Is language an innate module?
Is language an innate 'module'? Discuss evidence for and against the existence of a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) (as proposed by Chomsky). Child language acquisition is an area within psycholinguistics with many perspectives and theories. All humans have the capacity to acquire language, distinguishing us from other species, but the way in which children develop this complex tool is an ongoing debate that divides linguists. This essay discusses and supports the idea that children are born with the innate ability to learn a language, as proposed by Noam Chomsky in the 1950's. The theory takes a Nativist view, with the central idea that every human is born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that is built into the brain. According to Chomsky, the LAD allows children to extract the rules of Universal Grammar (UG) in that all languages have in common and then apply them to their own specific language that the people around them speak. These are the principles of UG and include word categories such as nouns, adjectives, the formation of words and sentences and syntax, of which he had a particular interest in. Chomsky states that grammar is impossible to learn, however the words included in each language are different and can only be acquired through the environment and the situations that the child is exposed to. He suggests that there are parameters within UG that can
Rules sometimes need to be broken. Which view are you in closer argument with and why? Make it argumentative and discuss your view point only.
Ahmed Abdullah 26/01/2012 Rules sometimes need to be broken. Which view are you in closer argument with and why? Make it argumentative and discuss your view point only. Rules, rules rules. Every day, we live with rules. We follow rules, we break rules. And there's a saying, "Rules are meant to be broken." Agree? I just wonder what life is without rules. Everyone would be doing crimes all over the place. One day you might just wake up and see all your stuff in your house is gone. Report to the police? There are no rules, so is there going to be police around? I guess the answer would be no. There's an old saying that rules were made to be broken. As a general rule I wouldn't agree but there are exceptions to every rule and when it comes to all the things we should and should not do which litter our lives as to what is good for us and what isn't, there's more than one 'rule' which deserves to be broken. If rules weren't broken advances would not have been made within society. Sure rules such as not killing someone make sense. But if the African Americans had not have broken the rules to achieve equality where would they be today? Rules are placed to tighten people, and yes if they weren't there, the society would be crazy, but there are so many rules today that are not fair, and for society to see it differently, we need someone to break the rules. Whether you are a
Death and how it makes life worth living
Death and how it makes life worth living Death; it's something that is feared and hardly spoken of by others. It is used to threaten and harm; or even to protect. All of us know that it's coming but no one seems to agree with it. As mysterious as it may be it's quite simple: Death is the meaning of life. If you had asked me 5 years ago what my thoughts on dying were I would probably start shivering and tell you that I really didn't want to talk about it. I used to think that death was this horrible thing that got in the way; that it was this awful journey into eternal darkness that no one could even think about once they were there because there mind would already be long gone. Now when I look back I know I was wrong. If you really think about it Death makes life living. If all of us were here on this earth for eternity what would we be doing; what would our thought be like if we knew that we had infinity amount of time to accomplish our most precious goals. I have a pretty good feeling that no one would be doing anything! The world would be saturated with people that walk aimlessly trying to figure out how what on earth there is to do. The fact that everyone alive today knows that there time is running out that makes them work so damn hard to get what they can while they're still here! The way I think of it a life without death is no life at all and that the man that is