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A. Chomsky's theory of nativism believes in the hypothesis that language is innate and it is found in a being's "essential nature". This theory puts emphasise on evolutionary principles to connect language acquisition of beings. He believes the brains of new born's are pre-wired to acquire grammar and this is coin as universal grammar.

B. From this theory, it is assume that children already have the stored knowledge language and grammar in their brain. Hence it will be much easier for them to verbalise their thoughts in their native language. They also will be able to pick up the grammar structure and correspond it to their environment.

C. As this theory puts emphasise on biological principles, Teachers can assume that children already have the ability to understand grammar structures hence they can conduct activities that requires stimuli and responses and teach the children language by correcting their speech immediately and making them repeat it.

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a. What is this theory about?
This theory focuses on a child's cognitive development. According to constructivist thinking, reading and writing are representational systems that people use to communicate an almost limitless body of information (e.g. thoughts, emotions, descriptions and much more). Piaget's belief is that every child is born with certain genetic traits and constructs his/her own intelligence through developing interacts with the environment. Constructivism is a theory about knowledge and learning, by describing both what knowing is and how one comes to know.

b. How does it relate to language learning or acquisition?
Constructivists believe that many factors like social, maturational, biological, cognitive and interactive, modify one another to affect language learning.

c. How is it used in language teaching and/or learning?
The constructivist model views learners as vital in the process of language learning. Learners are active in seeking, constructing meaning and in seeking communication with others. Children produce hypotheses and test them with the speaker in the environments.  They attempt to combine sounds and words in different situations which is why constructivists believe that this problem-solving behaviour is very important in learning language. Constructivist teachers encourage and accept student independence and schema. They use raw data and primary sources, along with manipulative, interactive and physical materials. Also, when designing tasks, they use cognitive terminology uch as classify, analyse, predict and create.

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a. What is the theory about: The Piageten Contructivism perspective discusses how children acquire knowledge through interactions with the environment and construct knowledge acquired innately. This theory has four principles. Firstly, knowledge is comprised of past constructions (prior knowledge). Secondly, constructions come about through assimilation and accommodation. Thirdly, learning is a process of invention with several procedures such as hypothesizing and predicting, posing questions, investigating and etc rather than a process of accumulation. Lastly, meaningful learning allows learners to go through reflection and resolution and addresses prior incomplete knowledge.

b. How does it relate to language learning or acquisition: In this theory, the learners are encouraged to have problem-solving behaviour when learning language, like combining sounds and words in different situations and are also actively encouraged to socially interact

c. How is it used in language teaching  and/or learning: In this theory, the teachers encourages students to be independent and develop their own schema. The teacher also uses students’ responses as a tool to push lessons further. There is also a lot of interaction and dialogue between the students and teacher as well as dialogues amongst the students. Through this discussions and interactions, the students are able to gain insights by asking questions and be curious. These experiences allows students to construct in relation to their prior knowledge/hypotheses.

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a. What is the theory about?
It is regarding the interrelationship between thinking processes, which involves perceiving, processing, organising and storing information from the environment and using it to guide action and language processes, which involves using signs/symbols to make and communicate meaning social interaction.

b. How does it relate to language learning or acquisition?
The system of meaning created by the unifi cation of thinking and language processes was at the center of Vygotsky’s work and constitutes the foundation upon which rise the concepts for which he is best known, including the zone of proximal development, social interaction, sign/symbol use to mediate activity and the consequent development of higher psychological processes, inner and private speech, play, and the role of the social/cultural/ historical situation of development.

c. How is it used in language teaching and or learning?
According to the article, communicative social interactions is an important component of language acquisition Hence, teachers can use the situational learning approach, to teach children language.

