Over the years, many theories that are against language innateness have been developed to account for language acquisition.
12.
For some scientific and philosophical disciplines, the answer to this conundrum is innateness, or biological pre-wiring.
13.
Against Chomsky's Innateness Hypothesis, philosopher John Locke insisted that our knowledge, including language, cannot be innate.
14.
He presents four arguments for biological innateness of psychological capacities, parallel to arguments in biology for the innateness of physical traits:
15.
He presents four arguments for biological innateness of psychological capacities, parallel to arguments in biology for the innateness of physical traits:
16.
However, it is important to note that the argument that the poverty of stimulus supports the innateness hypothesis remains very controversial.
17.
While all theories of language acquisition posit some degree of innateness, a less convoluted theory might involve less innate structure and more learning.
18.
Innateness theory is opposed to behaviorist theory which claims that language is a set of habits that can be acquired by means of conditioning.
19.
For many, the ideas of " nature and nurture " or " innateness and environmental input " are no longer perceived as mutually exclusive.
20.
In this way, linguistics may provide a window into the human mind, and establish scientific theories of innateness which otherwise would remain merely speculative.
