About Child Language Acquisition

The Importance of Learner’s Understanding

The learner’s understanding is an important part of the whole learning process of every learning exercise. As a result, cognitive type and study are two of the most critical tenets of learning styles and techniques. The early philosophical foundations of cognitive style and science can be traced back to the formative years of the 1950s’ New Look movement. Language development for children and the process of acquiring one’s first language is one of the most significant facets of learning patterns and learning techniques (Wong & Nunan 138). Acquiring one’s first language is a silent achievement for a person. Most often than not, no one has any form of recollection of this process, the way it occurs or how long it takes. Normally, the language acquisition process is usually complete by the time an individual reaches the age of three. Acquiring our first language is without a doubt “the greatest intellectual feat any of us is required to perform” (Saffran, Senghas & Trueswell 12845). It is one of the most remarkable achievements of one’s childhood. This analysis aims to critically analyze the process of child language acquisition and propose an insightful view of whether the process of child language acquisition is informed by nature or nurture.

Perception and Learning Styles

Some perception psychologists who were part of the New Look movement became particularly critical of the dominant approaches to perception that ignored the opinion of the person doing the actual perception. For instance, the earliest behaviorist position was such that learning is an external and not an internal phenomenon. This notion implies that the learning process is a form of conditioning behavior dependent on repetition and reinforcement. Conversely, nativist theorizing, mostly exemplified by Noam Chomsky proposed that the way the human perceptual system organizes the process of language acquisition is naturally acquired and for this reason, everyone follows a similar pattern. It is this interest in individual differences with regard to processing information that gave rise to the theory of cognitive learning styles. As such, the concept of learning styles and learning strategies has over time become established in the educational literature.

The Nature vs. Nurture Debate in Language Acquisition

Chomsky notes that the study of language development has a long and decorated history spanning thousands of years (Chomsky 12). Language acquisition is without a doubt one of the most intriguing human achievements. The key to the arguments brought forward by scholars regarding this topic is the nature-versus-nurture debate. As inevitable as this debate is whenever human behavior is debated, the level of controversy that arises, as a result, is in many ways unprecedented. As a result, linguists have attempted to debunk the influences of genetics and the environment with regard to child language acquisition. This debate has effectively given rise to two popular, opposing views, the behaviorist and the nativist theories (Owens 13). The behaviorist theory undoubtedly presents numerous limitations and as a result, the nativist interpretation embodied by one of its most ardent supporters, Noam Chomsky, therefore seems like the most rational one to accept.

Limited Explanations of the Behaviorist Theory

The behaviorist theory has several inherent limitations that make it inapplicable in the discussion of what influences language acquisition in children. The behaviorist theory, as the name implies, focuses more on the influence of people’s behavior in the language acquisition process. This implies that in analyzing what factors influence language acquisition in children, behavior, which is directly observable rather than the mental systems fundamental to the formation of these behaviors, is key. As such, it is proposed that language is the verbal behavior that is acquired through some form of structured input, reinforcement, mimicry and analogy (Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams 66).

The Role of Comprehension and Cognitive Processes

Granted, imitation also influences a significant part of child language acquisition. However, the early words that children come up with indicate that children do not simply imitate what they hear adults say. The fact that there is an infinite number of potential sentences involved, the creative and complex utterances from children cannot be explicated by the prospect of a passive reaction to the language used in their surrounding environment. Furthermore, it is impossible to argue that imitation also accounts for the common mistakes children make in speech. The reason for this is that they are unlikely to be failed imitations of what adults say (Wong 147).

The Arguments of Nativists

The notion articulated by the behaviorist theory implies that comprehension and the underlying cognitive process do not play a significant role in the language acquisition process. This is an inherently superficial notion considering that it does not take into account what the individual, in this case, the child, brings to the table. Owens summarizes the failures of the behaviorist theory in its attempt to explain the language acquisition process. These failures effectively magnify the importance of the factors explaining verbal behavior that are ignored or inadvertently left out (Owens 9).

The Innate Ability for Language Acquisition

On the other hand, the arguments put forth by nativists are unlike those proposed by the behaviorists. The nativists contend that all people are inherently endowed with a certain facility for language that is achieved with a certain level of influence from the environment (Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams 27). In a bid to clarify the child language acquisition process, the nativists came up with two prominent and exceptional theories, that is, the universality of language which is uniform for all human beings. This concept was christened universal grammar. Furthermore, the way in which it is acquired regardless of culture or other environmental variations. This is what is known as the language acquisition device.

Language Universals and Commonalities

As Chomsky argued, the experience of language acquisition is the same for all people regardless of the language spoken or the mode of interaction between them and their models (Chomsky 15). Chomsky, one of the most prominent proponents of the nativist house of thought contends that most languages spoken by humans only differ superficially but nonetheless possess the same underlying principles. That is, linguistic universals and commonalities prove that humans inherently possess the language learning ability. As such, the language acquisition process for children is not innate and not dependent on specific learning or teaching but because they are human.

Conclusion: Influence of Nature in Language Acquisition

The argument presented by the nativists that language acquisition is an innate human ability is the best attempt at explaining how language is acquired by children even at a young age. While the behaviorist’s argument is influenced by one’s environment is flawed, it still contributes to the research that is without a doubt bound to increase debunking the child language acquisition process. Nonetheless, the weaknesses of the behaviorist theory are laid bare by the more effective and logical nativist theory. As such, child language acquisition is inherently influenced by nature and not nurture.

Works Cited

Chomsky, Noam. Language and politics. AK Press, 2004.

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. An introduction to language. Cengage Learning, 2013.

Owens Jr, Robert E. “Language Development: An Introduction| Edition: 9.” Instructor (2016).

Saffran, Jenny R., Ann Senghas, and John C. Trueswell. “The acquisition of language by children.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98.23 (2001): 12874-12875.

Wong, Lillian LC, and David Nunan. “The learning styles and strategies of effective language learners.” System 39.2 (2011): 144-163.