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Piaget's Constructivism Theory.

a) Piaget's theory is about knowledge and learning whereby it describes both what knowing is and how one comes to know. Constructivism suggests that children acquire knowledge by internalising it directly from the outside but by constructing it inside, by interacting with the environment.
There are 4 principles to the theory. (1) Knowledge consists of past constructions. (2) Constructions come about through
assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation refers to
the logical framework or schema we used to understand or
organize information. Accommodate is a higher-level
theory or logic to take in the information. (3) A constructivist takes the
position that the learner must have experiences with
hypothesizing and predicting, manipulating objects,
posing questions, researching answers, imagining,
investigating, and inventing, in order for new
constructions to be developed. (4) Meaningful learning
occurs through reflection and resolution of cognitive
conflict and thus serves to negate earlier, incomplete
levels of understanding.

b) Learners must be active in participating during lessons. For spelling knowledge, learners go through several steps to develop this skill. The language support system is created for children. The support system is scaffolding that provides a framework and
supports children.

c) Educators encourage and accept student independence and schema. Constructivist teachers allow students’ responses to
drive lessons, encourage student inquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and encourage students to ask questions of each other.

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Summary of notes

Study of interrelationship

-          Between thinking processes; involved perceiving, processing, organizing, and storing information from the environment, and using it to bring about action

-          Between language processes; those involved in using signs/symbols to make and communicate meaning in social interaction

-          Therefore provides a foundation for understanding the interrelationship between thinking and language processes involved in communicating meaning in a second language.

System of meaning - created by putting together thinking and language processes, makes up the foundation of the following concepts

-          Zone of proximal development

-          Social interaction

-          Signs/Symbol use to mediate activity

-          Consequent development of higher psychological processes

-          Inner and private speech, play

-          Role of social/cultural/historical situation of development

Internal System of Meaning
Development of meaning as a process that is shaped by its relationship with other psychological functions, processes, structures and systems.

-          The system of meaning is part of larger systems like the human psyche and human consciousness, thus meaning is decided by systemic structure of consciousness.

-          Functions such as voluntary action, logical memory, higher forms of perception and movement are internally connected with the symbolic activity of the child.

-          Vygotsky saw a relationship between language and thinking processes, which shapes and are being shaped by the other in an internal mental system(created when individuals develop the ability to receive and produce signs to communicate meaning) that resulted from their unification.

-          The stage that individuals have reached in the development of their systems of meaning will influence their second language acquisition and development.

Therefore, for a child to be able to acquire second language, it depends on how developed the child’s system of meaning is.

Methodological Approach
Was developed to study the relationships between thinking and speaking processes, can also help inform investigations into the processes involved in acquiring and developing communicative capacity in a second language.

-          it turns out that just as social interaction is impossible without signs or meaning.

-          Early social interaction (infant’s developing perception, attention and memory lead to communication between child and caregiver, with caregivers attributing communicative intent to the infant’s gestures and sounds) helps children develop communicative intentionality and initial use of symbols to convey meaning, which is important in the acquisition of language. A qualitative transformation in social interaction takes place as communication of meaning is accomplished through signs and development of language use.

-          Children develop their own sense of meaning as it is internalized.

-          The individual’s system of meaning is connected to the individual’s system of concepts.

-          It is important to recognise that an adult learner has developed a system of meaning in their native language for them to be able to learn a second language.

Therefore, social interaction and personal experiences help develop system of concepts, which builds on systems of meanings, eventually aiding in acquisition of second language.

Vygotsky, SLA and Development

“The child learns a foreign language in school differently than he learns his native language. He does not begin learning his native language with the study of the alphabet, with reading and writing, with the conscious and intentional construction of phrases, with the defi nition of words, or with the study of grammar. Generally, however, this is all characteristic of the child’s first steps in learning a foreign language. The child learns his native language without conscious awareness or intention; he learns a foreign language with conscious awareness and intention. (1987, p. 221)”

-          The level of conscious awareness that children have of their own thinking processes will affect their acquisition of the second language. The awareness when they learn their native language is not there as to when they learn a second language.

