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Language Development ~ Nature? or Nurture
In a relatively short time after their birth, children tend to acquire and readily make use of language, to be able to communicate with those central to their world, and those outside of it. In all actual fact, this is nothing short of miraculous, when you understand what it takes to be able to get from one stage to the point of being fully literate. Here is where the nature/nurture debate steps in and presents us with several reasons why language acquisition is pushed along by both nature and nurture, and not simply one or the other.
Cooing: Appears at about 6 months or so. All infants coo using all the phonemes from every language. Even congenitally deaf children coo.
Pre - Linguistic/Babbling: Appears at around 9 months. Infants are starting to selectively use the phonemes from their native language.
One-word utterances: At around 12 months, children start using words.
Telegraphic speech: Children start making multi-word utterances that lack function words. (about 2 years old)
Normal speech: By about 5-6 years of age, children have almost normal speech
It is the function of Nature for children to begin communicating straight away, and it is the function of Nurture for those of us who are their parents, and care givers, to teach them our individual languages. Children are born with the ability to speak any language, or even several of them. We nurture it into them from a young age. Interlocution occurs between mother and baby whilst the mother is feeding. The baby, even at this very young age, learns the basics of taking turns speaking. According to B.F. Skinner (1957), he claims language is acquired in much the same method as any other behaviour ~ through the principles of operant conditioning. He refers to language as "verbal reinforcement", and proposes that principles such as reinforcement and behaviour shaping are used via the following manner:
Tacts ~
This is when a random sound is taken and interpreted by an adult to mean something
rather specific. For example, if the child utters "ma - ma", clearly, to the mother, this is what the child was meaning to say - He or she actually recognised that this was the sound words for the parent in question, or so it has been interpreted by the parent!
Mands ~
This is making use of a sound that relates it to a physical object, and are reinforced by the use of that object. For example, when the child is asked "where's loo"? and responds with "loo popped", it is taken to mean that the balloon no longer exists, because it has sadly met its demise...
Echoic Responses ~
These tend to be sounds made simply for the pleasure of making them, and are being madeand responded to simultaneously, giving the effect of being "echoed". For example, the child sits quite placidly, watching the television, and an advert comes on, and he or she sings or speaks right along, without regard for why, simply for the pleasure of repeating the sounds.
Selective Reinforcement ~
This phase is simply reinforcing certain verbal behaviour so that the child's speech is
gradually shaped, Those sounds or words which are not continuously reinforced, or being made regular use of, tend to become extinguished over time. Chomsky hypothesized that children have a built-in system to aid in the acquisition of language called a Language - Acquisition Device. The Language - Acquisition Device can be thought of as a system containing a large number of switches that determine the features of the native language. For example, there would be a switch for describing whether the language is English, Japanese, Italian, or some other combination.
Between Skinner and Chomsky, Skinner's ideals pointed towards language being
something acquired eventually, which suggests it has been nurtured in at some point, while Chomsky's ideals point towards it being inherently nature, because he states that we all have this Language Acquisition Device within us, which simply throws a switch as and when the child becomes ready to progress. Creativity, according to Chomsky, explains how children are able to make words plural, though they have never before heard the word being spoken, but somehow, they have identified the need to turn their speech into something more along the lines of being multi-faceted, rather than simply one - dimensional. Children tend to understand that the use os "s" and "ed" is equivalent to saying "this has already happened", and is therefore, past tense.
The Nurture argument becomes more important when we look into the critical period for acquiring the ability to properly converse. The critical period for language acquisition, corresponds roughly to the time just prior to puberty, or 12 years old. After puberty sets in,it becomes exceedingly difficult, if not totally impossible to acquire a language like a native speaker will. In other words, if you have not been exposed to language as a child, it is doubtful you will acquire it all that well, no matter how predisposed your cognitive system may be to learn it.
This actually supports Skinner's theories that nurturing language
development into our children is not only helpful, but beneficial to their personal growth. But it also supports the nature argument as well, in that if a child never hears speech, or not enough of it to aid their verbal abilities, language acquisition will not progress as it would under normal circumstances, and no progression of proper speech will properly develop.
Children not only acquire words, but also the knowledge of how to make use of them at an increased rate than would be possible by Skinner's explanation. Children persist in the use of incorrect grammar, even though they may be encouraged to use proper speech. It is simply that the child is not yet ready to learn, and so he or she does not see the need to employ proper speech. Therefore, Skinner's ideals of constant positive reinforcement was not totally conducive to the child's linguistic development.
Another argument in favor of nature, according to Eric Lenneberg, is that we are all
biologically equipped for speech. He states that we have sophisticated vocal apparatus, along with certain areas of the brain which are directly tied in with speech/language capabilities. He argued that "If behaviour is biologically controlled, (meaning, having no input from an outside source) it will have certain features", those being a sequence of "milestones" which, when gone through, certain behaviours tend to manifest during a sensitive period, which is when a behaviour is more likely to develop. He maintained that these features are apparent in language much the same as they would be in walking. He maintains that walking, much like language, indeed, a body language of its own, also hasa biological basis.
It would seem that there are many beneficial aspects to be learned from both sides of the nature/nurture argument, and also that both are very nearly on equal footing with regards to the development of speech in children. The nature side of the equation provides the biases that guide what features of language kids pay attention to. The nurture side is theimportant part that we provide to our children to ensure continuity of speech that is inherent to our survival.
Copyright ~ Silver Rainbolt 2004 ~ All Rights Reserved
You may not legally copy any part of this document without prior written consent of the author. Doing so, infringes upon copyright, and is punishable under the law.
Copyright 2003/2004 held by Silver Rainbolt/In Medias Res, and Damien Daville/Vampire Church
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