SPEECH AND SEMINAR ON ELT

Group 10
1. MELLY ASTRIYANI
2. YULI RAHMAWATI
3. ARI SIHAD SYALE

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A1D2 14
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TEACHERSHIP AND EDUCATIONAL FACULTY

UNIVERSITY OF HALU OLEO
KENDARI
2016

First Language Acquisition : Is childrens knowledge of language innate?

Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb. and Good Morning
Thank you for coming to this seminar. Its a pleasure for us to be able to give this presentation.
First of all, let me to introduce our group. My name is Melly Astriyani and I will be the first

speaker. I will give the introduction of the talk. The next speaker is Yuli Rahmawati and she
going to present about some information about our presentation. And the last is Ari Sihad Syale,
who will give the summary and conclusions.
My colleagues and I are going to give a short presentation on linguistic field. Its about First
language acquisition. In this seminar, we are trying to bring a hot issue about Is childrens
knowledge of language innate?
We are going to divide our presentation into three sections.
To begin with, Id like to introduce our presentation on defining the term of first language
acquisition and why this issues be raised. Next, is Yuli Rahmawati will explain the theory of
Chomsky about First Language Acquisition and the rebutted theory by Skinner. And finally is
Ari Sihad Syale will explain language innate of children in our own point of view. The talk
should last about 5 minutes for every speaker and if you have any questions, well try to answer
them at the end.
Now, I will explain about what is the First Language Acquisition. Ok. Please listen to me guys !!
Language acquisition is the process with which children get their first languages. All humans
have an innate skill to get language. Are you know innate ? Yes, innate maybe like a natural
talent or skill and we have it since we are born without study it before. Children can get one or
more first languages.
Why I can say like before ? Because, based on some theory, children who live in an
environment in which only use English to speaking, thats make children will get only English
language as their first language. While, children who live in an environment in which use both

languages are German and English to speak, automatically thats make children will get both
languages German and English as their first languages.
Lets see. Acquisition language (or getting language) depends on children receiving during
they are born in their environment. During we are become a baby, we always cry if we want
something. Thats a language. Thats a expression to make a signal or symbol to our mom.
During we are 3 or 4 years old, we have known some vocabulary without join in formal
education. Thats happened automatically because as we know that, children have imitation
character. With automatic way, children can talk alone and memorize vocabulary in their brain.
During we are adult we must have skill or children must receive enough knowledge about
language including phonology, semantic, grammar, and ect. You know phonology? You know
semantic? You know grammar? Yeah, Phonology explain about speech sounds on English
Language, semantics explain about vocabulary and meaning and then grammar explain about
syntax or word order. Grammar is study about the role of English language. If children doesnt
have a knowledge skill language, children can difficult develop their language with appropriate
rule in English language.
Why we are choose and bring this topic to our presenting in here ? Because, many people doesnt
have knowledge about First language acquisition is innate or not. This topic is very informative
to you all. So, please join.
Ok, the next speaker is Yuli Rahmawati. She going to explain about the theory of first language
acquisition.

B. Main Body
Ok, thank you for the chance. In this section Id like to explain two theories that regarding to the
issues of our topic today.
The first theory comes from Noam Chomskys theory.
Chomsky states that every child had got ability to learn language before they born. The ability
consists of knowledge that is formed on the brain to understand language, so when they hear
some words for the first time, they catch them and arrange by themselves based on their previous

knowledge. When they hear words and they try to speak like that, they make sentence
ungrammatically. It can be happened because Chomsky believes that before a child is born they
have ability which has connected to language acquisition device or what Chomsky said as
Universal Grammar and it will be their mother tongue.
So, you can see that Chomskys theory of language acquisition emphasizes that childrens
knowledge of language is innate. He proved it on his example from Martine Braine, he tried to
correct his daughter grammatical errors.
Child: want other one spoon, Daddy.
Father: Do you mean, you want other spoon?
Child: yes, I want other one spoon, please, Daddy
Father: can you say the other spoon?
Child: other .. one.. spoon
Father: say. Other
Child: other
Father: spoon
Child: spoon
Father: other spoon
Child: other.. spoon. Now, give me other one spoon, Daddy?
The child still make grammatical error, because it had had structured on her brain and its hard to
be changed.
Lets now look at the second theory. Its coming from Skinner.
In his written, Skinner stated that behaviorism or behaviorist theory of first language (L1)
becomes a crucial role in understanding the first language acquisition. Related to Chomskys
theory, Skinner proves that children can understand their first language through the gift of