-          Similarly, when a child already possess a system of meanings in the native language, the meanings are transferred to the foreign language when they learn it. However a child that acquire two language since infancy develops two relatively distinct systems of meanings for each language.

-          Understanding where children are in their concept development can help in understanding their processes of acquiring a second language.

Therefore

Importance of interconnectedness of processes of second language acquisition with processes involved with acquiring one’s native language

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(a) What is theory about?
Piaget's constructivism theory focuses more on how children acquire knowledge and learn. It explains that children acquire knowledge by constructing their own understanding and knowledge while interacting with the environment and not just the environment itself. This theory consist of 4 principles, firstly, knowledge consist of prior knowledge. Secondly, constructing knowledge comes from understanding and taking in that knowledge. Thirdly, in order to construct new knowledge, the learner needs to go through experiences. Lastly, reflecting and solving conflicts benefit in meaningful learning.
For the teacher's role, the teacher encourages and accept student's independence and schema. For the student's role, the student should be active in seeking and constructing meaning and in seeking communication with others.

(b) How does it relate to language acquisition or learning?
Piaget believes that children learn language through going through experiences and solving issues. Which means that they must have active participation in constructing meaning rather than learning passively, which is important when children are learning language. In addition, when children correct their own mistakes, they are gaining and constructing new knowledge.

(c) How is it used in language teaching and/or learning?
The teacher respects children by upholding children’s rights to their feelings, ideas and opinions. They also promote social interactions and that they try to solve issues themselves so that they can understand and construct knowledge themselves.

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a. The interrelationship between thinking processes (perceiving, processing, organization, and storing information) and language process (using signs/symbols to make and communicate meaning in social interaction). Provides a foundation for understanding the interrelationship and language process involved in communicating meaning in a second language.

b. Vygotsky's theory relates to the acquisition of the second language. Vygotsky's main focus was on the system of meaning that results from the unification of language and thinking process.

c. The teacher can tap on ZPD which means she/he will need to know what is potential of the child with and without guidance and work around it so as not spoon feed the children but not leaving the child alone struggling to learn himself.

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1. Chomsky's theory talks about every human being having the innate capability/are genetically coded to acquire a language, hence which is why he calls it "universal".

2. Chomsky believes that this "universal" innate capability provides a set of rules to be used in speech production and comprehension, which makes it easy for children to learn any language as Long as they have a brief exposure to the language.

3. According to Chomsky, children are unaware of the rights or wrongs in forming sentences unless they are corrected, and hence, makes many mistakes when learning. As such, Chomsky suggested that teachers/parents should repeat to them the same sentence using a different sentence structure. E.g. When the child says, "I want little food", parents can repeat it in the correct manner instead, "You mean you don't want to eat a lot today?"

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a. Chomsky's theory is that he believes everyone is born with the innate knowledge of grammar and it serves as the basis for language acquisition
b. He believes that the "essential nature" of human beings that enables us to acquire a language rather than verbal behaviour itself. Moreover,  he suggests that universal grammar - which contains fundamentals common to all languages -, can be triggered by relatively brief exposure to a particular language, hence allowing us to extract grammar to learn the language
c. Children, when they learn about grammar, for example, past tense. As they quickly listen to verbs with the d or t, they seem to think that some of the past tense verbs had a d or a t sound behind. They then use the verb with a d or a t and use it as be a past tense verb

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What is the theory about?
Vygotsky's Social Constructivism  theory talks about the interrelationship that occurs between the thinking processes (understanding, processing, organizing and storing of information received from external stimuli) and languages process (Processing the external stimuli to create signs and symbols with meaning to communicate during social interaction)
The theory focuses on how a child learns and develop from being exposed to external stimuli to help build on their language development.

