B. F. Skinner’s Theory of Language Acquisition With Relevance To The Stages
Of Language Development
INTRODUCTION:
B.F Skinner was an American psychologist, behaviourist, author, inventor and social
philosopher. One of the most important theories he proposed is the one of how conditioning,
specifically ‘operant conditioning’ - a learning process through which behaviour is modified
by positive reinforcement or punishment, will develop a child’s language development.
Language acquisition is a process in which humans obtain the understanding of language, to
gain the ability to be aware of the language they are surrounded with - as well as to produce
words and sentences to communicate.
One of the earliest theories with regards to language acquisition was provided by Skinner
himself. With relation to ‘behaviourism’ Skinner believed language development was heavily
influenced by the child’s environment itself. In B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behaviour (1957), he
proposed the idea that the successful use of a sign, such as a word or chain of words
[provided a certain stimulus is presented] will reinforce its contextual probability. Since
operant conditioning is based on reinforcement by rewards, a child would eventually learn
that a specific combination of sounds stands for a specific thing or action and with repeated
successful connections made between the two. A "successful" use of a sign would be a
situation where the child is understood (for example, a child saying "up" when he or she
wants to be picked up) and will be rewarded with the desired response from another person,
hereby “reinforcing” the child's understanding of the meaning of that word, making it more
likely that they will use that word in a similar situation in the future. Some empiricist theories
[empirical evidence is the information received by means of the senses, particularly by
observation and documentation of patterns and behaviour through experimentation] of
language acquisition include the statistical learning theory.
METHOD AND RESULTS:
Skinner created the operant chamber as a variation of the puzzle box originally created by
Edward Thorndike. A Skinner Box is described as an operant conditioning chamber and is
used as an apparatus in experimental analyses of animal behaviour. The box had a lever for rats - or a disk in one wall - for pigeons. A press on this lever could deliver food to the
animal through an opening in the wall. As this behaviour is not natural to rats, operant
conditioning with positive and negative reinforcement was performed in order to teach this
behaviour.
To elaborate on how this was used, here’s an example. Skinner displayed how positive
reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in the box. This box contained a lever on the
side and as the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Whenever the
rat did this, a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever. Skinner found that the
rat quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box.
However, a consequence of receiving food once they pressed the lever resulted in them
repeating the action again and again.
When an unpleasant reinforcer is removed, it can strengthen behaviour, this is known as
negative reinforcement. It is known as ‘negative reinforcement’ as it is a response or
behavior is strengthened by stopping, removing, or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive
stimulus. With this operant chamber, Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked.
He did this by placing a rat in the box and then subjected them to an unpleasant electric
current which then caused some discomfort to the rat. When the rat moved around in the
box, they would accidentally knock the lever, once this happened the electric current would
be switched off. The rats quickly learned to go to the lever after a few times of being put in
the box. However, the rats would repeat this action to escape the electric current.
Much of Skinner’s theory was challenged by Noam Chomsky as he disagreed with his theory
relating to children’s learning and development. Chomsky believed that language is
biologically inherited [whereas, Skinner’s theory is based on how children learn how to talk
through the use of positive reinforcement from adults who speak the language frequently]
Chomsky argued that the use of praise and rewards will not assist a child’s development or
encourage them to learn. He believed that each child is born with a template which is then
developed throughout their education.
Skinner's behaviourist idea was attacked by various other language theorists as well.
Skinner’s theory on language acquisition supports the nurture side of the ‘nature vs. nurture’
debate, as it suggests that language is learned through imitation and reinforcement.
Chomsky, on the other hand, supports the nature side of the debate, suggesting the
language is innate. A study was conducted in which a chimpanzee was taught English sign
language in order to interact with humans. However, after years of training by a group of
linguistics, the chimpanzee was only able to ask for basic items. This suggests that there is
an isolated gene present primarily in humans that allows them to communicate effectively
through language.
STAGES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN RELATION TO SKINNER’S THEORY OF
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Skinner applied the findings of the positive reinforcement segment of the study to the stages
of language development. According to Skinner babies were viewed as ‘empty vessels’ and
language was viewed as the input. Therefore, the link between a stimulus, the environment
and a response could lead to learning. To begin with, when infants start vocalizing through
babbling, this is seen as desired behavior and parents reward the behavior by positively
paying attention to the infant.
