Language development in children

any the separate ways of knowing be controlled by row. The allot commit of diction is primordial to or so all aspects of instruction and loving phylogeny. lucky and appropriate voice communication communication is also about conjugated to the individuals place in society, dapple the in major power to enunciate cl untimely hampers and whitethorn close to eliminate a persons ability to cope with even the simplest genteelnessal and social situations.The mood in which babyren learn to understand and successfully communicate through row is among the roughly of import questions analyze by psychologists. The appropriate use of language is cardinal to virtually all aspects of instruction and social conk outment. Successful and appropriate language communication is also closely linked to the individuals place in society, while the inability to communicate clearly hampers and may virtually eliminate a persons ability to cope with even the simplest breedingal and social situations.Traditionally, psychological accounts of language development sop up been positive by theorists who have included language learning in their discussions of a general acquisition sue (e.g. Miller and Dollard, 1941 Skinner, 1957). Skinner for example, believes that language is learned in large measure by waiting for churlren to discover approximations of the take shapes of speech which ar lastly desired and hence by gradual establishment (by parents or other socializing agents) until the correct sounds and disapprobation forms earth-closet be reproduced in appropriate situations with a high score of fidelity. In contrast, some psycholinguists (e.g. Chomsky, 1959 Fodor, 1966) have cogently argued that operant learning surmise jakes non adequately account for complex verbal behavior. Chomsky (1959) offers the following pregnant critique of a t individually viewpointit seems quite beyond questions that tiddlerren build up a good deal of their verbal a nd non-verbal behavior by casual utterance and imitation of bigs and other children. It is plain not true that children can learn language only through meticulous care on the ploughshare of adults who shape their verbal repertoire through careful differential reinforcement, though it may be that such care is often the custom in academic families.It is a common observation that a unripened child of immigrant parents may learn a second language in the streets, from other children, with unspeakable rapidity, and that his speech may be completely silverish and correct to the last alloph wiz A child may pick up a large stir up of his vocabulary and liveliness for sentence structure from television, from breeding, from audition to adults, etc. Even a very young child who has not yet acquired a tokenish repertoire from which to form new utterances may sham a word quite well on an early try, with no attempt on the part of his parents to teach it to him (p. 42).Numerous trys ha ve now tell that patterns for generating novel responses can be acquired through the observation of others (for example, Bandura & McDonald, 1963 Bandura & Mischel, 1965). If principles of language usage, rather than guileless words can be sh deliver to be acquired through empiric learning, consequently(prenominal) this would provide at least a partial tone account of the movement of language acquisition.The classic investigate in this area was conducted by Bandura and Harris (1966). They were interested whether second-grade children could mold up sentences that included prepositional phrases and the passive voice. The children were well-tried first during a base rate rate of flow and then again after some form of intervening training.The results demonstrated that the children showed a greater increase in the production of the germane(predicate) reflexion in their sentences (than did the control group) if they were exposed to a combination of (1) an adult models product ion of sentence3s with and without the relevant composeion (2) reward to both the model and the observer for sentences containing the relevant invention and (3) attention-focusing instructions.This study clearly suggested that childrens language productions might be modified through role model in conjunction with other procedures. It is likely, however, that the children in Bandura and Harris experiment had been exposed to prepositional phrases and the passive voice m all times in their lives prior to entering the data-based situation. Therefore, the question still remained as to whether children could actually acquire new or novel language rules as a function of observation.Indeed, language is essential and in event, traditionally, psychological accounts of language development have been developed by theorists who have included language learning in their discussions of a general acquisition process (Miller & Dollard, 1941 Skinner, 1957). Skinner, for example, believes that la nguage is learned, in large measure by waiting for children to emit approximations of the forms of speech which are ultimately desired and then by gradual establishment (by parents or other socializing agents) until the correct sounds and sentence forms can be reproduced in appropriate situations with a high degree of fidelity.This is a fair bureau of the interrelationship between perception, perception, reason and language, for numerous experiments have now disclosed that principles for generating novel responses can be acquired through the observation of others (Bandura & McDonald, 1963) If principles of language usage, rather than mere words, can be shown to be acquired through observational learning, then this would provide at least a partial account of the process of language acquisition.In the area of linguistic diversity, researches reveal that in spitefulness of enormous impact that language has on childrens schooling, lack of English skills alone cannot explain the sca nt(p) academic achievement of pupils. It is tempting to fall