How Do Humans Acquire Language?

First, children¡¯s acquisition of language is an innate mechanism that enables a child to analyze language and extract the basic rules of grammar, granted by Chomsky. It basically states that humans are born with a language acquisition device that, the ability to learn a language rapidly as children. However, there is one important controversy in language acquisition concerns how we acquire language; since Chomsky fails to adequately explain individual differences. From the behaviorists¡¯ perspectives, the language is learned like other learned behaviors. It is learned through operant

Chomsky argues that every child has a ‘Language Acquisition Device’ or LAD which encodes the major principles of language and its grammatical structure into the child’s brain. Children have then to learn new vocabulary and apply the syntax structure from the LAD to form sentences. Chomsky points out that a child could not possibly learn a language through imitation alone because the language spoken around them is irregular. Language exists in the mind before experience. Noam Chomsky he then believes that children are born with an inherited ability to learn any human language. He claims that certain linguistic structures which children use so accurately must be already imprinted on the child’s mind. Adult’s speech is often broken up and even sometimes ungrammatical. Chomsky’s theory applies to all languages as they all contain nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels and children appear to be ‘hard-wired’ to acquire the grammar. Every language is extremely complex, often with indirect distinctions which even native speakers are unaware of. However, all children,

Examines how language develops from infancy into adulthood. Focuses on the modularity debate of how language is organized in the brain. Some theorize that language is domain-specific in that the brain has processes dedicated to the task of language learning and comprehension. Others focus on a domain-general theory for language learning where the processes used to learn language are the same processes used in other situations such as problem solving.

Language is perhaps the most concrete way of differentiating between humans and animals. Broca's area-- the center of the brain dedicated to processing speech and language in humans-- is larger in our species than in any other animal. Studies in childhood development have found that young children are able to assimilate language at an alarming rate when compared with other species. Young children start learning how to make vowel sounds and respond to their parents at five months of age and are able to produce basic words, as well as understand the concepts they represent, at around a year of age. We learn to speak before we learn to walk or eat on our own; clearly, language is an integral part of the human experience.

However, it can be argued with (Bruner 1964) that social interaction doesn’t explain all the complexities of language acquisition. Almost every day the language we hear is often incorrect, poorly defined, incomplete and full of hesitations, mispronunciations and other errors, and yet despite this we still learn to talk following the correct grammatical rules. Again this indicates the idea of Chomsky’s (1968) LAD model that children are born ‘hard-wired’ with the innate knowledge of linguistic rules and so these rules help the baby make estimations and presumptions about the language it is hearing. From these estimations and presumption the child can work out grammatical sets of rules and when more language is exposed to them, the more their language develops. Even within Chomsky’s (1968) LAD theory, undoubtedly he believed the role and promotion of the ‘nature’ aspect is the core foundation on which language can develop. But his theory also requires the role of nurture

shock when introduced to the world, occasionally refusing to eat until they died or were force fed (Harlow et Al. 1965:92). Monkeys who were in the 12 month group never recovered, and primarily responded to interactions with fear. The monkeys isolated for 3 months were able to recover socially, however the time it took them to recover would not be acceptable in the wilderness (Harlow et Al. 1965:96). Any non-human primate who was isolated enough to not acquire a language or any communication skills, would be killed or driven off by other primates in the wild if this isolation situation were to somehow occur naturally. The diminished language acquisition in nonhuman primates that are introduced to a language at an older age, as well as the clear

Several theorists have attempted to explain how human acquire language. One idea is that children model and are reinforced by adults. Children have been observed to imitate specific sounds that caregivers make. Moreover, as behaviorist B.F. Skinner proposed, children

Human beings are unique creatures as we possess the ability to communicate, to learn in more than one language. It is displeasing to say that the day when a gorilla is able to teach a bonobo in the language that a chimpanzee uses, may never arrive. The case was different for Koko, the gorilla and Kanzi, the bonobo as the American Sign Language was involved (Prince-Hughes, 1987). What sets human beings apart is that we are the same species that are inhabiting various regions around the world and thus, we inherit individual languages. Our arterial language is determined by many factors such as, race, ethnicity and even religion. However, the occurrence of a person learning in a non-native language does arise. For example, a child that is raised in Britain who learns English in school might have a family that is from the Philippines and thus, speaks Tagalog. The child may be more fluent in speaking Tagalog than English and thus, may lead to learning difficulties in school as an English Language Learner, which

