Chomsky’s theory of language development (8 marks)

Nativists theories focus on there being a biological basis for language and that children have the
innate abilities to learn language. This supports a nature view of human development, which is that
development is pre-wired into our genes and not dependent on environmental influences. Chomsky
proposed the idea of innate learning, he pointed out that while all the languages in the world may
sound very diverse, they’re actually very similar; sharing some basic elements which he called
universal grammar, and that all children are born with the innate tendency to learn any human
language. The universal grammar is an idea of innate, biological grammatical categories, such as a
noun category and a verb category that facilitate the entire language development in children and
overall language processing in adults. The child’s task is just to learn the words of his/her. For
example, according to the universal grammar account, children instinctively know how to combine a
noun and a verb into a meaningful correct phrase. Chomsky terms this innate ability the language
acquisition device, or LAD for short. He believes that children instinctively learn language without
any formal instruction. He also believes children have a natural need to use language, and that in the
absence of form language children will develop a system of communication to meet their needs. He
has observed that all children make the same type of language errors like over generalization;
regardless of the language they’re taught. Furthermore, he believes that all children have a critical
period during which they can acquire language, between the ages of 2-9 years old. Likewise,
language comes naturally and by parents simply speaking around the child, the child will pick up
some language, and he also said that if children make a grammatical error and they’re corrected
they will still continue to speak the same way as they did before. The downside of Chomsky’s theory
is that Chomsky’s own research does not specifically identify areas of the brain or a genetic basis
that enables humans innate ability for language but other psychologists have attempted to support
his claims by researching a possible location for these innate language categories. It has been known
that damage to the left hemisphere in the ‘ Brocas Area’ causes loss of speech, especially to
grammar elements. One patient studied with damage to this area couldn’t produce the grammatical
word ‘Would’ within a sentence but could produce the word ‘wood’. This suggests that innate
grammatical categories are located in the left hemisphere. However this has also been criticized as
further evidence using P.E.T scans suggest that the conclusion of grammatical categories being
located in the left hemisphere is too simplistic, as many different areas of the brain are implicated in
speech production. Also, the role of other people in the development of language is also important
which Chomsky has ignored in his theory. Overall, Chomsky’s theory could be considered correct as
biological factors do play a role in language development. The stages of language development to
occur at the same ages in most children, even though different children experience very different
environments. Young children also generally acquire language skills more quickly and effortlessly. As
well as, children’s language development follows a similar pattern across cultures and all languages
of the world share similar characteristics of using nouns, verbs, pronouns, though not necessarily in
a similar order. Grammar and complex language usage seems also to be a uniquely human capability
as no other species on the planet seems to possess such proficiency as humans. Furthermore, Deaf
children who have not been exposed to a language sometimes make up their own language too,
where these new languages resemble each other in a sentence structure, even when they’re created
in different cultures; thus stating that language does have a biological role. However, the theory is
difficult to test scientifically as it’s unethical to isolate a person from the environment for the
purposes of research, therefore questioning Chomsky’s theory of innate learning.
 Vygotsky’s theory of language development (8 marks)

Children are motivated to learn language through a desire to communicate with others for
functional reasons. According to Vygotsky, language is a social concept that is developed through
social interactions. The environment and the context influence language development. The home
and cultural environment are central to early childhood language acquisition. Language is also not
just an innate ability, but rather, it developed to suit a specific environment. E.g. culture. Each
culture has its own specific language that the child needs to learn. Therefore, according to Vygotsky,
language is not universal but instead it is always context and time bound. Zone of proximal
development occurs through having conversations with older people which will help children
develop linguistically and cognitively. Children observe people interacting with one another as well,
and that behavior develops within the child. The child develops the ability to communicate by
himself through first observing adults communicating, where the adult talk to the child first and
eventually the child learns to respond; usually by gurgling to baby talk to complete correct
sentences. Scaffolding is when parents tailor their articulation to young children to maximize the
different phonetic sounds and they repeat a child’s mispronunciation back to them to demonstrate
the correct form. Vygotsky theory includes 3 forms of language. Social speech, private speech and
silent inner speech. Social speech is external communication used to talk to others from the age of 2.
Private speech is talking out loud but directing it to the self. It is based on thinking and self-
regulating rather than communicating with others. This occurs at the age of 3. Silent inner speech
whereas, is the inner voice used for the function in self-regulating/thinking. This is from the age 7.
Through the development of inner speech, children straddle the divide between thought and
language, where eventually they are able to express their thoughts coherently to others. Parents and
teachers usher a child through a process of guided discovery, addressing their learning potential.
Ultimately, children internalize language skills. As young learners experience language development,
they can reflect better on their own thinking and behavior, thus reach greater levels of control and
mastery over their own behavior. Vygotsky’s constructivist language theory exists in opposition to
Jean Piaget’s theory of language acquisition. According to Piaget, children construct knowledge
about language through a complex process of assimilation, stressing the inherent capability of a child
brain to adapt to stimulation. In contrast, Vygotsky stresses the social nature of language learning,
emphasizing the environment within which a child is realized. Piaget claimed that development had
to come before learning, but Vygotsky’s theory states that learning is a social context which enables
development. Vygotsky’s theory also differs to skinners, as Vygotsky view of learning is not law-like
and universal, but shaped by culture and context. Vygotsky also accepted that humans have some
innate cognitive capacities and are not born as a blank state as Skinner suggested. The strength of
Vygotsky’s theory is that it has a lot of application in the world of education and has been key in
shaping teaching practices. Problem based learning is where teacher provides the information and
then asks questions rather than simply providing the answer. This is an example of scaffolding. The
weakness however, of his theory is that his work is complex and theoretical, which is not helped by
the fact that it has had to be translated from Russian. Also, since he died earlier, he hadn’t had a
chance to fully develop his ideas. Furthermore, his socio-cultural perspective does not provide as
many specific hypotheses to test as did Piaget’s theory, thus making it difficult to falsify as variables
cannot be identified in order to create empirical research. The usefulness of Vygotsky’s theory has
been critical to all other cognitive development research. Some children with learning difficulties for
example, are unable to speak, but till can perform quite well on many types of tasks. Also children
who are profoundly deaf and often have speech difficulties, their intelligence is sometimes
undamaged; therefore going against Vygotsky’s theory of language development.
Skinners theory of language acquisition.

Skinner viewed children as ‘empty vessels’ in which language has to be ‘put in’. In other words, they
have no innate capacity for language but they must learn it through their environment. Skinner’s
theory is based on operant conditioning where behaviors are positively reinforced or negatively
reinforced. According to skinners view, children learn words by associating sounds with objects,
actions and events by imitating others. Children are able to learn words and proper syntax due to
adults reinforcing correct speech. Furthermore, skinner argued that children learn language based
on behaviorists reinforcement principals by associating words with meanings. Correct utterances are
positively reinforced when the child realizes the communicative value of words and phrases. For
example, when a child says ‘milk’ the mother smiles and then gives the child what they asked for.
The child then thinks that this has a rewarding outcome, therefore reinforcing their language
development. The strength of his ideas of language acquisitions are still widely used today. Also,
parents are now more aware of how to control behavior which is important when it comes to
parenting. However, if a child learns vicariously, meaning that they learn from adults; skinners
theory cannot explain why children make mistakes often. Children also over-regularize some words,
such as using verbs like ‘beated’ or ‘hitted’. These errors can’t be taken in from imitating adults,
since adults don’t use the incorrect verbs. Consequently children cannot acquire grammar through
imitation. They may be able to copy words, but then working out the meaning and relationships is
what they conquer themselves.