stimulus. The particular stimulus delivers a habit for children to make their first language
particularly as their mother tongue.
The learning of habit can be happened through:
Imitation. It means that children copy the stimulus behavior sufficiently often, so it
becomes automatic.
Reinforcement. It means that the response of the learner is rewarded or punished
depending on situation.
To make clear Skinners proposition, we can say a part of the language acts as a stimulus to
which child makes a response. When the response is correct, it is reinforced by the hearer or
teacher through praise, reward, or approval.
To summarize my point, a child imitates language from their parents and other members of their
social group. They mentioned words or sentences from what they heard, they always repeat,
repeat, and repeat what they heard, so automatically they can speak correctly and grammatically.
Therefore, some routine or regular aspects of language might be learned through the process of
stimulus-response-reinforcement.

Third Speaker
Assalamualaikum wr. wb and good morning
In the first part of our talk, Ms. Yuli Rahmawati has told you that there are two big theories
related with this first language acquisition, first one is theory from Noam Chomsky who support
that baby is born with the ability of language and the second is from Skinner who state that baby
acquire their first language by the amount of stimuli and then become response and reinforced by
reward and punishment and at the result the language become automatic.

So, what Im going to talk you today is to give a short presentation on debate which happened
among the expert of behaviorisms and nativism an also to conclude this unanswerable
question is childrens knowledge of language is innate or learned
Ok, ladies and gentlemen
Ever since skinner published his theory about behaviorism theory. His theory has been the target
of significant controversy.
As my second speaker said at the beginning, that behaviorism believe that baby learn language
by three phases, they are stimulus and then response and reinforcement. But Noam Chomsky and
all the nativism said that behaviourist cannot explain how a child learns to produce
grammatically correct sentences which they never heard anyone to say before. Thats why, this
theory is considered fails to explain for the creativity of language use by the child, and gives
scopes for criticism which make Noam Chomsky born nativist theory.
Indeed, we as the group ten is more inclined to nativist theory with Universal Grammar, however
this universal grammar doesnt help you to know vocabulary at the first. Universal grammar also
cannot help the students to combine the sentences under extreme conditions, likes conditional
sentences, subjunctive and so on.
So, how the way??
The way is that children must learn language from hearing people speak. To construct a
language, children need the proof of language.
For instance, the word of chicken. Children will never said that its a chicken before they hear
by their self that someone ever said that it is a chicken.
What the correlation with Universal grammar??
Lets see
The word of eating is very familiar with children or baby, because its one and only routine
activity which always done by human being since they born. I believe that children often to hear

simple sentences related with the word of eating, like fathers eating, dont eat your toy and
the others.
When children look a picture like this, (picture of chickens eating)
Can u guess what the children will say?
The children will say chicken eats
The question is that how can the children know that the words of eat can be paired with chicken
so he can say that chicken eats? Anybody ever teach the children that the word eat can be paired
by any noun?? So, what make they know?
Is this magic? Or any ghost teach them ? :D
Everything is helped by universal grammar which has been planted in their brain. What is innate
in childrens knowledge of language is their subconscious knowledge of their language grammar.
Children do that unconsciously and magicly.
So, ladies and gentlement
In conclusion, we would like to emphasize that, either Skinner and Pavlovs and their follower
theories or Noam Chomsky and Jean Piaget with their follower hypothesis had tried their
theories with great argument but everything just like all theories and hypothesis, is surrounded
with uncertainty. No certain theory to answer the question.
That is the end of my presentation. Thank you for your listening
And well be glad to answer any questions