It states that children are born with an innate ability to learn language and that they already have a " language acquisition device" (LAD) in their brain (this is a theoretical device it doesn't really exist!). Nativist theory, sometimes referred to as the 'innateness theory', was first proposed by Noam Chomsky. What is Nativist Theory and Language Acquisition Device?
This is where children are either rewarded for desired behaviour (correct language) or punished for undesired behaviour (mistakes). Theorist BF Skinner proposed that children ' imitate ' their caregivers and modify their language use through a process called 'operant conditioning'.
What is Behavioural Theory (Imitation Theory)?īehavioural theory, often called ' Imitation Theory', suggests that people are a product of their environment. Theorist Eric Lenneberg argued that there is a critical period between two years old and puberty in which children need to learn language, otherwise, it cannot be learned sufficiently well. In other words, children have to understand certain concepts before they can produce the language to describe these concepts. Theorist Jean Piaget emphasised that we can only move through the stages of language learning as our brains and cognitive processes develop. Let's take a look at some of the key theories of child language acquisition: What is Cognitive Theory?Ĭognitive theory suggests that children go through stages of language development.
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