Second language learning theories

What are some of the underlying ideas of behaviorism? Are they valid today? Behaviorism is a general theory of learning based on the belief that people learn by remembering things they were exposed to and forming associations between what they learn and the conditions of learning. For behaviorists, language is learned based on a series of exchanges between others (usually the parents or principle caregivers) and children through which the child internalizes (remembers) all that they have heard (and said) and builds a system out of this. This works as a result of a simple remembering and then mimicking on the part of the child, what was encountered n the environment. Associations are made between the bits (linguistic forms) the child is exposed to and has memorized and features of the environment, both external and internal, which occur along with the linguistic exposure. On this view, learning is environmentally-driven and the learner is a rather passive vehicle on a ride through the environment. It is the environment which determines learning. Latter versions of behaviorism claimed that once enough associations had been made the child could break down the utterances they had memorized and arrange them