Principles and Theories of

Language Acquisition and

Learning: Philosophies of
Education
Lesson 4
Learning Objectives:
• To recognize the common philosophies of
education
• To explain the involvement of philosophies of
education in developing child’s language
acquisition and learning
• To analyze the theories of language learning
presented by experts.
DISCUSSION
IDEALISM
Idealism is the oldest system of philosophy known to man. Its origins go
back to ancient India in the East, and to Plato in the West. Its basic
viewpoint stresses the human spirit as the most important element in
life. The universe is viewed as essentially non material in its ultimate
nature. Although Idealist philosophers vary enormously on many
specifics, they agree on the following two points; the human spirit is the
most important element in life; and secondly the universe is essentially
non material in its ultimate nature.
Idealism is a system that emphasizes the pre-eminent importance of
mind, soul, or spirit. Idealism puts forth the argument that reality, as we
perceive it, is a mental construct. It means that experiences are result of
sensory abilities of the human mind and not because reality exists in
itself, as an independent entity. In the philosophical term this means that
one cannot know the existence of things beyond the realm of the
intellect.
Idealism and curriculum
According to idealism the teacher is the symbol or model of good
character, he is the master of all sort of knowledge, so the teacher has
the central role in the teaching-learning (Singh, 2007). The teacher has
right to choose suitable content from the available literature and to
teach. The student is a passive receptor, who has to gain the knowledge
transferred by the knowledge. The teacher certifies the disciple at the
successful completion of education as per the above given age levels
(Singh).
Idealism and aim of education
Plato says that to become a philosopher or king, a person has to go
through all the processes of education. He describes the aim of
education as to drag every man out of the cave as far as possible.
Education should not aim at putting knowledge into the soul, but at
turning the soul toward right desires continuing the analogy (similarity)
between mind and sight.
Idealism and stages of education
Plato has also divided the process of education into major steps:
1. Age 7 to 18; study general mathematic, music, astronomy and so on,
2. Age 18 to 20; considers best for physical training,
3. Age 20 to 30; study of logic, knighthood, and mathematics
4. Age 30 to 35; study of dialectics
5. age 35 to 50; practice of dialectics in various official affairs in the
state
6. 50 years +; a person can become a philosopher or king as his terM
comes.
Idealism and method of teaching
Idealism is traditional philosophy of education in which teacher has
central role who has to be role model so that the students will adopt
his model to become good citizen. In idealism the lecture method is
considered the most important one in which a delivers lecture and
students listen to the teacher. Teacher selects any topic or issue for
teaching first he teaches the topic then asks the questions about that
topic. Students answer the asked questions, Teacher provides the
feedback and students improve themselves according to the teacher’s
feedback. This is teacher centered approach therefore students do not
participate in a well manner and do not understand the taught content.
Idealism and method of teaching
This method of teaching is not suitable for young or elementary level of
students because they are not habitual for listening long time. This
method is only used for adults. Because their mind is mature and they
can understand easily.The second method that suits idealism the most
is the Socratic Method in which the teacher involves the students in
learning activities.
REALISM
• Realism is a philosophy started by the ancient Greek writer,
Aristotle. It states that there is a true reality, and things
exist whether humans perceive them or not.

• Educational realism is the belief that we should study logic,

critical thinking, and the scientific method to teach
students to perceive and understand reality. As you might
imagine, there is a heavy emphasis on math and science,
though the humanities can also be influenced by
educational realism.
PRAGMATISM
The word Pragmatism is of Greek origin (pragma, matos = deed, from prassein
= to do). But it is a typical American school of philosophy. It is intimately
related with the American life and mind. It is the product of practical
experiences of life.

Pragmatism means action, from which the words practical and practice have
come. The idealist constructs a transcendental ideal, which cannot be realised
by man. The pragmatist lays down standards which are attainable. Pragmatists
are practical people.

They face problems and try to solve them from practical point of view. Unlike
idealists they live in the world of realities, not in the world of ideals.
Pragmatists view life as it is, while idealists view life as it should be. The
central theme of pragmatism is activity.
EXISTENTIALISM
Existence is always particular and individual—always my existence, your
existence, his existence, her existence. Existence is primarily the problem of
existence (i.e., of its mode of being); it is, therefore, also the investigation of
the meaning of Being.

