Language acquisition

Bambi Schieffelin found that mothers in ….. did not consider their children to be appropriate conversational partners

• Australia
• Papua New guinea

• Canada

Language acquisition is based on internal, language- specific cognitive abilities

• Innatism

• Behaviorist

• Interactional

The best-known proponent in behaviorism was Skinner

• true

• False

In middle-class North Africa homes, researchers observed that adults often modify the way they speak when talking to little children

• False
• True

Answer explanation

In middle-class North American homes, researchers observed that adults often modify the way they speak when talking to little children

Children are biologically programmed for language

• Interactional

• Behaviorist

• Innatist

an innate linguistic knowledge that consists of a set of principles common to all languages

• Universal Grammar

• Language acquisition device

Jean Piaget in an early critique of behaviourism, argued that:

• Input is limited and can be misleading. It contains false starts, incomplete sentences, slips of the tongue.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Chomsky

imitation and practice as the primary process in language development until they form ‘habits’ of correct language use

• The behaviourist perspective

• The innatist perspective

• Interactionist position

Imitation – word-for-word repetition

• true

• false

When children imitate the language they hear around them, they receive “negative reinforcement.”

• false

• true

Answer explanation

When children imitate the language they hear around them, they receive ‘positive reinforcement’