How Languages Are Learned

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row longer, sentence subject is included, and the negative usually appears before the verb. “Daddy no comb hair”
o Stage3: negative element is inserted into more complex sentence. Words such as can’t and don’t. “I can’t do it” I don’t want to
o Stage 4: attach negative element to correct form of auxiliary verbs such as “do” and “be”. “You didn’t have supper” “ I don’t have no more candies”
· Questions: predictable order in which –wh words emerge
o What is first, learned as part of a whole “whatsit”
o Where and who next
o Why emerges around second year and becomes a favorite
o Stage 1: single word questions with rising intonation: Mommy book? Correct questions as formulaic chunks
o Stage 2: use the word order of a declarative sentence. With ‘yes/no’ questions, they add rising intonation, with wh-questions, they put a question word at the beginning. “You like this?” I have some?
o Stage 3: notice the structure of questions is different and produce them. “Can I go?” is that mine? They may generalize that putting a verb at the beginning of a sentence forms all questions. “Is the teddy is tired?” do I can have a cookie?”
o Stage 4: Later children begin to use subject-auxiliary inversion and can even add, “do” in sentences. “ Do you like ice cream?”
o Stage 5: combine both operations. “Why can he go out?” may not be able to negate the question as well as invert it. “Why he can’t go out?”
o Stage 6: embedded questions. “I don’t know why he can’t go out?”
· By age of four, most English speaking children have passed through these developmental stages and ask questions that are grammatical and appropriate

THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING FIRST LANGUAGE LEARNING

Behaviorism:

· Believe that traditional language learning is the result of imitation, practice, and feedback on success and habit formation.
· Kids imitate sounds and patter...