Language Development Theories: Practical Implications I. INTRODUCTION** • Children begin developing language at birth as they interact with their caregivers. • Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are exposed to diverse experiences; this diversity creates the concepts to which children attach symbols, or words. II. THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT** • Development of language rests upon several major variables that interact with one another • 1. The child’s cultural and linguistic environment is a big influence upon language learning • 2. Each child has unique characteristics that she brings to the language learning situation For a child to develop language optimally… For example… Youtube video: • Archer likes motherese III. Theories of Language Acquisition** • A. Behaviorist Theory: – B.F. Skinner – Explains acquisition of verbal behavior – Verbal behaviors are learned under appropriate conditions of stimulation, response, and reinforcement – Breaks verbal behavior down into echoics, mands, tacts In therapy, clinicians who use principles of the behaviorist theory: For example:** • Target: The child will use the word earth in a sentence. • Appropriate antecedent event “What planet do we live on?” • Child: “We live on planet Earth.” • SLP: Right! Great! Here’s a Youtube • Sheldon trains Penny B. Social Interactionism Theory** • Language function, not structure, is emphasized • Language develops as a result of children’s social interactions with the important people in their lives • Vygotsky (Russian psychologist): language knowledge is acquired through social interaction with more competent and experienced members of the child’s culture According to social interactionism theory: Clinical Implications: How would you motivate the following clients to talk? • C. Cognitive Theory** – Jean Piaget – Emphasizes cognition, or knowledge and mental processes – Language acquisition is made possible by cognition and general intellectual processes – Two forms: strong cognition hypothesis and weak cognition hypothesis Strong cognition hypothesis:** • Cognitive abilities are prerequisites to language skills language • Language will absolutely not develop without these cognitive abilities • Page 41--stages of cognitive development; for the exam, just know what is on the PowerPoint for this chart Cognition Weak cognition hypothesis: Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: • Sensorimotor (birth-2 years) Youtube video: • Lucille Piaget’s sensorimotor Preoperational (2-7 years) Mommy! Concrete Operations (7-11 years)** • Acquires conservation and classification skills • Child less egocentric, has ability to see others’ points of view Youtube • A typical child on Piaget’s conservation tasks Formal Operations (over 11 years) Clinical implications of the cognitive theory: language cognition Also….** • If cognitive skills are low, why bother with language therapy? It won’t help, because the foundation (cognition) is not there • Thus, children with (low) cognitive skills that are commensurate with their (low) language skills are denied therapy Lastly…** • Clinicians must assess and treat cognitive precursors to language and facilitate development of these precursors before working on language itself • So, with a very young child, you would work on symbolic play and object permanence before you tried to have a child say her first word • D. Nativist Theory:** – Noam Chomsky – All children are born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) – This is a specialized processor that is a physiological part of the brain --Children have an innate capacity to acquire language Hulit et al. 2015: Chomsky introduced the concepts of: surface structure Deep structure Clinical implications of the nativist theory are scant: Drawbacks: • E. Information Processing Theory Phonological processing:** • Concerned with processes involved in a child’s ability to mentally manipulate phonological aspects of language • These include word rhyming, syllabication, etc. Temporal auditory processing:** • Child’s ability to perceive the brief acoustic events that make up speech sounds and track changes in these events as they happen quickly in the speech of other people • Child’s capacity for and speed of processing • Children with problems can’t remember and repeat back digit strings, lists of real or nonsense words, etc.—esp. if fast IV. Education, Language, and Literacy in the School-Age Years** • When a child enters kindergarten, she should have solid auditory-oral skills • These are strongly related to learning to read and write • A child’s emergent literacy skills or preliteracy skills are foundational to later reading and writing in school Common Core State Standards--4 major goals: **The overarching goal is to create students who are ready to succeed in a globally competitive, 21st century society  **Unlike No Child Left Behind (2002), there are no fiscal or other punitive consequences in the standards.  Despite this, many professionals nationwide are trying hard to figure out how to help children achieve the standards **The Common Core State Standards, enacted in 2010, have been adopted by 46 out of 50 states. The standards address English Language Arts and Math English Language Arts Consists of 4 Areas: In grades 4-6: New research is finding that for many children, esp. those who are at risk: (Clark, 2012, “Research on all-day kindergarten” www.education.com) If we can provide early intervention for children with language impairments…** • We will prevent many future problems and help these children achieve their social, academic, and professional potential