Unit 1.1 DB: Nature vs. Nurture
Unit 1.1 DB: Nature vs. Nurture
There is an ongoing debate of the relative importance of Nature vs. Nurture in language development. B.F. Skinner started the investigation with behavioral learning theory. Noam Chomsky and others argue that there is a universal set of abstract grammatical rules and that the human brain is uniquely suited to learn language. Later, researchers such as Lois Bloom saw a correlation between language and early cognition, maintaining that there is a semantic basis for language learning. Then along came the constructionists who believed that language emerges from social use.
Review the theories put forth by the theorists below:
- Skinner
- Chomsky
- Bloom
- Tomasello
- Piaget
- Vygotsky
Choose two theorists from above and discuss one strength and one weakness of each theory. Borrowing ideas from Skinner, Chomsky, Bloom, Tomasello, Piaget, and Vygotsky how would you articulate your own theory of linguistic development? Support your opinion with at least one scholarly resource.
Readings and Resources
Readings and Resources
eBook:
Owens, R. E. (2020). Language development: An introduction (10th ed.). Pearson.
- Read Chapter 1.
- Read Chapter 2.
- Read Appendix B on major racial and ethnic dialects of American English.
Articles, Websites, and Videos:
What does the way you speak say about where youâ€
re from? This short quiz based on the Harvard Dialect Survey from 2003 has been shown to be fairly accurate in identifying where youâ€re from.
- How y’all, youse and you guys talk. (2013). New York Times Sunday Review.
Noam Chomsky theorizes that all infants are pre-wired to learn language and that there are universal principles that underlie the learning of all languages. Certainly, language learning must be nurtured, but there are innate factors that provide the foundation for language acquisition.
Watch VideoLanguage Acquisition and Universal Grammar
Duration: 9:17
User: The Ling Space – Adde
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