A behavioral analysis of controversial topics in first language acquisition: Reinforcements, corrections, modeling, input frequencies, and the three-term contingency pattern

Moerk, Ernst L.

doi:10.1007/bf01067408

Cited by 59 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…They determined that parents provided very little explicit feedback and tended to reinforce the content of children's utterances, not the syntax or pronunciation. Moerk (1983), however, re-analyzed Brown and Hanlon's data and found that parents provided a high frequency of reinforcement, modeling, and correcting. Brown and Hanlon counted only instances in which a response was followed by an expression of approval or disapproval such Good job or That's incorrect.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Role of Modeling and Automatic Reinforcement in the Construction of the Passive Voice

Wright

2006

Analysis Verbal Behav

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Language acquisition has been a contentious topic among linguists, psycholinguists, and behaviorists for decades. Although numerous theories of language acquisition have surfaced, none have sufficiently accounted for the subtleties of the language that children acquire. The present study attempts to explain the role of modeling and automatic reinforcement in the acquisition of the passive voice. Six children, ages 3 to 5, participated in this study. The results indicated that the children began using the passive voice only after the experimenter modeled passive sentences. Furthermore, the usage of the passive voice increased with repeated exposure to the experimenter's verbal behavior. Given that the children were not explicitly reinforced, it is proposed that their behavior was automatically reinforced for using the passive voice.

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confidence: 99%

The Role of Modeling and Automatic Reinforcement in the Construction of the Passive Voice

Wright

2006

Analysis Verbal Behav

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“…Regarding the tool's applications, the three dimensions identified and included (Context and communication management; Instructional design; and Communicative functions and strategies) are consistent with those mentioned by other authors as relevant facilitators of language development in natural contexts (Cross, 1977;del Rio and Gràcia, 1996;Marinac et al, 2008;Mercer, 2008Mercer, , 2010Moerk, 1983).…”

Section: Research Questionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Developing and testing EVALOE: A tool for assessing spoken language teaching and learning in the classroom

Gràcia

Llobera

Galván-Bovaira

2015

Child Language Teaching and Therapy

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Broadly speaking, the teaching of spoken language in Spanish schools has not been approached in a systematic way. Changes in school practices are needed in order to allow all children to become competent speakers and to understand and construct oral texts that are appropriate in different contexts and for different audiences both inside and outside school. Here we describe the construction of EVALOE ('Escala de valoración de la enseñanza de la lengua oral en contexto escolar' [Assessment scale of oral language teaching]), a flexible tool designed to assess the teaching and learning of spoken language in schools. The first part of the tool is an observation scale (for use in the classroom), and the second is a semi-structured interview carried out with the teacher after the observation. The instrument is designed to assess how teachers facilitate the development of spoken language. It also aims to further interdisciplinary collaboration with regard to the introduction of changes in teaching practices in order to promote the development of communication friendly classroom environments. A pilot test and expert review of the tool was carried out. Thirty-nine schools then participated in the field test, which involved 39 professionals (23 speech and language therapists, eight educational psychologists, and eight teachers) and two university students. Eighty observations, 34 in a preschool setting and 46 in primary schools, were carried out. The results suggest that EVALOE is a useful tool for assessing the teaching and learning of spoken language.

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“…In a reanalyzation of Brown's data, Moerk (1983) discovered that mothers correct and expand infant's grammatical statements approximately 50times/hour. Also Moerk (1983) discovered that children might experience every major sentence type about 100,000 times/month. Moerk (1992) argued strongly to place language learning within a skill-learning paradigm.…”

Section: "I Am Using the Word 'Trained' In A Way Strictly Analogous Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral science as the art of the 21st century philosophical similarities between B.F. Skinner's radical behaviorism and postmodern science.

Cautilli¹,

Rosenwasser²,

Hantula³

2003

The Behavior Analyst Today

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Since B.F. Skinner's death in 1990, psychologists taking a historical approach are beginning to clear misconceptions of his philosophy: radical behaviorism. Contrary to the belief of many, radical behaviorism, continues to grow and branch into new areas. This paper attempts to explore the history of Skinner's assertions and place them within the context of contemporary western thought. Parallels are drawn between Skinner's science and diverse areas such as evolutionary biology and postmodern philosophy. The social construction of knowledge is one of the many lasting legacies of Skinner's work.

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A behavioral analysis of controversial topics in first language acquisition: Reinforcements, corrections, modeling, input frequencies, and the three-term contingency pattern

Cited by 59 publications

References 23 publications

The Role of Modeling and Automatic Reinforcement in the Construction of the Passive Voice

The Role of Modeling and Automatic Reinforcement in the Construction of the Passive Voice

Developing and testing EVALOE: A tool for assessing spoken language teaching and learning in the classroom

Behavioral science as the art of the 21st century philosophical similarities between B.F. Skinner's radical behaviorism and postmodern science.

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