University of Nigeria Research Publications

BABATUNDE, Yusuf Adebayo

Aut

hor

PG/MA/91/12458

Title

Age and Sex Differences in the Acquisition of Yoruba

Fricatives: A Case Study of Ondo State College of Education Staff School Nursery Pupils

Facu

lty

Arts

Dep

artm

ent

Linguistics and Nigerian Languages

Dat

e May, 1995

Sign

atur

e

OF YORUBA FELICATIVES : A CASE

STUDY OF ONCO STATE COLLZE OF EDUCAITIC~N

STAFF SCHOOL NUI;(SERY 1

U l ~ V l B S I T Y GI" NIGEBIA, NSUW(A

DEPARTMENrl' OF LINGUIST1 CS AND

NlGEKLAN UXGUAGES

AGE AXTD SEX DIFF%RrnCES IN THE AC4UISIrPION

OF YORURA FT(ICATIVE3 a A CASE STUDY OF

ONDO STATE COLLEGE OF EDIICATION STAFF

SCHOOL NU1ISl'BY F'UI'JIS

A PROJECT REEOKf

l ' t . ~ ~ t l . ~ i b f l ~ ~ ' w ! - ~ Y;a '\rtf i ~ t 2 > 3 ~ t , = r + d ~ ~ : t t e S ~ ; L I C : ~ - % ~ ; .

in 5'1e ~ J P J q r L r r f r ~ t o f L i l ~ g ~ i ~ t i c s and Nigerian

Languages, Univers i ty of Nigeria, Nmukka, has

r a t i ~ f a c t o r i l y completed the requiramantu f o r courses

and project work f o r the dagrae of Master o f Arts ;

( M . A . ) i n L i n g u i s t i c s .

The work embodied in t h i ~ project report i s

o r l g l n a l and has not been submitted i n part or T u l l

f o r any diploma or degree o f t h i s or any other

Univers i ty .

--------- ---------- P r o f , B. 1 Oluikpe

Chief Supervisor, Dr P .A. Nwachukwu ( ~ e a d of ~ e p a r t m e n t ) .

- iii -

T h l s work 18 dedioatsd -Lo the eaonornioally oppressed

i u Nigeria and bepnd.

1 dl1 like t o expr~m rqr gra3itude t o Almighty God di-:s%

pmt action, msrcies ma ~ u f dmom d o it poadbla for ma to

b e g i n and complete t h i s uozk ~ucraeaafhlly, k ! ~ profound m8tltudc

ctaoperatlon and understanding maw tha work: through. I am

l ike a relation of thdrr.

t o G a r r y aut this s tudy . Ny special t h a n k s go t o Mr. 1.L Ojo,

t h ~ Rwi9tra.r of t h e Collqye.

I would like to rwieter also my sincere approciation f o

Massrs G d y u Faniyi, F e d Fatokun, A H n Aldnbisoye, Olu HaIinde,

J.1, Fasmmi, l u k e Oluwafad, Tun$. Orroeye and Niee Kmi Aboderin

f o r t h e i r invaluable assistance.

Ky gratitk.de also gags to Mesars Tunde Thtiny, Bayode

bjala, h c a a Fatunsin, TQFB D u a m l a and Mm. E.T. Q u m o l a f o r

t h e i r words of muouragement,

To Alhaji (h) 3ayn Salami, I say, I am grateful.

I am equally grateful to Dr. 3.0. Bandah, Mesars

F.O. O~mbayo and E.B. Kctlswole Par assiatiw in t h e &slyaiiY

of the rezult a.

I am particularly $ ~ a t ~ f l . l l to the follow in^ menibam a? my

family f o r providing t h e needed support encour~enent3

Chief J.O. Fatotla euld Mrs. Mojisola Bab~~tunds. To R i y L , K e m i

and T Q ~ B , I am ~ a t e f u l .

CHAPTER

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T h i s s tudy was dtsefgnd t o investigate age and sax

differencea in t h e acquisition of fsicatives in Yoruba as a

f i r a f Language with a view t o promotine knowledge in ch i ld

phonological development. The eauple comprissd sixty 3 - t o - 5 year-alds randomly drawn fmm t h e numery p u p i l s of Ondo %ate

C o l l e g e of Education Staff Schoal, Jksre-Ekiti,

Four pic%uresl c a n t a n i n g four ob j ec ta eaoh, fiia~tl re

Acqulaftion lnatxument (FU), designed by t h e xa~earcher,

validated by arpsrts, a t a ~ ~ e r a c o r d e r and two aaaaet t e tapea

were used, wi th the a sa i s tmce of ' th ree experts, to collect

GmpUe fmm the subjscte .

To haw t h e direction of t h e findings of t h e study

ai.,.raga percentage scoaea were obtained through a method pattamed

after h lay , B u r t and Kraahen'e (1982). Croup Maan Method for xale

t h e cor+ma w a s mbjected t o

(2) Them iu a ei&tlaant differmoe bdwrsn

o h i l b m aged 4 and 5 in the af the

ar t iculat ion of the frioativss in Taruba.

(3) There is a ~SgnlPloant dif ferenus betwesn

ohildrsn wad 3 and 5 in t h e maaterg of the

d i a u l a t ton of' the faur f-slo&tivsa in Yarubri,

(4) There i a no signlfluant differenae betwean

male and female children in t h e aaquid.tion

of the Srioativee in 'loruba,

It was alaa dfscovemd t h a t the childmm mubatituted

diffemnt oonsunant aounda for the onee investigated with * \a following as t h e predaminmt pdtsrna.

':he t;txu htid i m ~ ~ t i c a t i o n s f o r p m m t s , whom

FIGURE PAGE

............................ I Yoruba Consonant Chart 5

Average Percentage Scorea o f Subjects

According t o k e ............................... w Averwe Percentage Scores of Male and

.......... Fernale Subjects ........................ S w e n t Substitution Emam of Children in

t h e Ar t i cu la t ion of /8/. .................m........ Sagnent Substi tut iyn Error3 of Children In the

~ ~ t i c u ~ a t i o n of / / ............................... J Swment S u b s t i t u t l m Errcars of Cbildroa in the

Segment Subst i tut ion &ora of Children in the

~ i c u l a t i o a of /tJ ................... ... ....... A 'Peat of Differerica between Chilctren 4e;d 3

and 4 in t h e Acq~iisltion of f i icat ivea in

A Trsat of Differmue betueen Chi~d ran 3 aah

5 i n t h e Acquieition of fiicativea in Yoruba,. . . , .

A Test a f h f f a r a n u e betwean Male and Female

C h i l d r e n Fn the Acquisition of hdaat ivsa in ............................................ Hornha

c o m r r l ~ n i ~ d icn .

f m y q e bchaviour i a a pecu1iar:ily of makind. Bar-t;er

~ H e r v e s t h a t i t is Itinguar,-el mre obviously t h a n (1564) ob

m y t l : i r ~ y else, tha t d i s t i n g u i a h e p man from t h e pest of the

I 1 He b e l i e v ~ n t h a t even thouph o t h e r wdniids

corn-uxlcate w i i h one rlnolhtlr, OT ut any rate ctimulate one

ano the r t o action, they do t h i s "by m a w s of criea". Cr:1~.3

by animals, sccording t o hirn,are not u r t i c u l a t e nnrl by t k : r

he nmma t h ~ t t h q l ~ c k et;rucl.uru, which enableo us t o

d i s t i r g u i s h v o u e l s from conemiants and d i v f d e n hum.% utt.elb lice

W O T ~ S ~

T h i s v i ~ , is rel.,Farc~d by Cimson (1783) when h e

as: c r t s t h a t ona of t h e c!;iof characteristics of t h e human

be ing is h i s a b i l i t y t o c ~ m n i c n t e t o his fe l lown complicated

messages mnceming every aspec t of h i s activity.

h m g u s ~ e as a mesns of coimnunicatian is used both in

speech clnd writaim ( C h r i s t opherssn, 1981 ). As Barber ( 1 $4)

obaervea, l q : u ~ a is bas ica l ly somethiw which is sgokm,

t h e v , ~ i t t e n lWua.ge is zecondary und derivative. Hurlock

(1378), describiw comunication a an in te rchamp of

t h o u # a and feellnp, contend^ t h a t t h e inte-nchange can be

carried out with arly form of l quage - gasturea, emtional expeserions, epeach or writtsn l an jpage - but it l a mst comanl y and effectively done by ~ p s e c h . Evan though t h s r e

d i f f ersnt f o m s of languwe beh~viour, it i a tho spoken frsra

t h a t is basic t o comlca t i r r n m d t h e most af fec t ive o f t h e

formo. It is for t i i i a rea:lun t h a t in t h i s st~ldy we w i l l focus

on speech, x d h e m speech -will be uaed t o rafer to t h a t forr

of larqza#e i n which ~ J t i c u l a t e words are used t o convey

meaning (Rurlock, 1978).

Studies have been carried out t h ~ - t focusmad on

phonological development. B l e n (1 9821, for example, observe,

tka t phono lodca l universals in adult l w a g e arrd in 1aqgiag.l

acr,uisitfon bava been t h e subject of debate aod investigation

studies, howcver, haa hecn t h e Eng1ish languag~. This

i~vves t iga t ian irr this study.

Although t h e ,qrL%rnent mieht be preferred, as Eblan

(1482) observes, citing Irgranl (19761, t h a t ?.he general

developments? processas used by c h i l d r e n in 'learning their

f i rst languwe seem t o be similar regardlasa of the languwe

beiw Zeamad, t h e p i n t nust be mede that indiv iduals d i f f e r

1 a.Wu ,qea m a ~ l have an lder: t ical i n v a n t o r y of phonemes, t h e

pbonemas may pa t t e rn ~ u i t e differently in the two l q a g e a .

Flglinh and Igho ?or example, have /3 /, s velar nasal. T1.e way the souad f u n c t i o n s 111 Ehglish is d i f f e r e n t f r o m t b ~ w q r

it does in fgbo. Wheretls t h e sound can o n l y occur s g l l a b l e - .ly and word - nedially in mlish, e.g. / (JCing), it can occur in 1310 syllable - i n j t i s ' l l y aa i r l

u / rnemim *drinkp ih addition to occurrirag ward - L

oedia l ly as in / ~ Y V / neminyj. 'bee'. It d a o s not o o c u ~ L

in m r d f i n a l pas t t ion in Tgba.

T h s o r i ~ t s have d i f f e red markedly on phclnc,logicul

development. As will be shown in t h e next chapter , t ho v v r i c u s

~ h r n = . j ,:A h i t h e r t o prol.~!.mded on phono?ocical developa~ent are

incompatible. No stud^, therefore, i n i t i a t e d with a vLr:*< t o

s h e 2 d . i ~ light an l-.ou c h i l d r e n acquire leslflrags is inopt, It

is against t h i s back-pxmd t h a t w e w i l l see th ia s tudy as

n ~ c e s m ~ y .

1.2 Statement of Prublem

It bas bean show^. that f r l c 3 l i v e s have prcved t o be a

very d l r f i c u l t a e t of r;hommes f o r c h i l d r e n to aoquire.

Ingram, Chris tenam, Vsstch a d 'debater (1%,0), cited in

E%lm (19$2), for erampls, have show, t h a t w l i s h - n p e a k i w c h i l d r m fin?. f r i c a t i v e s t o be a d i f f l c i i l t clasa of sounds

t~ acquir+. A s imilar observat ion ~ j r o r ~ p t e d E b l m ( 1 9 & 2 ) t ~ .

i n v e s t i g a t e t h e acqu i s i t ion of f r ica t ives by th ree - year - old children learning 14ericm Spmish . The presmt study is s

response t o this type of abselvatian among the children

In a p i l o t s tudy c a m i d out, t h e remarcher of tl-,-.e

present ctudy discovered that ch i ld ren learning Yoruba as L

first larguwe found fricatives to be a very d i f f i c u l t set

of aounda t o rea l ise . Yoruba has f o u r f r i~a t i ve s :

Rowever, be for6 .re :on, Ldar the p i l o t study and examine i !I@

a r t i c d a t o r j features c.f these fr icat ives it w i l l be

necebz try t o re f lec t b r i e f l y on the consonant phonemes of

Yomba.

