The Study of Behaviorism and First Language Acquisition1完整版可编辑

PAGE第2页共6页TheStudyofBehaviorismandFirstLanguageAcquisition Abstract:Thepassagecentersontheanalysisofbehaviorismandfirstlanguageacquisition.Weaffirmthemeritsofthetheoryandpointoutitsshortcomingsatthesametime.Asweallknow,behaviorismandFLAwasprevalentbeforethe1960s.Sotheremustbesomereasonsforitsprosperityandcertainvaluableexperiencewhichcanbenefitourlanguagelearning.Tobeginwith,behavioristsregardFLAasageneraldevelopment.Secondly,behavioristslaystressonrepeatedpracticeoflanguagelearning.What’smore,generalizationisanotherimportantideaofbehaviorism.Lastbutnotleast,timelyfeedbackisanequallyimportantviewofbehaviorists.Allthesearereallyhelpfultopeople’slanguagebothphysicallyandmentally.Whileinasense,shortcomingsandmeritsofbehaviorismandFLAaretwosidesofthesamecoin.TherearemainlytwodefectsofbehaviorismandFLA.Firstofall,thetheoryisunabletogiveananswertoalllanguagecharacteristics.Specifically,language’sdisplacementandpeople’sgrammaticalabilitycan’tbeexplainedinthisway.Secondly,behavioristsjustowelanguageacquisitiontoexternalenvironmentalstimulation,ignoringindividualeffect.Duringthecourseoflanguagelearning,wecan’tandshouldn’tforgetitsdrawbacks.Inaddition,applicationofbehaviorisminSecondLanguageAcquisitionplaysasignificantroleregardingthebabyEnglishteaching.Theycanbeconcludedlikethis:Firstly,theteacherplaysaleadingroleinclassroomteaching.Secondly,babyEnglishteachingoffersacoursefromsimpletocomplex.Thirdly,listening,speakingandpracticingareespeciallyemphasizedinbabyEnglishteaching.Inotherwords,theconceptofoperationalpracticeisalwaysdominatedinbabyEnglishteaching.Lastpointisthattheteacherusuallysparesnoeffortstopraiseandencouragehischildrenwhenevaluatingthem.Andtheencouragementcanbevisibleandinvisible.Inconclusion,behaviorismshowsitselfhereandthereinbabyEnglishteachingandisworthadvocating.Allinall,whatweneedtodoistoavoiditsshortcomingsandtakefulladvantagesofitsmeritsduringtheprocessingoflanguagelearning.Keywords:Behaviorism;LanguageAcquisition;Merits;Shortcomings;ApplicationofbehaviorisminSLAregardingthebabyEnglishteaching.1IntroductionAlmosteverydayofourlifeweengageinlanguageprocessing.Thisprocessingtakesplacewhenwelistentoradio,watchTV,readanewspaper,writealetterorhaveaconversation.Thenhaveyoueverconsideredhowcouldyoucometounderstandandspeakthelanguageofyourcommunity?Inotherwords,howlanguageisacquired?“Generallyspeaking,therearemainlythreedifferenttheoriesconcerninglanguageacquisition,namelythebehaviorist,theinnatistandtheinterractionistview.”(Dai,2010:141)Here,weonlypayattentiontoabehavioristviewoflanguageacquisition.Actually,behaviorism,alsocalledthelearningperspective(whereanyphysicalactionisabehavior),isaphilosophyofpsychologybasedonthepropositionthatallthingswhichorganismsdo-includingacting,thinking,andfeeling-canandshouldberegardedasbehaviors,andthatpsychologicaldisordersarebesttreatedbyalteringbehaviorpatternsormodifyingtheenvironment.Andtheestablishmentofbehaviorismgreatlyinfluencestheviewoflanguagelearning,thebehavioristapproachoflanguageacquisitionrepresentedbyB.F.Skinnerprevailingbeforethe1960s.“Accordingtothebehavioristview,thereisnothinglinguisticinthemindofthenewborninfant.Thechildimitatesthespeecharoundit,usingaprocessoftrailanderror.Itisreinforcedintheseimitations,ordiscouragedfromthem,bythedegreeofsuccessinachievesincommunicating.Thisisastandardstimulus-response-imitation-reinforcementapproach.”