Language is a communicative system of words and symbols unique to humans. The origins of language are still a mystery as fossil remains cannot speak. However, the rudiments of language can be inferred through studying linguistic development in children and the cognitive and communicative abilities of primates as discussed by Bridgeman (2003). This essay illustrates the skills infants have that will eventually help them to acquire language. The topics covered are firstly, the biological aspects, the contribution of the human brain to language development? Secondly, key theories of language development will be considered. Is the development innate? Is there a critical period? Thirdly, what must be learned? What are the rudiments infants must

In the other hand, behaviorists view language as complex and leaned skill, much like playing piano and dancing. B.F. Skinner argued that language represents nothing more than chains of responses acquired through reinforcement. Putting differently, children learn though process of reinforcement. For example, baby babbles “mama” the mother happily reward the baby with a hug and kisses and eventually will push the baby to say “mama” more and more; due to these reward children are motivated to repeat the behavior, thereby shaping their language and ensuring their development. Children’s language is being built up, this describe a way in which children environmental experiences influence and improve their language skills. Also that’s why parents

Numerous theories try to explain the process of language acquisition. These theories fall into one of two camps. The environmentalist (or connectionist) theory of language acquisition asserts that language is acquired through environmental factors (Halvaei et al. 811). Theorists in this camp believe that a child learns language by gaining information from the outside world and then forming associations between words and objects. The nativist (or rationalist) approach, on the other hand, asserts that it is innate factors that determine language acquisition. Noam Chomsky, often described as “the father of modern linguistics”, falls into this camp as he believes that speech is the result of hidden rules of language that are hidden somewhere in the brain (Rahmani and Abdolmanafi 2111). Steven Pinker, a colleague of Chomsky, is a renowned psychologist, cognitive scientist and linguist who discusses his own theories on language acquisition in his book Words and Rules.

The claim, humans are the only animal that can acquire language has been the subject of much debate as scientists have investigated language use by non-human species. Researchers have taught apes, monkeys, parrots and wild children with various systems of human-like communication. Thus, one might ask, what is human language? According to Ulla Hedeager, A universally accepted definition of language or the criteria for its use does not exist. This is one of the reasons for the disagreement among scientists about whether non-human species can use a language. In nature, researchers find numerous types of communication systems, several of which appear to be unique to their possessors, and one of them is the language of the human species. Basically, the purpose of communication is the preservation, growth, and development of the species (Smith and Miller 1968:265). The ability to exchange information is shared by all communication systems, and a number of non-human systems share some features of human language. The fundamental difference between human and non-human communication is that animals are believed to react instinctively, in a stereotyped and predictable way. Generally, human behavior is under the voluntary control,

Skinner believed that children acquire language through imitation and reinforcement. Noam Chomsky suggested that skinner’s theory does not explain language development. He believed that all children have an innate sense of language. He called this our language acquisition device. The (LAD) enables children to use language when they have acquired vocabulary. Adults can reinforce children’s language development through interaction and responding to children’s first sounds and words. Children need opportunities for developing vocabulary through their play. Adults are role models so must use speech and language that is clear and grammatically

Learning is how we adapt, develop, change and grow. Language, explains how and why an individual understands what another person has written or expressed (Gregory Robertson-Riegler, 2008). When children acquire a first language, they build on what they know as well as conceptual information that discriminates and helps create categories for the objects, relations and events they experience. This provides the starting point for language from the age of 12 months on. So children first set up conceptual representations, then add linguistic representations for talking about experience (Denise Boyd, 2002).

As we all know language can be extremely complicated, still young children are able to master this skill at a very young age. They might not speak it or express themselves like an adult would but by the age of five they are completely understandable. However, if children do not memorize sentences and no one teaches them the language grammar how are they able to learn the language in such a short period of time? There are theories that try to explain how this is possible. Some think that children extract the rules of the language they hear around them. Therefore, no matter the language a kid is exposed to they will be able to learn the language until puberty. Meanwhile, other linguists believe that children are born with a brain