Nivi Mani is Professor for Psychology of Language at the Institute for Psychology at the University of Goettingen. Her research examines the mechanisms underlying young children’s acquisition and processing of words with particular emphasis on what the child brings to the table in language acquisition.
Little Scientists and Social Apprentices in Early Word Learning
Piagetian approaches to development highlight the role of the child as a little scientist, actively exploring her world in such a way as to optimise learning. Vygostky’s little apprentice, on the other hand, learns language in social interactions with knowledgable others. I suggest that any theory of language learning must combine these two approaches to consider language as a dynamic interaction between the child, her interests, her current state of knowledge and the sociocognitive context she finds herself in. In doing so, I will ask the question why children learn language, in terms of why we find idiosyncracies in early lexical development and whether children are motivated to learn language.
