Nativisim

• Chomsky- LAD

  • language acquisition device
  • humans have innate ability to acquire language
  • Criticism: LAD has never been found, no scientific proof,
  • some call Chomsky an armchair linguist
• Case study- Nicaraguan sign language

  • when deaf children first met in schools in Nicaragua they created their own sign language
  • showing innate capacity to create language
• Jean Berko-Gleason

  • the wug test
• Desmond Morris

  • In the first 6 months all babies babbles will be the same
  • regardless of nationality or level of interaction
  • supports Chomsky's universal grammar
• Examples of nativisim in data

  • children doing more than just immitation
  • over and under-extension
  • resisting corrections