Mentalist Approach of Language Learning

Behaviorism and Mentalism are to prominently identified fields of study relating to language
learning. Every one contains distinctive idea towards language learning. The paper will be written
so as to investigate the perfect strategy in language learning and educating.
Behaviorism was a significant improvement in learning, started in late nineteenth and mid
twentieth century. Behaviorists request that everything is depicted as the aftereffect of physical
technique. The basic guidelines of this theory are Reinforcement, reward and repetition.
The innate theory of language acquisition was developed in 1959 by a renowned American
linguistic Noam Chomsky. Language, the mentalist say is internal rule governed and abstract, is
an innate and in-born process.
Noam Chomsky argues that the ability of human language is the result of human evolution.
Language is so difficult it is almost complex it can be acquired by a child in so short a time.
He says that a child borne with some innate mental capacity which helps the child to learn all the
language which he hears. This is called Language Acquisition Device.
Chomsky argues that the knowledge of the child’s mother tongue is taken from universal
Grammar, exists on the set of linguistic principle which tells child to select and use the grammar
of their own language.
He claims, LAD is the biological ability in child which depends on the grammar principles which
is common in all possible human languages, called UG.
Chomsky says that every child is born with the mental ability and hears many sounds. He considers
his own grammar and hears all the sounds which are reaching his brain. This is the part of cognitive
framework.
He claims that every child knows the proper rules of sentences which they have heard. He talks
about the unconscious rules in a child’s mind these rules tell him to make sentences in his own
language.
Chomsky and his followers claim that language has rules and not haphazard thing. For example, a
four or five year old child has the ability to produce sentence like, I have taken meal he can do that
because he has mental grammar which tells him correct structures and how to use these structures
in the right situation.
Main Principles of Mentalism:
 Language is naturally concerning language acquisition and is use.
 Foreign language learning highlights on the internal factors which are in abstract form
 Chomsky highlights the deep structure of every language, or how the speaker
subconsciously knows about the grammatical rules of his native language. Every child has
 the deep structure of language which deals with how the deep structure of an utterance
becomes the surface structure.
Criticism:
Lad is an abstract concept and lacks adequate scientific support. The theory is based upon learner’s
competence, which is also an abstract phenomenon. Moreover, this theory only emphasizes on the
linguistic competence, not enough on the development aspects of language acquisition.
Conclusion:
I support this theory, as it is based on mind. Mind is important for determining the language.
Children are born with a special ability to discover language for themselves, and biologically
programmed for language learning. So, Mentalist theory is very complex process to understand
the concept of LAD bu I think that LAD exists in every child’s mind. This theory is rich enough
to provide idea of how a child acquires first language.