(Liu,2006:269)Forexample,supposeababyishungry,shebabbles;shedoesnotpronouncetherightsound[milk]forthemilkshewants;shegetscorrected,sheimitatesthecorrectsoundandgetsunderstood;shegetsthemilkshewants.Allthetime,thebabyisobservingandimitatingthespeechsound[milk];shegetspunishedinthesensethatshedoesnotgetthemilkshewantswhenshefailstopronouncetherightsoundandisrewardedwhenshehitsonthecorrectsound.Therightformofthesoundbecomesreinforcedeachtimethebabyisrewarded.Thisexampleseemstotellusthatlikeotherformsofhumanbehaviors,languageislearnedbytheprocessofimitationandhabitformation.Inthecase,therearereasonableplacesaboutabehavioristviewoflanguageacquisition.However,sincethisprinciplewillnotexplainallthefactsoflanguagedevelopment,itisunderchallengeandcriticisminrecentyears.Inthefollowingparts,wewillhaveadiscussiononthemeritsofbehaviorismandFLA,itsshortcomingsandapplicationofbehaviorisminSLAregardingthebabyEnglishteachingaswell.2TheMeritsofBehaviorismandFLAAswhathasbeenmentionedabove,behaviorismandFLAwasprevalentbeforethe1960s.Sotheremustbesomereasonsforitsprosperityandcertainvaluableexperiencewhichcanbenefitourlanguagelearning.Tobeginwith,behavioristsregardFLAasageneraldevelopment.That’stosay,peopleshouldlearnlanguagestepbystep,usuallyfromtheeasytothedifficult.Certainly,thisopinionisscientific.Ontheonehand,ifthematerialsforlearners’preliminarylanguagelearningaretoohard,learners’interestmaybefrustrated.Asweallknow,interestisthebestteacher.It’simpossibletolearnlanguagewellwithoutawarminterest.Ontheotherhand,iflanguagelearnershaveagoodcommandoftheeasypartatthebeginningoflanguagelearning,thenafirmfoundationwillbeestablishedforfurtherstudyofthelanguage.Secondly,behavioristslaystressonrepeatedpracticeoflanguagelearning.It’sclearthatpracticingasmuchaspossibleisthekeyforasuccessfullanguagelearner.Onconditionthatwehaveacquiredalotoflanguageknowledgeandjustkeepitinmindwithoutusingit,ourbrainisjustastorehousefulloftheoryinthissituation.Wearepassiveratherthanactive.Howcanwegofrombeingobjectstosubjects?Theonlywayistopractice,tospeakthelanguageout.Onlyinthiswaycanwemakeagooduseofalanguage.What’smore,generalizationisanotherimportantideaofbehaviorism.Inductivelearningisespeciallyemphasizedbybehaviorists.Duringthecourseoflanguagelearning,it’seasierforlearnerstounderstandandsummarizegrammaticalstructuresbyputtingthesentenceswhichsharethesimilarpatterntogether.Thenthesimilaritiescanbespottedaswellasdifferencesofthesegrammaticalstructures.Asaresult,generalizationwillmakelanguagelearnersgettwicetheresultwithhalftheeffort.(Huang,2000:2)Forinstance,inthesentence“Heisastudent/teacher/worker.”,student,teacherorworker—thesewordsofthesametype,arealwayslocatedatobjectandinterchangeable.Byarepetitionofreplacepractice,languagelearnerswillknowwhatkindofwordsshouldfollowbeverbinthatsentenceandhowtousethesentencepatternproperly.Gradually,theusageofthatsentimentalformcanbemastered.Allinall,inductivelearningisatime-savingandefficientmethodforlanguagelearners.Lastbutnotleast,timelyfeedbackisanequallyimportantviewofbehaviorists.Thatfeedbackcanbepositiveone,suchaspraise,ornegativeone,suchascriticism.Languagelearnersarecapableofknowingtheircomprehensivefacultyinlearningthelanguageandimprovingtheirlearningstrategiesassoonaspossiblethroughpraiseorcriticism.Besides,moreencouragementandlessdisapprovalleadlanguagelearnerstobemoreenthusiasticabouttheirstudyandbebravertoexpressthemselves.Toconclude,behaviorismisreallyhelpfultopeople’slanguagebothphysicallyandmentally.3TheShortcomingsofBehaviorismandFLAInasense,shortcomingsandmeritsofbehaviorismandFLAaretwosidesofthesamecoin.ThebehaviorismandFLAhasbeenunderquestionallthrough,especiallyundertheinfluenceofNoamChomsky’slinguistictheoryfromthe1960s.AccordingtoChomsky,therearemainlytwodefectsofbehaviorismandFLA.Firstofall,thetheoryisunabletogiveananswertoalllanguagecharacteristics.Specifically,language’sdisplacementandpeople’sgrammaticalabilitycan’tbeexplainedinthisway.Asforlanguage’sdisplacement,itmeansthatpeoplecantalkaboutathingwhichhashappened,whichishappeningandwhatisgoingtohappenwithlanguage.Onlyasmallpartoflanguageisrootedatpresentandinreality,directlyraisedfromthecurrentstimulation.Theotherpartoflanguageisbeyondthepatternof“stimulus-response”.