The various theories of Language Acquisition Essay Example for Free

The various theories of Language Acquisition Essay The human race has been trying to explore the concept of language acquisition in children for centuries, and due to the nature of the subject matter, this of course is very difficult. The main debate between language theorists, however, began in the 20th century with the nature versus nurture debate. The generally accepted theory of language acquisition, supported by B. F. Skinner, was that children were completely lacking in the ability to converse when born, and that language was just another learned skill, such as walking and crawling. Supporting the argument that language acquisition was all due to the nurturing of the child, rather than an innate capacity to learn, Skinner believed in the theory of imitation and reinforcement. This concept suggests that children learn through positive and negative feedback (praise as opposed to corrections) from their parents or carers. To a certain extent, this theory could account for a large proportion of a childs development. Behaviourists who have observed parents with their children or young children in nurseries have noticed that when an dult suggests a new word to a child, the child is very likely to use it. However, there are of course many obvious limitations of this theory. When parents try to correct children too much, research has shown that children actually progess slower because they are not being allowed to express themselves as freely. Often, when a parent attempts to make a child repeat a certain sentence, the child is unable to respond correctly, because the syntactical structure is completely unfamiliar. Additionally, a parent or carer is more likely to dispute the content of a childs statement as opposed to the grammar. For example, if in the example above, the childs friends actually lived in Scotland, not Ireland, the parent would be more likely to correct this than the grammatical mistakes highlighted above. Furthermore, possibly one of the most important pieces of evidence to disprove this theory is that of virtuous errors a child makes when he or she is first learning to apply grammatical rules. For example, a child might say I thinked or I runned, because the usual ending for an English verb in the simple past tense is -ed. They certainly would not have heard this kind of error from a parent or carer, disputing the idea that language is merely learned through repetition and not through any form of innate ability whatsoever. When Noam Chomsky first responded to the generally accepted behaviourism theory with his own ideas of innate language abilities, taking the side of nature as opposed to nurture. Chomsky believed that children could not simply copy what they heard and create their own lexis, as the quality of adults language was too poor. Also citing virtuous errors such as overgeneralisations, he pointed out that children often create their own words when they do not know the correct term for what they are trying to describe, a concept called linguistic creativity. The key belief of nativism in Chomskys time was that children have a language acquisition device when they are born, which allows them to learn grammar rules and the like. Chomsky himself added to this concept bu suggesting that all human languages share a universal grammar, which is what children are capable of understanding and applying to their own mother tongue. A limitation of the nativist theory is that the ability to converse is not completely innate: children will need some form of stimulus from those around them, or their linguistic ability will be severely impaired. In particular, many theorists believe that for children, there is a cut-off point in their lives (often at about 7 years of age) when, if the child has not received sufficient stimulus, their capacity for language will be permaneantly weakened. Although not completely opposing this theory, these arguments do show that not all language ability is innate. A theory that has its roots in behaviourism is that of social interaction. The core idea of this theory is that childrens language acquisition is centred around close interaction with parents and carers, and that this interaction not only enables them to acquire language itself, but also allows them to learn pragmatics and the rules for conversing, such as taking turns to speak. The followers of this theory also believe that interaction creates a language acquisition support system, enabling children to place their language learning skills in context. The easily identifiable features of child-directed speech (such as exaggerated intonation, simplified grammar and lexis, and gestures) used by parents and carers supports this notion. Interactionists also suggest that repetitive scenarios, such as the same book, nursery rhyme or game, enables children to develop conversational skills such as turn-taking. While there is evidence to support this theory, the argument against it is that in many cultures around the world, there is no evidence of child-directed speech, and that the children are not adversely affected by this. The final key school of thought is the cognitive approach, who do not place as much emphasis on the acquisition of language itself, preferring to see it as a single part of a childs development in general: nativists, on the other hand, see language acquisition as a completely separate element. Psychologist Jean Piaget suggested that language can only come with understanding, and that children can only talk about objects and ideas that they fully understand, showing the link between speech and comprehension. A key stage of cognitive development supports this theory; that of object permeneance. When a child grasps the concept that even when an object is no longer in their sight, it still exists, there is a definite leap in their understanding and development, which includes language. At this time, children also learn to use pronouns correctly, and are more focused on learning common nouns for the objects around them. The other key leader of this theory, Lev Vygotsky, proposed that language had two roles: communication and for thought processes. After a short amount of time, he believed, language became closely linked with thought, leading to the natural link between language and understanding. However, there are, of course, limitations of this theory. Many children have displayed language skills completely at odds with their apparent cognitive skills, either more or less advanced. Of course, each theory of language acquisition has its own evidence to support it. A key mistake which many theorists made in the past was to assume that one theory could be found which covered all aspects of child development. Modern theorists now see the strengths and limitations of all schools of thought, and tend to use aspects from each theory to explain stages of language acquisition. It is generally accepted that we probably will never know the exact way in which children acquire language, due to the complex nature of the process.

