Pinker's Theory Of Language Acquisition Essay

Likewise, Pinker (1994) postulates a similar perspective to the “creative aspect of a language” theory proposed by Chomsky stating that children are biologically predisposed to acquire a language. From an innate perspective, Pinker affirms that children are gifted with a sixth sense called “speech perception”. Through this sense, they are able to distinguish the phonemes of a language, thus strengthening their linguistic system. At last, he alleges that up to the age of six a kid has an assured language acquisition process. Still, the child could manage to obtain satisfactory results all the way to puberty. After that, it is unlikely to happen; however, opposing Pinker, Lenneberg mentions that it is possible to achieve a good level of proficiency after this critical period, although it happens with a certain degree of difficulty through different learning mechanisms.

These nativist exponents argue that children are born with a biological capacity that allows them to acquire languages for through a natural process by interacting with the world that surrounds them. However, Pinker (1994) with his empirical point of view says that although children have these genetic abilities from birth, it is necessary the interaction with others who have already mastered the language to be able to assimilate it. In other words, these interactions serve as support to the process of language acquisition allowing the child to strengthen their linguistic systems. Pinker asserts that in reality, language is not fully developed through

That is because both first and second languages are acquired in a similar way. Differently to language learning which cannot be considered acquisition since it is based on a formal reading-writing process where learners study grammar rules