Name of the SLA
Approaches/Theories/Methods
Universal Grammar
Behaviorism
Name of the Concept/Gist of the Theory
Proponent
The theory of the genetic component of the
language faculty, usually credited to Noam
Chomsky. The basic postulate of UG is that a
Noam certain set of structural rules are innate to
Chomsky humans, independent of sensory experience.
With more linguistic stimuli received in the
course of psychological development,
children then adopt specific syntactic rules
that conform to UG.
Behaviorism, also known as behavioral
psychology, is a theory of learning based on
the idea that all behaviors are acquired
B.F. Skinner through conditioning. Conditioning occurs
through interaction with the environment.
Behaviorists believe that our responses to
environmental stimuli shape our actions.
Strengths and Weaknesses
UG is proposed as part of an innate biologically
endowed language which permits the L1 acquirer to
arrive at a grammar on the basis of linguistic
experience (exposure to input). UG provides a genetic
blueprint, determining in advance what grammars can
(and cannot) be like. In the first place, UG places
requirements on the form of grammars, providing an
inventory of possible grammatical categories and
features in the broadest sense.
However, the experience of other people that makes
UG strong for L2 cannot also be compared and applied
to others. Also, other theorists believe that
fossilization is also its weakness when it comes to L2.
Also, others believed that UG is only effective in L1
acquisition.
Behaviorism is based upon observable behaviors, so it
is easier to quantify and collect data and information
when conducting research.
On the other hand, many critics argue that behaviorism
is a one-dimensional approach to understanding
human behavior and that behavioral theories do not
account for free will and internal influences such as
moods, thoughts and feelings.
 Comprehensible Input Stephen Comprehensible input (i + 1) is the formula
Krashen that Krashen holds to for optimal language
learning for second language learners
(SLLs). This states that if a SLL is offered
input that is only slightly beyond what they
already know; acquisition will take place. He
also makes a differentiation between
language learning and language acquisition,
claiming that acquisition is what is needed for
the language learning
Native Language Magnet Kuhl Native Language Magnet Model helps
Theory explain how infants at birth can hear all the
phonetic distinctions used in the world's
languages. According to Kuhl, to acquire a
language, infants have to discover which
phonetic distinctions will be utilized in the
language of their culture and do so by
discriminating among virtually all the
phonetic units of the world's languages.
An explanation of language development
emphasizing the role of social interaction
between the developing child and
Social interactionist theory Lev Vygotsky linguistically knowledgeable adults. It is
based largely on the socio-cultural theories of
Soviet psychologist, Lev Vygotsky.
Usage-Based Theory Michael The usage-based theory of language suggests
Tomasello that children initially build up their language
through very concrete constructions based
around individual words or frames on the
basis of the speech they hear and use.
This aims at language acquisition. Students work
towards creating meaning and understanding one
another. Gives more importance on fluency over
accuracy.
Criticisms of Krashen’s hypothesis are that input alone
does not guarantee acquisition and that some
grammatical forms cannot be learned without being
taught.
Strength: Children acquire their native language in an
effortless manner which following the developmental
paths without the formal analysis of the language
structure in the classroom.
Weakness: Because they learn the language in a
natural way, errors are not corrected right away.
Strength: It takes an assumption that people learn how
to react and act to different circumstances concerning
their societal interactions.
Weaknesses: People responds to the things and to
other people according to the meanings attached to
them. The problem of this theory is that it is unable to
explain where people obtain the meaning of these
symbols.
Strengths: The usage-based theory takes
constructions, which are direct form meaning pairings,
to be the basic units of grammar and believe that
children learn constructions by first mastering specific
 Basically this means that children learn instances before going on to generalize and use the
language from their language experiences constructions productively with other lexical items.
and a language structure emerges from
language use. Weaknesses: The usage-based perspective on the
human capacity for language is in contrast to
approaches which instead attribute linguistic structure
to an innate, highly abstract, and language-specific
endowment. At the heart of most misunderstandings
is the idea that usage-based analyses only do number
crunching with too much focus on the effects that the
frequency of constructions and other cues play in the
learning process.

Optimality Theory Optimality Optimality theory is a general model of how
Theory (OT) grammars are structured. It suggests that the
was originally observed forms of language arise from the
proposed by interaction between conflicting constraints
Alan Prince and like other models of linguistics, contain
and Paul an input and an output and a relation between
Smolensky. the two. A constraint is a structural
requirement that may be either satisfied or
violated by an output form and a surface
form. A constraint is considered optimal if it
incurs the least serious violations of a set of
constraints, taking into account their
hierarchical ranking.
Adaptive Control of R.C. Anderson -It considered the human being’s ability to
Thought(ACT) acquire language as merely a component of
highly complex cognitive structures.
Intelligence is simply gathering together and
Strengths: In optimality theory, the essence of both
language learning in general (learnability) and
language acquisition (actual development children go
through) entails the rankings of constraints from an
initial state of the grammar to the language specific
ranking of the target grammar.
Weaknesses: One criticism of this theory is directed at
its application to phonology (rather than syntax or
other fields). It is claimed that Optimality Theory
cannot account for phonological opacity. In
derivational phonology, effects that are inexplicable at
the surface level but are explainable through "opaque"
rule ordering may be seen; but in Optimality Theory,
which has no intermediate levels for rules to operate
on, these effects are difficult to explain.
This theory explains the complexity of learning the
language. It can explain how schematic information
can lead into a more meaningful knowledge. However,
its complexity cannot be easily understood. An

Common Underlying Jim Cummins
Proficiency (CUP)
. language learning aptitude they display in learner did not exceed the critical age of learning
fine-tuning of many small units of knowledge elaboration of this model will somehow lead more into
that in total produce complex thinking. confusion rather than simplifying explanation of the
process of language acquisition.
The learners possess a built-in ability to This language theory stresses the importance of early
acquire a second language using the same linguistic exposure to the L2 wherein as long as the
acquiring their basic master L1 in 5 years or another language, then easiness in acquisition is
less achieved. However, such context do not necessarily
apply to those learners who are lately exposed to the
target language. As certain language acquisition may
occur such as fossilization, pidgination, and language
mistakes.