THEORIES ON LINGUISTIC AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
Learning Theory
Accounts of language development which emphasize that language acquisition can be
explained using the principles of learning such as classical conditioning, operant conditioning,
and observational learning.
Skinner argued that children learn language as parents selectively reward or punish only those
behaviors which they recognize as appropriate, grammatically correct utterances.
Bandura argued that language learning takes place primarily by processes of observation &
imitation. Simply put, children overhear language being used and they imitate the behavior of
these models.
Nativist Theory
The nativist view of language development is traced back to the work of Noam Chomsky (1957).
Chomsky argued that language is the product of an unlearned, biologically-based, internal
mental structure.
Because the rules which underlie a language are too complex to be acquired by children in a
few short years, some aspects of language must be innately specified.
Interactionist Theories
Interactionist theories are concerned with the interplay between environmental & biological
factors in the process of acquiring language.
Interactionists tend to view children as having a strong biological predisposition to acquire a
language.
However, in contrast to nativists, interactionists stress the importance of both the social support
that parents provide the young language learner, as well as the social contexts in which
language-learning child is instructed.
Theory of Cognitive Development
One of the most famous theories used to explain children’s overall cognitive development.
It can be used by literacy educators to understand the learning stages through which students
progress as they mature and their relationship to literacy achievement.
Piaget describes four stages of Cognitive Development:
Sensorimotor: Birth – 2 Years of Age
Preoperational: 2 Years of Age – 7 Years of Age
Concrete Operational: 7 Years of Age – 11 Years of Age
Formal Operational: 11 Years of Age - Adult
Maturation Theory
Morphett and Washburne proposed the theory in 1931 to advocate for not teaching reading until
children were mature enough for instruction.
They hypothesized that this could happen when children were a mental age of 6 1/2.
Learning Theory
Accounts of language development which emphasize that language acquisition can be
explained using the principles of learning such as classical conditioning, operant conditioning,
and observational learning.
Skinner argued that children learn language as parents selectively reward or punish only those
behaviors which they recognize as appropriate, grammatically correct utterances.
Bandura argued that language learning takes place primarily by processes of observation &
imitation. Simply put, children overhear language being used and they imitate the behavior of
these models.
Nativist Theory
The nativist view of language development is traced back to the work of Noam Chomsky (1957).
Chomsky argued that language is the product of an unlearned, biologically-based, internal
mental structure.
Because the rules which underlie a language are too complex to be acquired by children in a
few short years, some aspects of language must be innately specified.
Interactionist Theories
Interactionist theories are concerned with the interplay between environmental & biological
factors in the process of acquiring language.
Interactionists tend to view children as having a strong biological predisposition to acquire a
language.
However, in contrast to nativists, interactionists stress the importance of both the social support
that parents provide the young language learner, as well as the social contexts in which
language-learning child is instructed.
Theory of Cognitive Development
One of the most famous theories used to explain children’s overall cognitive development.
It can be used by literacy educators to understand the learning stages through which students
progress as they mature and their relationship to literacy achievement.
Piaget describes four stages of Cognitive Development:
Sensorimotor: Birth – 2 Years of Age
Preoperational: 2 Years of Age – 7 Years of Age
Concrete Operational: 7 Years of Age – 11 Years of Age
Formal Operational: 11 Years of Age - Adult
Maturation Theory
Morphett and Washburne proposed the theory in 1931 to advocate for not teaching reading until
children were mature enough for instruction.
They hypothesized that this could happen when children were a mental age of 6 1/2.
