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After reading this article you will learn about the role of Language Acquisition Device (LAD) in children’s language learning process.
Chomsky, the leading language scholar is of the view that in every human individual there is an innate Language Acquisition Device that processes, shapes and enables children to acquire the basic and fundamentals of speaking and indicated relationships among the words.
According to Chomsky, this device enables children to acquire ideas about the rules of language as applied to one’s own language without even being aware of. Such efforts to understand the rules as applied to one’s own language according to Chomsky is an unconscious, innate and neurological process.
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From the point of view of actual evidence for such a view, there is very little evidence. It is true that syntactic systems of different languages show a fair degree of similarity. Another piece of evidence comes from the observation of children who are born deaf and do manage to make up and acquire certain systems of gestures which are bound to be similar to systems existing in normal and mature spoken language.
They are able to place the gestures for subjects before the gestures for words or predicates and also acquire action-object sequence, etc. Such instances do provide evidence for the existence of an innate language acquisition device.
However, even if there is a language acquisition device, it appears from a number of observations; exposure to language in the form of stimulation is essential before a critical age. Generally, this critical age period appears to be before the age of seven, beyond which acquisition of a language as a second language can never be perfect. The existence of such a critical period appears to be quite understandable and this has been demonstrated in the case of the development of other behavioural processes like depth perceptions.
On the other hand, there are other scientists following the behaviouristic school who while grudgingly granting the essentiality of a normally functioning speech-related body apparatus, however, emphasise the social, cultural and environmental factors in the acquisition of language, particularly speech skills.
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The most representative view in this regard is that of Whorf commonly referred to as Whorfian hypothesis which basically holds that differences in linguistic capacities are to a large extent derived from differences in culture and opportunities.
In fact, Whorf argues that all the contents of our cognitive life including language are products of our experiences. But leaving out the extreme views, there can be no doubt that human language behaviour and speech are possible because of the specialised equipment in the human brain and also the other movements related to speech which are possible at the human level. The respiratory muscles regulate the intensity of the energy supplied to the layering and produce among the vocal cords what is known as the glottal sound which is the basis of voice.
This basic sound is modulated and modified in the gobuccal cavities in the pharynx. This makes it possible to initiate the harmonics needed to produce the different vowels and also bring out the combinations of the various sounds needed to evolve the consonants which in turn makes it possible for recognising a spoken word.
The consonants in turn are produced by modifications in the shapes brought about in the higher air cavities by the combined actions of the pharynx, the soft palates, the tongue, the lips and the cheek as also the masticating muscles of the lower jaw. It is very obvious that if the lower jaw movements are restricted speech is affected.
All these motor and muscular activities are possible because of the activities of certain parts in the brain which in general activate the other parts resulting in many movements, particularly of the motor cortex and leading to orchestrated activities.
Thus, complex language functions including speech, utterances, comprehensions, etc. depend on highly specialised system of bodily activities involving the brain, the larynx and different sets of muscles. But the brain appears to hold the master key.