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How valid is the argument that the environment is responsible for children’s early language development?
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How valid is the argument that the environment is responsible for children's early language development? There have been various theories put forward concerning the drivers for language development. The theories generally tend to fall within an empiricist or nativist approach. Empiricism, in it's strictest form, states that all knowledge comes from experience and interaction with the world through our senses. Language development therefore is a result of the child listening to other speakers and receiving instruction. Nativism, in contrast, argues the child is born with an innate knowledge of language. Understanding, particularly of grammar, has been programmed in before birth. When the child hears language it 'activates' the language programme in their brain and this is how language develops. In this essay we'll be examining these approaches to language development, looking at more contemporary versions such as connectionism and evaluating the extent to which the environment is responsible for early...
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