Language Development (including Chomsky)

Theories of language development

Behaviourist view (Skinner) — Language is learnt entirely through imitation, reinforcement and the environment; there is no innate ability.

Nativist view (Chomsky) — According to Noam Chomsky, every child is born with a 'Language Acquisition Device' (LAD), which enables them to quickly learn the grammar of any language (Universal Grammar). Chomsky argues that children correctly use sentence rules that were never taught to them (the 'poverty of stimulus' argument), so language cannot be learnt through imitation alone.

Socio-cultural view (Vygotsky) — Language develops through social interaction and shapes the thinking process.

Rather than treating these three views as opposed to each other, REET usually understands that innate ability, stimulation from the environment, and social interaction all play a role in language development; no single factor alone can fully explain it.

Key stages of language development

Cooing

Around 2-4 months — vowel sounds (such as 'aah', 'ooh')

Babbling

From about 6 months — repetition of consonant-vowel sounds ('ba-ba', 'ma-ma')

One-word/holophrastic stage

About 12-18 months — expressing a whole idea with one word (such as saying 'milk' to ask for milk)

Two-word/telegraphic stage

About 18-24 months — short, grammar-free sentences of two-three words ('mummy food')

Further development

After age 2, vocabulary grows rapidly and sentences gradually become grammatically complete

Learning the mother tongue and a second language

A child naturally learns whichever language surrounds them the most as their mother tongue, even without formal teaching — this is why both the RTE Act and NCF 2005 advise prioritising the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in early classes.

Once a child has built a strong foundation in their mother tongue, learning a second or third language becomes relatively easier, because core language-acquisition skills (sound recognition, word order, meaning-making) transfer from one language to another.

Multilingualism is now seen not as an obstacle but as a resource — children who hear one language at home and another at school can become cognitively flexible with proper support, as long as neither language is discouraged.

Factors affecting language development

Positive factors — linguistic stimulation from parents and family (talking, reading books aloud), the opportunity for independent contact with peers, a rich linguistic environment.

Negative/hindering factors — multiple births (twins); research shows such children's language development is often delayed because they get less individual attention and communicate with each other in their own 'private language'. Prolonged illness, hearing difficulty and neglect also slow language development.

Early expression of emotions

REET 2024 asked how a child initially expresses emotions — the answer was through crying and sounds.

Vocabulary and sentence-structure development

After age two, a child's vocabulary grows rapidly — sometimes called a 'vocabulary spurt', in which the child starts learning several new words every day. Sentence structure also becomes progressively more complex — first two-word sentences, then three-four-word sentences, and gradually grammatically complete sentences.

During this time, children also make overgeneralization errors, such as applying regular verb-form rules to irregular words too. This is actually a positive sign, because it shows the child is trying to understand and apply the rules of language on their own, not just repeating by rote.

Language development generally follows a natural order of four skills — listening comes first, since even before birth a child begins hearing sounds in the womb; speaking follows, built on what has been heard; and only later, once oral language is reasonably established, do reading and writing develop, usually with the help of formal schooling. This order matters for teaching too — a child who is not yet a confident speaker of a language should not be pushed straight into reading and writing in that language, because the oral foundation (vocabulary, sentence patterns, pronunciation) needs to be in place first. This is one more reason NCF 2005 and the RTE Act both favour building oral fluency in the mother tongue in the earliest years before introducing formal literacy in a second language.

Using this in the classroom

REET 2024 questions (solved)

Practice questions

Frequently asked questions

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