Compare And Contrast The Nativist Perspective

Decent Essays
On the opposite view from nativist, children have universal grammar from birth. This perspective proposed by Chomsky in Fellowes and Oakley (2010) that children have the competency to learn any language. Nativist theory places emphasis on biological reason on how children develop their language. The nativist perspective encounters criticism of omitting environment and social influences that play a role in children’s language development. Further account by Fellowes and Oakley (2010) state nativist perspective portrays teachers will not need to teach language if children will naturally learn all they need to know.

Whatever the theories propose, teachers can embrace different cultures in which children bring to the classroom their languages.

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    When I began reading Jonathan Kozol’s Amazing Grace (1995), I was struck by a quotation early on that described the South Bronx area of New York City he would further explore throughout the book: The houses in which these children live, two thirds of which are owned by the City of New York, are often as squalid as the houses of the poorest children I have visited in rural Mississippi, but there is none of the greenness and the healing sweetness of the Mississippi countryside outside their windows, which are often barred and bolted as protection against thieves. (p. 4). As a native Mississippian, I am not surprised that my home state was used as a barometer of poverty, but what interested me was Kozol’s interpretation of the different kinds of poverty that exist.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A. As an educator it is important that we encourage all the children to explore and value different cultures. The aim is to create an environment where their beliefs and values are respected as this helps children and families feel welcomed in a safe and supported environment. It’s important to discuss differences rather than pretending they do not exist. Educators need to role model the appropriate attitude when it comes to children with different cultural backgrounds as this can nurture a sense of belonging in all children.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States, in many ways, is a nation founded on hypocrisy. We preach “equality for all”, but kept Africans enslaved for over a hundred years, denied women the right to vote, and promote an economic system where the wealthy benefit and the poor suffer. However, we have, and continue to be, a very xenophobic nation, we are afraid that “immigrants are going to take our jobs” – even though we are a country founded and built by the toil and sweat of such men and women. We have discriminated against many different people over the course of our great and noble history, including Africans, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, and Germans. An article entitled “Xenophobia: American Nativism” deals with this very issue.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the period 1840 to 1929, the United States’ population was on a significant rise due to a major increase in immigrants. An increased combination of “pushes” and “pulls” improved migrations throughout the United States. Some push factors included poverty of farmers, overcrowding in cities, and religious persecution. Positive reasons for moving to the United States, or pull factors, included political and religious freedom, economic opportunities, and the abundance of industrial jobs in U.S. cities. There were many different reactions that came about from the increased migration of immigrants.…

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After reading more about the concept and strategies which support it, I found myself loving the idea. Allowing students to explore their own culture and the culture of others is an important part of the learning process as we assist our students in becoming successful members of society. 4. What are the implications for a high school math teacher?…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An interest in a culture can allow parents to feel valued, thus promoting a relationship with teachers. These recommendations help to minimize the likelihood of an experience such as Kayser’s to happen again. In conclusion, I found the article to be very insightful on how cultural differences may affect a student’s learning. I can personally relate to this article, as I am a child of immigrants from developing countries.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nativism in The United States “Get out of my country” is what people can be heard saying to immigrants in the United States. This is an interesting statement considering we are all immigrants to this great nation we call home. According to Dictionary.com the definition of nativism is the policy of protecting the interests of native inhabitants against those of immigrants. Nativists protest and create laws to limit immigrant rights under the guise they are trying to protect their country from immigrants. But they are actually protecting their country from diversity in cultures.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over the past few weeks I have gotten a better understanding of who Joel and Shaundrielys are as readers and students in general. For Joel, since he is in kindergarten he has not fully learned the alphabet. He is able to sing the song and figure out the letters, but struggles to know a letter when asked at random. I feel that as communication goes he does very well. He is always eager to talk and is most of the time engaged.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many different people groups throughout history have been targeted by nativism. Nativism is excluding the immigrants who come into the country whether it’s legally or illegally. However, throughout the United States’ history they have excluded so many people groups from the Chinese, to Europeans, and people from the Middle East. It seems like they try to do this in order to get the immigrants to leave, which never seems to work. The United States seems to have excluded more people groups then most other countries.…

    • 283 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A child grasps what he or she is taught by their surroundings. I do believe that any child can choose their own individuality. If a child decides to include two languages in their self hood, it should not be criticized. The same concept should be applied when accepting two cultures. I do not…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nativist Right Analysis

    • 1855 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The United States of America is a country that was built by immigrants, however, in recent years Immigrants are seen as the enemy. The Unites States government has always wanted to pass tougher laws against immigrants in this country, they were able to do this after September 11. On September 11 one of the biggest tragedies in America 's recent History happened in New York City; the bombing of the Twin Tower. The Government saw this as the perfect opportunity to point out the legal status of the perpetrators behind the attacks. During news coverage and official government responses, the government was able to place emphasis on the fact the terrorists were from a foreign country.…

    • 1855 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Genie Research Paper

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The hypothesis states that there is a period in a child’s life, from early childhood to adolescence, where most of their linguistic skills are developed. Once this critical period is missed, it is rather difficult, and sometimes even impossible for a person to keep up and learn some linguistic skills. There are two major schools of thought in psychology in regards to language development - nativism and empiricism. Nativists, as stated in the name, believe in nature as opposed to nurture. They believe that human beings have an innate ability to learn language based on family traits.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Supporting English Language Learners There are an increasing number of non-native English speakers in schools around the United States. Schools are faced with the daunting task of providing an education that meets the needs of every student, including those who have a language barrier. According to Tom Stritikus, many linguistically diverse students fall into two categories: National Merit Scholars and high school dropouts (Laureate Education, 2009a). More must be done to ensure that ELL students fall into the National Merit Scholar category as opposed to the dropout category.…

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ada Barrett ECEC 4354 Dr. Medlin Culturally Responsive Practitioner September 28, 2015 It is so important that teachers are culturally responsive practitioners. They need to make sure that every child is able to learn and perform to the best of their capability. Every child is different from one another. They may be from a different culture or speak different languages.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The poverty-of-the-stimulus argument as described by Tomasello (1995) follow that they “always have to do with some grammatical mistakes that children might ‘logically’ make on the basis of ‘simple induction’ and the like, but do not,” further allowing him to come to the conclusion that children must have an innate knowledge of language and its structure. The poverty of stimulus argument primarily takes a nativist approach to linguistic theory, as it implies that children have some innate biological way of not making high probability and logical mistakes. Crain (2012) also illustrates this point by stating the poverty-of-the-stimulus argument proves “that children know more than they could have learned from their experience.” Crain appears to provide detailed evidence for the poverty-of-stimulus argument, whereas Tomasello explains a viewpoint that while the poverty-of-stimulus theory is legitimate, there are still other possibilities and proves this through his examples. Crain, in their descriptions of poverty-of-the-stimulus, uses concepts such as constraints rather than the older grammatical theories of rules, the concepts of similar base functions for disparate linguistic phenomena in different languages, and negative evidence as also briefly described by Tomasello (1995).…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays