Chomsky's Theory on

Children's Language
Development

Group Members :
1. Aldo Pradana
2. Wella Hernandez
3. Desy Ayuningtyas
4. Imroatul Ning Azizah
5. Reymondus Senen
Definition
• Anybody who has had or known a child knows that children
take to learning language at a remarkable rate. In fact, it
seemed a little too remarkable for one linguistics researcher.
• Noam Chomsky, a pioneering linguist and a professor at
MIT, put forth an idea called the language acquisition
device or LAD, for short. The LAD is a hypothetical tool
hardwired into the brain that helps children rapidly learn
and understand language. Chomsky used it to explain just
how amazingly children are able to acquire language abilities
as well as accounting for the innate understanding of
grammar and syntax all children possess
Chomsky's Theory Challenged
Chomsky's concept clashes directly with that of behaviorist B. F. Skinner,
who espoused the idea that language is a direct result of conditioning,
and with psychologist Jean Piaget, viewed language acquisition as a part
of overall cognitive development in children.
His theory that children use an innate "language acquisition device" to
select a grammar from a limited range of options has come under fire.
Chomsky's idea of a "generative grammar" presupposes the brain
operates in a binary fashion, like a computer. Critics say this conflicts with
evolutionary anthropology that views language acquisition as a gradual
adaptation of the brain and vocal chords -- not a spectrum of binary
choices.
"Government-Binding" Theory
Chomsky advanced his "government-binding" theory in a 1981 book, in which
he says a child's native knowledge of syntax consists of a group of linguistic
principles that define the form of any language. These principles are
connected with parameters, or "switches," triggered by the child's language
environment.
Chomsky emphasizes the importance of the child's genetic inheritance of the
syntax imprint. For Chomsky, the "growth" of language is analogous to the
growth of internal organs and arms and legs -- determined by internal
mechanisms, but nourished by the environment whether verbal or
nutritional. Chomsky sees language development in the child as a separate
aspect of knowledge, apart from the rest of cognition, or mental functioning.
Biological Inheritance of Syntax

Linguist Noam Chomsky challenged old ideas about language acquisition in his
first book, "Syntactic Structures," published in 1957. He rejects the notion that
all language must be learned afresh by each child. Instead, Chomsky says,
normal children everywhere are born with a kind of hard-wired syntax that
enables them to grasp the basic workings of language. The child then chooses
the particular grammar and language of the environment from the available
options in the brain.
Thus, the capacity for language is a biological inheritance and specific
languages are then activated largely through the child's interaction with the
native environment. It's as if the child's brain is a CD player already set to "play"
language; when the CD for a certain language is inserted, that is the language
the child learns
Linguistics as Psychology
• Chomsky says knowing a language is synonymous with the capacity to
produce an infinite number of sentences never previously spoken,
and to understand sentences never before heard. This ability is what
Chomsky calls the "creative aspect" of language.
• Understanding the mechanics of language elucidates patterns of
human thought, and places linguistics within the realm of psychology.
Evidence that children are born with an understanding of syntax is the
ease and facility with which they learn language, according to
Chomsky.