goconstructivism: September 2007

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Language acquisition

is the process by which the language capability develops in a human. First language acquisition concerns the development of language in children, while second language acquisition focuses on language development in adults as well. Historically, theorists are often divided between emphasising either nature or nurture (see Nature versus nurture) as the most important explanatory factor for acquisition.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT-COGNITIVE THEORY

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development
No theory of cognitive development has had more impact than that of Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive thinking. Jean Piaget, a swiss psychologists identified four stages in which children develop cognitively.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT-BEHAVIOURISM

Behaviorism (also called learning perspective) is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things which organisms do — including acting, thinking and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors. The school of psychology maintains that behaviors as such can be described scientifically without recourse either to internal physiological events or to hypothetical constructs such as the mind. Behaviorism comprises the position that all theories should have observational correlates but that there are no philosophical differences between publicly observable processes (such as actions) and privately observable processes (such as thinking and feeling).

From early psychology in the 19th century, the behaviorist school of thought ran concurrently and shared commonalities with the psychoanalytic and Gestalt movements in psychology into the 20th century; but also differed from the mental philosophy of the Gestalt psychologists in critical ways. Its main influences were Ivan Pavlov, who investigated classical conditioning, Edward Lee Thorndike, John B. Watson who rejected introspective methods and sought to restrict psychology to experimental methods, and B.F. Skinner who conducted research on operant conditioning.

Relation to language

As Skinner turned from experimental work to concentrate on the philosophical underpinnings of a science of behavior, his attention naturally turned to human language. His book Verbal Behavior (1957) laid out a vocabulary and theory for functional analysis of verbal behavior. The book was strongly criticized in a review by the linguist Noam Chomsky.[1] Skinner did not himself respond in detail; he claimed that "[Chomsky] doesn’t know what I am talking about and for some reason is unable to understand it".[2] A thorough refutation was written by Kenneth McCorquodale [1] [3] and submitted to Language but was refused and later printed in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

What was important for a behaviorist analysis of human behavior was not language acquisition so much as the interaction between language and overt behavior. In an essay republished in his 1969 book Contingencies of Reinforcement, Skinner took the view that humans could construct linguistic stimuli that would then acquire control over their behavior in the same way that external stimuli could. The possibility of such "instructional control" over behavior meant that contingencies of reinforcement would not always produce the same effects on human behavior as they reliably do in other animals. The focus of a radical behaviorist analysis of human behavior therefore shifted to an attempt to understand the interaction between instructional control and contingency control, and also to understand the behavioral processes that determine what instructions are constructed and what control they acquire over behavior. Important figures in this effort have been Murray Sidman, A. Charles Catania, C. Fergus Lowe and Steven C. Hayes.

THEORIES OF HOW LANGUAGE DEVELOP

Noam Chomsky
INNATISM: Language is a human instinct. All societies have complex language, and everywhere the languages use the same kinds of grammatical machinery like nouns, verbs, auxiliaries, and agreement. All normal children develop language without conscious effort or formal lessons, and by the age of three they speak in fluent grammatical sentences, outperforming the most sophisticated computers. Brain damage or congenital conditions can make a person a linguistic savant while severely retarded, or unable to speak normally despite high intelligence. All this has led many scientists, beginning with the linguist Noam Chomsky in the late 1950s, to conclude that there are specialized circuits in the human brain, and perhaps specialized genes, that create the gift of articulate speech.

DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE

Ages and Stages
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES
for receptive & expressive language acquisition
Copyright Ó 1998 Caroline Bowen

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT

Bloom and Lahey Model
Information for Parents and Carers - an outline of Speech, Language and Communication Development

ROYAL INSTISTUTE FOR DEAF AND BLIND

Welcome to the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC), Australia’s premier provider of educational services to children with hearing and/or vision impairment.

NATIONAL CENTRE FOR TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

NCTI advances learning opportunities for all students by fostering technology innovation.

Look for resources, information, and current trends in education related to technology and students with special needs.

ANDREW JUNKER

Andrew Junker, Ph.D., Founder of Brain Actuated Technologies

APPLE ACCESSIBILITY

Since 1985 Apple has been committed to helping people with disabilities access their personal computers. Apple’s commitment to accessibility is evident throughout the Mac OS X operating system, which is not only easy to use by design, but also includes a wide variety of features and technologies specifically designed to provide access to users with disabilities. Apple refers to these features collectively as Universal Access and has integrated them into the operating system so they can be used in conjunction with a variety of applications from Apple and other developers. Apple is also changing the ways people interact with technology through innovative products like the iPhone, which bring new possibilities for making user interfaces accessible to users with disabilities.

LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES

Welcome to Intellitools

Learning Technologies for PreK-8 Classrooms

IntelliTools provides technology to help struggling students learn to their fullest potential: serving students in PreK-8 who use assistive technology, have IEPs, have limited English proficiency, or need additional instructional support for any reason.

Our research-based products help you teach reading, writing, and mathematics, plus provide access to the computer. Use IntelliTools products to teach core concepts, provide patient practice, give immediate feedback, and track student responses.

