Study on Language Acquisition Theory
Many theorists have recognized that language has become an essential cognitive ability for human communication. Without language as a means of communication, human beings would not have the way to express their thoughts. Through time, the synthetic and semantic properties of language have been elaborated and implemented in student learning. Children have a fascinating ability to learn one or more languages at the same time and it is not clear why. Although several theories exist, like people’s opinions, it is not yet clear if human beings are born with the ability to learn, understand and speak a language or if it is acquired dare of time. Others, like me, believe that language acquisition is a little bit of the two.
There are suffering theories and evidence to support both sides about language acquisition. Some known theories are those of Chomsky, Piaget, and Vygotsky. Noam Chomsky proposed the idea that humans are born with a language acquisition device. Jean Piaget, says children use assimilation as well as accommodation to learn some language. Meanwhile, Lev Vygotsky focused on the development obtained when children exchange social interactions with others. Many focus on these theories and elaborate with their current or past knowledge and experiences.
To begin with, when someone says that language is innate, one refers to the innatist theory of Noam Chomsky. Innatist theory is that all knowledge is innate. The knowledge was not acquired by experience or dare of environmental influence, but we were already born with it. Chomsky says that children have innate skills to learn one or several languages instinctively if any form of instruction. In class we saw a video where a baby was part of an experiment. Short sounds like pa and ma were touched and heard by him baby. Randomly another word was touched. Eventually, he baby was conditioned to the new sound. Every time he touched the different word he drunk turned to the puppet that jumped with lights.
Meanwhile the functionalists believe that language acquisition is completely obtained. Language acquisition is a process where humans acquire the ability to perceive and understand language. You become aware of language and learn to understand it, produce and use words in prayers to communicate. In class we learned that language implies structures, rules and representation. A variety of tools must be acquired so that language can be used efficiently. These tools are: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Apart from that, the vocabulary must be extensive enough since the capacity of human language is mostly represented by the brain.
In itself, the acquisition of language is both innate and acquired. At the moment, a child has the ability to learn a language, or more than one, easily compared to adults. Adults can learn a second language, but with greater difficulty, (Heinrich 2015) that is where one acquires language. If language were completely innate, we would all speak the same and without difficulty. We are all born with a part in the brain that instinctively helps us understand the people who round us. That part also helps us to find a way to communicate from babies like this. But, the acquisition of language is not completely innate, because as we grow up and social interactions and environmental factors increases one learns more about language. It is necessary to learn the fundamental rules to be there with the use of which he wants language to facilitate speech between us.
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