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Mar 31, 2015 | #1
Sample essay on the state of language acquisition research in terms of the types of evidence that are used to support theoretical positions.
The following brief paper is in response to the title essay question. In this paper, the state of language acquisition research will be assessed regarding the types of evidence studied and presented in modern research. This will pertain directly to how that evidence is used to support language acquisition theoretical models and positions. The main data set used for this brief report is Pub Med, an online research library of peer-reviewed scientific journals and articles supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
In the online webpage for Pub Med, the search terms "language", "acquisition", and "children" were typed in the search box. On the additional search features, the range was narrowed to "systematic reviews", "in the last five years", and "on humans". The search rubric of systematic reviews was chosen because this essay question is asking for an assessment of the state of language acquisition research on how children learn; systematic reviews are a specific type of scientific research that address these broad questions to both compile and assess the validity of research in a given area. The journal type that was indicated as a further search scope was MEDLINE.
In the search results, a total of 479 articles were returned. There appeared to be two main threads running through the totality of the articles returned; one was that of the how cognitive learning occurs for language acquisition among typically developing subjects, and the other thread related to alternative communication due to some pathology, such as deafness, autism, or some other problem delaying or blocking verbal language development (and hence acquisition).
Common theories running through the first thread were that children acquire language through data-driven learning (matching objects to symbols), that grammar acquisition is based on ease of learning, and that linguistic form acquired by the child is largely a product of culture, with the last point being that logic forms in solving language acquisition issues among children are not based on culture but on normally developing brains of human beings.
In the world of research regarding alternative communication in language acquisition, threads of evidence have emerged in identifying what the disorder is in order to tailor a language-communication program, how to treat a receptive or expressive language acquisition deficit, and that treatment strategies should be as eclectic and diverse as the presenting syndrome, condition, and even age of language onset.
In looking at the two main threads of typical and alternative language acquisition, it becomes clear that there is a gap in the research of how one sphere could positively influence the other. While typical versus alternative linguistic formation was found in the research, with differing theories of each, what was not clearly evident in the research was how the findings from typically developing children in language acquisition could inform the 'eclectic' approaches for those children with language acquisition difficulties and disorders.
Bibliography
Abbeduto, L., & Boudreau, D. Theoretical influences on research on language development and intervention in individuals with mental retardation. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews , 10 (3), 184-192.
Gillum, H., & Camarata, S. Importance of treatment efficacy research on language comprehension in MR/DD research. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews , 10 (3), 201-207.
Hsu, A., Chater, N., & Vitinyi, P. Language learning from positive evidence, reconsidered: a simplicity-based approach. Topics in Cognitive Science , 5 (1), 35-55.
Monfort, I., & Monfort, M. Clinical usefulness of the classifications of developmental language disorders. Revista de Neurologia , 54 (1), 147-154.
Perfors, A., Tenenbaum, J., & Regier, T The learnability of abstract syntactic principles. Cognition , 118 (3), 306-338.
The following brief paper is in response to the title essay question. In this paper, the state of language acquisition research will be assessed regarding the types of evidence studied and presented in modern research. This will pertain directly to how that evidence is used to support language acquisition theoretical models and positions. The main data set used for this brief report is Pub Med, an online research library of peer-reviewed scientific journals and articles supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Language Acquisition and Search Methodology
In the online webpage for Pub Med, the search terms "language", "acquisition", and "children" were typed in the search box. On the additional search features, the range was narrowed to "systematic reviews", "in the last five years", and "on humans". The search rubric of systematic reviews was chosen because this essay question is asking for an assessment of the state of language acquisition research on how children learn; systematic reviews are a specific type of scientific research that address these broad questions to both compile and assess the validity of research in a given area. The journal type that was indicated as a further search scope was MEDLINE.In the search results, a total of 479 articles were returned. There appeared to be two main threads running through the totality of the articles returned; one was that of the how cognitive learning occurs for language acquisition among typically developing subjects, and the other thread related to alternative communication due to some pathology, such as deafness, autism, or some other problem delaying or blocking verbal language development (and hence acquisition).
Common theories running through the first thread were that children acquire language through data-driven learning (matching objects to symbols), that grammar acquisition is based on ease of learning, and that linguistic form acquired by the child is largely a product of culture, with the last point being that logic forms in solving language acquisition issues among children are not based on culture but on normally developing brains of human beings.
In the world of research regarding alternative communication in language acquisition, threads of evidence have emerged in identifying what the disorder is in order to tailor a language-communication program, how to treat a receptive or expressive language acquisition deficit, and that treatment strategies should be as eclectic and diverse as the presenting syndrome, condition, and even age of language onset.
In looking at the two main threads of typical and alternative language acquisition, it becomes clear that there is a gap in the research of how one sphere could positively influence the other. While typical versus alternative linguistic formation was found in the research, with differing theories of each, what was not clearly evident in the research was how the findings from typically developing children in language acquisition could inform the 'eclectic' approaches for those children with language acquisition difficulties and disorders.
Bibliography
Abbeduto, L., & Boudreau, D. Theoretical influences on research on language development and intervention in individuals with mental retardation. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews , 10 (3), 184-192.
Gillum, H., & Camarata, S. Importance of treatment efficacy research on language comprehension in MR/DD research. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews , 10 (3), 201-207.
Hsu, A., Chater, N., & Vitinyi, P. Language learning from positive evidence, reconsidered: a simplicity-based approach. Topics in Cognitive Science , 5 (1), 35-55.
Monfort, I., & Monfort, M. Clinical usefulness of the classifications of developmental language disorders. Revista de Neurologia , 54 (1), 147-154.
Perfors, A., Tenenbaum, J., & Regier, T The learnability of abstract syntactic principles. Cognition , 118 (3), 306-338.