AQA · A-Level · English Language
Course version: 7702 · Version from Sept 2017
Theories and research about language development.
Full specification wording
Children’s language development: theories and research about language development.
This topic requires thorough knowledge of major theories and research about how children acquire spoken language.
Checked against the AQA 7702 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 5 of 5
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
This topic requires thorough knowledge of major theories and research about how children acquire spoken language. Research evidence encompasses longitudinal child language corpora, universal stages of acquisition (babbling, holophrastic, two-word, telegraphic), and studies of atypical development.
What earns the marks
- Identify a named theory of language development and state its central claim about how children acquire language.
- Describe research evidence that supports or challenges a given theory, such as data on stages of acquisition or atypical development.
- Distinguish between theories on a key issue, for example whether acquisition depends mainly on input, innate capacity or social interaction.
- Apply a theory to a described example of a child's language use and explain what the theory predicts or explains.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Confusing behaviourist and innatist claims.
Put it right: Behaviourism explains acquisition through imitation and reinforcement; innatism explains it through an innate language capacity.
Treating one theory as fully proven.
Put it right: Each theory has supporting evidence and limitations, and exam answers should acknowledge both.
Describing a study without linking it to a theoretical claim.
Put it right: State what the finding shows about the theory in question.
Exam tips
- Learn each theory with one supporting study and one limitation so you can answer either direction of question.
- When a question gives a scenario, name the theory first, then apply its key terms to the scenario.
- Use precise terminology such as reinforcement, innate capacity, critical period and interaction rather than vague phrases like 'they just learn it'.
Try the lesson
The start of the Children’s language development: theories and research about language development. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Which theorist is most closely associated with the behaviourist explanation of language development?
Listen
This topic requires thorough knowledge of major theories and research about how children acquire spoken language. Research evidence encompasses longitudinal child language corpora, universal stages of acquisition (babbling, holophrastic, two-word, telegraphic), and studies of atypical development. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Identify a named theory of language development and state its central claim about how children acquire language. Describe research evidence that supports or challenges a given theory, such as data on stages of acquisition or atypical development. Distinguish between theories on a key issue, for example whether acquisition depends mainly on input, innate capacity or social interaction. Apply a theory to a described example of a child's language use and explain what the theory predicts or explains. A common slip: Confusing behaviourist and innatist claims. Instead, behaviourism explains acquisition through imitation and reinforcement; innatism explains it through an innate language capacity. Exam tip: Learn each theory with one supporting study and one limitation so you can answer either direction of question.
See it
Key words
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Theoretical accounts of acquisition
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Research evidence and studies
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Stages and patterns of development
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Strengths and limitations of theories
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See every definition
- Theoretical accounts of acquisition
- Frameworks covering behaviourist, nativist/innatist, cognitive and social interactionist explanations of how children acquire spoken language.
- Research evidence and studies
- Longitudinal child language corpora, universal stages of acquisition and studies of atypical development that support or challenge a given theory.
- Stages and patterns of development
- Universal stages of acquisition: babbling, holophrastic, two-word and telegraphic.
- Strengths and limitations of theories
- Evaluation of each account, acknowledging both supporting evidence and empirical limitations rather than treating one theory as fully proven.
Label the diagram
Some boxes have lost their names. Pick the right name for each number.
1Box 1
2Box 2
3Box 3
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