Nativism

Question 1

Chomsky

Answer 1

-Children have an inbuilt LAD (Language acquisition device) allows them to innately acquire language, we are born with a biological language ability

-Children make their own list of language rules, which explains virtuous errors and over-extension, as they’ve never imitated this from a caregiver and are trying to apply grammatical rules

-Children have universal grammar and acquire language at same time and pace no matter the culture, which is supported by idea that Samoa don’t use CDS but children still learn lang

Question 2

Chomsky Criticism

Answer 2

-Heavily focused on grammar development, not pragmatics or conversational features e.g. turn-taking, which is essential for language development

Question 3

Pinker Language Instinct

Answer 3

-Theorised children have a language instinct and are born with innate capacity for language

-Language is an instinct that has evolved in humans

Question 4

Berko Gleason Wug Test

Answer 4

-Found children able to over-generalise plural ‘s’ to abstract nouns (wug) and verbs (zibbed) -Children can acquire grammar innately

-Shows language innate as children able to apply own rules to imaginary words they wouldn’t have heard from caregivers

Question 5

Medical Research Support

Answer 5

-Wernicke’s area is a brain area thought to be implicated in language development, showing language acquisition must have biological links

Question 6

Nicaraguan Deaf Children

Answer 6

-Children deaf from birth and managed to create own sign language among eachother, despite never having external language input such as CDS

-Suggests there is an innate ability to develop language

Question 7

Some cultures don’t use CDS

Answer 7

-Samoa and Congo is an example of cultures that don’t use CDS towards young children, yet their children show no developmental issues in terms of their language

-Papua New Guinea talk to children like they’re adults