Theories of FLA
Theory of Imitation
Children imitate what their parent say
Theory of Imitation flaw
Children make errors that parents do not
Name a VP in the sentence, "We were making food when the doorbell rang." using a constituency test.
e.g. 'were making food,' 'rang'
Code-switching
Switching from one language to another
Theory of Correction/Reinforcement
Correction of 'bad' sentences + reinforcement for correct speech
Theory of Correction/Reinforcement flaw
No systematic reinforcement by parents/adults
Name which sounds are voiceless: [s, g, tʃ, h, dʒ, m, p]
[s, tʃ, h, p]
Bilingualism / Multilingualism
Fluency in multiple languages
Theory of Analogy
Children make similarly-structured sentences to the ones they hear
Theory of Analogy flaw
Kids can distinguish verb-specific sentence structures (I painted the barn red. vs. I saw the barn red)
Lingua franca
Any language used to enable communication between people with differing native languages (e.g. English, Mandarin, Spanish)
Language shift
When native speakers switch languages permanently
Theory of Innateness
Knowledge is innately specified through Universal Grammar
Theory of Innateness flaw
Minimals flaws for this theory!
Pidgin
Simplified language used in certain interactions (business, service, trade); no native speakers
Language death
When the last speaker of a language dies
Critical Theory Hypothesis
Children can acquire language at the native level only during a certain time frame
Innate factors of language
Having a lexicon, sentences having organization, having a limited sound inventory
Creoles
Fully developed natural language with complex grammar; acquired as a native language;
Learned factors
Vocab, word order, sound inventory of a language