8. What is behaviorism? What is operant conditioning by Skinner?

From the behaviourist perspective, children tend to imitate the sounds and language patterns in the environments around them, and when they receive positive reinforcement on their language use, such as being praised for saying something, or obtaining something they want, the patterns of language become ingrained and habitual.

When children are successful in getting what they ask for, this reinforces children’s language use. They continue to imitate and practise the sounds and patterns until they form habits of correct language use that enable them to develop their language proficiency.

Behaviourism was particularly influential in the 1940s and 1950s, predominantly in the United States, and formed a strong basis for understanding how effective learning might be constructed and developed.

It owed much to the work of Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904–1990), a well-known American psychologist, although the concept and its advocates predated Skinner’s work.

Experiments with rats and pigeons helped Skinner to formulate the notion of Reinforcement. Skinner’s theory of reinforcement and punishment became known as operant conditioning based on rewards and sanctions.

Reference: 

East, M. (2021). Foundational principles of task-based language teaching (p. 214). Taylor & Francis.