Question

Describe one criticism researchers have of the behaviorist and nativist theories of language development.

Answer 1

Answer:

One criticism of the behaviorist theory used in explaining language development is that the theory doesn't explain why children often use language in a way that is not portrayed by adults. ... One criticism of the nativist theory is that the process of the language acquisition device (LAD) is vague.

Explanation: edg 2020

Answer 2

Answer: One criticism of the behaviorist theory is that it doesn’t explain why children often use language in a way that is not portrayed by adults. For example, children often use processes like overregularization, which is not mimicked from watching adults, so it isn’t logical to claim that children learn language through imitation. One criticism of the nativist theory is that the process of the language acquisition device (LAD) is vague. Nativist theorists fail to explain how the process really works.

Explanation: