THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
BEHAVIORIST THEORY
Elt. 211 Principles and Theories of
Language Acquisition and Learning
IVAN PAVLOV
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) a Russian
physiologist, was the first to discover
and describe the principles of classical
conditioning, which forms the basis of
his theory of behaviorism.
BEHAVIORISM
Behaviorism is a psychological
perspective that emphasizes the role of
the environment in shaping behavior.
Behaviorists believe that behavior is
learned through the environment.
BEHAVIORISM
This theory stems from the work of
Pavlov who studied animal behavior,
and was able to condition a dog to
associate the ringing of a bell with food.
KEY CONCEPTS
Stimulus - any object or event in the
environment that elicits a response from an
organism. Stimuli can be either natural or
artificial.
Response - a behavior or action that is elicited
by a stimulus. Responses can be either natural
or learned.
Reinforcement - any consequence that
increases the likelihood of a behavior being
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Associate an involuntary response and a stimulus.
A process that involves creating an association between a
naturally existing stimulus and a previously neutral one.
PAVLOV’S DOG EXPERIMENT
BEFORE
Unconditioned Response
SALIVATING
Unconditioned Stimulus
(naturally triggers salivating as a
response to the food)
PAVLOV’S DOG EXPERIMENT
BEFORE WAT ISH DAT?!?!
CL
AN
N G! G
A !
CL NO Response
CL
AN
G ! WHATEVER!
Neutral Stimulus
(does not elicit a specific response)
PAVLOV’S DOG EXPERIMENT
DURING
CL
AN
G ! G ! Unconditioned Response
AN IS
CL H
CL AN
G DA
! T
FO
OD
!?
!?
!
YU WO
MM W
ER !!
SS
SS
Food + Bell
PAVLOV’S DOG EXPERIMENT
CL
AN AFTER
G !
Conditioned Response
CL -salivating
AN
! G ! FO A A A
N G OD A
A DD A
CL DD
D
IH
CH OPE
IM IT’
Conditioned Stimulus CK
EN
S
!
-sound of the bell
EXAMPLE #1
Doctor gives you the painful shot vaccine and
touches you with a cotton ball to clean the
area(US)
You feel pain and wince (UR)
Doctor clean the area with a cotton ball (CS)
You jerk your arm away to avoid the vaccine's
pain(CR)
EXAMPLE #2
Getting a flu shot (US)
hurts and makes a child cry (UR).
The child associates the needle with
getting hurt.(CS)
The sight of the needle makes the child cry
(CR).
B. F. SKINNER
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904 –
1990) was an American
psychologist, behaviorist, and social
scientist. Skinner is best known for
developing the theory of
behaviorism.
BEHAVIORISM
Behaviorism theory emerged in the early
20th century and focuses on observable and
measurable behaviors. It holds that
behavior is shaped by environmental factors
(e.g. rewards and punishments) rather than
cognitive processes.
OPERANT CONDITIONING
• According to B.F. Skinner's theory of
learning, our behaviors are developed or
conditioned through reinforcements. He
referred to this process as operant
conditioning.
• Skinner's idea of operant conditioning
influenced how people thought about
child development and the learning
SKINNER USED THE ABC MODEL TO EXPLAIN THE
OPERANT CONDITIONING PROCESS
• Antecedent (Stimulus): This refers to the
stimulus or situation that comes before a
behavior.
• Behavior (Response): This is the action the
individual takes in response to the stimulus.
• Consequence (Reinforcement): This is the
outcome of the behavior, which determines if
the behavior will be strengthened or
BEHAVIORISM THEORY ACCORDING TO B.F.
SKINNER IN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
• Skinner believed that language depends
largely on environment. He viewed babies
as 'empty vessels’ in which language had to
be 'put in to'.
• This theory believed that a child learn
language by imitating sounds and structure
VERBAL BEHAVIOR
• Two types of verbal responses
➤ Verbal behavior that is reinforced by a child receiving
something he/she wants.
➤ Verbal behavior caused by imitating others.
• Skinner believed that children learn words by
associating sounds with objects, actions, and events.
They also learn words and syntax by imitating others.
BEHAVIORISM IN SLA
• This theory believes that SLA occurs in a similar
fashion.
• Positive reinforcement of accurate imitations and
correction of inaccurate imitation facilitates the
learning
To learn L2, one must imitate correct models
repeatedly.
The role of output is important.
BEHAVIORISM IN SLA
• Transfer - an important construct in SLA. It occurs
when learners relied on the L1 used in attempting
to produce the L2.
• Contrastive Analysis- tool used to compare
languages, structure by structure, and sound by
sound to predict learner's difficulty.
• Positive transfer- When two languages are similar.
Negative transfer- When two languages are
REINFORCEMENT
B.F Skinner's work is built on the assumption that
behaviour is influenced by its consequences.
Reinforcement theory is the process of shaping behavior
by controlling consequences of the behavior.
Reinforcement theory proposes that you can change
someone's behaviour by using reinforcement,
punishment, and extinction.
TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT
• Positive Reinforcement: this involves use
positive reinforcement to increase the
desirable behaviors making the behavior
more likely to happen again.
• Negative Reinforcement: it involves the
removal of an unpleasant stimulus to
increase a behavior.
• Punishment: Both positive and negative
DIFFERENT STIMULUS RESPONSE
Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
Simulation
- neutral stimulus becomes
associated with an unconditioned
stimulus to produce a conditioned
response.
This demonstrates Pavlov's
classical conditioning,
showing how behaviors can
be learned through
associations between
stimuli.
DIFFERENT STIMULUS RESPONSE
B.F. Skinner's Operant Conditioning
Simulation
-an operant conditioning where
behavior is shaped by reinforcement
and punishment.
This simulation demonstrates
Skinner’s operant
conditioning, showing how
behaviors can be increased or
decreased through
reinforcement and
THANK YOU!!
Group 3
Canva template by: Alexander Aronowitz
