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Noam Chomsky and Language Acquisition

Noam Chomsky is a psychologist known for his work on language acquisition and the development of a child. He argued that the rate at which children acquire knowledge (words) was too great to simply be explained by learning principles. In other words, he believed that all humans are biologically predisposed to learn words, or language.


Noam Chomsky is best known for developing the theory of universal grammar. Essentially, universal grammar is a linguistic theory that argues that the ability to learn language is innate (inborn), distinctively human, and distinct from all other aspects of human cognition. It also states that all children are born with internal, universal rules for grammar, and that they apply these predisposed rules as they learn their mother tongue. It is believed that this predisposition is what makes learning language possible, and that the brain has the structures of the language.


However, some biologists disagree with this theory, as they believe that languages are not encoded in the brain, but rather is a skill that is learned and developed as a child matures. There are multiple theories with the developing stages of a child in their progress of acquisition, and all theories are still up to discussion, as the name “theory” suggests. For Chomsky’s theory to be true, though, all language must share some structural characteristics, which sounds nearly impossible. It may come as a surprise that, in fact, linguistic studies have shown that more than five thousand languages in the world actually share rules and principles, which, to a certain extent, provides evidence for the universal grammar theory.


All in all, there are multiple theories that have numerous evidence, though none of them are concrete. The acquisition of language, particularly language sharing similar tendencies, is such a wonder, and still under discussion to this day.



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References:

Walia, Neelu, Julie Simon, and Suzanne Sabat." Introduction to Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology"


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