Introduction
Evaluation of language development can be explained in various ways, but behavioral, linguistic, and interactional theories are the most prominent. Studying the theories and evolution of linguistic theory allows us to examine language change from several vantage points. The failure of these explanations highlights the difficulty in understanding the nature of language.
Critical thinking skills refer to the ability to thoughtfully consider and reason with information. It uses one’s head instead of one’s emotions to figure out what to believe and how to act. Considering the problem with deliberate intent, using sound reasoning, making value judgments about the beliefs at play, and then applying the concerns in practice are all necessary. The classroom is the primary educational setting and the cornerstone of most people’s academic and career advancement.
The classroom is an ideal setting for cultivating critical thinking skills. While investigating critical thinking in the classroom, researchers have focused on three main questions:
- How to teach students to think critically?
- What effect can this have on students’ learning dynamics?
- How to test students’ critical thinking abilities?
Problem
How infants acquire these skills with seemingly minimal information is a pressing issue in the study of language development. Theories of language acquisition, like Noam Chomsky’s theory, Vygotsky’s theory of learning, and B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning has been developed to shed light on this research. Although they disagree, these explanations all contribute to the research on how children acquire language (Kim et al., 2019).
General Objective
The overarching purpose of this research was to analyze various perspectives on the development of young children’s vocabularies. The process by which children learn to communicate is fundamental to their maturation. Thus, it remains crucial, not only for educators but also for parents, to investigate the numerous ideas that are used to explain children’s language development. These ideas can shed some light on the riddles of language acquisition, but they must do so partially.
Theoretical Background
In the earliest accounts of how children acquire language, imitation plays a central role in the process. However, evidence suggests that imitation alone is insufficient to explain how children become talkers, even though research has shown that children who imitate the actions of those around them during the first year of life are generally the ones who also learn to talk more quickly.
Nativism
The process by which a child learns a language has been a topic of hot debate among linguists and child psychologists for decades. Most nativist theories of language acquisition can trace their roots back to Noam Chomsky, who drew more attention to the fact that children possess an innate ability to learn language, which was previously viewed as a purely cultural process based on imitation (Plotnikova & Strukov, 2019).
According to nativist linguistic theories, children have an innate aptitude for organizing the laws of language. Still, they can only fully employ this talent if exposed to other people. That does not mean the kid needs any professional tutoring, though. Chomsky proposes that infants are born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) in their brains (Wijayanti, 2012). They already have the foundations of language in place. Still, there are numerous variables to configure (such as whether the languages they will learn require explicit subjects in sentences).
The LAD allows young kids to determine the limits and deduce the grammatical principles of a language they are exposed to for the first time, according to nativist theory. Although Chomsky contends that language is innate, many linguists and psychologists disagree with him. His concept of evolution has significant proponents and detractors. Central to Chomskian’s perspective is Universal Grammar, which states that all languages share a common structural basis and that individual languages have rules that translate this standard structure into the unique patterns found in those languages (Seibert, 2021).
Without a predisposition for language, human neonates would have a hard time picking up such complex speech patterns in the wild, where entire sentences are a rarity. Recent studies have revealed that parents’ reactions to their children’s grammatical correctness and incorrectness are distinct (Saleh, 2019). As a result, this casts doubt on the idea that language is intrinsic, as it influences the child’s behavior.
Social Interactionism
This theory focuses on the learner’s interaction with the environment and the surrounding context as they acquire a new language. Language grammar is treated as a secondary concern to the pragmatics of communication. In this method, both the novice and the expert speaker (whether a child and an adult or a second-language learner and a native speaker) are in a constant state of negotiation, allowing for continuous feedback.
This method’s primary selling point is its emphasis on the mother tongue and the child’s cultural background throughout the formative years of language development (Ulger, 2018). This hypothesis claims that the ability to communicate is not innate. Instead, it grows out of practice at navigating the world around you. For this reason, the vocabulary we use is limited by the circumstances under which it is appropriate and understood.
Because it depends on the individual’s upbringing and social environment, this method of teaching language is only applicable in certain situations. The theory posits that language is always specific to its environment and historical moment. This may give the impression that language is inherently localized, but it also demonstrates the pragmatic nature of language development; languages tend to flourish in contexts where they are most useful and widely understood (Kim et al., 2019). However, it does not expand one’s horizons beyond the original setting and maintains a single level of fundamental knowledge. At first glance, it isn’t easy to adjust to new situations.
