Innatist Language Theory

Innatist/Innate/Nativist/Rationalist/Mentalist Theory

Chomsky's work in linguistics has had major implications for psychology and its fundamental direction in the 20th century. His innatist view was a direct challenge to the established behaviorist theories of the time and had major consequences for understanding how language is learned by children and what, exactly, is the ability to interpret language. Although Chomsky’s theory was diametrically opposite to the verbal learning theory of B. F. Skinner, it has laid out an explanation of human language faculties that has become the model for investigation in other areas of psychology. In the last few decades, the amount of discussion about language acquisition in the context of innate theory has grown considerably.

Theoretical Bases:

The theoretical assumptions underlying the Innatist theory are as follows:

Language acquisition is innately determined; that is, children are biologically programmed for language learning. They develop language in the same way as other biological functions. They start to speak at roughly the same age and proceed through roughly the same stages.

Children are born with a special ability to systematically discover for themselves the underlying rules of a language system. This special ability enables them to learn the complexities of language in a relatively short period of time.

Environmental differences may be associated with some variation in the rate of language acquisition.

Evidence Used to Support Chomsky’s Innatist Theory:

Eric Lenneberg's concept of a critical period is the best evidence for Chomsky’s innateness proposal. Lenneberg suggested that there is a biologically pre-determined period of life during which language can be acquired most easily. Beyond this time language becomes increasingly difficult to acquire (Brown, 1994). Through this statement Lenneberg provided a strong support for the Chomskian claim that...