Yomba has a t o t s 1 number of eighteen cansonant

phonemes. figure t belou presen ts t b e phonemes, taHng

c o p i z a n c e of place m d manner of ar t i cu la t ion , and t h e

s t a t e of t h e g lo t t i s ,

f i m ~ a I : Yomba Consonant

Us have ddibsrat aSy imored any full dasaription of tha

m n ~ a n m t phonclmea because our fclwe is the Fricatfvea. P.o

s;hawn by the above ohark and as hinted aaxlfer on, Yoru~a km

vbiceleae. The phoneme c ln a c m ayllable - inktial ly ah&

t h e sound be cal led a vra ice le~s g l o t t ~l approximont. Hi.;

at t h e ~ l r s t t d s zt a l l . Be su,qgests t h a t it should be

described 33 a V O ~ G ~ B S S approrimant w i ~ h the placa aE

a r t i a u a a t i o n Peft unsge~i f3ed. He then adviatie t h a t it t3ould

ba removed from t h e c h s r t and listed under o t h e r symbols,

A S t h a q h Catfard acqrew. t h a t what b d r f o g e d says is r i g h t , he

wmt~ t h e ztatuq quo t a b e maintained f o r a reason which lLe ~ . + s

is ~ e r h i t p a mare phonolo,+xtl am1 pi tct ical than s t r i o i l y

~Lonetj c. Kc arEuFt:; l.l.al; there fire so many I w ~ ~ ~ a p s in lP; i c h

0218 DT I~UIL IA~: B O U ~ . ' I ~ Y W B C * ~ O R [ E ) as a spllebic aar~in - as EI t e r n in a eerie3 o f conson,mtc (Cat ford, 199~) . O n w h ~ ' ~Iar

i s / WBS a u t ~ s t i l - u t ed P w , - t h i i t where / f/ uppcarar; sy 1 I ah1 P, - ir: ; t i a l l y there has no d i f f i c u l t y for t h e c h i l d ? ~ r > d 2.6. For example, w h i l e t h e

cbildren t q e d 1.7 end 1.1C ~wmlc! have d i f f i c u l t y i n s( in1 is l ; .' ( - ' 1 , %

t h e ponn,? ir ' hm . i l ? -yq ' , / - f i i m i \ ~ j _ 1 / the c h i l l ;o;r- 2.f8 had no problem. Ia ,":.ct, i t was dincovered tl?:it f o r :.I

tnunda. The c t i l d r e n 2.6 and 4.2 cou1.j r e d i ~ r ill/ a 11.

t iins d l f f i r ; u l t f o l b,: 50 examine tlrfs in t h e s ~ e e c h of

ch i ld ron ~ y e d 1.7 s n d : + 10,

I t is o u r ocu~oarn in t h h rrtudy t o irrvestf&i?

t h e r o l e y laysh hy &.:a I n the ~ o q u f ~ i t i o n of r'rioatives i t i

Yorubn aa a f5rd 7mg.;;t'a h u l . 1 ~ drolrn that a h i l d r e n

dlffared saaording t o *;a i n t h e m e t e r y ol" the Prioativee h

t h s pilaf a t u & ~ .

Tha ahildren wed 1.7 arrd 1.10 wra bbth malo and

feo~ls respeotjvaly. It uan d i f f i c u l t t o show if there u 19

any difforanoe in the ~ ~ q u l d t i u n of tha friuatives in teA,ns

of sex between them 5ncauee o f t n e l r limited utteranoea.

Also becauee of t h o :qa Jiffr=raics batwarn1 t h e ahildrsn @,.XI

2A (male) an3 4 .? (f emdo) ~ : c ooilld not gain an insight lnto

whether or n o t aex consl.ituted a barrier in the s f . qu la i t i ~n

of fr fo~t ivea . Havy,~ar , I t has S a m ahawn t h a t in eaoh W E 8

of l w a f i a s t u d y sox d i f r b r a n c ~ ~ ~ i y p e ~ to exist: ( k ~ a i t p r

1flq). Acoo~diny to h e r , r a a e e r c h ~ ~ sllch ae &@nJ (lo?! ?,

$kBrn~r ( 7 975), and TmtZ :ill (1 475) hdve f~ t r k ld sex diffn*t.r9efl

in d l ff ,gm$ marrrr of I rJ,pw5 21 UC*. '-'ha !kI'kifi~t~ of 'or nnb

Mc;hsbe ( t g q l ) r n d Snow mil H ~ h l e (79771 ocn-tradict

r inam of theee 3 t u r L c . ~ . Q i n ~ a none of' thaee studies foc::.qed

e p & f i o a l l ~ on t h e anq$.sition of ffj~iAtfvft8 f i r a t

l emwe nnd %n ;~ r iS . cu l a r on t h e CWuis i t l on 0:'

.'i n s . c : F - f 7tlidy T h i s study was intended t o i n v e s t i g s t 6 age .mil sex

dif ference3 in t h e acquisition o f rricatives in Yoruba as a

f i m t huywaye. It was hoped t h a t by t h e time t h e r e s ~ a x h

was completed i t would 3~corn.e known i f t h e ~ e ware age and

sex diSferences in t h e ~cquisition of f i i c a t ivm in Yoruha

as L j . It m a almo hnl~ed t h a t based on t h e findiws of tfis study applied linguists would be b e t t e r able to d a s i v

a rood. p r o q r m e of s tudy f a r preschaol cbllidrezl in this

area. It was equally hcped t h a t llangua~e teacbers

would have a better underdandiry: of t h d r pupils'

difFiculties, thereby d s a i g n i q activities t h a t aould

ass is t them.

It was expected t h a t t h e findiws of t h e study would bo

a c o n t r i b u t i o n t o h o u l c .lge w,d cause f u r t h e r research in

p h m o l o ~ c a l cleve;lrspment.

7.5 Purmse o r Study

This s t u d y was designed t o i n v e s t i ~ a t e if t h ~ r e were

+:e and oex differences i.1 t h e acquisition o f f r i c a t i v e s i:,

Yoruba as LJ. I n ~ t h e r ~ o r d s , i t w;rs in tended t o Eincl 01::

if :q,:e -an,? :ex c a r ~ z t i t u t a d barriers in t h e ecquiBitlnn of

2.0 TntraJua-t j on

An attempt v l l l ?w made i n t h i s chapter t o e ~ a m h e

tt .coreticn1 ss well as empirical s t u d l e a related 'to t h a

present study. In part . icular , reinforcemalt theory and

Chomsky'a i n n a t e n ~ s s thoory A l l be a g p r d e s d . I%ur

~ t h e a a ~ ~ are fomulateb t~ p m v l d a anauare t o t h a

researnh q u e a t i a n s afterr a summary o f t h e review,

t h m u ~ h the a c ~ u i e i t i o r ~ o f a 1-e human beinea are & l a t o

communieata w-i +h one m o t b e r with far renter efficiency a d

with more elaborate 1in;;uistia competency than wry o t h e r

npc i e s . Thfs 49 fur ther . reinforced by Hottebob (1975) : ,

h n q u ~ e m x u r s in o n l y one sPeci&, man. (sea also

Chnmaky, .TYT?a, citing llesoartee, on t h e aaaerkian t h ~ t

l a z w ~ ~ c is a spacieb - apsc i f i c human p x s e s s i o n . ) P n l m r r (1974) describes t h o 'art of u a i q t h e apoksn and averyd: c

form of any given languaqe' as that in whioh every man, , . , .mah ,

and child t h r n ~ h c l u t the world is a ~killful adept. It if an

-'I !IT, t c f L l . :j;urfios : * \ * I --A

If we EW t h a t n c1:ild dam not auquira h i e f l x n t

l a q u z e throuyh my cofizciaua eff a r t or ert ernal3;r orqa~i!*. .I

p , q m e , how d a m he bacarne pm92cien-t: in it? Irs will

attempt an answer t o t h i s quaetion in t h i s aacti-wr. Tho

i n i t i a l Fmpetus fo r t h e s t ~ r d y of ffrst - lawywe dvreloww..f 23 a cen t ra l t o p i o in p s y n h o l ~ u i s t i c s wse offered by

i n t e r e s t in t h i s f i e l d u r humm endeavour. We will r e f l ec l

ok,ila on t h i s l a t e r .

I h n k ' n i l e , l c t us examino zomp o t h e r poss ib le ways

of ~ s w i d i r q : :i answer t a our p u a s t i o n . Ii-@ua;fic behavi~ur ccul

h e sesn as b o t h z o c i d ;nnd cogrAtive. Ylatson m d h d ; g r e n

( 1979) opine t h a t t h s ar:7wnentbs f o r soc ia l Sebeviour enphe,isa

t11,:: ~ m i x 1 context ir. which a child develops, vhmeas thoso f o r

cocni t ive kor-nviour TI ,LIZ US t h a t Ian-aye a l so develops o u t

o f t k e need t o order :s.,I t o c m t r o l o n , % senvi z~men t . T J ~ B

t h m r i e n we xi11 examine in this sec t ion w i l l ta! :e cot.njsa.:co

of these v i e w of l i n ~ i a t i c b u h m i o u r . I d us b~;;in :I:#

exmininf= t h e behoviouri:-;t theories of' lmguwe aby~ ia i t i c , , .

,2.1.;.1 Be!>,! ~ o u r i s l . I ' h ~ t ~ ~ ' i e 3

Here w i l l be Ciscussed rainfc~cernent and social

lemmin: ? Leori es. A considerabln ~ r o w r t l o n or the

d l s c u s s i c c s s i l l b e cant red on r e in fo~camen t theory.

- Hrl~ i fo~r :c r ren t ThcoTy 7.1. .L

P s y c h o l o ~ i s t 3 who ba l ieve i n tho reinforcement t h e n ?y

of mx:uq;e acquisition ar,yue f h z t e c h i l d a c q u i r u n lmy1;;;e

t h r o u g h a d u l t rainf orcerxent of proper lin,yuistic fnrn~n. 5'Ain

j m i n t of view i a o f f e red by leanin : ; t h c o r i n t s , ~ o s t not:lLty,

ar Turner and I!slms (1979) ~t it, B.F. Skinner, a paycboLy$mt

bo::n f o r resoarch andea~vo~r in operait conditionrR7_

Because of the considerable impf tmce o f Skinner's ( 195" !

V s ~ b n l Bthavicrur I t w i l l receive o u r prime attention I n :'!c

~ x m i n a f ion of r e i n f o r c ~ n e n t t k ~ o ~ y .

Skfnnar p r e s e n t s in VerLnl Bqbaviom a relnforcme:. :

t ~ l e o r y o f 1xypry ;e ncqu i~ , i t i on . It is t l ~ praaccul1ation b"

%-inner in t h i s book t o r a l s t c his olqc-emt - condi t ton-in~l +hmry of lesrnin~ t o v c r b d h ~ h m 5 w . x . 1::. n't L.ealrt:! 3

fuc t ian . la l malysig of verbzl b c ! w b i 3 i v , :!G 4.3 l o t

~ r e t a n t i o u s nborlt tl-is nr; Ihe title 0:' L l r ~ f i ~ d c t i n p t e r

of t ko book read i ly r e v n d ~ r A P.lhe.iional Analysis of

Verbal Cei,zviour. Verbal Behxviour iu g e m h o r n t L e

A f u n c t i o n a l analysis o f verbal h e h s v i c u r will then

rcvcal t h c con t ra l l in ; : variatJns cnd h o x a verbal reoc;oascr

as t h x t reinforced t h rou$ t h e c:edist ion of of h e r parsons

nosda cert xin reflnamer. t s. IIe c m t ends t ha t t h i s is necssa ry

k h e r explains, even t h o ~ t z h he ~ s y s t h e omisdon u f the

l i ~ t m c r l z b a h n v i d ~ r r c m be ju~t l f ' i cc l beozuas it 'i:; not

nececss r i l y vexha1 in a,;$ apec ia1 senfie', that 1 !!.a I ~ e h n ~ l , ~

of c e ~ k e r a d 1.ister.e~ faken 1,u:;ett.e~ ~:omflon t ~ 1 1 ? 3 t L$-V .

cal.lcd a t o t a l verkal. e i sodo9 . Skinner (1357) ar,Yef; t h r

' t h e speaker can t ~ e s tud ied ~ h i ] e a o s ~ m i l y : n l i . ; ; t z l l i r , end

tb4: l i s t e n e r w h i l e aasunin,y a ::maker'.

c u n t r o l t h r o u z h t h e a1tc:;ntinn o f t h e cmli : ions under di i ..:I

it occurs. The o c c u r r c w e of s ;~ccific instances can a l s o JQ

also ' becaus~ it has l i t t l e effect umn t h e physics1

kt ua axamim t h o ooncept o f reinforcemmt fn oper~i - t

envlmm~nt which bm a r e t m effmt u p n tha o ~ a n i a r n ' .

