His theory that language was acquired under the principles of reinforcement was the first and most widely accepted language acquisition theory of the late 1950's and 1960's. Some said that Chomsky was a "modern intellectual descendant" of rationalist Rene Descartes, arguing that humans think even before they are conscious of their own existence, while Skinner was a "modern intellectual descendant" of John Locke, instead arguing for the idea of a "blank slate" or "tabula rasa" (1).īF Skinner was more or less the pioneer of language acquisition theories. Within a few years Chomsky's review "began to be widely cited and reproduced" and furthermore "became better known than the original book to which it responded to" leading to a fierce debate among linguists of the era (1). As the two theories and the disparity between them grew further a certain competition between Skinner and Chomsky which had not existed before was implied, and then amplified. It was not until, as Skinner puts it, "a 55 page typed written review by someone whom I had never heard of named Noam Chomsky" was issued in response to BF Skinner's 1957 book Verbal Behavior in 1958 that a serious debate arose. He also reiterates that the process of learning language and learning grammar is universal.Before the 1960's most psychologists agreed upon BF Skinner's language acquisition theory which explained language acquisition with behaviorist principles which contested that it is through reinforcement that children learn a language. Universal Grammar – According to Chomsky, along with the learning of language, the amount of grammar learning and correctness in it also keeps on increasing. This ability to learn a language is high in the first 5 years and after that its effectiveness starts to decline. Language Acquisition Device (LAD) – According to Chomsky, a part of the brain (Language Acquisition Device) belongs to the LAD, which works to enhance the ability of language. According to him, any type of language can be divided on the basis of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Relationships in Languages – Chomsky believes that all the languages of the world and their elements are related to each other. It depends on the environment in which direction our language develops. Importance of Environment – Chomsky believes that although the ability to learn a language is innate, the environment plays an important role in learning and developing its principles and elements. Innate Ability – According to Chomsky, children develop the ability to learn language and grammar from childhood. That is, the environment and culture have an important place for learning a language. It is a gift of natural ability, in simple words, it can be seen as a God gift.Ĭhomsky believes that the child’s ability to learn language or grammar is innate, but the ability to learn that language is given by the environment as an implementation. This device is a part of our brain, which cannot be removed or seen. With the help of this, they are able to learn any language at a faster rate. After that, we have to face difficulties in learning any language because thereafter, the ability to learn the language keeps on decreasing.Īccording to Chomsky, a child has a language acquisition device (LAD). The language acquisition abilities of the child are effective till the first 5 years. This ability to acquire language lasts for a certain period of time. In simple words, the ability to acquire language is inherent in the student since childhood. According to his theory, he believes that the ability to learn a language is innate in the child. This theory was propounded by Noam Chomsky in the year 1959.
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