Key Concepts in Child Language Acquisition

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Proposed by Chomsky (1959), the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) refers to an innate grammatical structure believed to underlie all human languages. It enables children, once they acquire a sufficient vocabulary, to combine words into novel yet grammatically consistent utterances and to understand the meaning of language quickly. Children are not explicitly taught language rules; instead, this ability develops naturally with mere exposure to a language environment.

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Behaviorism vs. Innatism: Language Acquisition Theories

Behaviorism and Innatism in Language Acquisition

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is a psychological theory of learning that was very influential in the 1940s and 1950s, especially in the United States. Traditional behaviorists believed that language learning is the result of imitation, practice, feedback on success, and habit formation. Children imitate the sounds and patterns they hear around them and receive positive reinforcement for doing so. Thus encouraged by their environment, they continue to imitate

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Understanding Interlanguage: Development and Error Analysis

  • Interlanguage: A system with a structurally intermediate status between the native language (NL) and the target language (TL).

It falls between the TL and the NL and is based on the learner’s best attempt to provide order and structure to the linguistic stimuli surrounding them.

  • Learners succeed in establishing closer approximations to the system used by native speakers through a process of trial and error.

Brown, Douglas B. 1994


Interlanguage Defined

  • Interlanguage: Systematic knowledge of an L2 which

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Linguistic Levels, Language Functions, and Narrative Styles

Understanding Verbal Language

Verbal language is a cultural invention of humankind, essential for the development of human intelligence. When a comprehensive development of this capacity is not reached, its full realization cannot be achieved.

Linguistic Usage Levels

  • Cultivated Level

    Characterized by the use of an elaborated and formal code associated with written language. Its main features include complete and correct syntactic structures, precise lexicon, etc.

  • Conversational Level

    Characterized by

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Key Public Speaking and Rhetoric Terms Defined

Key Public Speaking & Rhetoric Terms

Ethos
Ethical appeal; relates to the speaker’s credibility.
Pathos
Persuading through emotional appeal.
Logos
An appeal that is rational and reasonable, based on the evidence provided.
Mythos
Appealing to the audience’s cultural identity by showing how a claim aligns with shared values or stories.
Oratory
The art or practice of formal and eloquent public speaking.
Delayed Feedback
Audience response received after the speech is performed.
Internal Previews
Extended transitions
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Essential Literary Devices and Poetic Terms

Sound Devices

Alliteration

Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines. A somewhat looser definition is the use of the same consonant in any part of adjacent words.

Assonance

Repeated vowel sounds in words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines. These should be in sounds that are accented or stressed, rather than in unaccented vowel sounds.

Consonance

Repeated consonant sounds at the ending of words placed near

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