Unit 10 Language Text A Acquisition Background information 1.Steven Pinker Steven Pinker(1954-)is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University.His research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has won prizes from the National Academy of Sciences,the Royal Institution of Great Britain,the Cognitive Neuroscience Society,and the American Psychological Association.In 1994 he published the first of five books written for a general audience.The Language Instinct was an introduction to all aspects of language,in which Pinker asserts that language is a biological adaptation and humans have evolved to share a faculty for language,the same way a spider evolved to spin a web
Text A Background information 1. Steven Pinker Steven Pinker (1954-)is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has won prizes from the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the American Psychological Association. In 1994 he published the first of five books written for a general audience. The Language Instinct was an introduction to all aspects of language, in which Pinker asserts that language is a biological adaptation and humans have evolved to share a faculty for language, the same way a spider evolved to spin a web. Unit 10 Language Acquisition
Unit 10 Language Text A Acquisition Background information 2.Noam Chomsky Noam Chomsky(1928-)is an American linguist,philosopher,cognitive scientist,logician,political critic and activist.He is an Institute Professor and Professor(Emeritus)in the Department of Linguistics Philosophy at MIT.He is described as "the father of modern linguistics
Text A Background information 2. Noam Chomsky Noam Chomsky (1928- ) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political critic and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT. He is described as “the father of modern linguistics”. Unit 10 Language Acquisition
Unit 10 Language Text A Acquisition Background information 3.Cognitive science Cognitive science is the scientific study of the human mind.The field is inherently interdisciplinary,combining ideas and methods from psychology,computer science,linguistics,philosophy,and neuroscience.Broadly speaking,the goal is to characterize the nature of human knowledge and how that knowledge is used,processed,and acquired.Its intellectual origins are in the mid-1950s,and its organizational origins are in the mid-1970s when the Cognitive Science Society was formed and the journal Cognitive Science began
Text A Background information 3. Cognitive science Cognitive science is the scientific study of the human mind. The field is inherently interdisciplinary, combining ideas and methods from psychology, computer science, linguistics, philosophy, and neuroscience. Broadly speaking, the goal is to characterize the nature of human knowledge and how that knowledge is used, processed, and acquired. Its intellectual origins are in the mid-1950s, and its organizational origins are in the mid-1970s when the Cognitive Science Society was formed and the journal Cognitive Science began. Unit 10 Language Acquisition
Unit 10 Language Text A Acquisition Background information 4.Behaviorism Behaviorism refers to the school of psychology founded by John B. Watson,American psychologist,based on the belief that behaviors can be measured,trained,and changed.According to behaviorism, behavior can be studied in a systematic manner and only observable behaviors should be studied,since internal states such as cognitions, emotions and moods are too subjective.Behaviorists believe that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning,which occurs through interaction with the environment,and our responses to environmental stimuli shape our behaviors
Text A Background information 4. Behaviorism Behaviorism refers to the school of psychology founded by John B. Watson , American psychologist, based on the belief that behaviors can be measured, trained, and changed. According to behaviorism, behavior can be studied in a systematic manner and only observable behaviors should be studied, since internal states such as cognitions, emotions and moods are too subjective. Behaviorists believe that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning, which occurs through interaction with the environment, and our responses to environmental stimuli shape our behaviors. Unit 10 Language Acquisition
Unit 10 Language Acquisition Text A General Analysis Summarize the main ideas of Text A on the basis of Task 1/Critical Reading and Thinking/Text A. Language as a cultural artifact Language as an instinct (Para.2) (Paras.3-4) 1.Language is man's most important 1.Language is a distinct piece of cultural invention; the biological makeup of our 2.Language pervades thought; brains, 3.Children learn to talk from role 2.The workings of language are models and caregivers; far from our awareness; 4.Schools nurture grammatical 3.Language learning is not entirely sophistication; an act of imitation 5.The English language IS irrational
Language as a cultural artifact (Para. 2) Language as an instinct (Paras. 3-4) 1.Language is man’s most important culturalinvention; 2. Language pervades thought; 3. Children learn to talk from role models and caregivers; 4. Schools nurture grammatical sophistication; 5. The English language is irrational. 1. Language is a distinct piece of the biological makeup of our brains; 2. The workings of language are far from our awareness; 3. Language learning is not entirely an act of imitation. Text A General Analysis Summarize the main ideas of Text A on the basis of Task 1/Critical Reading and Thinking/Text A. Unit 10 Language Acquisition