To what extent do you agree with the notion that language develops according to a Language Acquisition Device, as postulated by Noam Chomsky? How do you think toddlers develop complex language skills so quickly?

     The process by which one learns a native language or second language is language acquisition. I do agree to a that language develops according to a Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Noam Chomsky's belief, differed from B.F. Skinner's belief that language is acquired through imitation and reinforcement. Noam Chomsky suggests that language in an inherent human quality and that children are born with a language acquisition device that allows them to produce language once they have learned the necessary vocabulary (Cherry, 2012). Therefore, he believed one is born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD).
     Cherry (2012), "researchers have found that language development begins before a child is even born, as a fetus is able to identify the speech and sound patterns of the mother's voice" (p. 4). After children are born they go through different stages as one develops language. The first stage is the prelinguistic, babbling or cooing stage, occurring between the ages of 3 and 9 months. The second stage is one-word or holophase stage of language development, occurring near the ages of 10 to 13 months. The third stage is the two word sentences stage, occurring around the age of 18 months. The fourth stage or multi-word sentence stage, occurs around the age of two. While child ages, one continues to learn more new words every day, and by the time one enters school near the age of five, one typically has a vocabulary of 10,000 words or more (Cherry, 2012).

Reference

Cherry, K. (2012). About.com, Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/ss/early-childhood-development_4.htm