Chomsky's Theory

Noam Chomsky (1959) believed the ability to develop a signed or spoken lanaguage is generally programmed into individuals. 

This means that all individulas have the ability to understand and use language regardless of other abilities, and to become fluent in their first language by the age of 5/6. 

• Individuals are born with a 'language acquisition device'. 
• This enables children to recognise and develop the languages that they experience. 
• Children are 'preprogrammed' to acquire language and it evolves naturally in the same way that children have the ability to stand and walk. 
• Language develops because…