Interactionism’s main argument is founded on the premise that words only make meaning when the speaker knows the rest of the story. According to interactionists, this is the most critical aspect of their worldview. This scenario, however, does not create objects but reflects them and their surroundings. Children’s language development focuses on comprehensibility rather than grammar. On the other hand, Chomsky believes that teaching structure and grammar is necessary for correcting meaningless phrases resulting from a child’s simple absorption of words (Yilmaz, 2011). Learners and culture are emphasized in one perspective, whereas the arbitrary words of experts are emphasized in the other.
Operant Conditioning
When children are rewarded for using language correctly in social situations, B.F. Skinner argues that they will acquire the language in the same manner as they acquire all other skills. Using the word “drink” to ask for a drink reinforces the child’s use of it and encourages her to use it again. This pattern emerges from Skinner’s four-term contingency, which underpins language acquisition: motivating operations, discriminative stimuli, response, and reinforcement (Poce et al., 2020). In addition, Skinner suggested that children learn a language through imitating adults, responding to prompts, and being shaped in certain ways.
Cognitive Development
According to the work of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, culture plays a significant role in the development of a child’s higher-order cognitive skills, including thinking and language. He proposed that adults promote children’s cognitive development by giving them opportunities to participate in personally meaningful and intellectually demanding activities.
Vygotsky, a major pioneer in Soviet psychology, conducted groundbreaking research on child development and developed his theories on how people learn (Silalahi, 2019). He proposed a three-stage learning model, including mental, physical, and social components. The three main types of learning are cognitive, motoric, and socio-cultural learning, which involve acquiring new skills and knowledge.
According to Vygotsky, each successive stage constitutes a further development of the prior one, and he theorized that adults might gain insight into child development by observing children. He also believed that kids learned valuable life lessons while having fun. The field of modern psychology would be unthinkable without his contributions. Vygotsky used a child’s play with blocks to explain his theory. The body’s ability to manipulate objects and later apply those skills to the construction of constructions is a direct result of the time spent playing with the blocks (Poce et al., 2020). Playing leads to him learning about gravity and literacy as he grows older.
Critical Analysis
Language, it is argued by those who disagree with the nativist idea, is not innate but rather acquired through interaction with one’s surroundings (Halpern, 2013). The fact that the same rules and regulations constrain not all languages raises doubts about the possibility of universal grammar, which is another argument against the nativist hypothesis.
Evaluating language development and its application in improving a child’s critical thinking skills at school is closely connected to Vygotsky’s and Skinner’s theories of language acquisition. Vygotsky’s theory uses the concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which he linked to the process of social learning (Paredes & Chung, 2012).
The ZPD refers to the stage of growth reached when a child’s social interactions with others have closed the gap between their learning potential and actual learning (Demirbaga, 2018). Piaget’s theory was challenged by Vygotsky’s research, which demonstrated that Piaget’s account of children’s linguistic development was inadequate, as it failed to adequately consider the role of social interaction in this process. Both Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories have been successfully implemented in the classroom, and the two are frequently contrasted with one another.
According to Skinner, a child learns language by listening to and mimicking the adults in their lives. When a parent or other adult understands a child’s request, they are more likely to encourage the child and provide the desired item (Pathan et al., 2018). Consequently, effective words are emphasized while fewer effective ones are forgotten.
Chomsky’s hypothesis has some flaws, despite being theoretical in linguistic research. Much of his writing provides intricate explanations of grammatical principles, reflecting his keen interest in the subject. Unlike other researchers, he did not observe real kids. This idea entails trusting children’s exposure to language, but it ignores the interaction between children and their caregivers (Locklear, 2020). It also fails to account for language and a youngster’s motivations for wanting to use it.
When Bard and Sachs studied Jim, the hearing son of deaf parents, they reported their findings. Jim’s parents preferred spoken language to the sign language they used among themselves, so they encouraged him to take speech lessons. He was exposed to many languages through his extensive consumption of TV and radio. He made little headway until a speech therapist was brought in to help (Alharbi, 2022). Not even being around people who spoke the language helped. To him, it wasn’t very meaningful without the context. Successive theories have centered more on how children acquire language to meet their needs and interact with their surroundings and other people.