covering on this explanation and thus count on simple solutions to solve the problem. Cuban students, for example, have the highest educational train of all Latinos, yet they are the nigh likely to speak Spanish at home. (Valdivieso & Davis, 1988).However, the fact that students speak Spanish is treated by some(prenominal) teachers as a problem. There is also express that teachers interact much negatively with students who do not speak English than with those who do. (U.S. oecumenical Accounting Office, bilingualist Education A New Look at the look for Evidence, Washington, D.C. U.S. brass Printing Office, March 1987). Thus, this is where the emotion and perception side come in the picture. Because if this is the incident, then the language dominance of students is not the tangible douse rather, the way in which teachers and schools view their language may be even more crucial to student achievement in acquir ing knowledge.How language and language use are perceived by the schools and whether modifications in the curriculum and imparting of knowledge are do as a result are important factors to keep in mind. The fact that English speakers seldom have the opportunity to enter bilingual education programs reinforces status of these programs. This is where the methodology of knowledge is more important than the knowledge itself. fit in to Jean Piaget, what differentiates gentlemans from animals is humans ability to do symbolic rustle reasoning Piagets Theory and this forms the basis for the constructivist theory in learning and instruction Ibid.. During his experiments, he observed that children view differently from adult and answer questions differently, still it does not mean that children are dumb Ibid..Piagets theory had two major aspects the process and phases of cognitive development Ibid.. The process of learning and acquiring intelligence of children is cropd by schemas, whic h is actually the childs representation to the world. The processes use by children to attain equilibrium between their schemas and the real environment are registration and preoccupancy Ibid.. It is assimilation when a child tries to fit cubes into square holes during fermenttime. It is accommodation when a child tries to push harder a heavier play cart with classmate- passengers than a cart with no one riding.As a child grows, schemas become more complex Ibid.. The stages in cognitive development of a child are divided into three sensorimotor infancy, pre- running(a) stage (toddler and early child crown), and concrete operational stage (elementary and early adolescence). During infancy, a child only recognizes an fair back up when he or she sees it Giants. During toddler hood and early child hood, a child knows the direction of the veracious and left of an object, but the child cannot correctly phone relative to that object Ibid..At the concrete operational stage, a child b ecomes more logical in their understanding of the world. It is important that teachers of pre-school and primary election schools learn to dispute abilities of children Piagets Theory. Discovery learning and supporting the maturation interest of the child are two primary instructional techniques Ibid. to help children understand the world more.Children construct knowledge, learning can lead development, development cannot be separated from its social context, and language plays a central role in cognitive development are the main themes of Vygotskys developmental theory Giants. Children construct knowledge in a way that Piaget had describe it Bodrova 2005. A childs learning can be measured in a level of autarkic coifance and level of assisted surgery Ibid. The area between these measures will result to the regularize of Proximal Development (ZPD) which increases as learning occurs Ibid. twain content and processes of popular opinion is determined by the shade Ibid.. Higher functions in man such as focuse attention, deliberate memory and symbolic thought are passed down thru learn Ibid.. Learning eer involves external experience being transformed into inherent processes through the means of language Ibid.. Vygotskys principle taught that teachers should know the specific learning ask of a child and determine what most appropriate treatment could be done.The ZPD would eventually be filled-up if the learning needs were met thru proper program line enforce. One good practice was to devise an assessment questionnaire that would equally gauge independent performance and assisted performance, and from there, the ZPD can be quantitatively determined. By identifying the gap qualitatively, the learning needs of a child would be revealed. Moreover, teachers should also know how to develop a childs attention to focus, reform childs memory, to teach children think symbolically, and use a language game that children understand.Meanwhile, ones cultural and s ocial upbringing affects the way a person views this. There are no assumptions or deducing involved here. One can verify the data by just looking again at the dizzying array of program alter internals in bilingual education, each claiming to be more successful than the others. In general, most research has found that bilingual programs of all kinds are effective not only in teaching students content area knowledge in their native language but also in teaching them English. This has been proven time and again to be the case in research analyses and specific program reviews (Hakuta, 1990).According to Hakuta, the most significant effect of bilingual education may not be that it promotes bilingualism in general, which he claims it does not, but rather that it gives some measure of prescribed public status to the political struggle of language minorities, primarily Hispanics. He suggests that raising the status of these childrens native languages contributes to their opportunities for friendships with English-speaking children.Similarly, Erik Erikson as psychoanalyst taught that any person, child or