Question

In what sense is language use innate and learned?

Answer 1

Language use said to be innate as Noam Chomsky said that there is not enough information in the child's environment to facilitate all necessary learning. This led to the idea that there is some innate knowledge that works as a starting point in the process of learning a language. He also proposed that humans are born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD). He said it is a mental faculty that allows children to learn the basics of a language and this innate knowledge is called Universal Grammer.

Language use is said to be learned by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, behaviorism proposes that human behaviors are a result of a response to a stimulus. Skinner claims that language development is a type of imitation process. Behaviorists claim that when a child learns his first language he gets positive feedback every time he utters correctly and negative feedback every time he makes a mistake, this feedback reinforces positive behavior.