Theories of CLA revision strengths and limitations

Who proposed the Behaviourist theory of language acquisition?

• Noam Chomsky
• Jean Piaget
• F. Skinner
• Jerome Bruner

Which of the following is a criticism of Behaviourism in language acquisition?

• Children imitate adults perfectly
• Children receive explicit grammatical correction
• Children form rules and make virtuous errors
• Children do not need reinforcement to learn

What does Chomsky's concept of the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) imply?

• Language learning is purely based on imitation
• Language learning is a conscious process
• Humans are born with an innate ability to learn language
• Language learning is entirely dependent on social interaction

According to the Cognitive theory, what must a child understand before using comparative adjectives like "bigger"?

• Object permanence
• Seriation
• Syntax
• Phonology

Which phenomenon is linked with a child's realisation that objects continue to exist even when not seen?

• Syntax acquisition
• Seriation
• Object permanence
• Pragmatics

What did Bruner propose as the counterpart to Chomsky's LAD?

• Universal Grammar
• Language Acquisition Support System (LASS)
• Critical Period Hypothesis
• Child-Directed Speech (CDS)

Which of the following is a limitation of Chomsky's theory?

• It focuses too much on interaction between children and carers
• It studies real children extensively
• It does not account for the functional use of language
• It emphasises social context too much

What did the case study of Jim, the hearing son of deaf parents, demonstrate?

• Children learn to speak without interaction
• Exposure to language is sufficient for acquisition
• Interaction is crucial for language development
• Language learning is purely biological

The study of creoles supports which theory of language acquisition?

• Behaviourist
• Innateness
• Cognitive
• Interactionist

According to the Interactionist theory, what role does Child-Directed Speech (CDS) play?

• It is unnecessary for language learning
• It hinders language acquisition
• It facilitates and scaffolds language learning
• It replaces the need for the LAD