This document discusses Noam Chomsky's innateness theory of language acquisition. The key points are: 1) According to Chomsky, language is an innate faculty and humans are born with a "universal grammar" consisting of linguistic rules. 2) Chomsky believes that exposure to language is enough for children to acquire it, as they can learn from minimal data due to their innate linguistic knowledge. 3) The theory proposes that children have a "language acquisition device" that allows them to acquire language effortlessly and quickly despite limited teaching.

1. http://www2.vobs.at/ludescher/pdf%20files/Nativi
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The Innateness TheoryChomsky
By Jess & Alex

2. Learning Objective
• To understand and apply the innateness
theory by Chomsky.
• To understand how this theory links in with
children’s acquisition of language.
• Understand criticisms of the theory and why
they are opposed to it.

3. NATIVIST THEORY
• “Language is an innate faculty”.
• “We are born with a set of rules about
language in our heads”.
• “The universal grammar is the basis upon
which all human languages build”.

4. UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR
• Word order
• The teacher gave a lecture
• SUBJECT VERB OBJECT
• 75% of the world‘s languages use this order

5. “We are born with a set of rules”
• The system of principles, conditions and rules
that are elements or properties of all human
languages.
• Universal grammar is a theory of
knowledge its concern is with the internal
structure of the human mind.

6. Innate Hypothesis 1:
• All children with all levels of knowledge can
acquire language.
• Children can acquire language effortlessly.
• Children can acquire language in a relatively
short period of time.
• Language is a complex system.
• A child does not have to be formally taught
to acquire language.

7. Innate Hypothesis 2:
• Children discover the system of language from
an unsystematic and small amount of data.
• Language acquisition requires very little
imitation.
• Reinforcement (reward) has a very small role in
acquisition.
• Language acquisition is a very active process.
Children say things that they have never heard
from adults.

8. Conclusions
• Infants are born with a Language Acquisition
Device (LAD).
• Exposure to language is all that is needed for a
child to discover the system of language. This is
critical and is evidenced by a number of cases of
children in isolation e.g.: Genie
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E
• Start video from 6 mins onwards until 12 mins.

9. Children produce sentences they have
never heard before:
•“He hitted”
•“No eat cake”
•“It‘s raining. Where is
the underbrella?”

10. Create a new language:
•
•
•
•
Pidgin
No mother tongue
Reduced syntax and vocabulary
Can become a used language e.g.: Creole
(Hawaii)
• The language is then enriched and it
becomes a full language which takes one
generation.

11. Creole- Hawaii:
• “You know my Feezicks Professah, you know
da bolo head one? Some AKAMAI!”
• Definition: Someone who is very smart
• Translation: “You know my Physics Professor
at the University of Hawaii Manoa? The one
with the shinny bald head? He is the most
intelligent man I have ever known!”

12. Critics:
• People often speak ungrammatically
(performance).
• Grammar changes due to social and historical
circumstances.
• Chomsky reduces language to its grammar –
not meaning.

13. Criticisms and Counter Arguments
• The psychologist Jerome Bruner concluded
that language acquisition not only depends
on LAD but also LASS or Language Acquisition
Support System.
• The environment a child grows up can also
have a major effect on language acquisition.
• Some people also think that the LAD is an
abstract concept and lacks adequate scientific
support.