Noam Chomsky reasoned that
A) in early childhood, rewards and punishments support language development.
B) young children are unable to assume much responsibility for their own language learning.
C) the rules for sentence organization are too complex to be directly taught to cognitively sophisticated young children.
D) language, like any other behavior, is acquired through imitation and operant conditioning.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Noam Chomsky believed that young children possess an inherent ability to acquire language, which he called the Language Acquisition Device. This device allows children to recognize and learn the complex rules of language without explicit instruction. Chomsky argued that the rules of grammar are too complex to be taught through imitation and operant conditioning, and that language development is not solely dependent on rewards and punishments. Therefore, option C is the most accurate representation of Chomsky's view on language acquisition.

Noam Chomsky Reasoned That