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  • Essay / Piaget's theories of cognitive growth and language...

    Jack is expected to move from using holophrases, or single words that express the meaning of several, to use of telegraphic speech where several words are used, especially the most important one. words to express the child's message. It is also notable that Jack is able to identify animals, showing that his style is more referential than expressive. Jack is also expected to begin showing significant growth in the number of words he is able to learn at age three, as well as showing his ability to follow correct grammar. There are several theories that attempt to explain how Jack may acquire his language skills; BF Skinner's learning theory, Naoam Chomsky's nativist approach and the interactionist perspective which is a mixture of the two. The interactionist perspective recognizes that a person is genetically programmed to develop the ability to express themselves verbally and that a person's need for social interaction is equally important, with its respective rewards in shaping our linguistic abilities. This was illustrated by the video clip shown in class in which the Mandarin woman successfully taught the children her native language by speaking to them during their critical period of language development. However, attempts to teach them its language using recorded methods were unsuccessful, concluding that it was both the children hearing the Mandarin language and, more importantly, the human interaction in which the kids were the best.