In the context of children's language development, consider the following statements regarding Noam Chomsky's Language Acquisition Theory:
- 1. According to Chomsky, children have an innate capacity to learn language, known as the 'Language Acquisition Device' (LAD), and they are born with Universal Grammar rules.
- 2. This theory emphasizes that children learn language from their environment solely through imitation and reinforcement, with no special role played by biological factors.
- 3. Chomsky's perspective refutes the claim of behaviorist psychologists like B.F. Skinner that language is primarily learned through stimulus-response and habit formation.
Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?
Detailed Explanation & Solution
Noam Chomsky's Language Acquisition Theory posits that children are born with an innate language learning capacity (LAD - Language Acquisition Device) and possess the capability for 'Universal Grammar'. Therefore, statement 1 is correct.
Statement 2 is incorrect because Chomsky strongly opposes the behaviorist view that children learn language solely through imitation and reinforcement; instead, he believes that language development depends primarily on biological and internal factors.
Statement 3 is completely correct because Chomsky refuted B.F. Skinner's theory where Skinner claimed that children learn language through stimulus and response. Thus, only statements 1 and 3 are correct.