That investigation is continually faced with diverse possibilities, from among

which the existent (i.e., the human individual) must make a selection, to which
he must then commit himself. Because those possibilities are constituted by
the individual’s relationships with things and with other humans, existence is
always a being-in-the- world—i.e., in a concrete and historically determinate
situation that limits or conditions choice. Humans are therefore called, in
Martin Heidegger’s phrase, Dasein (“there being”) because they are defined
by the fact that they exist, or are in the world and inhabit it.
7 Great Theories About Language
Learning
Theories of language learning have been bandied about since about as
far back as one would care to look. It may be surprising to know that
the problems that philosophers in Ancient Greece and 16th century
France were concerned about are largely still relevant today.
1. Plato’s Problem
Plato's suggestion is, essentially, that people have innate knowledge.
In the field of linguistics, Plato's Problem is the problem of finding an
explanation for how a child acquires language though the child does
not receive explicit instruction and the primary linguistic data a child
does receive is limited.
2. Cartesian Linguistics by Descartes
The term Cartesian linguistics was coined with the publication
of Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist
Thought (1966), a book on linguistics by Noam Chomsky. The word
"Cartesian" is the adjective pertaining to René Descartes, a prominent
17th-century philosopher. 
The central doctrine of Cartesian Linguistics maintains that the general
features of grammatical structure are common to all languages and
reflect certain fundamental properties of the mind.
3. Locke’s Tabula Rasa
Tabula rasa is the theory that individuals are born without built-
in mental content, and therefore all knowledge comes
from experience or perception. Epistemological proponents of tabula
rasa disagree with the doctrine of innatism, which holds that the mind
is born already in possession of certain knowledge. Proponents of
the tabula rasa theory also favour the "nurture" side of the nature
versus nurture debate when it comes to aspects of one's personality,
social and emotional behaviour, knowledge, and sapience (closely
related to the term "sophia" often defined as "transcendent wisdom",
"ultimate reality", or the ultimate truth of things)
4. Skinner’s Theory of Behaviorism
The theory of B.F. Skinner is based upon the idea that learning is a
function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result
of an individual’s response to events (stimuli) that occur in the
environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a
word, hitting a ball, or solving a math problem. When a particular
Stimulus-Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (rewarded), the individual
is conditioned to respond. The distinctive characteristic of operant
conditioning relative to previous forms of behaviorism
(e.g., connectionism, drive reduction) is that the organism can emit
responses instead of only eliciting response due to an external
stimulus.
5. Chomsky’s Universal Grammar
Universal Grammar (UG) is a theoretical concept proposed by Noam
Chomsky that the human brain contains an innate mental grammar that
helps humans acquire language. Chomsky theorized that the brain
contains a mechanism he referred to as a language acquisition
device (LAD), which is “separate from other faculties of cognitive
activity….Input is needed, but only to ‘trigger’ the operation of the
language acquisition device” (Ellis 32). Without this LAD, according to
Chomsky, children would never be able to learn language from the
input they receive.
Nowak et al. summarizes the theory in this way:

“Children acquire their mental grammar spontaneously and without

formal training. Children of the same speech community reliably learn
the same grammar. Exactly how the mental grammar comes into a
child’s mind is a puzzle. Children have to deduce the rules of their
native language from sample sentences they receive from their parents
and others. This information is insufficient for uniquely determining the
underlying grammatical principles . Linguists call this phenomenon the
“poverty of stimulus” or the “paradox of language acquisition”. The
proposed solution is universal grammar”.
6. Schumann’s Acculturation Model
Some learners make rapid progress in learning a second language,
while others with the same initial ability and language instruction make
little progress in the same amount of time. Schumann hypothesized
that this difference could be accounted for by characteristics of the
social and psychological distance learners placed between themselves
and the language they were learning. Schumann identified eight
characteristics of social distance and four characteristics of
psychological distance.
7. Krashen’s Monitor Model
• Stephen Krashen’s Monitor Model might be the most cited theory for learning a
second language. This Monitor Model theory suggests that we should both
strive to increase our second language inputs (like viewing videos, television,
and going through books for reading) and make sure we receive proper error
correction in one form or another.
• Krashen claims there are implications for foreign language teaching practices. 
That is to say, research predicts that certain characteristics must be present in
order to have successful second language teaching programs: the programs
must have abundant comprehension input, the programs will not force
students to speak before they are ready to speak and the programs must
emphasize the fact that grammar rules have their place within second language
teaching and should not overshadow the understanding of a message.
Activity:
Come up with a ppt show on the Principles and Theories of Language
Acquisition and Learning: Philosophies of Education. This presentation
also needs to have an audio/voice over. I will be sending you ppt
guidelines and instructions to help in the recording. Please remember
that the final output should be in ppt. Max no. of slides is 50.

Deadline: OCTOBER 14, 2021 (5:00 PM)

Manner of Submission: thru email : yat120473@gmail.com
BSED 2A
• 2NE1 - Plato and Innate Knowledge
• AESPA - Descartes and Cartesian Linguistics
• EXID - Locke and Tabula Rasa
• EXO - Skinner and the Theory of Behaviorism
• ITZY - Chomsky and Universal Grammar
• MOMOLAND - Schumann and The Acculturation Model
• NCT - Krashen and the Monitor Model
• RED VELVET - Existentialism vs Pragmatism
• TWICE - Plato and Innate Knowledge
BSED 2B
• TOSHIRO - Plato and Innate Knowledge
• PIKACHU - Descartes and Cartesian Linguistics
• HUNTERXHUNTER - Locke and Tabula Rasa
• MIKASA - Skinner and the Theory of Behaviorism
• DORORO - Chomsky and Universal Grammar
• HORIMIYA - Schumann and The Acculturation Model
• OSAMU - Krashen and the Monitor Model