Publication Date

5-3-1977

Abstract

The study and explanation of language acquisition has been approached from four major theoretical viewpoints. 1) The syntactic: what a child is mainly learning is grammatical structures, and the syntactic complexity of the language he is learning determines the sequence of acquisition; 2) The semantic: the child is really learning the meaning structures of language, and the semantic complexity of the adult language determines the sequence of acquisition; 3) The cognitive: as the child gains knowledge about the world around him, he tries to express it through language; the child's cognitive structures and therefore the major determinants of what he will express in language; 4) The social or pragmatic: since language communication is the major method of human interaction, the child learns language through social interaction with others; therefore the functions that language serves for the child in actual situations determine his language development. When the many studies already done are examined together, it becomes clear that no one of these explanation types is adequate by itself. All four are claimed to be necessary to a theory of language acquisition. Therefore the role of each needs to be determined, so that progress can be made toward a complete theoretical framework for language acquisition. The language of six two-year-old children learning Estonian was recorded in natural settings. The data were analyzed by extracting all utterances with locative meaning. The language of older siblings and parents addressed to the child was also analyzed for locatives. Piagetian sensorimotor spatial schemata were used to predict what locatives would be expressed by children who were at the beginning of two-word utterances; children learning Finnish and English were included for comparison. The children were found to express only the language predicted, but not all of that; moreover, children learning different languages differed in the locative meanings that they expressed. Various structural characteristics of the languages and social and customary usage characteristics were postulated as explanation for which locatives received expression. The language of slightly more mature two-year-olds (MUL 1.50-4.00) was analyzed for categories of Estonian locatives and possessives expressed. A definite sequence of locative expressions was found; in addition, the children’s use of language in the expression of locatives correlated in various ways with that of older siblings and parents. The analysis of possessives was included because of their close relationship to locatives both in cognitive-semantic structures and Estonian syntactic structure. All four factors--the syntactic complexity of the adult language, the semantic complexity of the adult language, the child’s cognitive structures and the pragmatics or social context of language--were found necessary in the explanation of locatives expressed. These four factors are not all equally important at all stages of language acquisition. The cognitive structure that the child has at any stage is the basis for linguistic expression. At all stages of languages development, moreover, pragmatic factors, or the social context, act in various ways in the determination of what the child will express. Semantic complexity of the adult language enters only after the appropriate cognitive structures have been developed. But sometimes what is cognitively salient yet semantically complex can quite easily be expressed by the young child. Conversely, semantically simple but non-salient features may not be expressed until late in language development. Syntactic complexity determines linguistic expression to some degree from the beginning; however, it probably becomes much more important after the child has developed basic understandings about the world--after the age of about two and a half years. Much more research is necessary, especially with regard to cognitive development, before a complete theory of language acquisition can be developed.

Project Sponsors

Fellowship # 1-F1-MH-37,559-01 and Research Grant # 1-T01-MH-11301-01 from the National Institute of Mental Health

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Anthropology

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Anthropology

First Committee Member (Chair)

Bernard Spolsky

Second Committee Member

Philip K. Boch

Third Committee Member

Ellen Schauber Kaufman

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