First Language Acquisition by H. Douglas Brown

The strength of each theory.

Behaviorist

This theory is undeniable the oldest one, but getting through this theory

people opened their mind and get the comprehension of language acquisition. Out of

the behaviorist point of view that regards human way of thinking is similar as an

animal, this approach left one crucial thing. That is the stage of repetition which is

believed it gives a strong role in not only acquiring language but also the activity or

behavior demanded.

As the given case above of a well-known childhood game, bye-bye hello

game, the child is both learning about separation and return. The learning of children

here cannot be separated from the ritual. In this case we may reflect the ritual as a

repetition.

Nativist

This theory is believed to be the transformer in first language acquisition

study. The finding of LAD promoted by Chomsky is likely to be the answer of how a

child acquires the first language without any difficulty. This LAD is definitely to be

an innate that only possessed by human being. Thus human is different from animal.

It should be underlined that this LAD will give the miracle work on crucial ages of a

child.

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Functional

Because this theory revises the previous theories, Functional approach tend to

be the most rational one in first language acquisition. In the development of this

study, it was found that a brain doesn’t work step by step but a brain processes one

thing or information by linking it to million other cells which each cell carried

different information.

The capacity of the brain in processing information leads into an assumption

extended by functional approach from the previous theory. The assumption that a

brain processes language one by one renewed to be a complex simultaneous process.

Thus a brain of a child is able to take all the language and the situation around the

language.

CONCLUSION

This paper has explained the theories of first language acquisition or how

the children acquire their first language that amazingly in few years later they are able

to communicate ideas.

Basically there are three major theories. The first is the idea suggested by

behaviorist that emphasizes the result of the research on the environment gives a great

influence to the children language development. The next is nativist. The nativist

researchers believe that the children are not born as a white paper but they are gifted a

genetic capacity that lead us to a systematic perception of language around us,

resulting in the constructional of an internalized system of language. The third is

functional approach which brings the study of the language acquisition into

constructivists, social interaction, cognition and language, function of language and

discourse.