Understanding the Bilingual Education Controversy

Theories of First Language
Acquisition
• Behavioristic Approaches:
Bloomfield, Fries, Pavlov, Skinner
• Nativist Approach: Chomsky, Berko
• Functional Approaches: Piaget,
Vygotsky, Bloom
Behavioristic Approaches: Bloomfield,
Fries, Pavlov, Skinner
Focus on linguistic observable behavior and
the relationships or associations between
those responses.
Effective language behavior is the production
of correct responses to stimuli.
If a response is reinforced, it becomes
habitual or conditioned
Skinner’s theory of Verbal Behavior
(1957)
learning occurs by operant
conditioning;
a response or operant is maintained
by reinforcement from another person;
verbal behavior is controlled by its
consequences.
Challenges posed by the approach
Theory contradicts language
creativity (stimulus—response);
No consideration is given to the
level of underlying meaning or
deep structures
Nativist Approach: Chomsky, Berko
Language acquisition is innately determined;
Focus is on abstract rules;
Approach offers a systematic description of
the child’s language as either ruled-governed
or operating out of parallel distributed
processing capacities;
Concept of universal grammar UG
Lenneberg (1967)
certain modes of perception,
categorizing abilities, and other
language related mechanisms are
biologically determined
Chomsky (1965)
LAD--language acquisition
device;
UG--Universal Grammar;
 The generative model;
Chomsky (1965)
LAD--language acquisition device:
• innate properties of language
explains the mastery (by children) in
such a short time of such a complex
system composed of highly abstract
rules as LANGUAGE.
Chomsky (1965)
Universal Grammar UG:
• there are properties that are common
to all languages-- the deep structure
of language at its deepest level may
be common to all languages;
• all human beings are genetically
equipped with abilities to acquire
language--languages are universally
acquired in the same manner;
Chomsky (1965)
The Generative Model:
• Language is generated by a series of
rules;
• The model proposes hypothetical
grammars --the abstract rules underlying
surface rules of grammar;
• The early grammar of the child -- pivot
grammar: closed class + open class item
Challenges posed by the nativist
approach
Model does not account for the language use or
discourse, for the connection between language
and its social use
According to the model generative rules are
connected serially. However, according to the
distribution processing model PDP the child’s
linguistic performance may be the consequence of
many interconnected levels of simultaneous neural
interconnections rather than a serial process of one
rule being applied, then another, then another.
Functional Approaches: Piaget,
Vygotsky, Bloom
The study of language now centers on the
relationship of cognitive development to first
language acquisition;
Language is seen as one manifestation of the
cognitive and affective ability to deal with the
world, with others, and with the self ;
Language must be understood from two stand
points:
the abstract, formal, explicit rules proposed under the
generative grammar [form of language],
the deeper functional level of meaning constructed
from social interaction.
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
What children learn about language is
determined by what they already know
about the world;
Cognitive development is at the
center of the human organism -language is dependent upon and
springs from cognitive development;
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
The intelligence develops as children
psychologically adapt to their environment and
reconcile discrepancies between current forms and
previously acquired forms of understanding;
Psychological adaptation has two components:
Assimilation: new information is acquired and
incorporated into existing structures
Accommodation: already existing structures are
adjusted based on newly acquired information.
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
Cognitive or mental structure: scheme;
Meaning is construed based on previous
background knowledge structures;
Schemata are the previously acquired
knowledge structures through experience.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
Vygotsky’s Language/Thought
Relationship
Background:
The linguist cannot deal with abstract, formal
rules without dealing with performance or
discourse functions;
Language is used for communication
Research looks back at Skinner’s Verbal
Behavior—the concrete, the observable;
Vygotsky’s Language/Thought
Relationship
Social interaction, through language, is a prerequisite to cognitive development;
Every child reaches his or her potential
development, in part, through social interaction;
The interpretative rules of language use are
acquired through social interaction at a very
early age;
language initially serves a social function.
Vygotsky’s Language/Thought
Relationship
Cognitive and communicative development
evolves from the social function of language;
Language and thought are distinct and
develop independently;
When the two systems fuse with the
development of inner speech, logical reasoning
develops;
Vygotsky’s zone of proximal
development
Zone of proximal development is the distance
between a child’s actual cognitive capacity and
the level of potential development as the child
matures. Attainment of cognitive development
depends upon problem solving tasks, which
advance the child’s ability for independent
thinking. Contact with adults and peers are
crucial for cognitive development.
Current Approaches:
Constructivism
Constructivism is a social construction
and negotiation of meaning;
Learning is a dynamic process that is
both social and mental;
The primary concern is the mental
construction of meaning or the building of
knowledge structures.
Brunner’s constructivism (1994)
Children are the active transformers of their
experiences with the world –they pick and
choose what they need to make their own world
in their head;
Children construct meaning by means of
social contact and negotiation;
Children’s learning occur within a sociocultural plane and is internalize to the cognitive
plane.
Language from the perspective of
Constructivism
Language is a representational system formed
by the child as she relates symbols to concrete
concepts and experiences
Language and thought interact to promote
intellectual growth; thus such representations
function as a medium for intellectual growth.
Language from the perspective of
Constructivism
Children’s language use reflects their
underlying cognitive abilities and their
social and emotional growth;
Children’s language is
culture/community based—it reflects
their experiences;

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