Behaviorism And Mentalism

We engage in language processing almost every day of our

lives. This processing takes place when we watch television,
listen to the radio, reading passing signboard while driving,
speaking with others and reading letters, newspapers,
magazines and books. Usually, these language activities are
carried out with great ease and in a completely subconscious
manner.
Language can be defined from different points of view, so it
can be defined as “the aspect of human behavior that involves
the use of the vocal sounds in meaningful patterns and, swhen
they exit, corresponding written symbols, to form, express
and communicate thoughts and feelings (Harris and
Sipay:1970:4). Most language-processing does not involve
observable physical events such as eye-movement, but rather
involves mental events in the mind that can be observed
directly. Language processing events in the mind be inferred
from observable behaviour.

Behaviorism and Language Learning

It was an important movement in learning. It was in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It holds that nothing
exists but matter. One version of materialism is behaviour, it
denies the existence of mind. Behaviourists insist that
everything that is described as the product of simple physical
process. They restrict the subject-matter of psychology to
human behaviour and sets out to explain all kinds of behavior
including speech and language (Lyons
J.,1981:242).

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 A foreign language is one which has no internal function in
the learner’s country. It is learned in order to communicate
with native speakers. Behaviorism appeared first at the
beginning of this century by Watson who wrote an article
mentioned the (behavior) for the first time in 1908,
Bloomfield was one of the most important figures of this
theory who influenced on the writings of Watson, so he
expressed the main principles of this theory by defining
language as (Language is behavior). According to
Behaviorists, language learning is change in behavior. It refers
to the conscious knowledge of a second language, knowing the
rules and being able to talk about them. Language teaching is the
process by which facilitates the process of language
learning .Behaviorism explain that man was born with blank
sheet and language is behavior dealing with things that are
observed and measured .Language, according to them is a set of
habits and a social process used even by uneducated people. It is
not an individual process, but it is something posed by all
members of society .They believed that language is a rigid
system of patterns of contrastive features. Language is a matter
of cooperation and interaction moving over to the field of
psychology. Behaviorism is called Connectionism and
association. It is part of Impressionism.
The main figures of this school are (Watson,Thorindike
,Pavlov,Skinner..etc). Bloomfield is considered one of the
major figures who represented this school.

The Main Principles of Behaviorism

1-language learning is habit formation. It is similar to
learning to type, so it is a conscious process.
2-speech is very important to show the performance and
evaluate learning through that performance. Performance is
the actual use of language (Dineen.F,1967:80). Language is
behavior,so it is learned by behaving. Foreign language

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learning is a mechanical process. Teachers should feed the
students step by step ,so they are related to the behavioral
psychology.
3-drills are one of the important techniques that used in
language learning
4-stimulus-response is one of the main principles in language
learning.
5-reinforcement, repetition, trial and error are used widely in
language learning. Motivation which is the desire to achieve
proficiency in a new language in order to participate in the life
of the community that speaks the language (Dulay &
etal ,1982:47). These psychological principles are emphasized in
language learning 6.language is universal so there is more than
one element participate in learning like society, learner,
psychological facts, environments, teacher
textbook…etc. They emphasize on the external factors that can
be seen and observed.
7-language teaching depends on analogy than on rules for
teaching the structure of language.

Weakness of Behaviorism
The weak points of Behaviorism are the following:-
1-This school was derived from the study of the animals
behavior (e.g Pavlovs dogs, Thorindikes chiken,Skinners
pigeons)
2-Learning depends on the principle of (stimulus-response) for
animals ,but the matter is completely different concerning
language learning
3-They claim that they can explain all kinds of behavior, but
complex thoughts in language cannot be explained in behavior.
4-Time should considerably be long enough for learning.

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5-No regards are given to the innate capacity of human being in
learning and give interest to what is seen and observed.
6-Continuity in the process of learning(stimulus-response)
7-Rewards must be given immediately in the process of learning
8-Chaining which means the response is not rewarded until
making another two or set to be chained. Teaching and learning
cannot be explained in the process of (stimulus- response), but it
can be used to learn simple things only.
9-Some of the figures (Gestalt Theory) depended on the
principle of problem-solving. Learning is not a problem to be
solved
10-Generalization in learning according to the low of identical
elements.

Mentalism and Language Learning

It is another theory in learning. Mentalists explain that man was
born with innate capacity for acquiring language and we only
need to start it. Chomsky was one of the main figures who
presented this theory about 1957.He considered Linguistics part
of psychology. He glorifies the role of mind .Chomsky’s basic
claim is that the grammars for human language are too complex
and abstract to be learned on the basis of the type of experience
to which children have access(O,Grady William and
etal,1987;494).
Therefore, Chomsky argues significant components of the
grammar must be inborn. He thinks that what we call the mind
can be best described in terms a set of abstract structure whose
physical basis is as yet relatively unknown. This power enables
him learning a language. Mind is just like a mirror reflects the
average of learning. Competence is in the mind of ideal speaker
hearer. Learning and anything acquired is related to mind .This
process possessed by the individual and developed in him as part
of his maturation (competence-performance).Competence is the
system of knowledge of language which can be formed in the

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mind of a person and it can be used to produce and develop
grammatical utterances (Corder, 1973:93).
Chomsky explained that the principles of behaviorism didn’t
explain what happens in language learning because we can learn
with and without these principles. It is unknown ,but we can
check its results.

The Main Principles Of Mentalism

1-Language is universal concerning language acquisition and

language use.
2-Foreign language learning emphasized on the internal factors
which are unseen. They think that each person has an innate
capacity for using and learning language.
3-Most of the principles of Behaviorism like reinforcement,
rewards, repetition…etc are not important because we can learn
with and without these principles and there is no role for the
external facts like environment and social facts in language
learning.
4-Even if we know a great deal about the speaker, we can not
expect when he will speak or what he will speak
5-Mentalists think that the correct response or incorrect does not
mean that learning is done.
6-They are related to the competence and to the cognitive
psychology.

Weakness of Mentalism
1-There is no role for the external factors in language learning.
In fact, there is a great deal of these factors in language learning.
2-They emphasized on the innate capacity of learners only and
neglected the other factors .

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Conclusion
Behavior cannot be understood clearly if we had one side of that
behavior the mental or the physical one. so, we find that speech is
understood because it was a mental and physical reaction for human
being as a behavior in his communication with others .But if we look
at a man shaking his hand without any sound ,we may guess that he is
celebrating or dancing or showing off or none of these things ,but if
we combined the mental with the physical ,the whole behavior will be
quite clear .Behavior of each human being is influenced by his
capacity .This behavior either acquired or learned and this is
influenced by the inherited attitude for reaction (understanding) and
production. Therefore, we find that our behavior is difficult even if
one is related to one family and we may behave in different ways of
the same situation ,so he is influenced with the biological, cultural,
social and individual facts .In schools ,teachers try to develop the
motor and mental skills of learners and guide them for better
performance in school and community as a whole. The ideal method
in learning is to put into consideration the principles of Behaviorism
and Mentalism in language learning.