theory, and interactionist theory. Noam Chomsky developed
the nativist theory in 1960s. This theory suggests that the children’s brain comprises a language
attainment device which grasps the grammatical universal and they are biologically programmed
for the language acquisition. In other words the humans are born with the nature or the innate
ability for acquiring language (Mehrpour & Forutan, 2015). This particular theory suggests that
the language actually universal and specific to only humans and that unless there are serious
mental or physical boundaries, or serious isolation and deficiency, human will attain language.
The theory states that caregivers have no role in teaching children to understand language and
they do not commonly provide feedback related to the correctness of their utterances. According
to the theorist the LAD function in three different stages. Primarily the children require to access
to the samples of a natural language to initiate the device. Once the device is initiated, they can

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discover the language structure to be learned. The children discover it through matching the
innate understanding n of UG to the structure of specific language in the environment
(Guðlaugsdóttir, 2016). The theory also suggests that the sentences are shaped in a specific
sequence: primary verbal data > principles associated with general language learning >
grammatical information (the rules) > child’s speech. The theorist also describes the importance
of universal grammar in the language aquisition of children. UG includes a collection of innate
ideologies and changeable parameters that are usual to every human language. He also reported
that the neurons in the child brain are said to develop multiple connection simultaneously. The
principles of this theory suggests that the language is organised that based on the structural
association between the elements in a sentence, and language commonly comprise NP and VP+
other phrases. For example children learn languages more effortlessly than adults, and they are
capable to hold grammatical structures deprived of formal education, signifying an innate or
native capability for language (Lotfi & Joybar, 2015).
Another important theory helps in understanding the language development in children is
behaviourist philosophy. This theory is proposed by the behaviourist B. F. Skinner in 1957. The
theorist reported that a child imitates the language of its care or the parents. The theory suggests
that most important reason of motivation for the behaviourism present outside instead of within
the individual. When an individual does something it is reinforced either favourably or
unfavourably; if the particular behaviour is positively strengthened its frequency will upsurge
and if the behaviour is negatively strengthened its regularity will reduce and ultimately stop
(Lenneberg & Lenneberg, 2014). For instance, if a kid wants to place his body part on a hot
stove, the pain occurs will be a negatively strengthening and he will learn that he or she should
not touch the stove. Behaviourism recommends that more multifaceted behaviours can similarly

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be learned in this manner. The theory also suggests that the strength of the stimulus reaction
bond determine the possibility of the happening of a certain reactions and all behaviour is
learned or operant. The complex linguistic behaviours show the chains or combinations of
different stimulus response sequences. The behaviour is adapted or altered through the events
that follow or are based on that behaviour. Skinner used Skinner box or apparent conditioning
chamber to explain his theory. In the box he studied behaviour by teaching a subject animal to do
certain actions like pressing as lever) in the reaction to a particular stimuli such as light or sound
(Kennison, 2013). The theory also suggested that instead of punishing behaviours, the reinforcers
should be taken off those sources that specific behaviour. By performing this, the behaviour doer
does not see the importance of these particular actions, as the reinforcers have been taken away
from him or her, and the behaviour will than gradually start to fade away. The child achieves
grammar by understanding the chains and frames, in which every word works as the stimulus
from the next, therefore grammatical units, are controlled by the surrounding words. For
illustration, a kid hears “Please hit the ball” however this is too difficult so he can say “hit ball”
in its place (Taylor, 2011).
Interactionist theory is another important theory help to understand the language
acquisition in children. This theory was established in response to the behaviourism and
language theories related to language attainment and include characteristics of both of these. This
particular theory recommends that language improves as of its social- interactive function
(Jonak, 2015). According to Interactionist philosophy, not only do people have an inborn
tendency to the language but numerous environmental aspects also affect the progression of
language development. This theory also suggests that social communication is what
conventionalises the language structure of a child. Social interactionists consider that the kid

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applies methods to improve his or her linguistic for example restriction or rote knowledge and
the surroundings also regulates itself to enable linguistic learning by the kid; because the child
demonstrates an augmented ability to comprehend more multifaceted language, the linguistic
surroundings also upsurges in complexity (Mehrpour & Forutan, 2015). The kind of language
that parents frequently use with kids is referred to through societal interactionists as Child
Directed Speech (CDS). Child focused speech comprises communication methods for example
motherese, mock, and scaffolding. This theory suggests that kids prompt their parents to provide
CDS and that the purpose of CDS is to trigger the linguistic propensities of the child. Rendering
to this theory, these practices are used by grown-ups to gradually build the kid’s linguistic while
allowing adults and kids to communicate more efficiently (Nor & Ab Rashid, 2018).
In conclusion’ language development is the most important phase of child’s complete
development. There are different theories are introduced by experts to help in understanding the
language learning patterns of children. The nativist theory suggests that every individual have
intrinsic factors to stimulate him or her in language learning. The theorist also includes
biological aspects responsible for language learning. Behaviourist theory suggest that children
learn about language from the outside environment only for example from parents, surrounding
objects etc. interactionist theory involves the aspects of above theories and suggests that the
language advances because of child’s social interactive function and it depends on both internal
and external factors.

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References
Guðlaugsdóttir, E. B. (2016). Children's first language acquisition: What is needed for children
to acquire language? (Doctoral dissertation).
Harris, M. (2013). Language experience and early language development: From input to uptake.
Psychology Press.
Jonak, J. (2015). BILINGUAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND LANGUAGE
IMPAIRMENT IN CHILDREN. Acta Neuropsychologica, 13(1).
Kennison, S. M. (2013). Introduction to language development. Sage Publications.
Lenneberg, E. H., & Lenneberg, E. (Eds.). (2014). Foundations of language development: A
multidisciplinary approach. Academic Press.
Lotfi, A. R., & Joybar, B. (2015). Theoretical Frameworks of Language Development" A
Library Research". Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods, 5(4), 420.
Lyytinen, H., Aro, M., Holopainen, L., Leiwo, M., Lyytinen, P., & Tolvanen, A. (2013).
Children’s language development and reading acquisition in a highly transparent
orthography. In Handbook of orthography and literacy (pp. 61-76). Routledge.
Mehrpour, S., & Forutan, A. (2015). Theories of first language acquisition. Journal of Language,
Linguistics and Literature, 1(2), 30-40.
Nor, N. M., & Ab Rashid, R. (2018). A review of theoretical perspectives on language learning
and acquisition. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 39(1), 161-167.

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Taylor, T. J. (2011). Language development and the integrationist. Language Sciences, 33(4),
579-583.