Language Acquisition Theories

Now that you have considered the significance of teaching English in the Caribbean context, I want you to think about what you know about language acquisition theories.

There are various perspectives on how people acquire language. Three prominent theories of language acquisition are: 

• The Linguistic/Structuralist/Innatist theory (we are born with a language acquisition device that predisposes us for language acquisition) 

• The Behaviourist theory (we are taught language through a process of stimulus-response and reinforcement)

• The Social Interactionist theory (we acquire language through authentic social interactions with caregivers who scaffold our language development.)

Because your knowledge of language acquisition theories and your own perspective on how language is acquired will, inevitably, influence how you teach, I suggest you do some exploration of these theories. Be sure to consider the limitations as well as the merits of each theory.