Re sqya 'euoh behwiour nay be dir;tinguiehed f m m aa t iu f t i a s

Y U C ~ me pzimariZy oonoernsd with the Interns1 monomy of

the organism* m d t h a t i a *by aalling a o t l v i t i e a nhiab

apsmte u p n t h e environment "opermt b&xui~ux". That

any u.t a f much be!~nviour i a d e s m i b d aa %perant behr?vic4mH+

A1thotq.h t h e tern 'oparmt "an be used intembngaably with

'raspme', it enahlea ue t o capture t h e diatinotlon betwem~

m h o t mae of hehmiomr and a kind of behwiaur (9ae

S'dnna'o illustrstian). The tam 'rm,.rona~' is oftan, f ,

Skhmer'rs view, u o ~ d f o r both o f t h e m men thn& 'it

d ~ n e not o m y the aemfirl m a m b eseilyta 'Operantv has

t o do with yrediet ion ant mntml of k t n h of behaviour, 1;~i le

a raspmae, as an inattmom, can be conple teb desuribed as %

form of behaviou~, an a p m t apml f im at l&wt one r8latl.m

t o a varim..le - the sffeat t h e boh~viour haer u p n the mvimnment - and i e therefma not n purelg foslmd wit

1957). We caul2 re@ r e s p n a e 'EL@ an h a t m o o

of sn 0prrzri.t only t hmwh o b J & f ~ e ibnti~ion'kion' rWi -- .

A apeakar is a u i d t o psnaaa 'a verbal rapertoire'

opermt, whetiwr Hvarbsl ~1 othenrise, acquiree strength

a~;d continuas t o bs m d n t a i n d in at-h whsn rsappnsee

w e Praquantlg fa l lowed by t h e wmt aalled wrdnfomacamtHv

He t h s t t h e process of noperant o n n d l t i o w m is

mat mneplm~ua when verbal behaviaur 18 firat aoquirdl.

Tho y@entl, aooordiny t o Urn, sata up s rup&oire of

respbmaa in the uhtld by rsinfaming batanme of

a r e m n s e , h d f a r a reapma t a be ~trmgthsnattby

reinfomentent it mat anpaar rrt 2emt onoe (31dnnert 1957)-

NOS, a31 tha oomplex forme of adult behaviour are h

. -Hnn~r'e opirrion in t t a ohildts ~mmndit ionsd v o o d

rsge~tulra , 3khner nWg t h a t t h e g a r a t need net waft

for t h e emenpnae of t he f i n a l Porn+ This is i l l u ~ t r a t e d

with a demnstmti~n sxp&mcmt which uam a pigem,

The yauw o h i l d is taught t o speak+ In t e a u h l q the

oh i ld t o talk, ' the formal speoifioationl3 upn whlch

relnforcamnt f s oont irqy$t are a t ff ra t gmatly relnred*

If my sespnae is found t o seatm3le whether v w e l y the

stnndard bahsrvicrur of the oawunity i t ie reZnforasa md tr

oloseP appmdmation f a insimted upon when it contin~tse t%

~ppw frwuatlgr Bldnnlrr then maye tha t In ' t h i ~ MarIYISk

vary oomylax verbal forms may b+ raauhrd7, &rsuk3 tha

aontiwenCios of reinforcement h e m1uedP 'aha pmpaH'tial:

of :he verbal response unJm@ a ohaage in the 0 t h ~

direotionl. Skinner refem t o t h l degarrwatiaa of the f o n t .

of dl i ta ry oommands aR an sxample, IlluatratFng with 'a

m r e u i t with n new squar: to be ~ a n l i i ~ b i o n d to f o a l o w his

o omruld~',. Hs mmaa t h a t remami% conaequenusa oont inue

to be signlflrsant &ta r v a r b n l behavi~ur h a barn aquirarl.

"reg have as t h e i r p r h o i p a l funetian t o nustain the respbnce

in ~t ra@t . Ths f?equonoy of a epesker'~ &meion of a

r e ~ y m a l a ~dspnclent upon the 'overall frequaoy of

rain-Pnrament In =L e v e n verbal co-ty'. Tho osseation

of m i n f m c e m a ~ ~ l r : Yhm~;:$ some ohnngr crf almumtanoer

wakens rn G ~ B T ~ rad ' m q effwtLvdy dlsanpsar in

&innt ian ' .

=me? t L . c m e r p l a ! ~ tha t operant re inforoemnt ' i ~

simply n K~F;I of c o n t r o X b a the probability of wourrenoe o r

a o a t a l n clzlss of verbal reaponsea'. Rainfoming m q

instanass of 1 r o s g n m of a given form makee iter oloourrellca

'h ighly n ~ k a > ~ e ' , vhere:,a t h e withdrawal of reinforoemerit

ellminates Tt f r o b t h e verbal, rspertoirar Skimar ~ b a ~ m ~

th!d 'any Lnformntlan ra:udiPlg tho ralatlve -~uetzoy of

reinforcmunt c'ussnutt.amstio of w e ivm verbal o o d t g is

obvioudy valka3lr in predicting suoh behaviouf' r

A gtvan msponsct c .mo t be rehforard ut~lssm it O ~ O W * J S

For a @ic~l;lr rospmc t o be reinforoml 'we simply waL: unt i l

it o o c m q .

is re inforced , t h e y are import,mt. They a r e i n p n t a n t in .;o

L- ,;tr . ;is t ksy b d w i o u r may be reir3orr cd.

i40mmtemandH, eta. rcfera t o I s verbal opermt in wbkch

(~~bnnsr, 1957). or the extension of thetle twme Sea

Aa shown above, acquisition of languageb from t n e

t h ~ t fhr? cauaatian of bail,. i o u r is much mre c o m p l l o a t d -,!am

WHB p r 6 ~ i o u ~ l y thwht

In atbar words, pediction of verbal bebaviour should. not

only t ake i n t o ac3mrurt information about externdl control ,

but also about how humana prooess and orgsniea t h e input

data* Chomky opines t h a t 'theso character ia t los of t h e

orgmim are in general a complkoated pmduc t of inborn

st ructura, t h e gw&iaally determiriad course of mtwnf ion,

a n d past experlame'. For him, therefore, Skitmertf;s thesist

wUch date^ the prknoiplss of his laboratory expariatats

t o v a b d hsthaviour, ignclree the ccrnrribution of %he

m&sa t a w a r b the complax prooasa of language t;oquiai?!.or;.

The thoei8 makm ealisnt erternal faotors o b a ~ m s d i n t k a

~+p&.wmta wtth tlewer organiwna'. Arr e x a d a a t i ~ s r a f

Verbal Bgb.avigur ncr douht mvoah, aa C h ~ m k y argrsa, that

the m t c n i a w claim of Skim@ e o far f r o m being j u s t i f i d .

The eramlnatian ravra'la further $hat ' t h e inaightw tha t have

bem achieved in the labaratarias of tha rein2'o.raement

theorfat ,,. a m be agplied t o onuplax human bebauiour on ly

1 1 1 ! : - o rm;.t ..;rn:.s ;IS:;!. s u i . ,:l'icial uqy'.

C:;13:r.zkd. ~ ; ~ p l : z i r . z t h:.t the nntinl-1s ' z t i m ~ u z ' , ' r e ~ ; ~ o n s c ' x d ' reinfs :c~:r;.ent' uwn r::~icfi Slcinner's ;!ro$;r=tnrr.e is >;,r;crl ' are r d a t i v n l y d e r i n ~ d w i t h r o s . p c t to 'LIIe be - > r a a s i x ex;~,:rir;lcntz wid o t h e x simi1:irly

r e s t r i c t e d ' . Ext endin? t i 1 9 : r n t o rea l - l i f e b e h , w i a u r , for

i i i m , s i l l be facad with c~. r t , s ln d i f f i c u l t i e s . For example,

C1.1omslr:r : x k s :!bet her : ~ e o:-,mld re;yrd oe o s t imulus ' ruly

;:hyzic:il r:r;erl.t t~ which *' 7 ~rgmiv31 13 ca;>abls o f reactinl:'

on n ,:riven occasion o r ' on ly one t o t f h i & t l ~ e organism in

.!'zr:t r cnc ts ' . iumther cl-1::1len-:e is pozed r :nust any ~mrt

o ? 'izh::l.rjnur b~ refcrrod t o as a lL-..ipwce, o r 'ctlly o n e

comcc.ts:l l n i t i r s t i m l i iii I s v P ~ d ;:.opt?. Accept in:: t hn

' t i ~ ~ ~ d v i e w i n h n t h rsst,ocls r ~ i l l l ead t o ti;^ aoncluzlan

' i h r t t br1;:tviul;l. has nct bclm dcsmnnstrzted t o be l s ~ f u l ' .

Aa:ce:~tlr~:, or, t h e o t h e r l~;..:id, t hc n u r o v c r fiefinit i o n o

; , au ld ir, Chor.:.sky'z v i w ; m a n t h a t S ~ k a v i o u r is l n w f u l by

d e f i n i t i u n . Chumski' ex71 ; ins t h : ~ t ' t k i a ract is of l imi ted

si,-gnif; c ~ ~ c ~ ' , EF.rgufw t i l a t ' m z t of cihat the mirnal doe-; wi:.'

e im;~ ly nut; be considered tl.;.havimr: Pnychologist s will the] I

3a:re To C ~ O O Z E b5twtien be1,wiour which is lawful anli t h a t

. - . . .6. .~.~I- .*. ~ C J f i ~ t .

Ch~msky aontenb that, f o r S h n e r , ne i the r ccl~r;;,. ; e

conaimt mtly adopt ad, Ha caplsFna t h a t LWmer mly uses t ho

reaults of expwlnrenta 'for the rjroientiffc charactsr of his

a y ~ t em o f b eheviour, and m d ~ i o m e a e es . r evi dame for its mafre ' . He then oonaludes that this 'oseatea t h e

i l l u s i o n of a rigoraua ~cientific theory with a very braad

BOOPQ *.I ' Chmerlry obaervea that stimulus and respanse d e f i a a su

'a of t h e anvimmenf; and a pa& of behaviour' roapao-tivoly

'if only they aro Sawfully related hava not been shown

t o figmo very u i d e l y b ordhary humm b&tiviour9. He

rafers t o t h e deviae of s t h l u e a ~ n t r o l whioh m&m, fur

eramph, r e f e r an~e to a red chair as a uchr t h a mn t r o l , .. of the stimulus r e h a s ? as ta;tn~Le aa it is mp~y' . dmr.3- :-

aaya a wide a h a 6 of reepunaes a m ba aocounted f o r fn

temne of SkinnerIan functional analysis by i d m t f f y b g ths

contrulling a t i ~ l & ~ He aomments that t h e mrd stin;u!us

haa loat a l l objeot ivi ty in this ufiqs, ahawing at irwl i hava

bmsn d r i v m bsuk htw the organinm, snd no longer p a r t of t h e

phggiual w ~ r l d . The ol&n by 8 l d a n ~ *bat his system ' p t 3 d b

the p m t l a a l mntrol of verbal hehaviour' iu dlamfased as

false bemuse 'we m i m o t aontml tha property sf a physioal

'verbal o p e r m t ' as ii i:las; oE responses of identif . iahlc f o r ,

On t h e notion of reinforcement, C h ~ n s k y conten& t h a t

S k k n e r ' s definition, although perfactly a>propriske ' f o r

t h e s t udy of schedules of reirtfollcement I, is ' perfszt ly

t ha situations and conditions under ighich t h e y a re rair , f o r c i w ) ' a

lsarnirg w.d cont i r iwd a v r i l a b i l i t y of L e h ~ v l o u r is 1i:;euj.s~

reififorcener.t is q u i t e emptyr. R i 3 a rgmcnt is tha.; his

Ez egue11y says t h t i t his use of t h e term c o r d t i o ~ i r ~

su f fe r s from a s i m i l a r d i f f i c u l t y dismissiny 2: ,pin tls::s

t h e c l a i m t xr i t i m t r u c t i on anri in;part irg o f inEurmat ion

a m simply mat te rs of c o n i l i t i c . r L ~ ~ ,

aii112::; :.,lid o t h e r c i i l . d r e n 8 . ITe d i s m i s s s 3 as unt rue t h o c l L i i :

