1

00:00:02,859 --> 00:00:06,230

So this might surprise you, but
one of the most amazing feats

2
00:00:06,230 --> 00:00:10,460
you'll ever accomplish as a
human being already happened,

3
00:00:10,460 --> 00:00:12,580
and that is language
development.

4
00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:16,690
I mean, think about it.

5
00:00:16,690 --> 00:00:20,140
When you're a baby, all these
sounds are coming at you,

6
00:00:20,140 --> 00:00:22,210
and somehow, you're
able to figure out

7
00:00:22,210 --> 00:00:24,480
which sounds are words,
where there are breaks

8
00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,199
between the words,
general grammatical rules,

9
00:00:27,199 --> 00:00:29,169
and you're able to
apply them without

10
00:00:29,170 --> 00:00:31,960
any real formal training.

11
00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:32,770
This is amazing.

12
00:00:32,770 --> 00:00:35,260
So naturally, a
lot of research has

13
00:00:35,259 --> 00:00:37,939
been done into how
this ability develops.

14
00:00:37,939 --> 00:00:40,669
And I'm going to tell you about
the three main theories that

15
00:00:40,670 --> 00:00:43,140
look at language development.

16
00:00:43,140 --> 00:00:47,799
So first, we start
out with the nativist,

17
00:00:47,799 --> 00:00:50,320
or innatist perspective.

18
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:52,460
And what this
perspective says is

19
00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:56,740
that children are born with
the ability to learn language.

20
00:00:56,740 --> 00:01:03,010
And the main guy associated with
this theory is Noam Chomsky.

21
00:01:03,009 --> 00:01:06,069
And he thought the humans had
something called a language

22
00:01:06,069 --> 00:01:10,319
acquisition device, or
LAD, in their brains

23
00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:12,459
that allowed them
to learn language.

24
00:01:12,459 --> 00:01:14,559
And this isn't
really supposed to be

25
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:16,400
in a specific part of the brain.
26
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,960
It's just an idea that
this ability exists.

27
00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:21,409
And this works
because he thought

28
00:01:21,409 --> 00:01:24,280
that all languages shared
a universal grammar,

29
00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:28,060
or the same basic elements,
so all languages would

30
00:01:28,060 --> 00:01:30,350
have nouns, verbs,
things like that.

31
00:01:30,349 --> 00:01:32,109
So the language
acquisition device

32
00:01:32,109 --> 00:01:35,769
enables the child to
pick up on and understand

33
00:01:35,769 --> 00:01:37,839
those types of words
and their organization

34
00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,520
within a sentence
for any language.

35
00:01:40,519 --> 00:01:42,420
This goes along with
the idea that there

36
00:01:42,420 --> 00:01:45,530
is a "critical period"
or a "sensitive period."

37
00:01:45,530 --> 00:01:47,810
The "critical period"
is usually thought

38
00:01:47,810 --> 00:01:50,740
to be from birth until
about age eight or nine,

39
00:01:50,739 --> 00:01:52,920
and it's the period
of time in which

40
00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,480
a child is most able
to learn a language.

41
00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,210
So if you try to learn a
language after that age,

42
00:01:59,209 --> 00:02:00,079
it's a lot harder.

43
00:02:00,079 --> 00:02:01,099
It's not impossible.

44
00:02:01,099 --> 00:02:02,579
It's just a lot harder.

45
00:02:02,579 --> 00:02:04,569
And nativists like
Chomsky would say

46
00:02:04,569 --> 00:02:07,589
that that's because
the LAD only operates

47
00:02:07,590 --> 00:02:09,199
during that critical period.

48
00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:12,800
Once you start using it, then
it specializes to your language,

49
00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,810
and it becomes unable to
detect other sounds and grammar

50
00:02:16,810 --> 00:02:18,250
from other languages.

51
00:02:18,250 --> 00:02:21,250
The second theory I
want to tell you about

52
00:02:21,250 --> 00:02:23,729
is the learning theory.

53
00:02:23,729 --> 00:02:26,389
Learning theorists
think that children

54
00:02:26,389 --> 00:02:28,239
aren't born with anything.

55
00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,881
They only acquire language
through reinforcement.

56
00:02:31,881 --> 00:02:35,389
So a learning theorist would
say that a child learns to say

57
00:02:35,389 --> 00:02:39,759
"mama" because every time it
makes it sound that approaches

58
00:02:39,759 --> 00:02:44,219
that-- so "ma-something"--
then Mom starts smiling,

59
00:02:44,219 --> 00:02:47,879
hugging the child, so over
time, the child learns, oh,

60
00:02:47,879 --> 00:02:51,799
the more I make this sound,
the more I get hugs and smiles.

61
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:56,240
And so then, eventually,
it learns to say "ma,"

62
00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,400
and then say it again,
and learns to say "mama."

63
00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:01,039
So this makes sense.

64
00:03:01,039 --> 00:03:02,870
But a strict learning
theory doesn't

65
00:03:02,870 --> 00:03:06,080
explain how children are able
to produce words they've never

66
00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,060
heard before or produce
unique sentences.

67
00:03:09,060 --> 00:03:13,789
So we have another theory called
the interactionist approach.

68
00:03:13,789 --> 00:03:16,459
Sometimes this is called the
social interactionist approach,

69
00:03:16,460 --> 00:03:20,990
because these theorists believe
that biological and social

70
00:03:20,990 --> 00:03:25,170
factors have to interact
in order for children

71
00:03:25,169 --> 00:03:27,239
to learn language.

72
00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,060
So they would say
that children strongly

73
00:03:30,060 --> 00:03:32,580
desire to communicate
with others,

74
00:03:32,580 --> 00:03:34,420
such as the adults
in their lives,
75
00:03:34,419 --> 00:03:36,959
and that desire
motivates them to learn

76
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:38,905
to communicate via language.

77
00:03:38,905 --> 00:03:43,039
And the main theorist associated
with this school of thought

78
00:03:43,039 --> 00:03:44,750
is Vygotsky.

79
00:03:44,750 --> 00:03:46,680
He was a big proponent
of the importance

80
00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,189
of social interaction in
the development of children.

81
00:03:50,189 --> 00:03:53,020
All three of these theories
have made big contributions

82
00:03:53,020 --> 00:03:56,120
to our understanding of how
children develop language.

83
00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,659
So the next time you look
at a baby, be impressed.

84
00:03:58,659 --> 00:04:01,180
They're actually
working really hard.