Theories and Case Studies in Child Language Acquisition

This section explores key theories and case studies in child language acquisition, essential for understanding the principles of language development and preparing for A Level English Language child language acquisition assessments.

Michael Halliday's Language Functions:

1. Instrumental: Fulfilling speaker's needs
2. Regulatory: Influencing others' behavior
3. Interactional: Developing social relationships
4. Personal: Expressing preferences and opinions
5. Informative: Communicating facts
6. Heuristic: Learning and exploring
7. Imaginative: Exploring imagination

Highlight: Halliday's functions demonstrate the diverse purposes of language in child development, beyond mere communication.

Case Study: Genie (1970)

• Discovered at 13, kept in isolation
• Unable to speak or stand upright
• Father prevented communication
• Never developed fluent speech

Example: Genie's case highlights the critical period hypothesis for language acquisition and the importance of early linguistic exposure.

Berko and Brown's "Fis" vs "Fish" Study:

• Demonstrated children's inability to hear their own pronunciation errors
• Showed correction ineffectiveness in early stages

Nelson's Study:

• Found that excessive correction of word choice and pronunciation in the holophrastic stage slowed language advancement

Major Theoretical Approaches:

• Nativist: Language is innate and pre-programmed
• Behaviorist: Language develops through imitation and feedback
• Social Interactionist: Early language influenced by interactions
• Cognitive: Language growth linked to cognitive development

Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory:

• Children are active learners
• Linguistic development linked to concept understanding
• Certain language concepts can't be taught before cognitive readiness

Berko's Wug Test (1958):

• Tested children's ability to apply morphological rules to novel words
• Demonstrated innate grammatical knowledge

Bruner's Social Interaction Theory:

• Emphasized the Language Acquisition Support System (LASS)
• Highlighted the role of adult support in language development

Quote: "Children are active learners and their cognitive development is very influential." - reflecting Piaget's perspective on language acquisition.

These theories and studies provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the complex process of child language acquisition stages, essential for A Level English Language child language acquisition model answers.

Grammatical Development in Child Language Learning

This section explores the grammatical development in child language learning, a key topic for A Level English Language child language acquisition. Understanding these stages is essential for analyzing children's linguistic progress.

The main stages of grammatical development are:

1. One-word stage (12-18 months): Children may use holophrases, single words that represent full sentences.

2. Two-word stage (18 months): Children combine two important parts of a sentence into two-word utterances that can be understood in context.

3. Telegraphic stage (24 months): Children produce 3-4 word utterances, omitting less crucial words.

4. Post-telegraphic stage (36 months): Children become more aware of grammar needed in a sentence.

Vocabulary: Holophrase - A single word used to express a complex idea, phrase, or sentence.

Example: In the two-word stage, a child might say "Mommy shoe" to mean "This is Mommy's shoe" or "Mommy, I want my shoe."

This progression demonstrates how children gradually build more complex grammatical structures as they develop linguistically.