How does it relate to language learning & acquisition?
The theory talks about the acquisition of a second language. The stage of development of a child's cognition (Thinking process) affects the child's capabilities to communicate with others in a social context. The fundamental of the thinking process is shaped by the external stimuli the child receives from his/her environment/ the people around them. The development of this thinking process and the child's awareness of their thinking process affects their second language acquisition. Vygotsky states that language acquisition does not only involves the child's exposure to words but also an interdependent process between thought and language.
Therefore, children would take in the words that they heard (External stimuli) and perceive and process them to create meaning and  understanding which will assist them in communication through creation of signs and symbols with meanings.
How is it used in language teaching and/or learning?
In terms of teaching, using the Social Constructivism theory, the teacher should tap on Vygotsky's theory on the Zone of Proximal Development which states the zone of what a student is capable of doing without help versus what he can do with guidance. Therefore, teachers should first consider the child's prospective learning power before trying to expand the child's grasp of language

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1.  The theory is about knowledge and learning. It describes both what knowing is and how one comes to know. Constructivism shows that children acquire knowledge not by internalizing it directly from the outside but by constructing it from the inside, in interaction with the environment.
2. Children learn language through a series of processes. They try to combine sounds and words in different situations. Constructivists believe that this problem-solving behavior is very important in learning language. They also believe that the errors in children’s speech reflect new knowledge about language rules. They also recognize the importance of social interactions in the development of language.
3. Constructivist teachers allow students’ responses to drive lessons, shrift instructional strategies, and alter content; inquire about students’ understandings of concepts before sharing their own understandings of those concepts. They often encourage students to engage in dialogue, both with the teacher and with one another; encourage student inquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions and encourage students to ask questions of each other. Teachers also allow wait time after posing questions, provide time for students to construct relationships and care for students’ natural interest.

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1. What is the theory about?
Vygotsky's Social Constructivism theory touches on the interrelationship between the thinking process [perceiving, processing, organizing, and storing information] and language process [the use of symbols and signs to communicate meaning in social interaction(s).
2. How does it relate to language acquisition or learning?
This theory discusses the acquisition of a second language.
The thinking process which requires the child to perceive, process, organize and store information will affect how the child acquire language. The language process, involves the child being exposed to an external stimuli that help them learn about a language better.

3. How is it used in language teaching and/or learning?
Educators should use Vygotsky's zone of proximal development when teaching a language. The teacher should help only when the child needs help. for instance, translating.

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Chomsky finds that grammar is innate.
The language system may be modular to other systems such as learning skills, but there are some uniqueness specifically for one to acquire language.

In Chomsky's theory, is that when sentences are created in the mind, the sentence is edited, and the deleted or rearranged words become intuition for the person to avoid using in future.

He finds that grammar is innate because there are certain grammar rules not taught, yet no one makes such an error. The genetic code thus does contain some fundamental elements of grammar in language.

In short, Chomsky's theory is that the evolved human is made to naturally know and use language and grammar well.

However, Chomsky's theory has too much about evolution. He also does not touch on language acquisition, but push it all to biological evolution. Even if it may be biological, the question on the source of the gene is not explained.
Also, although an innate mechanism should respond to its stimuli (interaction with the physical environment, Chomsky's theory does not depict such thing.
Chomsky's terms are abstract and not well thought out.
He uses a word for different definitions interchangeably, is not specific in his definitions and parts he is speaking about (such as, which part of the nervous system?). This render audiences to be confused. His theory, thus, becomes rather abstract and not easily comprehensible. His theory is also assumed and not demonstrated.

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A) The system of meaning = interrelationship between thinking processes(perceiving, processing, organizing and storing information) from the environment to guide action and language processing (using signs and symbols to communicate meaning in social interaction). It talks about the use of sign and symbols and meaning behind them, and how the meaning is developed.

B) The theory relates to the acquisition of a second language or the communication of meaning in a second language.
The stage of development of the system of meaning (thinking processes + language processing) influences the development and acquisition of the second language. The fundamental thinking processes which humans are born in and those developed in infancy (elementary mental functions) shaped by social interactions and eventually develop communicative intentions, use of symbols to convey meanings and development of language.
The acquisition of a second language involves the learner to be consciously aware and intentional unlike the acquisition of a first language naturally. The process of SLA is also affected as the child already has a system of meanings in his native laguage, which is transferred to the second language.

