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This article throws light upon the top three mechanisms by which a child acquires a language. The mechanisms are: 1. Conditioning or Reinforcements 2. Imitation 3. Modelling.
Mechanism # 1. Conditioning or Reinforcements:
The psychologists belonging to the behaviouristic school starting from Watson and very ably represented by Skinner have tended to look at conditioning and reinforcement as the main factors contributing to acquisition of language by the child. The general idea behind this view is that the child acquires language because the parents and other adults reinforce, reward and appreciate certain words or language responses in preference to others.
This results in these being strengthened, acquired and reproduced later. Thus, parents generally reinforce utterances, when a child utters a complicated adults word and thus reward and reinforce the same and consequently the same tends to be repeated. This explanation is very simple. But the trouble is, it is too simple and perhaps, even simple minded.
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The question is can such a simple explanation account for all the linguistic terms and skills acquired? Does the child acquire only terms repeatedly reinforced by others, or other terms also? There are certain utterances which occur for the first time before the parents can have an opportunity to reinforce it. The poor parents certainly could not have reinforced the words before they are uttered for the first time.
A significant feature is that at the human level (perhaps even at the level of the rats), there appears to be a certain amount of understanding of the terms uttered. Unless we assume that every human child is an idiot, it is difficult to believe that a child utters a word for the first time without meaning anything. The child, it appears even to common sense, must have had some understanding or intention while uttering the word for the first time.
Another repeatedly observed phenomenon which comes against the simple reinforcement theory is as follows. According to the reinforcement explanation acquisition of language is gradual and depends on cumulative reinforcement ruling out any sudden spurts in the development of language. But a number of studies have shown that there are auxiliary verbs occurring and being uttered suddenly and rapidly and in general cutting across several utterances. This goes against the general pattern suggested by the reinforcement theory.
Another interesting feature has been the observation that in acquiring the use of ‘past tense terms’, for example in the English language there are many words for which the past tense is arrived at by adding the letters ‘ed’., scold – scolded, etc. But there are also other words like ‘go’ where the past tense is ‘went’ and the past tense for ‘give’ is ‘gave’.
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Research studies like those of Irwin have shown that when children start using past tense form, the irregular past tense terms like ‘went’ occurred before the past tense terms arrived at by adding ‘ed’. Perhaps, this is to some extent understandable as some of these terms like see, go, give, etc., are much more commonly used. But the interesting feature is that subsequently when they acquire the usual past tense forms, the latter begins to influence the earlier acquired, irregular past tense forms.
Even though children learn to use terms like ‘went’ correctly, subsequently they were found to use the words ‘goed’. Here the correct term like ‘went’ appeared and most probably was reinforced, but subsequently they were replaced by terms like ‘goed’, ‘seed’ etc., which under normal circumstances would not have been reinforced. What appears to be acquired is a general rule that addition of ‘ed’ will lead to past tense.
A further piece of evidence has come from the observation by Brown and Hamlin which showed that even the assumption that adults and other ancestors always reinforce the correct utterances is not always true. What seems to happen is that, while reinforcement may not play a direct role in the acquisition of language as such, it makes them more ready and free to talk.
Reinforcement appears to play a role of confidence building in the child to acquire language rather than in the process of acquisition of language as such. This is itself quite significant because in many instances children, after acquiring language skills, are inhibited and hesitant because they have not been provided the motivation and encouragement to speak.
Mechanism # 2. Imitation:
The imitation is a tendency on the part of the child to do exactly what others do, particularly, what parents and other significant adults do. As in the case of reinforcement the role of imitation in the acquisition of language as such does not appear to be very crucial. Sherman is of the view that what imitation does is to increase the ability of the child to use and master language rather than acquiring language.
Instances have been found where children though they show the normal language development, are unable to produce the speech sounds because of other difficulties. Such children obviously cannot imitate. But in-spite of this they appear to acquire the necessary language skills. Adult speech certainly provides a model for children to acquire adult speech. But this is only an additional support and is not essential.
Observation of Erwin Tripp and Kemp and Date, comparing the utterances of children based on imitation of adults, and those not based on such imitations show little difference between the two groups in terms of a doltishness or maturity of language. Thus, the role of imitation is again supplementary and not essential.
Mechanism # 3. Modelling:
Another mechanism which has been emphasized in explaining the acquisition of language is ‘modelling’. The way adults speak to children serves as models for children to acquire adult forms of speech.
While the process of imitation is a mechanical process of reproduction modelling involves using adult speech as a standard and the child tries to approximate it. While imitation results in acquisition, modelling leads to learning and intenalisation with adult utterances serving as models.
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Here one may see that adult utterances are of two types. The first one is where the adult directly converses and talks to the child and the second type is one where the adult talks to others and the child is a by-standing listener and overhears. Some studies by Shipley, Smith and Gleitmen and Snow have made an attempt to compare the influences of such direct child-involved adult utterances and overheard utterances.
No definite conclusion could emerge about the role of overheard utterances. Even while listening to the direct utterances there appears to be a process of filtering and selecting. This selectivity itself seems to depend on the child’s own ability to understand the more complex utterances. It therefore appears that only those utterances of adults which are within the level of competence of the child appear to have an effect and not those utterances which a child cannot comprehend.
Here one feature may be noticed. Adults also while talking to children show variance in their utterances. Thus, while talking to a very young child they use terms like ‘doggie’ or ‘papa’ and not dog or baby. As a child grows old, adult utterances also change in their form. Thus, there appears to be synchronized pattern of adult utterances which make it possible for many adult utterances to be models in accordance with the levels of competence of the growing child.
Yet, another feature about the modelling effect of adult utterances is the frequency with which these utterances occur. Children acquire active sentences more easily and readily as they are employed by adults more often. This has been shown by the studies of Bates and Bevan. But even here the problem of determining whether modelling plays a very crucial role in acquiring utterances is very difficult to answer.
We have hitherto considered roles of reinforcement, imitation and modelling, which have been advanced to explain the process of language development in children. It appears that in the whole process of language development, the children themselves are the central factors and contributors, though the processes discussed do play a supportive role each in its own way. But then we are still faced with the twin questions of how basically children come to acquire language and also why is it that this occurs in a particular manner.
Some forms of language behaviour are acquired more easily than others and also earlier. Perhaps as of today there does not appear to be a clear and conclusive answer to these. There are a number of theories of language acquisition like the theory of reinforcement, theory of modelling, etc., but not all of them individually or together have been able to provide a comprehensive answer to all the questions.
While each one of them to some extent appears to be helpful in understanding the pattern of language responses, none of them individually or together do seem to be capable in the present state of knowledge, of explaining the what, why and how of language development.