' t h ~ t c t l i l l 3 r ~ n can l e a r n i xtxwe:a o n l y throl;:$-i ' '~ ie t i cu locs Bra" oil t l l ~ p s r t of ~ d u l t s ; i l l 0 3hay13 I h c i ~ ve rba l reper to- - .e

+ .~ruu::f: c~ : .cT ' i~ l ~di f'f erc171; 1 :.I. re j nf u r m a ~ n e t ~ i ; addit&, honeve r , t k ~ t :iT CI~.;~' bq T h a t s u c h i: T e is o f t e n t h . 3 custom in s c ~ d e f i ,

f smi l i co ' . Chon&.y sc:p t3 h a s n o t been alj le t o Eind c,u:mr..

l o r ti:^ d o c t ~ i n e o f 5kiwLc?r cind ot 'ners t l i i ~ t 's10w r>nC

c : : r E F u l ; i ;a, . i :k, of vt.,~'t~.: 1 1:eh;rvlour t h r m ;h d i f f e r en t i . a l

r a i . ~ o r c e ~ . i : 3 3n : . I ~ s c I ~ ~ ! ' . B nece:;si l y ' . ~ ~ h ~ c . z i r y ex;; l : i i~~a i111.'. !tie w.zr;ller j l ~ ?;;:;i=.l; f x t o r s ;uch

A 5 ' r&j lrf ~~'~c.Tl!:li:, C ~ S L Z : ~ ~ i ! l . : ? f i ~ ~ i : f ?IL-; . ILTZ? l n i l ~ i : 3 i t i v - . ! I G L

1 i aa ,wc i t y tr; -,..,~,?i.; l i z e , hy sothesl ze snd rircGe:;s

~ n f o m a t j . o n c~;~:x:..t (3 i n : ;ract in I m,ruaTe acquis i t ion is

c a m p l s t e l ~ unkr~om. fie t h e n sugyests that what is ndcessary i n

such a case i s r e s e ~ r c h , an15 'not dogmztic and perfec t ly

arbitarjr c la ims , based on anAopries t o t h s t s m d 2 pqrt of tF&

c x ? c r i ~ m t a l l i t e r a t u r e in kihich one h;?pens to be s n t ? ? e ~ t e d ' =

Chomaky obserues that i h e p i n t l e s s n e s s of t h e s e s l z i n s

becomes clear when considarat ion i s ~ i v a n t o t he rr:ell-Px :,:n

d i f f i c u l t i e s in determining t h e extent t o ~ k i c h inho-r

structure, maturation, and l.eernh are r ezyns ib l r3 f o r f;l';.z

particular form of a s k i l l c d or complex perl'orms.ce.

ceu words, Chomskj. contends t h a t st an sarly stage ::e ril;lj

r e p e t i t i o n 1s found t o be f a r from exsct; a t t h i a s tsse rhe

It seems t ha t t h e r e iz nk i the r empirical evidencv nor ;11y kxaxn a,::um~nt t o s u p ~ r t say specific clzirn u h u t t h e r e l a t i ve irnyor t m c e of "fee+Scckl' from the envimm~ant a d t h e "inde2chdti.a cont r lbut i a n o f t h e organism" in t h e rlroc?e;. of la-qusge acquisition, (pi 565).

I11ust~ating rci?h ~ ~ a m p 1 e b ~ Chomeky a h a m that Sldm&~'s

eyetern f o r t h e desorf pt ion of verbal behavfour i e greesly

d s l e a d l h g r 3kfnrrerqs definft iua of verbal bshrwlous wf ah

his rdinement of e m s ie arftiafead. It ia argued t h a t Ma

aseertlon t h n t w i t h the refinement 'we narrow our uubjmot

tt what f a t r a d i t i o n a l l y recogdaed as t h e v e b a l f i e l d '

appears to he ,rmeaI.y in orror . Chemaky nee8 ddprivation an

a q a t e r f ~ u a notion* Ra m t l e e th3t no ~ t t a m ; r t f s mad* t o

dmscrtbe a met had of determhing * ' r o l e v ~ n t aondltlans of

de@vatiann Independant ly of the R a o n t s o l l d n maponme, Ha

a180 dlsmta%ra aa aonfumd 3Hnne.r'~ m t l o n of 'avlrraive

at imuli'.

ChcrmaQ d i s d e a e s c r ~ an i l l u n i o n tha a l d m by 5kimeA1

t h a t Urn new deaoriptive aptam i a superior t o thm traditional

one, On tmta, he asgues t h& the cbaauxity of the notien

atimlua ountral makea thc oonoept rather myskiaal. He dosd

not h x , f o r example, why t h o verbal cortmnmity should sat uup

' aats in t h e child. Sk imar la o l d m t h a t hie a n a l p i e of t h e

ac t Fn tarmo of at imuLua r!ontrul ie an irnpmvemrnt over the

trabf t l om1 fosmlatillom ,;i t h respct t o refarmos and ~nsanbq

i;e d i a d a a e d as untrue. On eohoi t operant, C'lzomnky noten thr,t

no at tempt 13 made t o define t h e sanee in whioh a 0hi1d9e

cchoic response is I1sini lar tf t o t h e ~LLF.UIUS a ~ k e n i n

t h e fati:erls bags voice. Skinner's V l ~ x of senteace

s t ructula is Yeen as inadequate whe tPL~r , BS C~OC>!CY d b t I= :

in t e r m s ~f au toc lo t i c s , syncst egoreinat LC expreos lons , 0:: grarmat ica l and l ex ica l mrphern~9.

Cornanti% genari;lIjr fin Veybfil g e h ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ t l ' , C h o ~ d r y

contends thet i f Skinner's terns &re t&en i n t h e i r l i t e r a l

medw, t b ~ description c o v ~ s -:lrr.ost no asgect o f v e r b a l

behzviour , m.d taken metaphorically, the dc8cri;jtion o f f ~ r s

no improvernc,n.t o v f ; ~ var ious t r a d i t i o n a l fa~rnu1atior.a. h'o then

rounds o f f by e:~y,vi= t h j t a refusal t o study t h e contribution

of the c h i l d to li%r.gid,ye 2earr,inz pe rn~ i t s only a ~ u p e r f i c i a l

;=ccount of language acc,uisition. In Cl-~orn~ky' E: ap ix ion , 2 d

study o f hurnm t e h r v i a u ? t1i;t is n u t b z s t d un

t o have argued tha.t i f we were t o learn langoage as Skinner

01eFned wa might s ~ a n d a 1 i f a time at the task and @till not

lemn i t a inherent rudiaente a at son and L i r r ~ r a n , 1979). The

parents OF adulte in t h e child's ernrironment dl1 only

reinforoc th3 p m p m I in jqdmtfc i forms generated by t h e ahild.

This menna in effeot t h a t i t w i l l t ake the o h i l d slrvsral

yewo t o gain rnaeterg a ? the language. Indeedl he might

spend t h e whoJe of Ma l i f ~ time tr- t o acquire lmqwaga.

There mema t a be judif ioat iwn for the staaae of

Ch~msky. Although it aould not be entirely ruled out that

a h l l d r e n learn through i d t a t i a n , imitatbn alana 0 m 0 t be

uaed t o sxpl- languegs mqulalt ion. Lsarnlng tbKlugh

' h ~ b l t u d rsmpanaea t o a set of ntimlua ~anfigur&tioae'

preelrppees t h a t thsrr is a deflnitm eat of uttrrana+s h m s

can gonerate. Rillowing Ghomelry, it oould be argued that

' B rel3etft.f an of smtarrcrm is a rarityv. WHmrma@m wa

h r u d l y rapeatad sxaent for eraphaaier. 5 t is f 0 ~ US, &!3

Chamelcy poatuZatae, t o accept t h a t t h e una of languege i e u r m t i v a

ae- hl~mane w e aapabla of pmeslating utteranaas they have nel, oar

heard anyone produce and more importantly, f o r lauk of

avidenus t o euppart the bshmiouriet sppmaa. The a r w d

0;' Chumky ( 1 9 2 ~ ) t h d a

The idea tha t a peraon haa a "verbal repertoire" - a stock of ut terancers th&t h e producm by "hah i t " on asz appmpsiat e o c ~ a ~ i o n - i s a myth, totally at verianua with the obaerved use of language* (p 118).

should be 5am as t h e abvious. It is yet unknown t h a devioe

t ha t c a n ba ernpl~yad t o deterzalne t h e number or set of

It is gart ioular ly unfortunate t h a t vooal behaviour should be

3?dmer idantifiscs. Whether t h e m o t h e r Iorm shou1.d be

i n experiments with laver organiems ezpmsa i t e t r iv i a l f ty*

Language use i s innovative and following CfiomsEgr, we

Peel t h a t it l a 'frao Prom o a a t r o l by external stinuli m d

appraprkate to DQW a d ever c h a r g h g s i tuat ion**

Having examined Skixmur ' a rair~forusm6n-t theory, ua wi l l refloat br ie f ly on a rdated theory - Soafal learning

p--rent8 and o the r adul ts oan lead children t o adopt gramatioal

forms tha t o rd ina r i ly t h a y would not use u n t i l they ~ a s 0

considerakly older, They f m t h e r contend t h a t a l l t h a t seema

t o be neceesary i e for t h e adult to play t h ~ role of a model who

r ~ s t a t e s in a nmra mmplax f i r m an idea the c h i l d h a already

u t terad.

Dela ( 1 9 7 6 ) l a , hmevar, quoted to have s a i a tha t nmaroua

reason8 hevet h d i o a t d that i d t a t i o n is not an im:artmt

determinant i n t h e a q u i a i t i o n of 1 a ~ p . e ( ~ u m e r and 3 3 ~ l i ~ ~

19791, Turner md Hsllme (1979) mdntafn t h a t manyof tho early

attempts at re;lmduow adult ~ p e e c h resul t in retha: cpyptio

utteranom, auch as *all S n e sticky'. Thay p i n t out that

the rn~A drmatio wldenss againet i a t n t i o n as an ~ x p l m a t i a n

of laAguese acqnf s i t i o n is t h e language !atf e m of those

children who oannot ap&&, yet can hear normally,

In faa t , the findinhm of cognitive psyohology revaal that

u e t a k n ~ m a o t f c stru~tur~s raquilrs more oomplsx oognitive pmoembea

than othera and ooneequently depand on a gr@ator maturation 1wsI

(Xessler, 1971 ). K e a d ~ r argueEi t h a t ~ u o h maturation is ac)F

aiohieved mere74 by the aonrmulation of stimulus - rwpnab3 , but t h u & t h e a p p m p r i a t e develogmmtal s t q e . Lermekarg 13 ai tea

t o have stre~sed 'that lmgwgs ie apeoics - ~ 2 e o i f i o folIowa

a oortsln developmmtd schedule regardless of the ?ir&atic

t B B t the only sure indication that m o t h e r body paaaasas a

h m a mind , that it i s not A mere automation, i a Lts abfPity

about the fact that he draws, on o l a e a i o d l ingu id ic ; thwry

(1979a) reaotim to the clritica who have deecribad h i a ';iorB

aa i n lmge meaaure a return to t h e conoerns md of ten wan

tha s p ~ c t f f i o doctrines of t r ad i t iona l linguistic ' theory1

This i~ true - appamrztly t o an exLent t ha t aany csitiaa do not realize. I d i f f e r f r o m them only in regardirg t h i s o b e w a t i o n not as a o r i t i o i s m , but rathsr as a d&inita meri t of t h i s work, (QP. 72 - 3 ) .

two parallel, interrelated goals in the study of lmguage -

Themy of hnguaga w i l l ooncmn itself with w h a t ara t h e

primary dm, howwar, l a t o dmelop a Theory of L m g w g o + This

not, however, reclaiva our prfme a t t a n t i o n here. Batha, we w i l l

make as our foous his theory o f lnnguwa aaquisition, aIthu;;b,

a f the topin , h q p a g o aaquiaiiion device i a preeented cs, a;n

ingut - otitput sydtern as shown belowi

Chomsky explddm that determining t h e oharnutm

matter, He oontmde that there is rro plaoe f o r any dogmatio 1

or arb i t ra ry na~mptirrns about tha i n t r b s i o , 1m.d o a t r u c t u r ~

c l t l r q Chomoly, 1967 1 MaELX, 1 ~ 0 1 , la del andintl axpldnab

Tnmer m d R a l u (1979)~ upm mturs w l l n ia t h e usrmbrd

c c r t a r For t h e o h i l d t o clgvdoy an u ~ d ~ ~ ~ t m d i w o f womb tb

c o r t e x mat msturs in the firat; y s a ~ . This I s bwwsm i t le not

f u n c t i o W at all. at birth.

