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Essay / A Brief Introduction to Noam Chomsky's Theory of Language
Noam Chomsky is an American linguist and philosopher and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He has a natural theory that children are pre-wired for language development and that the environment they live in triggers its emergence. According to Chomsky, children are able to learn language through an innate biological ability. Language is innate and evolves with little instruction. Indeed, many theorists believe that social language skills were developed by observing and listening to their parents or other people in the environment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayFrom the perspective of language development and socialization, language is necessary not only with adults but also with other children . Around the age of three to five, children experience enormous linguistic development, their vocabulary expands considerably and sentences become more complex. In preschool, children have many opportunities to chat, answer teachers' questions during activities, sing songs or read books or learn nursery rhymes. Preschool teachers can also help the child develop language by not trying to dominate the conversation, teaching the child new words, and asking questions that require answers. A child's cognitive abilities are improved when he or she engages in activities that require asking questions and thinking through problems. Chomsky stated that we must be born with a language acquisition device (LAD) and must first be stimulated in order to begin learning language. There is no need to correct adult/teacher mistakes. The child will mend itself after a while. Language acquisition is not a cognitive process, so the role of the adult as leader of learning is radically limited. As children grow older than 12, LAD begins to decline and fluency in English becomes virtually impossible. Here is an example supporting Chomsky's theory. Many of us know the story of Genie (not her real name), a girl who was tied to a potty for 13 years and locked in a room without speaking or communicating with anyone. Genie underwent numerous therapies but despite everything, she was unable to develop and master language. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay His theory thus confirmed that children learn from the natural environment. Chomsky's theory also tells us that grammar is built into our brains from birth, that children learn not only words but also grammar, no matter what language we speak..