However, when infants grow up and something more is expected from them, the parents
lack of attention to their unclear vocalizations along with repetition of words and phrases by
caregivers, or other people they may be surrounded by, causes the child to produce more
recognizable vocalizations. The excited response of the parents to the child’s new
vocalization reinforces these speech sounds.
As the child gets older and the process continues, the speech and vocalization increase in
complexity and intricacy; sentences are spoken with more accuracy. Therefore, when the
child for example says the word, ‘food’ and succeeds in getting it, this acts as the reward and
the speech is learned.
‘Extinction’ is a concept also described by Skinner’s theory, ‘where a previous behavior that
yielded positive results no longer results in any consequences’ this causes a behavior to be
less frequent, which may eventually cause it to die out. And this concept can be seen in
application in the stages of language development. For example: when a parent praises the
child even when they make random babble sounds close enough to an English word, it
would encourage them to repeat the sounds. On the other hand, when irrelevant sounds of a
baby are ignored, it’s extinguished and forgotten about.According to Skinner, the process
occurs naturally and without an intentional effort.
One other argument against Skinner’s theory of language acquisition with regards to operant
conditioning is that children often ignore [language] correction from adults. Instead, children
more often than not follow a consistent pattern of using an irregular form of a word correctly,
making errors later on, and eventually returning to the proper use of the word. [For instance,
a child may correctly learn the word "gave", and later use the word "gived". Eventually, the
child will go back to learning the correct word, "gave".] Chomsky claimed that this pattern of
learning will be difficult to link with Skinner's idea of operant conditioning as the primary way
that children learn language.
LEARNING DISABILITIES SUCH AS DYSLEXIA AND IT’S RELATION WITH SKINNER’S
THEORY OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION:
Most children acquire language easily; however, some children have difficulties in
developing their language and may demonstrate problems in the understanding and use of
spoken language. They may have difficulties with pronunciation, acquiring vocabulary and
applying grammatical structures. If these deficits are severe then they may be diagnosed
with specific language impairment. These difficulties primarily result from neurological and
genetic factors.
Dyslexia, another learning disability, is considered a ‘language-based reading disability’.
Children who have dyslexia may demonstrate some phonological problems such as
pronunciation of multisyllabic words and phonologically complex words, for example.
Therefore, both dyslexia and SLI can co-occur. Children with dyslexia may have some
difficulties in oral language, however, if these difficulties are severe, only then would they be
diagnosed with SLI.
Skinner assumes that everyone learns language through operant conditioning; imitation and
reinforcement. According to his theory, everyone learns the same way in this nurture-based
approach. Learning disabilities such as dyslexia and SLI, occur because of an innate gene,
causing these individuals to develop language at a different pace. Therefore, this shows that
Skinner’s theory on language acquisition does not take into consideration these languagebased disabilities.
On the other hand, there are some environmental factors that could influence the extent or
severity of the language-based disabilities. These are measures taken by people that can
change the pace of language development in, for example, SLI. This could include
simplifying information, using visual material to help the child understand better etc.
This, therefore, shows that although Skinner’s theory may not be compatible in
accommodating learning disabilities, environmental factors do play a role in reducing the
extent of these developmental deficits.
DISCUSSION:
Noam Chomsky, a structuralist, heavily criticized Skinner's theory of operant conditioning
when it comes to language acquisition in children. Skinner’s theory on language acquisition
supports the nurture side of the ‘nature vs. nurture’ debate, as it suggests that language is
learned through imitation and reinforcement. Chomsky, on the other hand, supports the
nature side of the debate, suggesting the language is innate. A study was conducted in
which a chimpanzee was taught English sign language to interact with humans. However,
after years of training by a group of linguistics, the chimpanzee was only able to ask for
basic items. This suggests that there is an isolated gene present primarily in h that allows
them to communicate effectively through language.
One other argument against Skinner’s theory of language acquisition with regards to operant
conditioning is that children often ignore [language] correction from adults. Instead, children
often follow a consistent pattern of using an irregular form of a word correctly, making errors
later on, and eventually returning to the proper use of the word. [For instance, a child may
correctly learn the word "gave", and later use the word "gived". Eventually, the child will go
back to learning the correct word, "gave".] Chomsky claimed that this pattern of
In the early stages of a person’s life, they may be unable to utter certain words and phrases,
despite imitation and reinforcement, which may suggest that the child has not yet started to
use the structure uttered by the adult. Psycholinguist David McNeill used the following
example to demonstrate this in his book, ‘The Genesis of Language, 1961’
“Child: Nobody don't like me
Mother: No, say, "Nobody likes me."