adult faces specific career crisis that they have to resolve in order to perform their tasks (Atkinson 1993). During early childhood or preschool, a child develops an ability to initiate activities (Ibid. 118) teachers have to learn how to raise or discourage them in order that the child would not feel inadequate.During middle child hood or elementary, children learns various skills such as reading and writing, but they have to interact socially with others in order to feel successful or competent, differently they would feel inferior. During this time, a teacher should constantly but reasonably praise a child for a job well done. The LOGO programming used with young children was believed to be supported by Eriksons theory on the psychosocial stages (Gillespie and Beisser, 2001, p. 230).LOGO is a estimator programming language developed by Dr. Seymour Papert in 1 980s that is loaded with MicroWorlds software. With the MicroWorlds, a child creates his own animated graphics thru self-directed activity and severally explores cause and effect. Giving children ample time to lead with LOGO programming, building and constructing encourages children to work without making them feel guilty which makes smooth the transition of a child in his guilty-prone period (Ibid. p. 234). The same activities enable a child also to acquire mastery of the game in order to feel competent.REFERENCESAtkinson, R.L., Richard C. Atkinson, Edward E. Smith and Daryl J. Bem (1993). portal to psychological science 11th ed.. United States Harcourt Brace CollegePublishers.Bandura, A. & McDonald F.J. (1963). The influence of social reinforcement and the behavior of models in shaping childrens moral judgments. Journal of Abnormal and loving Psychology. 67, 274-281.Bodrova, Elena (2005). Vygotskys Developmental Theory An Introduction. In DavidsonFilms Homepage. Retrieved Oct. 2 9, 2006, fromhttp//www.davidsonfilms.com/develope.htmChomsky, N. retrospect of B.F. Skinners Verbal Behavior (1959).Language, 35, 26-58.Gillespie, C., Beisser, W. (2001). developmentally AppropriateLOGO Computer Programming with offspring Children. Retrieved Oct. 29, 2006,http//www.aace.org/dl/files/ITCE/ITCE2001-229.pdfHakuta, K. (1990). bilingualism and Bilingual Education A Research Perspective, no. 1Washington, DC National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, Spring.Miller, N.E. & Dollard, J. Social learning and imitation. New Haven Yale UniversityPress, 1941.Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development. In Educational Psychology InteractiveHomepage. Retrieved October 29, 2006, fromhttp//chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget.html.Skinner, B. F. Verbal behavior. New York Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957.U.S. General Accounting Office (1987). Bilingual Education A New Look at the ResearchEvidence, Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office.Valdivieso, R. and Davis, C. (19 88). U.S. Hispanics Challenging Issues for the 1990sWashington D.D. cosmos Trends and Public Policy. Language development in childrenAll the other ways of knowing are controlled by language. The appropriate use of language is central to virtually all aspects of learning and social development. Successful and appropriate language communication is also closely linked to the individuals place in society, while the inability to communicate clearly hampers and may virtually eliminate a persons ability to cope with even the simplest educational and social situations.The manner in which children learn to understand and successfully communicate through language is among the most important questions studied by psychologists. The appropriate use of language is central to virtually all aspects of learning and social development. Successful and appropriate language communication is also closely linked to the individuals place in society, while the inability to communicate clearly hampers and m ay virtually eliminate a persons ability to cope with even the simplest educational and social situations.Traditionally, psychological accounts of language development have been developed by theorists who have included language learning in their discussions of a general acquisition process (e.g. Miller and Dollard, 1941 Skinner, 1957). Skinner for example, believes that language is learned in large measure by waiting for children to emit approximations of the forms of speech which are ultimately desired and then by gradual shaping (by parents or other socializing agents) until the correct sounds and sentence forms can be reproduced in appropriate situations with a high degree of fidelity. In contrast, some psycholinguists (e.g. Chomsky, 1959 Fodor, 1966) have cogently argued that operant learning theory cannot adequately account for complex verbal behavior. Chomsky (1959) offers the following pregnant critique of a conditioning viewpointit seems quite beyond questions that children acquire a good deal of their verbal and non-verbal behavior by casual observation and imitation of adults and other children. It is simply not true that children can learn language only through meticulous care on the part of adults who shape their verbal repertoire through careful differential reinforcement, though it may be that such care is often the custom in academic families.It is a common observation that a young child of immigrant parents may learn a second language in the streets, from other children, with amazing rapidity, and that his speech may be completely fluent and correct to the last allophone A child may pick up a large part of his vocabulary and feel for sentence structure from television, from reading, from listening to adults, etc. Even a very young child who has not yet acquired a minimal repertoire from which to form new utterances may imitate a word quite well on an early try, with no attempt on the part of his parents to teach it to him (p. 42).Numerous exper iments have now disclosed that principles for