EDU10002: Understanding Language and Literacy

Assignment 2: Essay

Language it is an important source, because without it people cannot

communicate with one another. “Language is the methods of human
communication. Language acquisition is a development by which human
beings learn to understand and produce language for the determination of
communication” (Swinburn online, 2018). There are three language
acquisition in language they are, nativist theory, behaviourist theory (learning
theory) and interactionist theory. This essay will argue, the meaning of
language and why it is an important source, the meaning of the three
languages acquisition and how are they developed in the initial stages of
early childhood and how is language an important source.

Firstly, language is one of the main sources for communication. Children

develop their language skills based on what they hear around them. Children
can learn and develop our language through play, listening, culture and our
environment. “Pakulak & Neville (2010) state that based on a child
environment they learn their language skills”. Children need to have different
type of learning styles in their early childhood setting to be able to learn
unfamiliar words. Children in an early childhood setting need to base their
learning environment on learning through play. Children in an early age they
always like to move around they cannot sit for a long time, example children
like acting or learning their words based on what toys they are holding. The
Australian Curriculum requires “that children learn about the use of language
for different formal and informal social interactions and about how language
use is influenced by the features of the setting in which it is used” Fellowes
& Oakley, 2014). Educators should always teach children unfamiliar
words every day by, readying stories, showing them pictures or even by
taking the children outside for a walk and asking them if they could name
anything around them. Children always develop their language from what they
hear from adults. Children in an early childhood setting will develop their
language skills based on the environment they have been raised in. language
acquisition is when a person starts to develop their language skills and start
communicating based on what they know. There are three stages of
languages acquisition they are, nativist theory, behaviourist theory (learning
theory) and interactionist theory.

Secondly, we are all born with nativist theory, which means that we all could
learn a language. learning a language when you are young is a lot easier then
learning it when you grow. “Academy (2017) stated that we are all born with
something in our brain called, language acquisition device (LAD). “Nativist
theory also suggests that there is a universal grammar that is shared across
differing languages, because this grammar is part of our genetic make-up”.
(Academy, 2017). Most countries have similar sentences structure like verb
and nouns. Sometimes because of how similar language could be it could
become complicated. Therefore, having the similarity in some languages this
cause some complication in speaking English for some children. Children who
have parents that speak another language at home they can easily learn their
parent’s language when they are children.

Thirdly, behaviourist theory and sometimes it is referred to it as learning

theory. The learning theory is learned through repetition and reinforcement.
When babies start to learn babble, they start getting a reaction from their
parents like a kiss or a hug, once the baby get that reaction from his/her
parents they start making more sounds to get more attention. Children learn
their language from what they hear around them. “As they grow older,
children are praised for speaking properly and corrected when they
misspeak”. (Academy, 2017). For children to learn a language correctly, they
always need to be corrected by resaying the sentence using the correct
wording. Children learn unfamiliar words when they listen to it, that is why it
is important to teach unfamiliar words and sentences to children every day.
When parents or educators show reinforcement to the children when they say
a correct sentence or an unfamiliar word, the child will then be wanting to
learn unfamiliar words to get that reward. Teachers and parents should
always read stories for their children to teach them unfamiliar words and
when they are going for a walk or a drive they should always point names of
things and ask their children if they know what the name of this item is.
Children learn their language through adults. Fourthly, interactionist theory or
sociocultural theory, “combines ideas from sociology and biology to explain
how language is developed”. (Academy, 2017). Based on interactionist theory,
children learn language to be able to communicate with the world. Children
learn how to speak based on their level of environment and socialising. When
we learn a new language, we always learn popular words, for example a
mother will teach her babe words like “mama” and “dada”. when children go
to childcare they always learn things like ABC, Numbers and colours. They
always learn the main concepts or words that will help them speak. Children
learn their language from adults. The words that the children use in their
sentences are the once they always hear and know, that is why adults always
need to teach them unfamiliar words to children. “Language classes often
teach commonly used vocabulary and phrases first, and then focus on
building conversations rather than simple rote memorization” (Academy,
2017). That is why in early childhood we teach children all the bases and
when they go to school they start building on what they learned. Some
parents find that not teaching English to their children until they go to
childcare is a good thing. On the other hand, children do find it hard to
communicate with their educators when they first start. Children need to use
something called Functions of language to be able to communicate and
explain their point to other people. “People use language for a lot of different
purposes, including offering an opinion, entertaining, clarifying or explaining a
point. These purposes are called functions of language” (Fellowes &
Oakley, 2014). Children need to develop their skills of using the correct words
into sentences to be able to communicate with other people.

In conclusion, Language acquisition is when a person starts learning a

language. language is an important source in life, because without language
people cannot communicate to each other. There are three types of Language
acquisition, nativist theory, behaviourist theory (learning theory) and
interactionist theory. Every child can learn a language when they are born,
the reason for that it is because they are born with something called language
acquisition device (LAD). It is very easy to teach a child another language,
citizen call that the nativist theory. When a baby gets a reaction from their
mother or father about a sound, he/ she make they keep on doing it to get the
same reaction. Children learn language based on the place or level of
speaking they are grown up in. Children learn their language from each other,
this theory is called interactionist theory. Children are very easy to learn any
language. Children always learn their language from adults that is why adults
need to teach unfamiliar words for children and correct them when they use a
wrong senesce or word.

References

Academy, K. (2017). Theories of the early stages of language acquisition.

Retrieved from Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
[ACARA]. (2017). Australian Curriculum: F- 10 curriculum: English v.8.3
(Foundation Year, ACELA1439). Retrieved from Fellowes, J., & Oakley, G.
(09/2014). Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition.
[VitalSource]. Retrieved from Pakulak, E., & Neville, H. (2010). Language
development and literacy | Biological bases of language development |
Encyclopedia on early childhood development. Encyclopedia on early
childhood development. Retrieved from 6 EDU10002: Understanding Language
and Literacy Assignment 2: Essay Swinburne online. (2018). 4.2 Introducing
language acquisition theories. Retrieved from 7 ...