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Basic Linguistics
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Famous Theories
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100

The smallest unit of sound.

What is phoneme?

100
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well formed sentences.
What is syntax?
100
Innatist who developed the idea of Universal Grammar
Who is Noam Chomsky?
100

The belief that humans are born with the ability specifically designed for acquiring language.

What is innatist?

100
Providing feedback by repeating a learner's incorrect utterance correctly.
What is recast?
200
The study of meaning of a language.
What is semantics?
200
The smallest grammatical unit in a language.
What is a morpheme?
200
Second language acquisition theorist who has a five-point hypothesis.
Who is Stephen Krashen?
200
Theory based on learners innate abilities AND the opportunity to be in conversation with others. Interlocutors often must use modified speech.
What is interactionist?
200
Adapted speech used to address children or language learners.
What is modified input?
300
Participant in a conversation.
What is an interlocutor?
300

The study of how sounds are organized and used in langauges.

What is phonology?

300
Behaviorist who was most famous in the 1940s and 1950s.
Who is B. F. Skinner?
300
The belief that learning happens with habits are developed. Language learners repeat the utterances around them and, with positive reinforcement, language is acquired.
What is behaviorism?
300
A type of error where the learner leaves out parts of a sentence. For example: using the same form of the verb regardless of person, number, or tense.
What is simplification?
400
A word in one language that resembles a word in another language and has the same meaning.
What is a cognate?
400
The idea that the way a phrase is said impacts the meaning.
What is pragmatics?
400
Interactionist who developed the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development.
Who is Vygotsky?
400
The idea that language is first social and then individual. Learning is dependent on face-to-face interaction.
What is sociocultural theory?
400
A type of error where the learner is trying to use the rule in a context where it does not belong. For example: putting an "ed" at the end of an irregular verb as in buyed instead of bought.
What is overgeneralization?
500
When a learner has support and interaction with a interlocutor which leads to a higher level of performance.
What is Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?
500
Catalog of the words in any given language.
What is a lexicon?
500
One of the earliest behaviorists who studied children in the 1950s.
Who is Piaget?
500
Sees second language acquisition as a conscious and reasoned thinking process, involving the deliberate use of learning strategies.
What is cognitive theory?
500
Period of time when learner is able to hear and to listen to the language without being pressured to speak it.
What is the silent period?