Child: Nobody don't like me.
(Eight repetitions of this dialogue)
Mother: No, now listen carefully: say, "Nobody likes me."
Child: Oh! Nobody don't likes me.”
Moreover, Skinner's theory assumes that imitation without reinforcement may not lead to the
outcome of learning. However, in the study done by Bandura et al, children were tested on
the learning of aggression through observation of a model. The results of the study
concluded that aggressive and non- aggressive behaviors could be learned through
observation without reinforcement, as well as verbal responses. On the other hand, the
learning of a language is very different than the learning of a standardized behavior,
therefore, observation alone may not lead to the desired outcome.
Operant conditioning has been active in research done on learning in animals and humans,
and therefore, it does take part in explaining some aspects of language acquisition. There
could be many learning mechanisms that interact with each other to teach language to
children, operant conditioning being the most basic one.
According to Chomsky, the human brain is hardwired to receive and understand language. If
they relied solely upon reinforcement, it would have taken a lot longer for children to learn
the basic structures of language. Therefore, the theory of universal grammar was proposed.
“Universal Grammar is considered to contain all the grammatical information needed to
combine noun and verb categories into phrases. The child’s task is just to learn the words of
her language” (Ambridge & Lieven).
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A CASE STUDY: FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Subject:
The subject was a three-year-old Lebanese boy, born to a middle-class Arab family in Saudi
Arabia. He was born to an educated couple and had two siblings – a sister and a brother,
both of who are in babyhood and infancy stages. The boy was mainly exposed to the
spoken and written Arabic, and because his father was a book publisher, he was also given
access to Arabic books.
Data Analysis and Collection:
The data was gathered through observation notes, interviews and recordings. And the data
that was collected was analyzed based on the principles of Language Acquisition.
Findings:
Based on the observational records, Al Baraa’s acquisition of his first language, Arabic, was
largely innate. He was found to have perceived linguistic inputs and produced
communicative outputs. This confirmed Lenneberg’s nativist theory that children are born the
ability to acquire language, and by the time they are three, they would have mastered the
grammar of their native language. The findings also confirmed Chomsky’s innate hypothesis.
According to the boy’s father, Al Baraa had learned some Arabic words and sentences
without formal instruction and by himself. He was also found to have a good handle in
linguistic knowledge; he was able to differentiate between a noun and a verb, he could point
out objects when the researcher asked him to, he could classify events into past, present
and future and he could discern when his father was angry by looking at facial expressions
or the loudness of his voice.
Al Baraa has the biological facilities that allow his to acquire language. For example: he did
not have any speech defects; which means his Broca’s region was working correctly along
with the other regions of his brain responsible for acquiring language. Therefore, this goes to
show that no matter how strong the environment if his body parts required for him to learn
language are impaired, he cannot acquire any language. This shows that Chomsky’s theory
has also played a role in the case study.
Despite the contribution of biological factors in language acquisition, it was also found that
environmental factors played a significant role. Al Baraa produced words and phrases based
on what he heard and from adult conversation that he is exposed to. And although he
attempts to imitate certain words and phrases, he may not be able to due to some
mechanisms that have not fully developed yet. However, this shows that he is learning
through imitation and reinforcement, but he would be able to learn better and faster if his
speech mechanisms were fully developed.
Conclusion:
The findings from the case study show how different theories interact in the explanation of
language acquisition, and no one theory can be completely disproved. Although,
environmental factors, as suggested by Skinner’s theory, may not influence all aspects of
language acquisition, the findings of the study show that it does play a significant role in
language learning.
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CONCLUSION:
B.F Skinner was one of the first of his kind to truly capture the importance of understanding
exactly how we form speech and understand language. While his reinforcement theories
were refuted by other linguists and theorists, it paved the way for new approaches to
psychology that no one else had heard about. The operating conditioning did help to
understand how children comprehend language as well as certain animal behaviours.
Skinner did believe that environmental factors did influence language acquisition with
regards to children. The research presented by skinner often did not specify how children
with learning disabilities would understand language learning or have a sound understanding
of language acquisition compared to other children who may be considered normal.
Therefore, although Skinner’s theory may not be sufficient in explaining the concept of
language acquisition, it does form the underlying basis of it and hence plays a significant role
in explaining it.
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