Language acquisition starts before babies utter their first words. Even in the womb, they jump in response to noises, such as fireworks and loud bands; they eavesdrop on their mother’s conversations. Within just hours of birth, newborns recognize their mother’s voice, along with stories and songs they’ve heard in the womb. They can even distinguish
The language acquisition device (LAD) was proposed by Noam Chomsky to explain how children, when exposed to any human language, are able to learn it within only a few years following birth. Chomsky argued that all humans are born with the knowledge of what makes a human language. Included in this innate knowledge must be
Acquisition of skill is a type of learning in which repetition results in enduring changes in an individual’s capability to perform a specific task. With enough repetition, performance of the task eventually may become automatic, with little need for conscious oversight. Any behavior that needs to be learned and that is improved by practice can