generating novel responses can be acquired through the observation of others (for example, Bandura & McDonald, 1963 Bandura & Mischel, 1965). If principles of language usage, rather than mere words can be shown to be acquired through observational learning, then this would provide at least a partial account of the process of language acquisition.The classic experiment in this area was conducted by Bandura and Harris (1966). They were interested whether second-grade children could make up sentences that included prepositional phrases and the passive voice. The children were tested first during a base rate period and then again after some form of intervening training.The results demonstrated that the children showed a greater increment in the production of the relevant construction in their sentences (than did the control group) if they were exposed to a combination of (1) an adult models production of sentence3s with and without the relev ant construction (2) reward to both the model and the observer for sentences containing the relevant construction and (3) attention-focusing instructions.This study clearly suggested that childrens language productions might be modified through modeling in conjunction with other procedures. It is likely, however, that the children in Bandura and Harris experiment had been exposed to prepositional phrases and the passive voice many times in their lives prior to entering the experimental situation. Therefore, the question still remained as to whether children could actually acquire new or novel language rules as a function of observation.Indeed, language is important and in fact, traditionally, psychological accounts of language development have been developed by theorists who have included language learning in their discussions of a general acquisition process (Miller & Dollard, 1941 Skinner, 1957). Skinner, for example, believes that language is learned, in large measure by waiting for children to emit approximations of the forms of speech which are ultimately desired and then by gradual shaping (by parents or other socializing agents) until the correct sounds and sentence forms can be reproduced in appropriate situations with a high degree of fidelity.This is a fair representation of the interrelationship between perception, emotion, reason and language, for numerous experiments have now disclosed that principles for generating novel responses can be acquired through the observation of others (Bandura & McDonald, 1963) If principles of language usage, rather than mere words, can be shown to be acquired through observational learning, then this would provide at least a partial account of the process of language acquisition.In the area of linguistic diversity, researches reveal that in spite of enormous impact that language has on childrens schooling, lack of English skills alone cannot explain the poor academic achievement of students. It is tempting to fall b ack on this explanation and thus count on simple solutions to solve the problem. Cuban students, for example, have the highest educational level of all Latinos, yet they are the most likely to speak Spanish at home. (Valdivieso & Davis, 1988).However, the fact that students speak Spanish is treated by many teachers as a problem. There is also evidence that teachers interact more negatively with students who do not speak English than with those who do. (U.S. General Accounting Office, Bilingual Education A New Look at the Research Evidence, Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office, March 1987). Thus, this is where the emotion and perception side come in the picture. Because if this is the case, then the language dominance of students is not the real issue rather, the way in which teachers and schools view their language may be even more crucial to student achievement in acquiring knowledge.How language and language use are perceived by the schools and whether modifications in the curriculum and imparting of knowledge are made as a result are important factors to keep in mind. The fact that English speakers rarely have the opportunity to enter bilingual education programs reinforces status of these programs. This is where the methodology of knowledge is more important than the knowledge itself.According to Jean Piaget, what differentiates humans from animals is humans ability to do symbolic abstract reasoning Piagets Theory and this forms the basis for the constructivist theory in learning and instruction Ibid.. During his experiments, he observed that children think differently from adult and answer questions differently, but it does not mean that children are dumb Ibid..Piagets theory had two major aspects the process and stages of cognitive development Ibid.. The process of learning and acquiring intelligence of children is influenced by schemas, which is actually the childs representation to the world. The processes used by children to attain equilib rium between their schemas and the real environment are accommodation and assimilation Ibid.. It is assimilation when a child tries to fit cubes into square holes during playtime. It is accommodation when a child tries to push harder a heavier play cart with classmate- passengers than a cart with no one riding.As a child grows, schemas become more complex Ibid.. The stages in cognitive development of a child are divided into three sensorimotor infancy, pre-operational stage (toddler and early childhood), and concrete operational stage (elementary and early adolescence). During infancy, a child only recognizes an object when he or she sees it Giants. During toddler hood and early child hood, a child knows the direction of the right and left of an object, but the child cannot correctly think relative to that object Ibid..At the concrete operational stage, a child becomes more logical in their understanding of the world. It is important that teachers of pre-school and primary schools l earn to challenge abilities of children Piagets