Prime of Miss Jean Broadie :: Essays Papers

Prime of Miss Jean Broadie To be in Miss Broadie’s set was to be set apart from the rest of the school. They were outwardly looked upon with disdain. Inwardly, however, others were jealous of them for the distinction they received. Each girl in the Broadie set was held on a pedestal. Each had something special about them, reasons why they were chosen by Miss Broadie, and that puts them at higher regard. Each girl was famous in school for something. They really have very little in common with one another aside form their friendship with Miss Broadie. Each girl was selected for their individual personality traits, and further chosen because Miss Broadie knew that none of their parents would ever have a problem or make complaints about her unorthidoxed method of teaching. Mary was the stupid character of the set. Miss Broadie, along with the other girls, treated Mary as their scapegoat. They blamed everything on her stupidity. Miss Broadie harshly accused her and blamed her for faults belonging to everyone, using her to make an example. Monica was known by all for her quick temper and her mind for mathematics. She was chosen, most likely, for little more than the fact that Miss Broadie knew that her parents would not have any problems. Miss Broadie never seemed to have an underlying scheme planed out for her, as she did with some of the other girls. Eunice was quite the same, seeming to have no purpose to the group, and the other girls wondered for some time why Miss Broadie had chosen her. Miss Broadie’s interest in her, it was found out, was that Eunice was a wonderful gymnast, and would entertain Miss Broadie with her performances shown before her class. Jenny, with her golden curls, was the prettiest of the bunch. She had a beautiful voice and later a desire to act. Miss Broadie had hopes that one day Jenny would become one of her crà ¨me-de-la-crà ¨me, but Jenny disappointed her, becoming too dull for Miss Broadie’s taste as she got older. Rose, as she became older, would be known for sex. Miss Broadie took special interest in her, because, as she saw it, Rose had instinct. The love of Miss Broadie’s prime was Mr.