Application of Vygotsky’s Theory in Education
Educators at all levels of the educational system draw on a wide variety of learning theories to facilitate student growth. Teachers and professors base their decisions on the most effective teaching methods and pedagogical approaches based on these learning theories. The Russian educator Lev Vygotsky demonstrated that learning can occur in interpersonal relationships (Runić, 2013). He suggested that people’s brains evolve, in part, due to their relationships with others.
According to Vygotsky, children learn the most by interacting with others in their community. Vygotsky’s original theory of learning was developed primarily to clarify how people pick up information about the world and develop their own beliefs and values through interactions with others (Magno, 2010). This paper will focus on defining Vygotsky’s theory of learning, discussing its application to real-world educational settings, including classrooms and educational policy, and providing a critical assessment of the theory.
Vygotsky argues that educators should design lessons with students’ maturation in mind, which means that educators need to know how to arrange classroom activities based on whether or not their students can complete them independently or whether they will need help from their peers. Vygotsky argued that teachers must work within their students’ ZPD to educate students effectively (Alwehaibi, 2012).
A youngster who, for instance, still needs to develop the ability to recognize individual sounds within words may not benefit from training in that area. During the evaluation phase, instructors may provide students with feedback and guidance to help them improve their performance. These suggestions encourage students to push themselves academically within their current abilities.
Vygotsky also recommended scaffolding as a means of development that would help students become self-sufficient. With the help of scaffolding, students take manageable steps toward their objectives. This suggests that educators should be able to tailor lesson plans to their students’ ZPD. The activity breakdown should demonstrate increasing complexity (Vygotsky & Cole, 2018).
Additionally, it can involve role-playing responses, facilitating student-to-student discussions of ideas, and organizing collaborative problem-solving activities. Students will inevitably have to work with others in their classes to find answers. Students would gain self-assurance within their ZPD and be able to work on increasingly challenging exercises with their peers and teacher (Dann, 2019). This suggests that novel learning would emerge as a result of purposeful interactions within the classroom.
Vygotsky advocates for learning through social interaction among peers. According to proponents of the theory of peer learning, this method helps create an environment where the instructor is just one among many facilitators. Gaining knowledge and skills in a group setting is facilitated by this method. Careful matching is also necessary so that students can effectively assist one another in their learning (Meepian & Wannapiroon, 2013). Pairing a student who excels in grammar with one who excels at vocabulary is just one example. The students would learn a great deal from one another during the group projects.
In accordance with Vygotskian ideas, curriculum development should prioritize making connections between learning and social relationships through task-based activities. Furthermore, teachers must prioritize student autonomy in problem-solving to effectively employ scaffolding in the classroom (Duran & Dökme, 2016). Students need frequent assessments to be directed toward challenging activities that will immediately affect their potential. Effective learning settings that promote and facilitate collaborative activities are also closely related to the learning process (Soysal, 2020).
The language of instruction used in schools is also essential for students’ intellectual growth; thus, it must be consistent with their cultural background. This is so because language facilitates communication, which in turn facilitates group learning. Academic success, social skills, and mental health benefit from close communication between parents and educators. Cooperation between parents and educators benefits kids at home and in the classroom.
The theory ignored important considerations that aid the learning process. The students come from these socioeconomic backgrounds. These circumstances affect learners within the educational system, which in turn impacts the solutions available to educators (Ulum et al., 2021). Unlike other theories, this one gives little consideration to the learner’s cognitive aptitude or other characteristics that can influence their academic success; instead, it focuses primarily on the social components of education (Silalahi, 2019).
Scaffolding can be challenging to implement in large classes due to difficulties with management techniques. Due to this, scaffolding is typically used only for construction projects. It is important to supplement Vygotsky’s theory with more contemporary methods (Demirbaga, 2018). Multi-sensory techniques and expertise in leading large groups are two examples of new ways that can be used in tandem with the theory of social interaction.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Vygotsky proposed the learning theory to influence the ZPD of students. It is an effective instrument that educators can utilize to facilitate student learning. Additionally, it is crucial to consider the acquisition of a language through the lens of one’s culture, environment, and social experiences.
Students can quickly assimilate new material, methodologies, and mindsets since the scaffolding is provided for them (Eun, 2011). Although Vygotsky’s theory is predominantly based on social interaction theory, it often overlooks other critical aspects of society and the economy that also influence the learning process. Even if Vygotsky’s theory is critical, it can only reach its full potential with the integration of other strategies.
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