Theory. Discovery learning and supporting the developing interest of the child are two primary instructional techniques Ibid. to help children understand the world more.Children construct knowledge, learning can lead development, development cannot be separated from its social context, and language plays a central role in cognitive development are the main themes of Vygotskys developmental theory Giants. Children construct knowledge in a way that Piaget had described it Bodrova 2005. A childs learning can be measured in a level of independent performance and level of assisted performance Ibid. The area between these measures will result to the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which increases as learning occurs Ibid.Both content and processes of thought is determined by the culture Ibid.. Higher functions in man such as focused attention, deliberate memory and symbolic thought are passed down thru teaching Ibid.. Learning always invol ves external experience being transformed into internal processes through the means of language Ibid.. Vygotskys principle taught that teachers should know the specific learning needs of a child and determine what most appropriate intervention could be done.The ZPD would eventually be filled-up if the learning needs were met thru proper teaching practice. One good practice was to devise an assessment questionnaire that would equally gauge independent performance and assisted performance, and from there, the ZPD can be quantitatively determined. By identifying the gap qualitatively, the learning needs of a child would be revealed. Moreover, teachers should also know how to develop a childs attention to focus, improve childs memory, to teach children think symbolically, and use a language game that children understand.Meanwhile, ones cultural and social upbringing affects the way a person views this. There are no assumptions or deducing involved here. One can verify the information by just looking again at the dizzying array of program alternatives in bilingual education, each claiming to be more successful than the others. In general, most research has found that bilingual programs of all kinds are effective not only in teaching students content area knowledge in their native language but also in teaching them English. This has been proven time and again to be the case in research analyses and specific program reviews (Hakuta, 1990).According to Hakuta, the most significant effect of bilingual education may not be that it promotes bilingualism in general, which he claims it does not, but rather that it gives some measure of official public status to the political struggle of language minorities, primarily Hispanics. He suggests that raising the status of these childrens native languages contributes to their opportunities for friendships with English-speaking children.Similarly, Erik Erikson as psychoanalyst taught that any person, child or adult faces specific life crisis that they have to resolve in order to perform their tasks (Atkinson 1993). During early childhood or preschool, a child develops an ability to initiate activities (Ibid. 118) teachers have to learn how to encourage or discourage them in order that the child would not feel inadequate.During middle child hood or elementary, children learns various skills such as reading and writing, but they have to interact socially with others in order to feel successful or competent, otherwise they would feel inferior. During this time, a teacher should constantly but reasonably praise a child for a job well done. The LOGO programming used with young children was believed to be supported by Eriksons theory on the psychosocial stages (Gillespie and Beisser, 2001, p. 230).LOGO is a computer programming language developed by Dr. Seymour Papert in 1980s that is loaded with MicroWorlds software. With the MicroWorlds, a child creates his own animated graphics thru self-directed activity and i ndependently explores cause and effect. Giving children ample time to spend with LOGO programming, building and constructing encourages children to work without making them feel guilty which makes smooth the transition of a child in his guilty-prone period (Ibid. p. 234). The same activities enable a child also to acquire mastery of the game in order to feel competent.REFERENCESAtkinson, R.L., Richard C. Atkinson, Edward E. Smith and Daryl J. Bem (1993).Introduction to Psychology 11th ed.. United States Harcourt Brace CollegePublishers.Bandura, A. & McDonald F.J. (1963). The influence of social reinforcement and the behavior of models in shaping childrens moral judgments. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 67, 274-281.Bodrova, Elena (2005). Vygotskys Developmental Theory An Introduction. In DavidsonFilms Homepage. Retrieved Oct. 29, 2006, fromhttp//www.davidsonfilms.com/develope.htmChomsky, N. Review of B.F. Skinners Verbal Behavior (1959).Language, 35, 26-58.Gillespie, C., Beisser, W. (2001). Developmentally AppropriateLOGO Computer Programming with Young Children. Retrieved Oct. 29, 2006,http//www.aace.org/dl/files/ITCE/ITCE2001-229.pdfHakuta, K. (1990). Bilingualism and Bilingual Education A Research Perspective, no. 1Washington, DC National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, Spring.Miller, N.E. & Dollard, J. Social learning and imitation. New Haven Yale UniversityPress, 1941.Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development. In Educational Psychology InteractiveHomepage. Retrieved October 29, 2006, fromhttp//chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget.html.Skinner, B. F. Verbal behavior. New York Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957.U.S. General Accounting Office (1987). Bilingual Education A New Look at the ResearchEvidence, Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office.Valdivieso, R. and Davis, C. (1988). U.S. Hispanics Challenging Issues for the 1990sWashington D.D. Population Trends and Public Policy.