So, in typical over-achiever form, I have signed up for extra graduate level courses offered free through a grant for educators working in rural areas like I do. From this, I get to take 3 graduate-level courses (9 extra credits over 3 semesters) focusing on second-language learners, particularly in regard to how the school system addresses their needs. May I just say, 12 graduate-level credits and part time work is making me a little nuts.
Anyway, the point of this whole thing is that my reading for my extra class this summer is proving to be a nice review of what I have already learned about language acquisition (first language anyway). Today's reading covered language acquisition theories, and it struck me that the Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) systems we provide for kids whose oral language isn't developing or developed where it needs to be are reflective of the language theory that the company has. In my undergraduate courses, my professor said that she believes that we acquire language through a combination of the theories, and I have to agree with her. But she also said you can generally see which theorist truly speaks to a therapist: Chompsky, Skinner, Vygotsky, Piaget, and more. I have experienced this. One therapist I work with loves Mr. Skinner's theory on language acquisition to such a point that she works exclusively with using imitation and repetition for children to acquire language. And, having worked with her students, I can formally announce that I do not truly appreciate Skinner's theories.
So, if it is possible for a therapist to lean on one theory more heavily than another, is it possible that children may have their own individualized language acquisition traits that trend in the area of one theory? Would the acquisition of language follow a different theory based on whether the child is acquiring language receptively or expressively? If a child is predestined to learn language following a certain theory, can we measure this and adapt AAC to fit it? Do AAC systems really take into account the theories of language acquisition?
I bet somebody already has answers about this, but hey, I'm just thinking through my fingers. It will be interesting to look at how typically developing children
acquire a second language and if or how that applies to children who
need to learn a compensatory language through AAC. I love
when one class stimulates thinking for another!
