NATIVIST - Noam Chomsky

Question 1

What year was this theory established?

Answer 1

NATIVIST (aka Innateness) - 1965

Question 2

With who’s views does this theory contrast?

Answer 2

BEHAVIOURIST - Skinner

Question 3

Main theories - the capacity to require language is…

Answer 3

• …innate within us
• The human brain is pre-programmed to acquire grammatical structures
• Human languages share many similarities, all utterances contain a ‘deep structure’ regardless of language - UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR (e.g. there is always a subject, verb and object

Question 4

What does LAD stand for?

Answer 4

Language Acquisition Support Device:
The idea that humans have an inbuilt (innate) capacity to work out the rules of their language from exposure
- A child’s brain is ready and equipped with this innate knowledge and is born ready to analyse the language to which they have been exposed

Question 5

FOR

Answer 5

• Helps to explain the speed at which children acquire language
• All children from all cultures and backgrounds pass through the same stages at similar times
• Universal Grammar - features common in all languages

Question 6

AGAINST

Answer 6

• Chomsky didn’t originally acknowledge the role of interaction; later went on to revise his theory to include this
• Exposure alone is not enough - there has to be interaction
• TV debate