Page 25 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

The Cognitivist Perspective

plex system solely by imitating adults? He concluded that children’s minds
are not blank slates that merely imitate the language they hear; instead, they
are inherently equipped with the capacity to independently uncover the un-
derlying rules of a language system based on the natural language examples
they are exposed to. According to Chomsky, children are pre-equipped with
a universal grammar which helps them decide what is accepted and what
not (Lightbown & Spada, 2013). While they might make mistakes (like attach-
ing the past tense suffix -ed to irregular verbs -*taked), this also shows that
they intuitively know language is based on structure and rules.
Although the innatist perspective offered several useful insights into how
languages are acquired, it was focused mainly on the structure of the lan-
guage, leaving aside the social aspects of language use and neglecting the
communicativeaspectsoflearningandacquiringan L2(Brewsteret al.,2002).
However, Chomsky’s theory of L1 acquisition had a considerable impact on
future developments and ideas in the area of foreign language learning and
acquisition.

The Cognitivist Perspective
Cognition usually refers to people’s ability for thinking and processing in-
formation, and cognitive theories of learning are concerned with the men-
tal properties involved in the learning process. According to the cognitivist
perspective, language development is an aspect of general cognitive growth
and does not emerge from some innate language learning mechanism as
claimed by the innatists.
The cognitivist views emphasise individual differences which may affect
the learning process, focusing on both language acquisition and language
use, and are especially interested in how L2 knowledge is stored and pro-
cessed in the brain (Loewen & Reinders, 2011). Learning a foreign language
essentially involves using general learning skills and is similar to other types
of learning, such as learning to count or ride a bike. These types of learning
involve both acquisition and learning which in turn requires both consider-
able mental activity and practice before a certain skill becomes automatized
(Skela & Dagarin Fojkar, 2009). The cognitivist views are associated with the
so-called Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) according to which people are ge-
netically programmed to acquire certain kinds of knowledge and skill at spe-
cific times in life (later it would be much more difficult). In terms of language
acquisition, CPH suggests that if children are not given access to language
in early childhood, they will not acquire the language if the deprivation goes
on for too long.

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