Chosnekyr [1979b) argLlea t h a t the only eanbltima that aunt

be m e t in devc10pit-g a nodel of h a t a montd aapaofty s r a timea

pmvided by t h a dfvwnity 09 l z c y q ~ ~ r n ~ un8 by the neamoity t o

provfdm emplrica3J.y a t t a s t d crsrnpetmos within the ampirloxl

~ o r ~ d i t i o n e , Be is of t h a o?fnian t h a t it is not saay to forrm-

lata a hypothesis aaout h a t e 8tmoture t h a t i s d o h enough

to meet the c o n d i t i o n of em:drfoal adequacy, It is t h e oontehtion

of Charaskg (1flgb) tha t khc comge%anae of an adult, or evm a

young c h i l d , is aaoh t h a t ws met at t r ibute t o him a knowledgo QP

lqvage that e r t e n b far bopnd anything t h a t he has laarnled.

h r Nm, t h ~ dnt B avn i l abh as input a a n d i t u t s a @mall pmpodim

of t h e Ifrquiatio material. t h a t has bson t h u u w ~ y maatered

aiderlng satual psrformanoa.

No referred vagurly t o tha oreativs urra of l a a g u ~ f i at

the beginning of t h i n aeotimr We w i l l now mphin what in

Chomakyls d e w t3in means. Wa hnve ahnwti %hat thin v l w

ie not new t o linguimticr pe bmelry (19721) M h e r bodixmar

Chumsky LEI of the o p h . h n t F 3 t t h e ahild haa t h e irrnata,

b u i l f - i n aystm that mables h i m t o p a s e a lmguags data Srita

oonstmmtian of mlsa md _nrduos appmprlate g r m a t l o d

epawh ( h e S m d S t m m P 1979). Chomahy'e arl~~urnant hrrr i a t hae

the o h i l d ha^ the h a t e oakauitg t o aoqufrr Zanguagm. A ahl ld

is capatla of rlweloping a a d of l b g u i d f o mlae that fill

anabls him t a generats prsftr w mumbar of uttermom, i ~ ~ o l u d i r ~

those the uM16 has nmirr bsard anyone utter befarsr fn lothar

wrb9 the ohild oan generate aantsnaee that are m t l r s l g hle

o m T h i ~ ra t ion ci Chomaky r u l e e out the paaaibil ity of the

uhilb l e e minu by imitatian, In h i a v i m r thr 'gmaatlvl:

tsmsfamatianal gmmmr' maul& togather #hat is h+ard (oslled

t h e euzfaoe atnraturs of rr aenhme) and what l e meant (the d a q

stmot ure) (9tmdetrore, I 979).

Chornskr' E theory haa comidwable influaha0 on

oontemprwy l i r g d s t a an3 peycha'Lo@ata. T h i ~ doea not mean

that t h e thmry is devoid of aritioim. Turner md l I s h

(1979) f o r rmampls, argue t h a t whether or not t h e entire

deep stmoture iu universal mng a l l languwea a t i l l r4ma.ino

a oontravemid ieisue. 3earIe (1999) also ramark.3 t h a t fmm a

pfiiheophm% pint of view s great flrirl ie menmed and a

=mat d ~ s l is I& malaerr Eiowwer, a soholm puta it maofnt?y

2 1.4 T h ~ 1 2 i 8 3 of I r h n m l q d a ~ l - r)w.wlana& - -- Yrr i t i l l ezzxhe I n t h ~ 3 sslctfan mare epooqlfio theoriea

of language dmaloy.bagt whaoe fooas is phomlogloal d ~ ~ b l o p m r n t ~

' ~ 1 . d %ill be ;~m.Irlded rflt essentially be a wmmry of t he

t~lwrios id&ightad by Fmmmn m d ~ardoa ( 1 ~ 5 ) *

Sefsra we b~&rt an a~minatian of th8 theorlee I t ul;ll't

be r,eoeosary t o reflccct Briefly on what the re~uirmente c \ P n

tht icrj of ~ E o n a l o g l o a l devehpmmt are. Far:g~am md Qernim

(r?75] Lire of tha opin iag thaC, a thwry o f p h m ~ ~ i ~ a ~ dwb

lopmad; mast amount Par the dme3opment of dl the ol.l~arste+b-

dioa ef m &?dt phonolom ae npealfied by phonulog~aal t h ~ o q ,

aa u c U na knai;n fprstn at' ohill?. pbnology riot aovsrsd By

p h m r s h , - F o d l, ,,msj. LI fi t,her WOL-~LB, a t h m r y of plmnoladc -1

i ~ e l o p r w i l t ntould n;r t to l i m i k e d t o 8 deaoriptian of adult

laniy~~zag&, k u t atended t o the childgur They d m aontand t h a t

n t : m q of r$m.alagio=il dmelapmnt ahatild be corroiatant w i 7 k : .

rl br~;dar theory o f l . w u a , g develoyjm~~t, r e l d a b l e t s t t e a H n n

o t fither m ~ e o h of developnmrt, and mpirfoally tastnble.

Veb: h a *wid d k jf PJ ,;l 0 t har awm ea, Ferg.ieon nrd

Gul.ri cti i9e i i t i - f '~ ~I>IJT t h e a ~ l e t 3 02 phnologf oal dwolapmari-t .

Thme w e behavi~urLaf t ' c e o ~ i e a with am~hmi~ r e ~ n i o r ~ o r n m ~

B r ,mcturali~t tileosies, t :ie nat urn1 ~ ; i ~ m l o g ~ a i d prosodio

thwrlas, Some od tiio thanxian zce no dou5t b a e d on t h e marc

gariard thnuriaa.

Tiia 75eha iour ia t t l ~ r o r i e ~ arar;rinod are by Mower,

Whits, Yumi rmd O b t e a d , Tha h s t known of them thmrf es

i s identif ied a3 the t f a m u f a t & l ~ y Mokrrer in tha l a t e tgc?Os,

X-t l u +his , howgmr, t h a t w i l l be aonaiderad, ham. The d d m & c

given in support of the theory wan obtainad fmm researah with

I t ~ d d n g b i r b a ~ , s.8. p m t e i , whes mtrlneS 3f $u~ndu were

icIentiua2 t o tl~atr trdnar'a ut termam. The firat &ep 1.n

t h e theory i a sald to hr t h a t the okrild (or b i d ) attsnds t o

m i i d m t i f i e with the aesdeker ( l .e . rnqther or trsllna)r

F~llclwing this i~ the maooia-tion of the voarltswt ham of the

~c*-at,akar vS t h r-ntary r~i:~Po;n~wnt auoh ag Eoad and pttm. Sotxira that b e a raamblmi-c to tho?.@ of the aaretmkm ~ i r 0

s e l ~ m % l v e l y rainfarod. It ot!ou'ld be mtad t h a t t h a thsoxy

l a a h expeimsnt Kl avidmoe on p h o n a l o ~ i sr 1 duvelv paant.

1 J ~ n a t ~ l e e 8 , I* contfrmm t o be ol td and given ~ a u t . i ~ l ! a

approval by r n q v others ( ~ e r g t s o n u d Carniaa, 1975). There

a m ertensiona of Mawrar's f k m q ( S M I Ferkvaon imd QiirxLua

for leatatmiam by Fwd mff ~la l j tead) .

f i aminent amng the pramnmto of stntutumsliat t h ~ ~ ~ c ~ i u

a r e J a h k a o n and Moehnita, '3ie m e t i n I luen t i a l . l a t h e

phonologimf t h m ~ j of Jakabnori. TLa t h e o r y repeemts fin

attempt to relste the clhfld'a phonolog ica l daveloprn~tlt t o

p h a n o l o ~ i o ~ t hmry by aampnrine; Z he aaquial t kan cd Cant raai o

nith i m p l i o a t i m a l lam which ,gwern t h a rrynuhruay oi' a l l

lw-agss of the mr2d (Foreu~un m d O m l c a , 1975). I t 111,

therefora, seen, RU t lie firat s t t m p t tc czpldn Lho r toqd r a l t J . : l n

of flW3n0l0~"~ On t h e b d . ~ of l h q ~ 8 f i ( l U ~ L V A T ~ ~ ~ E ~ L J ~ J X C I : L T < ~ T

laws t h a t undarlia tn'sr,v mrllfiuation of L&&uagtl, inLiv idu . , l

o r eaulal (~clrguaon mcl G d a 7 . , 1975).

Two disoanthmus pm-lods we rdcrogniaed bg Jnkobnan* The

f im t i a the pfnlangmge b a h b l i i x 2eriod 3;ld t h ornoad, o he

~ o q u i d t i o n of largugsl propar, fn the f i r a t >mior1 e e or;m:s

t h r L t m a k e up the o h l l ? ' s uoi s l laatians. The mmda do not

show a q - u d a r o f davelcqmmi and ' o a a nci resmmblmae t o

the ' p r ~ b n u t i o m o f t h u folloK5m pa;riaU', A ralativrly

~tn ivorea l end irrrmimt onlm is fallowed by the o h i l d in

tho aeaond pmi ad t o p i n in ten t i ane l aan tml ooar the sounde

of the nurrmurling d ~ l t l w ~ a g e ergus us on ond Garniua,

1975). Plotahex m d G a ' t ~ 1 l 1 ( f f l8) u p l a i n that t ha pradiotionn

of J&son m a qutte c jwlifio about t h e ordm in uhioh

aont rmts wcruld be aoquird ty ohildrenr a f t e x the mtabli~hmrit;

of the inftisl aonacnnnt va. vowel apposition $n a CV syllab?u.

&en t h o u g h them are at1183ea uhiah show suppOl?k for

t iiia t h m r y , i t has a n j o g e ~ some oritloiam. S&bssnnu

r r c a ~ L t i a n of +.WE dloaan t inwue p n 2 o d e is the maat o r i t f uism?

of MR olairn~. Pmiou lmly orltdciaed i o tho o l a b tha ' t

t h e m ~ m d a of ths prslanguwa btixbb'llng p r f o & laok any ordw

of bevelsnpment ( 3 ~ 5 BTomt, 3 g O and Cnrtfmden, 1970). The

&maion o f the theory by Mosbwitz doas not arparats the

babbling period Prom l a t e r spasoh dwalopman%. Thi r f a

A depmture f r o m J a h b m n ' ~ danue.

