The Behaviourist Theory
The behaviourist theory can be traced to the work of Evan Pavlov, B. F, Skinner, J. B. Watson and E. I. Thondike. The behaviourists base their influence on scientific and behavioural psychology. Child’s language acquisition and development. Skinner (18) notes that behaviour is learned by interaction. This means that environment plays a lot of role in language acquisition. The major tenent of the behaviourist theory is that all linguistic descriptions are based on observable tenets such as imitation, contextual generalization and stimulus- response approach. The behaviourists visualizes child’s mind at birth as a blank slate which at birth lacks any inborn capacity to acquire language. The fact that, the child eventually speaks is attributed to training. They believe that language is a behaviour like any other behaviour, which is learnt by process of habit formation. The child’s language behaviour is dependent on environment. The child imitates the sound pattern he hears around him so that they become a matter of habit carefully imprinted in his mind. They believe that all learning is more or less a mechanical process of habit formation. The skills involved are learned empirically by stimulus response, imitation and practice. The behaviourist theory emphasizes the law of frequency, practice and exercise. Watson (134) notes that when a stimulus and response occur at the same time in close contiguity, the connection between them is strengthen. Hilgand (87) notes that responses that are closely followed by satisfaction are more likely to re-occur when the satisfaction is repeated than response accompanied or closely followed by discomfort. Thondike (78) observes that responses which are followed by satisfaction or pleasure are rein-forced and become more probable in future. The behaviourists believe that, in language learning, environment is helpful because it provides the stimulus and the input required. The skill learning model proposed by Littlewood has its root in behaviourist theory. Skill learning model is guided by two assumptions:
a. language is a performance skill; and
b. productive activities – learning practices of various types- aid the learner to internalize language i.e. use the language without any conscious efforts. This means that the learner must experience the language being used in meaningful ways, either in its spoken or in its written form. The learner must have the opportunity of trying out his skills of making mistakes and being corrected. This means therefore that the family has an important role to play in order to help a child acquire language.
The behaviorist theory of language acquisition is necessary for this study because parents influence their children in the cause of language learning and acquisition. Through interaction, children imitate their parents and older siblings unconsciously. Through corrective feed back and reinforcement, children are likely to learn better and faster. Corrective feed back and positive reinforcement are agents of motivation. Parents’ attitude towards their wards and children is expected to impact greatly on their language acquisition and learning. Through this study, it is therefore believed that this assumption or hypothesis will be tested to verify its validity.
The Mentalist Theory
The Gestalt psychology provides a great support for the development of the mentalist theory. The main factor in Gestalt theory of learning is the development of insight. The mentalist theory has Noan Chomsky as the greatest advocate. The theory sees human language as a complex phenomenon, which cannot be adequately accounted for by the behaviourist explanation of language learning. Lewin (78) maintains that the cognitive theory grew from the concern that behaviour involves more than an environmental stimulus and response, whether it is voluntary or reflexive. The Mentalists believe that children’s language acquisition is not random but rather systematic events at the earliest stages of development. All children appear to pass through similar stages in the acquisition of language despite variation in the speech sample to which they are exposed. Thus they hypothesized that such similarities are due to the fact that all normal children are endowed with similar brains and mental capacity that direct the way and order in which language is acquired. The Mentalist believes that language is an innate faculty. This is to say that we are born with a set of rules about language in our heads, which is referred to as the “Universal Grammar” (UG) or “Language Acquisition Device” (LAD), Chomsky (25). The universal grammar is the basic upon which all human languages are built. Chomsky (1959) gives a number of reasons why this should be so. Among the most important of these reasons is the ease with which children acquire their mother tongue. He claims that it would be little short of miracle if children learnt their language in the same way they learn mathematics. Lightboman and Spada (1993) cited in Otagburuagu (2007:58) noted that language learner depends more on mental operations in order to succeed. The mentalists believe that children are exposed to very little correctly formed language yet they manage to learn their language all the same. Children do not simply copy the language that they hear around them; they deduce rules from it, which they can then use to produce sentences that they never heard before. The summary of the mentalist theory is that there is a device in man, which helps language acquisition and any child born with normal psychological make up in a speech community, must acquire the language of that community.
This theory, I believe will impact on this study because even if children take after their parents in language learning, parents ought to recognize the innate ability of their children to learn language. Since according to this theory every normal born child has this innate ability, the rate at which children learn a language will help parents determine whether their child is normal or abnormal. Parents will also be encouraged to expose their children to their linguistic repertoire.
This study aims therefore to investigate how parents as first and the most frequent caregiver to children impact on their children language learning and acquisition through their behavioural attitudes towards the children and language. Man to a greater extent conditions the environment through his daily activities. Through this study, it is revealed that the environment and society under the influence of man affect children in language learning, either positively or negatively.
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