Language Acquisition

In his review of Skinner’s (1957) book on behaviourism and language learning, Chomsky (1959) argued that

• operant conditioning is inefficient because it relies on imitation

• children acquire a good deal of their verbal behavior by imitating adults

• children do not rely on imitation in the acquisition of verbal behavior

• the acquisition of verbal behavior depends on operant conditioning

Studies of imitation have shown that ______.

• both parents and children imitate one another, but parental imitations are more accurate

• children frequently imitate grammatical rules incorrectly and therefore require correction

• children use imitation to improve the accuracy in reproducing grammatical rules

• both parents and children imitate each other frequently

The most useful term for describing the linguistic input to the language learning child is ______.

• motherese

• infant-directed speech

• child-directed speech

• caregiver speech

Which of the following statements is true about language acquisition?

• At birth, children know the elementary aspects of the language of their parents.

• By age one, children typically use about three words consisting of single morphemes.

• Babies learn a language best when they are forced to repeat phrases given to them by their parents.

• none of the above

Which theorist hypothesized that children are born with a language acquisition device?

• Piaget

• Skinner

• Vygotsky

• Chomsky

It is best to learn a second language:

• in a classroom where you can focus on the grammar and receive help from a teacher

• through constant contact with native speakers in their own society

• both of the above approaches to learning are equally effective

Someone who subscribes to the Interactionist theory would probably disagree with which of the following statements?

• A child who socializes more will learn language faster

• Parents directing “babytalk” at their child can speed development

• A child who does not want to communicate will learn more slowly than one who does

• Identical twins who are separated at birth will still have identical language acquisition

Part of the reason that the language acquisition debate continues is that it is difficult to prove one theory over another. Which of the following is not an obstacle to proving a language acquisition theory?

• In reality, we probably use some of each theory in order to learn our native language

• Language acquisition has a critical period in early life, and it is difficult to conduct experiments with such young children

• We don’t know which parts of the brain are active during language acquisition

• The theories are not distinct enough from each other to be able to completely rule one out

Which of the following statements is true about the effect of language?

• Bilingual people usually perform math and other complicated mental tasks with their first language.

• Second languages learned as adults are rarely forgotten even if they are not used regularly.

• neither of the above is true

Linguistic interference occurs when:

• people try to speak if they are very nervous and feel intimidated

• people learn a second language or dialect

• young children learn their first language