First year of life
Scenario
Your brother and his wife just had a baby and they are wondering when their baby will begin talking. They hope soon, and they have begun saying "mama" and "dada" to their baby.
Questions
What can you tell them about the course of language development during the first year of life? When answering the question, be sure to talk about:
The critical period
Language acquisition device (LAD) – Chomsky
On top of that, babies are born with an innate ability to learn and understand the basics of their native language thanks to Noam Chomsky's Language Acquisition Device (LAD). This LAD is composed of a universal grammar which all humans possess that helps us recognize and process linguistic information quickly. So while talking or reading to your baby won't necessarily speed up the learning process, it does provide them with helpful exposure so they can begin grasping concepts more easily as they get older.