The InnatenessHypothesis

The InnatenessHypothesis

A.    Definition of The InnatenessHypothesis

In my understanding InnatenessHypothesis is human brought signs of language when borned. Andthe theorythat humansare biologicallyequippedwithknowledge of theelementsof acertainuniversallanguagestructuresare broughtinto playin thenativelanguageacquisitionprocess. Theinnatenesshypothesisislanguageacquisitionlinguistictheorywhich statesthatat leastsomeknowledge of the languagein humansat birth. This hypothesissupportslinguisticnativismandwas firstproposedbyNoamChomsky. Factsaboutthe complexity ofhumanlanguagesystem, the universality oflanguage acquisition, the facilitiesthat thechildrenshowedin obtainingthissystem, and thecomparativeperformanceof adults intryingall thesame tasksthatused to be calledsupport. However, the validity ofinnateness hypothesisis disputed. Empiricalrecommendsthatlanguageis learned. Somehavecriticizedthe work ofChomsky, the determination ofa problem withhis theorieswhile othershave proposeda newtheorytoexplainthe acquisition oflanguage.There are three theories of language acquisition:

• Imitaion Theory - Children hear speech around them and copy it. When a child is raised in a English speaking environment they aquire english.  Although, mistakes such as over-generalization "goed" and "bes" are predictable and consistent.
• Reinforcement Theory - The way in which adults coach children when using language by praise and by correcting the children.  Parents may sometimes correct the truth of the statement rather than the form. The children's mistakes are often rule goverened (by perhaps always adding the suffix -ed to form past tense).
• Active Construction of a Grammar Theory - Rules are hypothesized by the linguistic inputs recognized by childrens acquiring language. As children continuously recieve lanuage input their language is revised to more and more become a model of adult grammar. This accounts for the fact that children can create novel sentences unlike those heard from adults.

B.     Arguments for the Innateness of Language (Children's Language Acquisition)

Ø  Newborns recognize and prefer their mother's voice and language. They prefer the language of their mother to their mother's voice. They suck the hardest when hearing new words and when recognizing the change from the unfamiliar language to the familiar language.

Ø  When a child is between 2-5 months they vocalize mostly when lying down and they begin to develop vocal "games".  They explore manipulations with pitch, practice consonantal features such as friction noises, bilabials adn nasal murmurings.The child's first vowels begin to appear and they play with their articulators, clicking tounge and opening and shutting mouth. Deaf babies also play these games.

Ø  "Gagagagagag" - Single consonant-vowel syllable repeated.  "Mamamma-gagagaga" - Combinations of repeated consonant-vowel syllable.Early in this stage deaf babies also babble but hearing babies can model pitch of vocalization (high with a woman and low with a man).Babies can still recognize language sounds that are not apart of their language.

Ø  Babies begin to babble using sounds from only their language. They begin to lose the ability to distinguish sounds not in their own language. In English most words begin with consonants so in this stage babies of English speaking parents babble mostly C-V-C. From this babbling babies develop their first words.Deaf Children cease vocal babbling.

Ø  Mostly concrete words such as "car" and "eat" emerge. Naming precedes asking during the one-word stage. Example: Pointing and saying "ball" but meaning "can I have the ball?" Can obey simple verbal commands. Example: "no" ideas such as "don't do that".

Ø  Possessor-possessed, Actor-action

Ø  Overgeneralization, Active vs. Passive Constructions

Ø  By age 6 children have about 14,000 words. If this child began to acquire words at 18 months of age they learn 9 words per day which equals about 14,000 words at 6. This is about one word every waking hour.