(Cheng,1999:42)Whenspeakingofpeople’sgrammaticalability,itdoesnotmeetbehaviorismandFLA,neither.Onekindofevidenceisbasedonthewaychildrenseemunabletoimitateadultgrammaticalconstructionexactly,evenwhenaskedtodoso.Thebest-knowndemonstrationofthisprincipleisthedialoguereportedbytheAmericanpsycholinguist,DavidMcneil,whereachildprovedunabletouseapattern,eventhoughtheparentpresentedthecorrectadultmodelseveraltimes:Child:Nobodydon’tlikesme.Mother:No,say“Nobodylikesme.”Child:Nobodydon’tlikeme.(Eightrepetitionofthisdialogue)Mother:No,nowlistencarefully:say“Nobodylikesme.”Child:Oh!Nobodydon’tlikesme.Thechildatthispointinitslearninggrammarisclearlynotreadytousethe“singlenegative”patternfoundinEnglish.Suchexamplessuggestthelanguagelearningismoreofmaturationthanofimitation.(Wang,2004:224)Secondly,behavioristsjustowelanguageacquisitiontoexternalenvironmentalstimulation,ignoringindividualeffect.Asamatteroffact,languagelearnersdonotimitateinmuchthesamewayasparrotsdo.Theyimitatewordsselectivelyandaccordingtotheirownunderstandingofthesoundsandpatterns,whichisbasedonwhatthelearnersalreadyknowninsteadofwhatis“available”intheenvironment.(He,2010:142)DuetohistoricallimitationswhenbehaviorismandFLAwasfounded,weshouldadmitandavoiditsshortageintheprocessoflearningalanguage.4ApplicationofBehaviorisminBabySecondLanguage—EnglishTeachingThoughtherearemanydrawbacksofbehaviorismandFLA,behaviorismisstillwidelyappliedtobaby’sSL-Englishteachingbecauseofitsirreplaceablefunction.ThemajorityoftheoriesaboutbehaviorismandFLAaretrueofthoseaboutbehaviorismandSLAinthatsecondlanguageacquisitionisalwaysenormouslyinfluencedbynativelanguageacquisition.Next,I’dliketocenterontheappearancesofbehaviorisminbaby’sSL-Englishteaching.Theycanbeconcludedlikethis:Firstly,theteacherplaysaleadingroleinclassroomteaching.ThereasonisthatchildrenenjoyalowindependentlearningcapabilitywhentheystarttolearnEnglish.Theyareapttomakemistakesifallowedfreetostudybythemselves.What’sworsebadhabitationishardtogetrightonceformed.Sotheteachermustguidethechildrentohavegoodhabitationsatfirst.Secondly,babyEnglishteachingoffersacoursefromsimpletocomplex.Theteacherisintendedtokeepchildren’sinterestinlearningandusingEnglishallthetime.Forexample,childrenarerequiredtoplaygamesandsingsongsaccordingtoEnglishordersinitially;andafterwardstheyarerequestedtoreadandwriteEnglishletters;andthentheyareaskedtowriteeachworddown;andfinallytheygettheabilitytospeakEnglishsentence.Eachstageofchildren’sEnglishlearningtakesalotoftimeandtheknowledgeofeachstageisreinforcedbytheteacher.Stepbystep,childrenknowhowtostudyEnglishinarightwaywithunfailingcuriosity.Thirdly,listening,speakingandpracticingareespeciallyemphasizedinbabyEnglishteaching.Inotherwords,theconceptofoperationalpracticeisalwaysdominatedinbabyEnglishteaching.Itcanbeoftenseenthatthetaskoftheteacheristoprovideappropriatepracticeforhischildren;andthechildren’sassignmentistofinishitbyrepeatinglistening,readingandspeaking.Inthisway,childrenwillkeepnewwords,sentenceandphrasesdeepinmind.Lastpointisthattheteacherusuallysparesnoeffortstopraiseandencouragehischildrenwhenevaluatingthem.Andtheencouragementcanbevisibleandinvisible.Asageneralrule,children’spositiveresponsewillbereinforcedbythismeans.Morespecifically,childrenareinevitabletomeetdifficultieswhenlearningEnglish,suchastoomanywordsneededtoberemembered.Att