Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and

comprehend language (in other words, gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand it),
as well as to produce and use words and sentences to communicate.
Language acquisition involves structures, rules and representation. The capacity to successfully use
language requires one to acquire a range of tools
including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and an extensive vocabulary. Language can
be vocalized as in speech, or manual as in sign. Human language capacity is represented in the
brain. Even though human language capacity is finite, one can say and understand an infinite
number of sentences, which is based on a syntactic principle called recursion. Evidence suggests
that every individual has three recursive mechanisms that allow sentences to go indeterminately.
These three mechanisms are: relativization, complementation and coordination.[1]
There are two main guiding principles in first-language acquisition: speech perception always
precedes speech production, and the gradually evolving system by which a child learns a language
is built up one step at a time, beginning with the distinction between individual phonemes.[2]
Linguists who are interested in child language acquisition have for many years questioned how
language is acquired. Lidz et al. state "The question of how these structures are acquired, then, is
more properly understood as the question of how a learner takes the surface forms in the input and
converts them into abstract linguistic rules and representations."[3]
Language acquisition usually refers to first-language acquisition, which studies infants' acquisition
of their native language, whether that be spoken language or signed language as a result
of prelingual deafness, though it can also refer to bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA),
which refers to an infant's simultaneous acquisition of two native languages.[4] This is distinguished
from second-language acquisition, which deals with the acquisition (in both children and adults) of
additional languages. In addition to speech, reading and writing a language with an entirely different
script compounds the complexities of true foreign language literacy. Language acquisition is one of
the quintessential human traits,[5] because non-humans do not communicate by using language.[6]

How do non-speaking infants become vocal toddlers? Is learning language a

natural event, or are we taught how to speak from those around us? Read on to
discover theories on how we develop language and learn to communicate.

What Is Language Acquisition?

Do you know what word you first spoke? Have you ever considered how many
words you have learned over your lifetime? Many psychologists estimate we
learn around 3,500 words a year between our first birthday and before we are 30.
We grow from infants without language to chatterboxes with a gift for gab, and
researchers are fascinated by how this happens.

Psychologists have different theories on language acquisition, or the process by

which we learn to speak, write, or even use sign language in meaningful ways to
communicate.

Theories of Language Acquisition

Behaviorists, like B.F. Skinner (who lived from 1904-1990), argued that language
acquisition and development are learned behaviors. Behaviorists believe we
learn by associating events, known as classical conditioning. We also learn
through rewards and punishments, a process known as operant conditioning.
Another aspect of behaviorism is that we learn by observation and imitation.

How do these theories of learning apply to language acquisition? Over repeated

exposures, infants may learn to associate an object with a sound or word for
that object. When an infant babbles 'dada,' the infant is rewarded by smiling and
happy parents who cheer and reward their child's efforts at communicating. And
infants may learn language by observing caregivers and imitating their sounds.

Linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky (born in 1928) has added to how
behaviorists like Skinner think about language development. Chomsky believes
that infants and children learn language at a speed that cannot simply be
explained by the laws of behaviorism. According to Chomsky, children learning
language put words together in new ways, creating meaningful sentences they
have never heard before. Chomsky argues that children learn rules of language
and apply them in their own way, often inaccurately at first. Because children
would not have heard adults using rules of language so inaccurately, Chomsky
came up with another theory on language development.

Chomsky's linguistic theory states that we are born with an innate ability to

learn language, and with little guidance, children will naturally learn language.
Chomsky argues we must be born with a language acquisition device, an area in
our brains that makes learning language a natural event. As evidence, he points
to the idea that children all over the world learn language in similar ways,
regardless of their culture or the language they learn to speak.

Recent research on language seeks to understand whether or not humans have a

critical period for acquiring language. As we age, language acquisition becomes
more difficult, especially for adults learning a new language. Children learning
new languages outperform adults learning new languages in terms of learning
vocabulary, applying rules of grammar, and speaking with the correct accent.
The critical period hypothesis states that we have a time frame for learning
new language, and once that time is over, language acquisition becomes much
more difficult.