Comparative Essay

There are several theories, both recent and historical, that have shaped how we view language acquisition. The following essay is going to explore only two of these theories, that of behaviorism and innatism. The theories will be described, analyzed, compared and the implications second language acquisition has on, English as a foreign language classroom or teaching will be discussed.
While innatism accounts for some of these deficiencies such as, addressing the issue, by way of the LAD, of how children can produce language using complex structures they have not been taught. Innatism allows for explanations of language acquisition that are outside those simply attributed to the environment in both the mother tongue and in SLA. However, innatism, unlike behaviorism, does not have solid evidence of the LAD and to what extent it aids first and second language acquisition (Spitz, 2004).
These above mentioned styles are most commonly attributes to the behaviorist style of teaching SLA, where the emphasis is on behavior, rewarding good behavior and breaking or extinguishing incorrect behavior. This can be done in several ways. Behavior that the teacher wants to instill in the students is reinforced using either intrinsic, or extrinsic rewards, whereas, Behavior that the teacher wishes to extinguished will be punished; this can be as simple as clapping or smiling at the student when they are correct and on the other side holding a student in class five minutes of their break time to extinguish behavior (Ellclassroom, n.d.) and (Brewer, Campbell, & Petty, 2000 in Strandridge, 2002). Using this information the most likely setup of a behaviorist oriented SLA classroom would be lines of single or possible double desks, the lessons would be worksheet, teacher centered and lead lessons.
Bibliography
Berk, L. (2006). Child development. (8th ed.).Boston: Pearson
Center for English Language Studies, (2008). A look under the hood
A study of SLA beliefs and the...