C) Understanding where students are in their concept of development can provide insight to understand their process of SLA. As learners acquire a second language, the system of meanings previously acquired in their native language will play an important role in their second language. Teachers can tap into their prior knowledge and help with translation to help learners pick up vocabulary in the second language.

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A) The Piagetian Constructivist Perspective theory is a theory about knowledge and learning, where children learn through interactions with the environment and constructing their own intelligence on the inside. There are four core principles to this theory.
1. Knowledge consists of prior constructions (experiences)
2. Constructions come through assimilation and accommodation
3. Construction goes through processes, such as imagining, hypothesizing, experimenting, manipulating etc., instead of a mechanical process of accumulating this knowledge.
4. Meaningful learning occurs through reflection and resolution, hence any prior knowledge will be constantly rechecked to ensure it is correct and if it is shown to have flaws, this new information will take its place or build on it to ensure greater levels of understanding.

B) Based on the article, it mentions that learners are vital in the acquisition of language. Children use a problem-solving method through trying, testing and combining what they have learnt.

C) In terms of teaching, the constructivist teacher should encourage children to form their own schema and also assist in their level of understanding and knowledge to allow the children to assimilate more information to guide them along if there is any incorrect prior knowledge.

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1. According to Chomsky's nativist theory, infants have an innate ability to learn a language. From a very young age, they are able to understand the basics of grammar.  He also mentioned that this is similar across all languages and hence the term "universal grammar" came about. Children are able to do so despite having limited vocabulary. This is a critical point as Chomsky assumes that children are able to understand structure and rules of grammar even before they know many words.
2. Based on the article, children acquire grammar without going through formal learning. They seem to learn about their native language based on their surroundings. As children learn more about their native language they will subconsciously add what they have learned to its corresponding word class. Since the children have an innate understanding of grammar, they would be able to pick up grammatical structures of any language.
3. Children make many errors in language learning but they will not assume until corrected. For example, if a child says "I want to partner to you". The teacher can repeat what the child said in a grammatically correct form and have the child model after him or her.
In a classroom environment, there might be some instances where learners are required to complete a task or activity without the teacher's assistance. Then based on the task they completed, the teacher would assess them before giving them another task to practice on.

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A.  Chomsky believes that both genetics and individual experiences contributes to human's development. He believes that human beings have an innate mechanism that enables us to acquire language. We are also equipped in the "Universal Grammar", the knowledge of rules common to all language.

B.  Grammar is essential to language acquisition and as children are born with the innate ability to understand grammatical rules,  children are able to acquire language without conscious effort. For example, by listening to such forms as "worked", "played" and "patted", the child will form the hypothesis that the past tense of verbs is formed by adding the sound /d/, /t/ or /id/ to the base form.

C.  When teaching children a language, teachers can use the test-teach-test approach, allowing the children to explore the language independently first before guiding them.

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1) Peruse articles A - C on constructivism, social constructivism and nativism
2) Focus on your allocated article (as stated below)
3) Input your notes based on the article allocated to you onto this Padlet
4) Key in your summary notes by Thursday, 4 May 2017, 5pm

Guiding questions for summary task:
a. What is theory about?
b. How does it relate to language learning or acquisition?
c. How is it used in language teaching and/or learning?

Allocation of articles-names:
Article A - Piagetian Constructivist Perspective
Belle, Chee Kiang, Hannah, Kama, Celeste, Jia Han

Article B - Vygotsky's Social Constructivism
Amanda Young, Bella, Amirul, Christine, Sara, Ross

Article C - Chomsky's Nativism
Amanda Beh, Atikah, Sufenia, Amirah, Christina, Veron