Integrated and multi-agency working Essay

Working with children will often involve you working closely with families and different agencies. Multi-agency working and integrated working plays a very important part in ensuring children and families with additional needs are provided with the best possible support. Multi-agency working requires practitioners and professionals from different sectors and within the workforce to provide integrated support for children and families with additional needs. Multi-agency working provides many benefits for children and their family as they provide them with tailor-made support in the most efficient way. These benefits may include: -early identification and early intervention, -quicker access to services and/or expertise, -improved progress and achievement with their milestones and education, -better quality services, -better support for the families. Integrated working focuses on enabling and encouraging professionals to work together effectively to deliver front line services. Integrated working key elements include: -early intervention if needed, -assessments which allow practitioners to undertake an early and initial assessment of a child’s needs and access whether extra services may be required, -recording information in one place and with the consent of the child or parent, -sharing information with relevant inter-agency practitioners, -the team around the child discussing and making joint decisions with the family on the assessment and recommendations for further support, -the lead professional who is the key to the process of integrated working and is the practitioner who acts as the point of contact with the child, their family and who coordinates and monitors the action plan that may have been implemented.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1477 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/08/16 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Catch 22 Essay Did you like this example? When exploring the concept of moral appropriateness in a text, one seeks out what could be considered as what would be right, judging the situation by hand. Generally speaking when seeking out the right in circumstances the decision comes from analyzing the physical and emotional outlooks on a character in text. In this case what is being disected in terms of moral appropriateness is one of the characters from the satirical novel by Joseph Heller; Catch-22. Nately is young man of age who resides as a not commonly character in Catch-22. He is known for being someone who is sensitive and who comes from a wealthy family. According to Catch-22; His nature was invariably gentle and polite (Heller 248) and His childhood had been a pleasant, though disciplined one (Heller 248). In terms of exploring moral appropriateness with this character, the entirety of Natelys context revolves around another character. The whore or Natelys whore is a prostitute from Rome that Nately falls in love with in Catch-22. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Catch-22 by Joseph Heller" essay for you Create order When analyzing the situations of Nately in Catch-22 , dissecting Natelys background, and what his actions are in the novel we can conclude distinctions on what others or the readers might see as morally inappropriate. For example, Nately comes from a family of wealth yet has fallen in love with a prostitute. A prostitute in the eyes of society is looked upon lowly. This is because their profession involves committing intimate acts with strangers in exchange for money. Usually a woman who does this in the place of poverty. Without knowing that Nately comes from a rich family, there would be no way in pointing out the moral inappropriateness between him and his whore. The appropriateness lies within their personal context that Heller has inputted in Catch-22. It is not only the scandal between Nately and his whore that is morally inappropriate but what his intentions are revealed in Catch-22. After confessing his love to her with Yossarian and Arfy, Nately says that his intentions lie in the means of marrying the whore. The moral inappropriateness is what Nately believes to be morally appropriate. What Nately believes to be morally appropriate is to be together with the whore in terms of marriage. The character stresses out his defiance when other characters such as Arfy, opposed to his idea of being in love with the whore. In response to his statement, Arfy says I can just imagine what your father and mother would say if they knew you were running around with filthy trollops like that one. Your father is very distinguished man, you know (Heller 288). After Nately declares that he shall be marrying the whore as well Arfy responds with Ho, ho.ho,ho,ho! Now youre really talking stupid. Why youre not even old enough to know what true love is (Heller 288). However there are instances in Catch-22 where readers will suggest Nately and his actions are more morally appropriate rather than inappropriate. For instance, after the whore had slept for eighteen hours, satirically it was that that made her fall in love with Nately. It is satirically in a sense that after longing for the whore to love him, it only took her sleeping for while to fall in love with Nately. Furthermore, Nately felt authority over her and the whores kid sister, leading to him developing a demanding side over the whore in Catch-22. Get dressed (Heller 356),Because I dont want them to see you without any clothes on (Heller 356) are things that he ordered the whore to do. When the whore questioned him, his response was Because I say so! (Heller 356). Readers would analyze his behavior to be morally inappropriate. This is due to the fact that he is forcing her to do things out of her will only because she has fallen in love with him. It is suggesting that her returning he r love gives him the right to show authority over her. Generally, others would suggest that this shouldnt be the case and that the whore should be free to do as she pleases. On another hand, what Nately demanded of her wasnt to suit his personal interest but rather, he was configuring her image. When he tells her to put her clothes on he says this because he does not want other men to see her in a vulnerable state that would otherwise be inappropriate. For instance, if he didnt tell her to cover up then the whore would continue to go her way. That way being the image of a whore. However, when it comes to moral appropriateness, one has to think that what would be best is if neither character acted upon their actions. Nately neednt tell his whore what to do out of his will because he should not have authority over another human without their consent. The whore should not continue to act scandalously otherwise her relationship with Nately would be unbalanced in terms of class. The reasoning behind Natalys actions are simple enough. He grows authoritative with the whore because he does not want her to be seen in the same way she is seen by him in the eyes of other men. He wishes to marry her because he loves her. Although despite the drastically different characteristic he develops, it can be be easily justified if one focuses on the whores background more than his. Natalys actions can be justified good in the sense that after the whore falls in love with him, he suggests that They made a wonderful family group, he decided (Heller 356). In reference of the whores sister he thought; The little girl would go to college when she was old enough, to Smith or Radcliffe or Bryn Mawrhe would see to that (Heller 356). Overall, these actions make create a balance with this character. On one hand, Nately, like any other person contains flaws that may contribute to their moral appropriateness and then others will lean forward to inappropriateness. In this case, Natelys ideas and what he believes to be right in overall can be considered good. To validate this statement, further into the satirical text it is discovered that Nately wishes to obtain more missions, stating in the process that I dont want to go home until I can take her back with me (Heller 368). Following these events it is later found that Nately has died while in another mission and it was caused by Dobbs. That being said, going back to when Nately desired to have more missions in order to be with the whore, Yossarian questioned; She means that much to you? (Heller 369). Nately agreed and responded with I might never see her again (Heller 369). What is considered to be right by Nately could not just be seen morally wrong in the eyes of the reader but other characters he interacts with. Yossarian whom is another character from Catch-22 plainly opposes to what Nately believes in. In Natelys case it would be morally appropriate, which is to engage in more missions. Catch-22 references For the first time in his life, Yossarian prayed. He got down on his knees and prayed to Nately not to volunteer to fly more than seventy missions after Chief White Halfoat did die of pneumonia in the hospital and Nately had applied for his job (Heller 368). The negative outlook Yossarian has on Natleys beliefs can have readers on the same terms. Morally speaking, Natelys death can not be justified as good in any way. Although one can draw emotional pity from the event, they can also draw the conclusion that Nately did wrong in applying himself for more missions. Why he did wrong in applying for more missions mainly revolves around the fact that by doing this he died in the process. His death could have been avoidable but it all relied on Nately to realize this. Nately could have realized his mistake by simply taking Yossarians advice in consideration. Others could argue that what Nately did was morally right. The idea that what Nately did was morally right can be argued because he went forward with these missions for a good cause. The good cause being that he did not want to leave the whore and her kid sister alone and wanted to take them with him. Although he did suffer death in the end, there is no other motive that can oppose to the good moral of the circumstances other them his death. The idea of what is morally appropriate and what is not comes in the hands of what most individuals believe, or majority. Often many may see certain actions as the right thing to do while others that are not majority will think the opposite. In this case, while exploring the context of Nately, it can be concluded that this character is specifically drawn to moral appropriateness Works Cited Heller, Joseph. Catch 22. New York, Simon Schuster, 2011.