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The Behaviourist theory of language development claims that children imitate what they hear and see and that they learn from punishment (negative) or positive reinforcement. This process is known as ‘stimulus – response’. For a child to acquire and develop language a process of modelling and reinforcement is used. Skinners operant conditioning approach is broken into 3 types of responses: Neutural operants, Reinforcers and Punishments (McLeod, 2013). According to this theory when a child’s behaviour is positively rewarded (smile, word of encouragement etc.), then that behaviour is more likely to be repeated. So it follows that by withdrawing privileges (no television, sent to room etc.) the likelihood of the preceding behaviour to be repeated is low. This theory of operant conditioning is broadly applied to the study of child development (Keenan & Evans,
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If his theory (Cognitive) was applied to a classroom there would be lots of hands on experiences so children could explore the nature of things through trial and error. Piaget believes a child’s language is developed only after they have internalised concepts from their interactions with the environment (Wadsworth, 1978). Play based learning (PBL) is a great example of Piaget’s theory put into practice. The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), Outcome 5: Children are effective Communicators, states “Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes”. With this in mind teachers and educators need to provide experiences that will maximise cognitive development. According to the EYLF these experiences could include; music, dance, visual arts, media, talking, listening and storytelling etc. Teachers should encourage children to express themselves verbally and non-verbally during these experiences. It is also the responsibility of the teacher to model correct language when interacting with the children and take every opportunity to extend the child’s vocabulary taking care when doing so not to direct or lead the play. Knowing the interests of the child is an important factor when engaging them in conversation and for setting up experiences. For Piaget’s theory to be implemented teachers would need to have up to date observations of the children
If his theory (Cognitive) was applied to a classroom there would be lots of hands on experiences so children could explore the nature of things through trial and error. Piaget believes a child’s language is developed only after they have internalised concepts from their interactions with the environment (Wadsworth, 1978). Play based learning (PBL) is a great example of Piaget’s theory put into practice. The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), Outcome 5: Children are effective Communicators, states “Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes”. With this in mind teachers and educators need to provide experiences that will maximise cognitive development. According to the EYLF these experiences could include; music, dance, visual arts, media, talking, listening and storytelling etc. Teachers should encourage children to express themselves verbally and non-verbally during these experiences. It is also the responsibility of the teacher to model correct language when interacting with the children and take every opportunity to extend the child’s vocabulary taking care when doing so not to direct or lead the play. Knowing the interests of the child is an important factor when engaging them in conversation and for setting up experiences. For Piaget’s theory to be implemented teachers would need to have up to date observations of the children