NEW! Phonemic Awareness Activities for IntelliTools Classroom Suite

TROLL TOUCH

Troll Touch touchscreens use PSR-1® or Pressure Sensitive Resistive Technology. This particular method of manufacturing allows our touchscreen customers greater latitude in how the screen is used by enabling activation with any type of stylus. This could be a fingertip, pencil point, eraser, gloved hand or non-sharp pointer of any kind. Our screens are not dependant on fingertip moisture or any sort of wave technology that could easily be interrupted, thereby causing incorrect touch readings and drift.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES Made4Mac

APPLE-EDUCATION-ACCESSIBILITY

Accessibility in Education: Learning & Communication

AUSTRALIAN DISABILITY CLEARINGHOUSE ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Welcome to ADCET

The Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET) provides up to date and comprehensive information about inclusive teaching, learning and assessment strategies, accommodations and support services for people with disabilities in post secondary education and training. University buildings

ADCET services primarily target teachers, disability practitioners, learning support staff, researchers and policy makers. We also hold information and resources that may be useful for students.

Subscribe to ADCET for additional services including regular newsletters. If you haven't yet subscribed please consider doing so - we need your support to continue this service. Subscription details.

For additional teaching and support strategies see the Creating Accessible Teaching and Support (CATS) website

BOARDMAKER

Boardmaker

by Mayer-Johnson, LLC
View Pricelist Print Version

Home\Catalogue\Communication Tools\
Boardmaker

An incredibly flexible and powerful communication display maker!

Boardmaker is a communication and learning tool containing over 4,500 Picture Communication Symbols (PCS). It is designed to enhance the language and learning process for students of all levels. The program allows you to:

* Make a professional looking communication display in minutes
* Quickly find and paste PCS symbols into your display or desktop publishing program
* Make the pictures any size and with any spacing
* Print and/or save your display on disk for later use
* Print displays in black-and-white or colour (if you have a colour printer)
* Combine elements from PCS to create your own custom symbols
* Import digital photos and other graphics and create custom-drawn images
* Store, name, retrieve, resize, and paste any image or graphical object
* Make worksheets, picture instruction sheets, reading books, journals, schedules, posters or custom activities.

LETTERLAND

LETTERLAND was created by Lyn Wendon in England over 20 years ago . She wanted to bring the alphabet alive and help children understand how it works.

In LETTERLAND each letter of the alphabet is represented by a special 'pictogram' character. Each character has been created and designed to represent the sounds which letters make in words.

For example, by saying the names of a Letterlander, Clever Cat, Lucy Lamp Light and Yellow Yo-Yo Man, children already have their associated sound on their lips.

The Letterlanders names are alliterative which immediately taps into the building of phonemic awareness skills. Children are enchanted by the characters and animals in this secret place called LETTERLAND and educators know that if children are interested, they learn without even realizing.

Harry Hat Man
LETTERLAND uses stories to explain any changes in sounds when two characters come together. These stories are built around the information children have already discovered about the Letterlanders. For example, Harry Hat Man normally hops along in words whispering his sound, 'hh', in words because he hates noise.

Sammy SnakeBut his friend Sammy Snake loves to make his hissing sound in words, 'ss'.

ShSo why they change their sounds when are together? Because the Hat Man hates noise and hushes Sammy Snake up with a 'sh' sound!

ChAnother Letterland story tells about what happens when Clever Cat sits next to the Harry Hat Man... his hairy hat makes her nose tickle and so she sneezes with a 'ch' sound.

Children remember these stories as they capture their imagination.

SHARON VAUGHN

Sharon Vaughn

Sharon Vaughn is the H.E. Hartfelder/Southland Regents Chair and Director of the University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts at the University of Texas Austin. She is the past president of the Division for Learning Disabilities within the Council for Exceptional Children, the previous co-editor of Learning Disabilities Research and Practice and the current editor in chief of Journal of Learning Disabilities.

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSE ASSAULT TRAINING

QUALITY TEACHER PROGRAM

Quality Teacher Program

SUPPORTING STUDENTS BY GOOD MANAGEMENT

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW NOW ABOUT SUPPORTING STUDENTS BY GOOD MANAGEMENT

POLICIES AND PRINCIPLES. Chapter 3

Literacy and Numeracy Chapter 6 and 7 LOOK AT SHEARWATER Literacy and Numeracy Overview

HEARING AND VISION CHAPTER 10 AND iInclusion Chapter 4

Bob Conway- Chapter 5 newscaslte Uni Moving

Physical Needs and High Support Needs Chapter 13

Physical Needs- Chapter 6 page 204

Exam DDA Short Answer Question

Topic Areas: Broad Overview next week.

Essay due 22nd September

INDIVIDUAL PLANNING PROGRAM

Individual Planning Profile for student with a disability

Disability Action Plan 2000-2002

Priority Areas for Action-Goals, Strategies and Key Performance Indicators

Students name, contact details
School representative's name, contact details
Students Primary Disability
Other Disability Information
Name all people involved in completing this profile, eg. parents, teachers, specialist teacher and at a certain point the student.
List existing Teacher Assistant Support
List existing support for the teacher, including Professional Development.
What has been done to support this student's learning and participation, ie what specific planning processes are in place.
Adjustments in specific focus areas:
1.Curriculum Access- Syllabus Octcomes- currently working at what stage
Add information about current pattern of study/subject selection etc.
What adjustments to instruction and materials are in place already.