Is Language Acquisition Determined By Nature?

Language has an unimaginable importance in our life, from having the potential to save lives to bridging the the gap between different cultures and regions of the world. From a young age language is encoded in the minds of young adults. What a child hears to what and how they are taught, are coded into their long term memory. As homo-sapiens we are unique, however the fact we are the only species able to employ complex languages, to communicate our feelings and intentions, is quite uncanny. Even though, language is such an exclusive and intricate skill, neonates can learn it quickly child vocabulary grows drastically, once they say their first words which ranges from five to twenty words at 18 months it increases at around 300 percent in the space of five years. Psychologists and researchers have studied how children acquire languages and have questioned wether or not this is solely done through nature this theory states that a child is born with this trait through genetic inheritance. On the contrary it is also investigated if language acquisition is determined by other ways, like nurture or conditioning. Overall, there are many possible views to the question given: to what extent is language acquisition determined by nature. This is due to the fact that there are endless explanations and theories given to this issue by psychologists, medical specialists and researchers. However the main points of discussion are whether language acquisition is determined by nature, social/environmental influences or a mixture of both.

Firstly, one theory given to this matter of how language acquisition is determined is that language is acquired through genetic inheritance. This theory states that each individual is born with a set of genomes that allow them to grasp the concepts of language and learn it at a faster rate. A pinnacle epithet for the study of this proposition is "nature" or behavioural genetics. Young children are presented with the ability to grasp the concepts of numbers, languages and actions faster than others. Some behavioural genetic specialists say that this skillset is present from a humans early life and remains persistent throughout their life span. Furthermore, some neuroscientists believe that a genome from that individual would contain a high concentration of axion molecules and cell adhesion molecules to aid the strengthening of the brain structures during language acquisition, making the development of the language easier and possible. This is all due to the transfer of genetic information from the two parents during foetal development. This view is also prominent in the works of Noam Chomsky, who is a well known psychologist or psycholinguist. According to Chomsky, a humans brain contain a language acquisition device, this device is a natural mechanism, feature or process that can assist infants to progress their language skills. According to his idea, he sees that all newborns enter this world with a universal grammar, which makes it easier for them to be receptive to the common features of the spoken languages. Due to this genetic ability hardwired into their minds, children can easily master a new language. Therefore, this conveys that a child is pre programmed, before birth, to have the ability to acquire a new language. This ability may be reinforced and strengthened, with the extra genome proteins derived from the cultured and bilingual ancestors of the newborn. So, to some extent, language acquisition is determined by nature, as we all have a feature in our brains that is pre programmed to help us acquire a new language. Not only this, some neonate`s are gifted with genomes that strengthen the structures that are used to assist language acquisition in our brains.

On the other hand, it is also believed that language acquisition is determined by nurture more than the genetic or biological inheritance of a child. This theory is based around the thought that environmental influences and conditioning, after the child`s birth, will be the main way a newborn would acquire a language. Also, the ability to successfully acquire and grasp a language is created by the influences of the people that interact with that individual and the events that occur to them. For example, a toddler is taught by a parental figure how to ask for forgiveness and the correct way of saying this, both grammatically and socially precise. According to an American psychologist, Burrhus Frederic Skinner, language and the cultural ways of society are acquired through principles of conditioning. Moreover, Skinner believes that the way a language is grasped of by the individual is through association, imitation. and reinforcement. According to this hypothesis, children learn a language through associating sounds, actions and past events with a word. They also absorb the vocabulary of a language, by imitating what other peers or superiors, such as their friends or parents. Parents, guardians and teachers enable children to learn words and syntax by reinforcing correct speech through positive and/or negative reinforcement.

An example of this is a teacher rewarding a young student on the corrections they have made from their mistakes, this is called positive reinforcement. In turn, this would cause them to acquire and strengthen the taught language. This is also evident in the Genie experiment, where a participant was locked by their parents in a room for thirteen years, when she came out she was unable to communicate. Therefore, this shows that as her spoken language was unable to develop, it is in fact nurture not nature that has an impact on language acquisition. Moreover, a study lead by research specialists in psychology, showed that children, aged four or five, normally have the same ability as an adult, regardless of their culture or ethnicity, showing that language acquisition is determined by nurture and not nature. Consequently, this shows that language acquisition is determined by nurture and not so much nature.

Although, it is also argued that to a minute extent nature does come out as a stronger reasoning behind language acquisition and in fact, language acquisition is determined by nature rather than nurture. The reasoning behind this is that it is argued that Skinner has a weak theory as there is an infinite combination of sentences in a language, so all these cannot be learned through either association and imitation. In addition, can make multiple errors which may not have resulted from environmental influences.

Therefore, this shows us that to some extent genetically inherited intelligence may be a large factor in having the ability to successfully acquire a language.

Finally, it is also believed that to an extent it is not just purely one theory or reasoning that determines language acquisition. As a matter of fact, it is both nature and nurture that collaborate together to determine language acquisition. This is because language acquisition requires a high level of mental ability, which is genetically inherited, in order to grasp a hold of the concepts of the language that is being taught. Researchers and psychologists have proposed ideas that have a central importance of both nature and nurture in language acquisition. These specialists believe that an individual has an innate capacity for acquiring a language however they believe that children develop this by communicating with others, and this is assisted with the child`s ability to grasp linguistic concepts. Mental ability refers to the power to retain, learn and understand new content or knowledge. This concept is also discussed in Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget`s work according to him in order to determine how language is acquired, a child`s cognitive and mental development needs to be considered. He also argued that a child has to understand a concept before they can acquire that particular language. This idea is called cognitive theory. So, this means that both nature and nurture are required to acquire a language. Therefore this means that nature is spelt used to acquire a language.

To conclude, there are multiple opinions and theories given towards this topic and there are many routes attributing to how language acquisition is determined. Some theories tend to complement each other, like the ideas of nativism proponents, such as, linguist Chomsky and Skinner thus showing that the way language acquisition is determined is not solely through one domain pathway. However, I believe, in order to really answer this question to what extent is language acquisition determined by nature more research is required. After weighing up all the evidence and research into this matter it is prevalent that to some extent language is acquired through nature, this is due to the fact that for someone, who is genetically gifted with a history full of languages or with bilingual parents, it would be easier for them to pick up and to learn the spoken language at a faster rate, as it will be an instinct for them and it would feel more natural. At the same time, it is arguable that language acquisition is also determined through nurture as an infant would be conditioned by their family to understand a language from a young age.

Looking at this through a bigger lens, it shows that language acquisition is determined through multiple ways and that they work collectively to transfer and teach a new gift to a child.

Although, this has proven to be difficult as some cognitive neuroscientists have already created neural networks that have the ability to gain some aspects of language. But, these models have failed to enact such a complex organ that regulates and controls a human body. Hence, the results from this experiment are invalid.