Ratusal phonology theory ammaat aa Farg~mn mil

G a r n i o a (1775) point ou t , EL U ~ ~ V W B E L ~ , inrmt~ s:,$tmtil db

phonoloziasl pmaesm uhiah, in tkis mat 1m.gungr - 5hndcmt

~ ~ R J C B , C ~ ~ C P ~ E I ~ ~ B R t l -a f u l l :yet of restriaiione of ?he humam

,J peeah capaoi ~y + The p h o ~ o t i u rapream tatione of the ohllb*s

pmduotiona m e held t o derive from the appl ioat i cm of this

innate aystem of an abatmct phwmlogical ragraasntatian (sea

F a r w a n aod Gmfoa, I 975). R e s u l t i ~ f r o m t h e b t e

8 y n t m are t h e utterancma cnildrm rmlisei in t h e parLud d t c r

bakbllng. A mJor oontrfbution of the theory is t h e ~ t t e r n p t

t o akmw ths role of aoguisilian i n biatori~el ul,m.ge ( ~ s r ~ u w t

mil Gmdaa , l',j75>,

The lmt I~RDPJ HI d-11 e x d . n a f a tho pr6socU.0 theory

uhbsr! p m ~ % = t IG 'dat~0tlr ir'affi13n doe& 8C.L P ' L ~ 1;0 ~ ~ D L B T L L ~ B B

a r ;die p d l a t i l o n a ~ ~ b o w t the om3rr oP aaquieitian of fmlw-r

o r oy;l.asitiom arrd also about he relation o f suoh an ordm t b

:'xu d i a t r i t u t i o n of featured and oppositio~m anow t h e langua.;m

of t h e ~or11.l (Fi3rma0n and Csmdaa, 1975). He rmognlsss

irrdividunl diffsrruroes in l;ngua,ge mquisition, The data baa:.

a f the fl-nory 1s very t 3 m ~ t 3 . ~ r d iCa h a are limLtaR. In spi r~

u f d l thZae anmmu t o qumtiona r a l r r t l t y : t o xhy a o h i l d ado ;;e

a p r t i c ~ l a r eubetitutlm p s t b m in a word and wee mot-hcr .'-I

#I~ the r word are attrmp-ted d r i tha theory* Cont~ ibu t fona t o i3u ,?s

genera2 Luaoriee of linguistlo o o m p e t m ~ e and tant&,bls pebLc: 1.0na

"qyl dna1_3-&a&

Sir tbla amtion dill be m m h e d studLee done t o confirm

or rejaat Borne of the o l d m a progeoted i n the theorlea d l ~ m t ~ ~ & ,

We will , however, focua mre on studies uhoaa p r i m e oonoern xaa

t h e lnvaetieation of ws m d s a diif~ranam in llaqguws

i~svah::rnrnt whiah f p, d m tha Lonuern i n t h e grmnmst dudy.

it hns been ohown i t 1 th.3 oritiaism of the seilzforammt

t h e o r y t~.at ahould t-qp L u m i ~ ; depend on athlts'

ralnfarument 02 t h a ~ g ~ m p 1 5 . d e I f lngufdio forms the ~ h i l r l

pmerotea it xLll tnks a c h i l d Isis W s t i m s to aoqtrire langm.?e.

In faa t , Tuxmar and H s b ~ ( 1 3 7 3 ) obaeirvs t h a t one of the

p r o b l e m tn t h i ~ appmnah f a t h a t rawr ~ r u r s t a K h l l Fmun on the.

f m t u d correotneoa of t h e ohSd'a opawh pat te rn rather plhrrrl

on t h e grammeticaJity of the -i;dtarnar This lltl a oommn

phmarlcmnlmrrn amng peento uha arls rurdoua to sap f hair o f l l d n n

oo;l.reatne;;s o f the child% apmnh, they w e m intaretat HI in

was t r u e or f a h e md an u h e t h r r the a h i l d p e r f o n d wall.

1.1547, I?-33, N d w Z m a ( 1:166) m d 'eltan (l3r3) WB also

ci tved t o hava fuund m p p n ~ 3 for the rse;ulas wid l a d l

PrwTwaion of stagen of nhonda&aal dwslopent; out l i n d

by Jahbeoa for pmductian, $ar pwoayt ion, Sahvmhkfn

($949) i a oitedr Howwar, mms w3sertfone o f Jakobeon are

yurbetiund. 3ra daim thx? the gUdan w aid h a r m aoquird

late* for example, lhoker umplriaal a u p ~ o r t , GirlSlryy h p l b

(19471, Ferguasm and Uanlioa (7975) repart t h a t thma ara

aoqtdmd p u i t e aarlg. S h d i a r by B l a m t (19'70) ard

Cmtt mdm (1970) ars o i t eU t o ahax tha t ths babbling period

i s R t i m e of stmaturd Eevelopittant that ie ne l thw Zrralcnr~lt

t o &~nolo,ry saquiaitf on nor w madual approrlmat;ion mo a g n - ~ w t

the cr'laim o f Jdmbaon that; it h a no davalopmental tranb,

U s o e r n l ~ , Forgueon m d EarrrLas (1973) ccntand that

imprtmt Znotor fn t h e uneatiafwtary natuse of %he theor ie l

of nLonole~lu 11 d w e l o p a e ~ t i a the of k t a o d d n

o r n o i d quwtiwe n f fmt, far exwuphp the ~ h l l d ' a o a f y

pmomtbon larrh date, allawing o o f l i o t i r ~ s thsorkw, Sonic

dudiso (Elmas gt a l p 1971 1 ibplatkl 1 TO) ~ U o h ahowed &dk;lo@

of B U ~ U aaari&&irsn by irrsmta bva: sup# t o the Nal ' iQk

of ~ d t h ( 7 973) and Btaarpe ( f %9) that f ha ha5 f u l l

8 :

Data La laakira, f o r lermple, on :ha crmlla'l ~~uestion of t h e '-

relat ion betwssn l w a g e hpt to ttie o h f l d a d . his awn

nentenoe respansee of six three - year - old mmlingual

The method Fn Fhlen (1982) is eindlar to t ha t used in t h e

d i ; f o r a n o ~ iq t h o aoquia i t ion of t h a Four Yaruba f r loa t ivan

:.,.~~L'rl q u f nix ~ u ~ J L - L % TJUJIB ~ I L I f ~ r thi: : r w m n t h e

d d a l ~ x l t o Sc o?sllai>aed ' ~ L t l i h e ~ ~ h p o u p aomsa sax

f o r f u s t h e r a s l p i o : Snou :~d Ih'hls (1977) ~hcrolls foarxsr m e

=-:IT difr'errsnaes i n t h o nmnu:~olation o f fornk,.rr eourrlle made

so;. ~!iffercnaas oalimt in data ,mnl js i~. Tha study hsil

tw t& -Ll~c r ~ f ~ t h a s i a t;,d tll-- ysmo u p t o t h ~ of nrbwty

c e r s t l t u t d a critioal , m 5 o r i Eor tumya,y~ aaquiaition. Tho

rar~lta of t h e ntudy, howwar, slmued t h a t mna of tha sex

dif faencee for 5 7 yaw-elk, 11 - 13 year-0113s~ 15 - 17 gcm-old~ m i a d 1 1 2 t n m e ~ k n i ricant, nor m e t h e overall R~

rlFi' r ~ r r m c e ~ i ; n ~ f i ~ , m t . The ~ c o u l t E fnr malea rlnd fwalae,

~LCC~DLV; t o thnm, l i k e th.e o ::LOT riGudy, mw ;~301od for

fZ11.i lmr con?arisam. Tahta ::ILL Y00d ( I 981 f fn t!~ef T invaeti-

::~t;on of t i l e fanotarn relatfn; t o t ransfer of acoant from the

P L r r t to n r;ccond 1rmyu~:a n o t d t h o oBeem~Cion ?hat mmm

1m.l l l k d y t o PJIIOW meant transfer thm man. They,

haucvar, aonoluJed t h a t o a e p s a t c x2 t e ~ t of L!::r; d iPFermoo

1115. n o t gliald s iji,nifYo:mt r evu l t ,

Tho f i n d i m of f i n m a ( 1 3 7 5 ) ~ ' h & y i I l and F3xreftl-I

(fr*~) 1 7 ~ ~ 6 in the oq-&nite C L ~ ~ f l t i o ~ h t h b L l ' f l @ (1775) md

Trudr ; i l l ( 19'75) a r c 6l'd ir L , c I ~ ; ~ Q (+979). It is 0 ~ 2 . d bg

L 3 ~ ~ i - t ~ ( 1 , ; ~ ~ ~ t h a t sex diift-remaes ~ d s t in each c r e u of

~ L T L - U ~ : ~ ~ t u d y . Q ~ o RWB + ' I R ~ l n q u q e a t ~ d y ~OOUBHGLT on

e i f h c r o f two a s p o a t s t tho atmctural or the funational. Tnc

s t r uc tu r a l f aat x e u o_' Isrnyqya inolude pbono l o g y ( pronunoiation,

intonn;tfo$ r,itcfLj, nj~tactios (?rarms?, ~wr~hulorly) mil

esmmtioe (diot ion, amphora , lexicon) ( & p ~ d . t a , 1 9 9 ) .

E ~ p o a i t o r e r r ~ ~ t s 4 i,,tt r m e ~ ~ o h e m auoh aa R m d ( 7 375) p

Xrmm (13751, m a Tru;ri;fll (1 975) h w s fctund sex diffmpulseo

i n finch area rwpca-livdy, The diffarenos betwarn these nhd

t h n other ~ t u d i m , xhich nb~wnd no sex distinotfon In the EUY..,;

invarrl i ,pted, n u c t hava b ~ e n hmwht about by differmuea in

r n l Ti14 d l f f l d r @ n ? c may wain have a.ri~m f r o m the

fact t h n t tha. s tuL lea isere 4 r a r r i e d out in d i f f u e n t h r ~ ~ ~ e z .

It in o u r I n ~ o ~ e n t fa f . 1 ~ :rwent study i.rr l m w whsther

rLiff~ranoaz axist or n o t I n t he acquiaition of friaa-tives Ln

Yorub3 bst:~et,n sh, uemc. Tr-e f l n d i r q of t h e a t u k ~ mqv ha:,

I1 -aly;ul in , - ~ ; - u - , G ? i r ~ ex.,lm?t i o n s f o r t h o dimrspmoicn

o-~oemeli it, thl : akrli~r ~jtwYea.

For 9 t u ~ i i m t h d f m u ~ - e d on we difleranora In Lra!;~r!v:c

a n q u i ~ P t i m w emmine C m e l l (I 901 ) nnmr .mhi 1 ~ 1 1 1 3 1 3 ( I -

C'iomglq (7569), c l t c d in C h i m q md Cowtello ( 1 9 3 3 ) an8

,.lilootian c ~ f how t h e rnlatian liotwesn request tyno =id enea of

I t ie s h o m t h ~ t f n mary c a m , tho d l f f a r enon betwcm t h e

(1981) inveot iga t ad factors inf 1uenoS;ne children's h y p t h a t i c z l

Snod and J [ r h g 1197'7)~ :a I:llo::n e n l b r , @s,& wo

~ i f i ' ' e ~ ~ n ~ a 3 tiic ~mnmc'-.t l .cust :> :' fa lzfgn iroun&. It shocrld

bc m e n l i u ~ ~ a i l sat t h p d u d 2 f c ~ u r n ~ d or_ secor~d. Innguae;s aopr&i-

t ion . The r ~ ~ u 1 . t ~ 9 g ~ c d t ( it t'l83 t ,TO y o w q p ~ t tiroupe t mtd

h n l t h e lowaot score? md t > ~ a txo oldsat g r o u p , tlna highaa t

(310:: m d Hhhee, 1777). -4ccorZiq; t a L.ern, li'i~ftoen a 3 tho 24

eo~ulr,'.: t e.atml a h o u d ? i r X l f i o a ~ t ~ ) o ; , ~ ~ L v B utsrmla$ions with

q a , Inz1u;llt-q a l l c h t ~ t e r r : o r t h 76 v ~ . . a l s ' . T h ~ y , however,

add t h a t ibr t h e n,htu-rqlLst i r : s t .~r i j ~s diiferenoea in p r o ~ u n d 3 -

t i o n & i l i t~ ~ L i ~ ~ l p ~ ~ z r e 3 . 11;: 4 - 5 r o n t h s dfl;er starti- t o T B W ~ t } \ c acccriL lbnqxq~ (3no.1 irm! Thrrls, 1577;. For tho Zx'txlrrrto~

