Child Language Acquisition - The Main Theories

Skinner = behaviourist:
Language as learned behaviour, children learn through positive and negative reinforcement. (A nurture argument) See correction as crucial to development. Children do imitate the phonology of language e.g. accent.
Counterargument: children not animals (what Skinner had perviously studied) and they can not be punished as if they are. More interested in interested in the truth of a child's utterance, rather than grammatical accuracy. Studies show that correcting a child's grammar can impede dev. Over-generalisation & virtuous errors show child actively applying grammar rules.

Chomsky = innateness:
Capacity and the apparatus for language learning are already there when we are born - a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Focuses on rules rather than imitation = 'linguistic creativity' All children across the world pass through similar stages,. Medical research also indicated that there are specific areas of the brain which control language. Chomsky realises there must be input.

Piaget = cognitive
language acquisition is part of a child's wider development: lang. comes with a wider understanding. A child cannot articulate concepts s/he doesn't understand.
Counterargument: some children with cognitive problems manage to use lang way beyond their apparent understanding.

Bruner = social interruptive
The interactions between child and carer are crucial to lang dev. and help children to develop concepts eg. turn-taking. Importance of conversations, routines of social interaction and the role of Child-Directed Speech (CDS)

emagazine - Notes on Language and Gender clips

'Sexism in English - the 1970s and now'

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/emag/subscribers/_emagclips/cameron11.php

Deborah Cameron suggests that English is 'sexist language' examples of this include:

1. 'he' being used in a general term
2. a lot of jobs include 'man' at the end e.g.. chairman 
3. mankind excludes 'women'

Feminists in the 1970s said this should be changed, because women are now counted in the public sphere so language should be more neutral, therefore they introduced new job titles and give practical alternatives. However, this worked in a 'patchy way.' Some women insist on not being referred to by the change in title, as they thought it meant they lost status. 

• If your intended form of reform doesn't match social opinion then the change won't happen, or at least, won't happen permanently. 
• Word collocations are important to the understanding of connotations. 

'The Social Consequences of Linguistic Stereotyping'

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/emag/subscribers/_emagclips/cameron10.php

• Gender stereotyping is something that should be done a lot less, which would allow people to figure out who they are. 

Language and gender - the three 'D's

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/emag/subscribers/_emagclips/ross_gender.php

The Deficit Model - male language as the norm, used as a comparison for women's language, suggesting that's it's inferior - no hard data to confirm the theory. In representation, the female version suggests the inferior/smaller version or has sexual connotations in comparison to the male. 

The Dominance Model - most research in 1970. Males dominating conversation and interrupting more. Still relevant to today? 

The Difference Model - men and women misunderstand each other because they use language differently. Doesn't look into misunderstandings between the same gender. 

'Performing gender' - gender isn't the only variable. Use language not just for gender but for age, race, social group, etc. Women and men can diverge from what is considered 'male' or 'female' language.