Higgins et al. (2021) postulate that children and infants' language and speech development process is interrelated and complex. Furthermore, normal communication development must be integrated with neurological development, speech systems' physiology, and anatomy, and interactive activities that encourage children to communicate. Notably, infants are impressive language learners due to their ability to sort out words and sounds correct (Berger, 2014). Therefore, teachers and parents should regularly converse to make them learn quicker.
Four theories explain language development in infants and children: behavioral, semantic-cognitive, nativistic, and social pragmatic. The behavioral theory defines language as a collection of verbal behaviors that infants learn through operant conditioning. B.F. Skinner is considered the modern behavior icon. Further, the theory suggests that infants are conditioned by the reinforcement of their communication and environment. The semantic-cognitive theory focuses on the interrelationship between cognition and language development. For instance, children know what they want to say but fail to use the correct grammar. The nativistic theory is biologically based and suggests that language and linguistic acquisition is activated by language exposure. The social-Pragmatic theory regards communication as the primary function of language.
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In this case, Michelle experienced the behavioral language development theory while growing up. This is because the environment conditioned her learning state. Furthermore, her brain got used to her native language to not recognize sounds from different languages. Lastly, as an infant, her brain had not yet developed; hence could quickly differentiate between languages. And it's clear to say that her language development was conditioned.
References
Berger, K. S. (2014). Loose-leaf Version for Developing Person Through the Life Span: Paperbound. Macmillan Higher Education.
Higgins, K., DeBenedictis, A., & Mack, A. (2021). Theories of Speech & Language Development. Language acquisition. Retrieved 23 April 2021, from https://languageacquisitionpsyc220.weebly.com/theories-of-speech--language-development.html .