~ t u . ~ , i d t , & t i o n of fcrfiifm :firrlo imrasaad l inemu with W o *

Ch6rn3kyts ( 1 ~ 6 9 , ) ~ t ~ t l y , I O ~ S I S ~ L ~ I n Chiw and hrrtelh

(1 333), h w e e t i ~ a t a d t h s 1cglr lr ; l~t lca o f apt= by ahlldren

a;scl 5 t u 70, Chontsky h,3d 3 t t l f i w l tlm mqdin l i ion of four

b:l ioh otmctursa by nat ive U , ~ > B ; ' , ~ ~ C of Ihgll~h u~indf e l ~ n t f i n t ~

nohool ~ p i . 1 ~ a3 he? infomrr,:r-, It ic ? t ? ~ l * d mri

l:ofitollo (1983) t h n t Chom*w~ :I~I.-:;. S?,OHU': t n a t i m r m ~ ~ e 13

a t u r . a s examined in respaut of &:a differences were all in

the erne dire at ion^ mastery of t h e phanornma inyentigated

a:c round in t h o na turd i s t l c study, They expldn that1

TLey further explain t h n t r

Thay noaort t h a t the older aul~jeate wm m t ~ h bettm? at other , '

l ' h d r suggestion t h a t a d u l t s wera perhapa l seb raliwt on

2,a Hywthesgz

!lavirg srhcvm t h a t a m D r 0 aoaeptallz fllnory of l~nguq@

acqui~i tion i d required, t h a t data neu9 t o ha p r a ~ i b d on

c r u c f d questions of faat in r e l a t i o n t o t h e more B~BCI~IC

thmries of >honoTo&cal davehpmmt md t h a t t h e A n d i ~ ~ s 01'

i. Thma is no aip~ifiomt diffaranor between

~ h i l d r a n a& 3 on3 4 in the m ~ t s r y O F t h e

iv , There i~ no e~LgnlPioant: diffsrsrroa between

male m d Pamale children In t h e aoquiai tian

of t h e frlostivsn

3.3 - l n a t r u m e n t ~ A number of i n s t m a n t a uas u8e.d in o u r y t n g out the

study. Four piuturaa, aaoh oantdnLnq f o u r objeuta, rare

dmigncd by t h o riass~rrsbm i r m aut jocts ' epontaaeou~ neming

of the abdeots (3ea Agpmdlr 11. &cb ab jm# name wae

intendeb t o tat t h ~ oorrmt rsaliscltion of ons of the M o a t in

etudisd. An hetrument namait Trioativsl Aoquiaition Insfrumant

(Fa) (gee A p p a n d h 13) waa aZao deafgnd by t h e rmaaraher.

The inmtl-went whish mudated of t w o umotiona waa intarrded t o

.C aat t h e oorrsat realisaiion of the fricatives F U v d I g a t d

in ioolated u a r h and smtmcma. A t q a reuordsr and two

orssette tapea were used t o rword the subJeata' rediaatfon

of t h o words end santenoes (aantahsd in FAT.) and their

apntaneous namhg of t h ~ objmts En t h e pioturea.

Re3iabj lit^ and . V n I l ~ i t _ v # ~ f t h s f q ~ t ~ ~ r n a n t ; a

3 4 2 Velidlty

With tha aasietanur o f experts in teat uemtrua t ion ard

J9+uoedu.re i q d Adn4pkst rat io;

The eubjrate were expeated 50 obaarvm the piutureol

ono d-tm the other, f o r eomr time and than nma the abjsota

In thm cu3aordhgQ. The piotwm wms prmesrn$sb on, mar

the other by the raeemhex a e a f n t d by thrar nxprrtm t o

saah of the ~ubJmtm. Twu af tho e z p a d a worm lillguiafa

togsthm with whaa the rwmrohm rroord& h i e ~ b s s w s t i o n ~

Thn t h i r d -pert who baalt with elr&r.onior hmdlrd t h e tap*

recorder, Same of tha ~ u b j a & s ~ a f a m tsauhwm a100

aaaisted in the &d.niatrat-Lon of the i n s t ~ w n t r . Two

taaohura aaoiats.;. In d i s p l y l l x g the piclcmea t o tha rubj.mtu,

while m a wha rfiapnsi'bla f n r p m ~ e n t i n g the ~ ~ ? J j l w t a far thr

aeraise. Yet some other6 cj i l tdda the tmting room mdnf ained

t h e peaae among t h e aubjeota. They were reapnaibls for the

orderly prmantation of t h e a u b j e ~ t a .

One of t h e Ihgdtats, a apmia l ia t in Y~mba* road out

the words an8 s e n i ~ ~ c a e t o the p p i h one af'tlr tbm other, Tha

realised in t h e trst item. The muorded reupmas ware

trrworibad and aorralatd with t h e t i o h aa t h * ~ a m ? h @

&rate t o ratnllaiera e m r e in ewring aubjectn4 Pb$pfi$ebr

To get tth t o t a l raw aocrrum for eaah of the naunds hl,i

f o r aaDh w b j s u t the f l c b w e e oauslt&d, To eet ~ L B @and

t o t a l , the to ta l s of t h e saotions were ad&&.

3.7 & t ~ Annlynla

The f'allod.ng a t a t i a t fda l pbcedure was used M tbe

malgsin o f t he oorpue nnl lwted by the reeearohmrr A

tabla of norms waa mnatnlcmted Ewed on agu and cer of the

aubjeats by ntasrr~ of oom;.~tar.

To ahow the d f r e c t i o n of t h e findiws of tha atudy

simple garoanttaga, abtained through a mvthod &te.'nad

aft;- hlay, Burt a d Krar?hm*s (1982) Croup Mean

Hat hod, was uad.

For tho four hymthcsea t - tea t e t ~ t i t i ? t i c n l tmhnique

was amplogedl To ehow -If the roaulta were significant , oaloul a t ad t-valuee v m m re lnt ed to t sbulat ad t-valuua

a t 0.05 level of signifloonua.

4.1 Iatrodua$>qn

An &iternst is made in t h i a uliaptor t o p e e a t the

r e a d t d of th3 00rpuu andyead, ?h mrpra wse o o l l e o t s d

t o ~ d d t :he hypothesera ganarxted for the study. h l l o u i q

t ha preatrnt,iti~n of tha analyeis i e t h e dincumfan of th

r e m I t ~ .

X t o t a l number of airty mbjeots uwr u e d in t h s

study, T k y rere rwbrnly bun Froin nureerg wpila of

P n d ~ SSatc Gallctge cf ELlrreatZon S t a f f SohoaZ, Xkera-=ti*

The ch i l i l r en , aged 3 - 5g aonoisted of twenty-nine mlsr and tdl-ty-one females. F'rom eaoh age grade waa drawn a

smple of trenty subjsats,

The rssulta of t h e analpfa and t h r h fntar~drtimw

warm 'basal on the hymthuau. For t h e four hyWhurr t - 9 u t

~ t a t i a t i w l twhniqus was wployed and t a b l e s VII - X s a t on pagas 94 - 93 ahow tho rmlts of tha maJymls, To ahow t h e d l reot ion of the findings of t h e etudy a mathod

patterned Bfter Dulayt Burt and Kraubn'e (1982) ( I m p

Mean ?!&hod w a s u a d te obtain t h e aurrwe p a r s a t a g e aooraa

of tile yubjrofr aaoordiw t o Wa and mrr- Sm@auzt ~ h 3 i t ~ W m

Before present ing t h e rssulta of t h e hypthwrm

t e e t a d it t r i l l be nwleasary t o a a & e the aver3ga perocmtrqa

eoorea of t he aubjacta aumrdirrg t o age and erx in a d r r t o

how t h e dirsotion of ths f k d i r - q ~ of t h i a . t u g . It will be

neaesamy aloa t a prseent t b a eqyrtent subst i tut ion errom

abla2cvd in t h e analyeis of She corI#xe.

l ' b i ~ Ld?le tho . :u t h l 1 t f o r eeoh o f t L . d a b l a s the

.ver%a garcantage mores Increase w i t h a-e. For / h /, fo-

~xrungla , the w e r q a perodtqs e m r e for age 3 l a 61.92,

T U B inoreaeeer t o 82.89 fo r 493 4 and 85.27 for we 5 . ' h e

impl iaa t ion of t h i n is t h A ~ubjwta'unalmaetary of t h e

f r ioa t ivea invea t igst sd tn~rsased with t h ~ r chmno Io@cal

we*

4.21 3aq;rnqt Sr r l ; l a t i tu t ioz~ Errom,

Baring r o f l d ad on t h o = m m g m psroontmp summa of

the ~ n b j s o t ~ on t h e bade o f a q m m d sex* we tn13 now m x d ~ e ,

the e-ar~t s u b o t i t i ~ t l o n e m r s c i h a ~ m d i n the analysis of

the oorpua pmsratwi Jn t h o rduby. Since t he subjmta

exhibited a general pattern of rr-mt nubletitzrtialq thm

clisaumsion here i t i m t ' n ~ d on a j ~ e OF msfr

~ 1 1 ~ u I ~ Eblm ( ( ~ p f l i ) , xs will, I d e n t i e ~ W W I t,vp$s 0 '

error1 atopphq, a ~ b a t i t u t i o n an& ddat ion , but in the

p~esezltatian o f t h e raaults of this study ua dl1 oal lnpse

t h e f i rs t two mdar ' ~ t r h s t i t u t t o n ~ ~ Aaaor3lrg t o E~IAH

{t992), stop#ng i~ a su t e t i t u t i on pmosea. Tlrs t a m fs ueaa

by him only whan t k r a u b a t i t u t w augment ia a true atap L r .

the rei-tlaaament of a phoneme by any o t h e r alase of ~oundd

it 1s not reatplat4 t o t h e rsplaummt of a phonuae by tn

Subati-tut inn arsaowzted for 99.08 pement of t h e rmra

mi^ / / / - 0.09%. / 5 / w ao aelrtion -or. ~ s b l e s TIE - VI how the ~ u b s t i t u t h n erxlrs of ths ahildren in t h e pmductfon af t k m frimtivea imreatlgntad,

T n h l e IV shawr t h a t +:he subjwtr sub&ituted /t/, /$ 1

snd /t - I/ / ..- Tho pattsmr~] -*r - - tT] had tha

Table 5' showe that the prdorainant p i t t a r n of auhutitution

pattarn xaa I-r ]+ Lb lwith 24.11$. Tha aribatitution of -

Aa ahom by t h i n t a b l e t h e osloulatad t-value i a g rea t e r t 9 a n

t h e tabulated t-valde at 0.05 l t ~ v 9 1 of a i ~ i f i o m a a , f l e a

m d 4 in t ~ . o w q u h i t i ~ n the f r i ca t luaa !n Yoruba.

!1yyat henl s X I - ---

The hywthesia e ta tee t h a t r "There is no ~ Q g d f i o m t

w e tented by means of t - t en t ntatistical tscfin;lgnrD The

I1 af the fricatives in Yamba, To G d the hgpthesilr t-tmt

of ths snnUsks fa peaenter! h Tabla X below*

Varildbls , pnumbm Urnan ! Standard I

I I--

4.2-3 m~uunuign-

The reoulta of t n i e a t u u &owd tha t the maetsry of

the f o u r f r h a t i v e s in Yonrba imraased with t h e aubjeocltn'

ohrctnalagical we. Par amrn?la, Table I ahom t ha t the

nverogs percentsge s w r a e fur the vaxiablen inarssetd wlth

=a. The f f n d i ~ s of *hie atudy support the fhdtnga of

C u r e l l ( I ~ Q ) , 3nov and R5111a ( 1 9 7 7 ) ~ Chameky (1%3), c i t d

i n C h h g m e Coota l lo (151133, and Huozajii ( r y e 1 ). C a m a l l

(1981) h d invsdiyatrrct how wall ohildran agd 4 t o 7 ~ u l d

Werm-tand lgiffsrerrrt typm of inflrmt reque~ta and how t h e

ralaWon bdveen rsqusat tyrse a d sms of maprehmaion

oanpmsJ from children t o ar'lultn. Al'bhcsugh t h e G ! n ~ h € K b of

C n r r d l diffsm f r o m t h ~ t of the preueaf dudy, bath have on€

t h i n g irz c 9 m n I l a n y ~ x e ~ ~ q u i d t i o n r Age w a s equalxr

oantrolled Ln both ~turlias. The rmulta of the s tudy e11o;ied

thn% mmtery fnosemrd d-th warn Aoowrdlmg to Camel1

k381),

The mraary ~ o h o o l m g a t 64.#

of all 40 t s ~ t i%em aorrwat; the

Hndmgartler;~rs &id better, gattlng

73.5s aarrect 1 the first gradsrs

idid batter yet, getting 78;g o~xxeotg

and the aamnd g r a d m did beet

of all, eettfng a bQh of 92$, 335).

Carrel1 (1981) d d e that Yn werg oase, the dirPerenae

b ~ w e e n the perfarmame o f one grade - ~ g s 1 eve1 w e atnt ia t iaa l ly ~ i & f l a a n t l y b& t e r t hrtn t h a t of t h e n a t

lover ,pads - agr l w d ,na ahom by tha t e a t of ~signifluar:aa of &lfYmanona in pmmnitio~a h m independat anmplsa',

Our ibdcnga aanflm thrrt t h e &Pfarrnoes batwren the 4 ~ s c

w m s sl-,cpiflcant+ Tabla VIIp fox mmtpls, &owed that tho-a

warn a afgnifloant difieranar bbtwra ahi ldrra qrdl 3 aad 4,

Tha dlffa~anoa bstuaen ohildren agsd 4 and 5 war a q u d b fbc~lb

a t wti atlaally ~~i&Fl,ormt ~ ( 3 rsvsald by % M e VIIT. A BL ile

~ w u l f uas ahmm hy T a b l s TI'. f o r children agd 3 a 5 .

~UZAJ~I (1991) ~ t u d ! - & sixty 3 - to-6 yeax o l d ahiI8re;: im o r d m t o amma oeeaPa aspeata o f t h e i r a l f l i t y t a anwm

q ~ o ~ t i o r t ~ ~ l l u d i w t n hymthe t i~d weds* A g h , the poht

shdulb be madr %h& arstr iisltarset in t h i a study uaa b#mm orat

of t h e faot tha t i t irrvreki~ated language ~ q u i s L t i o n K i t h z q c ~

csrntmUd. The f l n b g a of t h e a b d y &ev& t h a t mfieat

res kvne ae Lnaraaaed with ws*

Smw and 9 i U a [ t 977) h v m t i g a t tad q r d f f f ~ ~ m o r a b

tha p m n m n o i a d i ~ n BI fomim a o m h I'br hudy Oamtsd tha

hypather~is t h a t t h e y # ~ s up t o the age of p~b&y o o r r d f t l r t ; ~

B mft l o 9 1 g;ef iob f o r laqyuqs aaguiaf t lon. A l ~ h ~ ~ the foaurr

of' t h e study was awonrl lar:asgn aoquisitfaa, th r &may

oanaern c~f the B ~ U Q an9 t h e p - ~ ~ ~ f i t n f l ~ YBU thm aaquhition

o f dlatlno-tivtr eomd d t s + It i a £'or t l d e maam tha t we b

not eee '1t.i aamparbon d r ~ m betuaar~ t h s atudies aa inept,

Tha ~,dLngm of the ~ t u Q ahmad t h a t the two y o ~ m s ' t

groupe ta&sd had the lawsat auarm and t h ~ two oldest gmupel

ths h i g h a t (3mw and h h l ~ , 39;77)+

Chomokfa (7969) ntudy f a xqmrtad C h i m a d

LToste1110 (j993). Ch~maky Snveatfgatd the a a p ~ a l t b n of

9yntru F, clid'ld~eh fYom t h e ,-.gee of 5 Lo 10, h r

j u n t i f i ~ a t l o n ~ D T d'+t lng tbLe ~ ~ t u d y is s m e as f b r othem.

I t i a reported t h t increaae in tho number of carreat

reaparms in Chomlqr's ~ r u d b r aanaapondsd with

0hmb3 ~ P K ~ C B ~ &

t h e s u b s t i t u t i m patterns of tho Modaan uhi1Cren and &@id.

cornanants in the language, can only o c c m in Xomba syl lable-

between the fin-a o f t h e etudies I s tha t while /tJ/ i a 1,.. t i d

inventory of the phonernsa of Spenlah, i t l o not Sn t h a

substituted for one in t h e lar-mgr. Howmar, whllo trying

t o ahow the origin of (sl-.~ l t ~ l in S p d s h Lblm (1982) I, 4

requ i f i r .~ a longer ' e t eady rstate8 of t h a wtiaulatore.

t h e basie uf tUs t.qpmant explain t h a t mime Yombm doma mf

hwr /t /, /t/, t h e atop component* v s readily subatitutad .--

l e u r ~ t before the l a t t e r bused on the principle

t h e oh i l d r an in t h a atuily reported acquired i t / befarr /B/*

/ Whi la we o m explain ths t tho pattern \-J]+ [ t ' ] -

w a a repar ted t a h w s oubsti tuted /d f o r /f/ in four of five

a i d the fact t h a t it has b c m a h m t ha t it ia aaquirad

early may be used to explain i ts su ta t i tu t ian f o r /f/~

Tabla VI ahowed t h a t the pradodnant pattern for /h/ ie -, . The substitution m a aomnmat x h m the sound was 2

preo6dbd by / i / and moaeedsd by /z/. The r e a l l s ~ t i o n , themfore, m ~ t have been influsnoob by /i/ ao fhs

Our da ta showad t h a t [ k ] ( 2 . 9 6 ) and

whiuh t he eauad auourrad in t h e littarenass (use2 in the

%

renderad alt.smatively ea 'Iws'. It m q y be pueitsd t h a t in

v:wiety of aounda far t h e ones investigated+ Thie trend

Different sounds a r e reportad eubstitu?ed for the onea

1nvae;tlgatad in h i 3 ~hrrdy. For example, for /h/ the saw&

Tnble X I E showed t h a t t h r r r s waa no signifioant

of tho four fr ioat lve sounda (see Table IV'a

m~lvrris), The f h i d i n p aould be used ca euppork the f~ndl~rpls

Cookine anfi Ilchnbe'a ( 7 981 ) ~1tudy yam a compamtfv~ s t u d y ~f

the use a0 picruree and objmta in &a+e~eFng uhlldrrn'l~

reuoptivs and produatfve lmguagr. Tha atudy meda use of

a i r t y - s i g h t 4- mrX 5 yem-olba. Their findings ahowad t ha t

no sex differafloe d e t a d witbin any of mix aubjsat groups

and they had t o m ~ l h p a s the data ' v i t h f n aaah gmup aoross

sex Tar f u r t h e r onalyeerrv. Snaw an13 Rohls (19'77)~ ah hint&

@arll.ar, inveetigatsd aga differenaea in t h e p~crnrrmiation 6::

f arcign eounde* The rsaults of the study c h ~ ~ i e d t h s t nune

of the eex d1fl"ermosa f o r 5 - 7 yea-o'lds, 11 - 13 ye-lh, 15; - 17 year cold^ m d a d u l t u wss ~fgnl f icmt , nor w a n the o v a r a l l a m dfffermoa signlfloant. TAP remxlts for mal-

m d females, amording t o t5w9 were po?ed Par further

a o a p d e a n e r

Rauuvsr, t h e fin&nga of the present mtudy contradfot th..

fhdinqa of T&a a d Wood { lgf l l )y batner ( 1 ~ 5 ) ~ and

Trud xi11 ( 1 g 5 ) (IIramsr arici TmdgIl1 are a i t ed In Ehpaita,

1975). h p a a i t ~ (7379) ~mports t h a t in awh arm of lan@&o

study m a r diifsrmosr appsar hd d a f . h a o r d i n g to her* t h z

studv of lanmlgs faoua+r on ri thsr of two aspmtsl tbe a t r u a t ~ ~ d

or t ne funatioml. The atruatural. f'raturas of latkpagm inalnds

phonalcgy ( pmnunctlatlan, intanation, p i t ah), mot 10s

(grrrmmer, mrphologg) md rmat i a r ( d ia t ion maphora, lex iccd

(hps i to , 1 ~ 9 ) . S h m eham tha t reeearohem suah as BrenlL

for t h e differmao betwaen the f i n d i ~ s of t h i u atudy and

t h e e t u d i a ~ beutsuas us do mt h o w tha objmta OF t h s i r

t o them, a asparata ? teat of t b i a diffmanaa did not yie ld

The atuQ m a motivatd by the observation that

A pflot s tuQ wae o e r r i e d out whioh sherud that

the a H l d wed 2.6 t h a t waa found uaeful for the rstudy. Tha

s u b e t i t u t i o n patterna of llhe ch i l d ware found t o be

Literature relevat t~ the s t u b uae rsviewedl Studlea

that the human brain i a pra,pxumed t o enable individuale t o

csmte rrnd underetmd languags. The first two thebriss which

were behaviourist in nature were f o w d t o be inadmuats in

Frimt Lvs Aaqulsf t ion Inetrummt (FAI), baaigrsd by tha

resa:lrcher, The researcher iiiudalutered the irmstrurnent

wLth Zhe ao~1afmo.a of tiwea e r p e r h on nifty 3- t o 5- yam-old?

randomly ampled m n g the plpih of the w e e r y s d i a n of

diroauered t h a t t h a pa~w:~linant pattern f o r / 8 / m e

-*

hTBT0 r f ' 6 \(44.5@) anI:U]+ a] (41.18~). T ~ O 1 IT - 1 I-- - - L ' -,I predominant pattarn for / 2 / was [ i l - y l l c p , (42.55%). This

I t ~ d u l d be a a i d t h a t while W:R c a n v f i t u t e e a barrier

Lrt t h a &orlidsitLon clP frf0ol;iverl in Yomba, eax is no barriar,

1% cmild. ba m i d t h ~ t uhilcirsm uubotitutad v u i m z s . rrounb for

the oilss h v e a f j gatad with the fal lowln< am the predominant

yat hv:crim

grndually by i r r d i v i h a % o h i l k e n and t h ~ t we au wa

lliscnvared in t h i e stud;, 1s a barrier t o language B O ~ U ~ E ~ ~ : - C I I

in goneral, they will be Lesa amloue e'bart gattirig their?

ohil&mn t o speak-

The Qindinga of t h i s atudy heve implications f o r

poychoh$iata, psyohoha&nta md U n g u l ~ f a generally

bmauea they would nard ts v d f y whether on t h e bmia of

t h e finding-a mre ~ a n e r a l l z a t ions aauld br mads a b u t ohlld

phonologioal davslopmmt. It ahouPd i n t a e d th8m to find

of etudy f o r numerp 'dadergartear p u p i l s in the area

~ n v e s t i & d . They would need t o take i n t o canaideration

and h n n c b e r ~ , Elizabeth (ads) Foundations af Lawpm~e

Deve lopmc t~ t t A Mult id tac ip l fnary Appmach7, 1 , H a w Yorkr

A c ~ d m m y P r r a ~ , 181 - 8.

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Appendix 1

i. ehoro (rabbit)

\ ' f \ 'b . aluhosa

I

\ sun

i

(Ths white oap that & gave t o Femf uhs ti&: f o r

pulled t h e otsp' aeaselessly). / ,' ,' " / , I

o m ~;ld'nddL fa Ifa tit1 t i 1f-s fi bi i f a fun un

# / -. / 2 a. Aso S a h t o mom noo

.I I 1 1 I 1 1 1

1 / / / / - .' / ' \ 3. a, Ha s huha nl - ! a n se t o fi ha aiha ibi t c ' ti

(~asuna waa remvfnl: maize shaft till he wria trapped

( the food povided by. t h e deoeased's first wife was

h he . way we cmk& t h e baana is very goocij.

4. I a q g h t 5 . a Baouround ( s t a te wbethor t h ~ su3je:t is

TOTAL I

(iii) Oae I . . I / * * * \ I.../

( ivj s;.l;n& * . * -I

iuu 1

sa;o L

SZCTIOl~ DI SEjTEZXXE

\

1 0) ~i la 1

( i l l fm4m (ti)

(iii ) h 1

(id furl (v 3 FA 1

1 & (la'&

.f

fun

/ ! f 1f4 (tM ti)

sf'

Be (ypn)

TOTAL

3 (1) Haf (a) h& (ILL)

ha'

s B \ / / \ /-

aaee ( ~ a dam &&I

TOTAL A

BABATUNDE_Yusuf_A_1995_12458PreliminariesTitle PageCertificationDedicationAcknowledgementTable of ContentsAbstractList of Tables and Figures

Chapter One: IntroductionChapter Two: Review of Related LiteratureChapter Three: Research MethodologyChapter Four: Analysis of Data, Results and DiscussionChapter Five: Summary, Conclusions and RecommendationsBibliographyAppendices

2009-04-30T01:21:30-0700Ojionuka ArinzeI have reviewed this document