THE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE PROPOSED BY NOAM CHOMSKY: THE PROCESS OF ACQUIRING LANGUAGE DURING EARLY CHILDHOOD

Z AMONAVIY TA'LIMDA FAN VA INNOVATSION TADQIQOTLAR http://zamtadqiqot.uz/index.php/ZTFITJ/index 3-son 17–to’plam 2025 y. 125 THE LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE PROPOSED BY NOAM CHOMSKY: THE PROCESS OF ACQUIRING LANGUAGE DURING EARLY CHILDHOOD. Gulsara Khakimova PhD.Ass.Proffessor. UzSWLU Lisa-Marie Kotze Abstract: This article explores Noam Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD) through a linguistic lens and examines its influence on early childhood language development. While Chomsky’s approach poses significant challenges to the LAD Theory, it has nevertheless spurred the creation of various alternative theories. Keywords: Language Acquisition Device (LAD), early childhood, language acquisition, linguistics, Chomsky Аннотация: В данной статье рассматривается Устройство Освоения Языка (Language Acquisition Device — LAD), предложенное Ноамом Хомским, с лингвистической точки зрения, а также его влияние на процесс овладения языком в раннем детстве. Несмотря на значительную критику, направленную в адрес теории LAD, она послужила основой для появления множества альтернативных подходов. Ключевые слова: Механизм освоения языка (LAD), раннее детство, овладение языком, лингвистика, Хомский Annotatsiya: Ushbu maqola Noam Chomskyning Tilni O‘zlashtirish Mexanizmi (Language Acquisition Device — LAD) nazariyasini lingvistik nuqtai nazardan tahlil qiladi hamda uning erta bolalik davrida tilni egallashga bo’lgan ta’sirini ko‘rib chiqadi. Garchi Chomskyning yondashuvi LAD nazariyasiga nisbatan sezilarli tanqidlarni yuzaga keltirgan bo‘lsa-da, bu nazariya turli muqobil qarashlarning shakllanishiga turtki bo‘lgan. Z AMONAVIY TA'LIMDA FAN VA INNOVATSION TADQIQOTLAR http://zamtadqiqot.uz/index.php/ZTFITJ/index 3-son 17–to’plam 2025 y. 126 Kalit so‘zlar: Tilni o‘zlashtirish mexanizmi (LAD), erta bolalik, tilni egallash, lingvistika, Chomsky Introduction: Noam Chomsky, whom some have labelled as the ‘father of modern linguistics, invented the concept of the LAD as part of a challenge to behaviourist theories of how we pick up language. He suggested that LAD is a built-in feature in the human brain that enables children to acquire a language quickly. Linguists have long been fascinated by first language acquisition. Although technology has evolved, giving us a better understanding of the process, it has not made it any easier. If anything, it becomes more elaborate. What is certain, however, is that the human brain plays an enormous part, and everybody learns a language in their own way and on their own time, even if they are following the same rough outline. This article seeks to delve deeper into the LAD and explore its role in children learning languages. Literature Review: Learning a language is a fascinating linguistics and cognitive science topic! One of the most influential theories in this area is the concept of a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) proposed by Noam Chomsky. He argued that humans are naturally equipped to learn languages, suggesting that children possess a universal ‘translanguage capacity’—an innate cognitive framework that helps them navigate their linguistic surroundings and reproduce patterns with remarkable skill. Subsequent studies have built on this idea, exploring how this natural talent interacts with other parts of the language learning system. Here, we review significant contributions to Chomsky's LAD theory and the child’s journey in acquiring language, alongside evidence that both supports and challenges this concept. Analysis and Results: In Chomsky’s perspective, there is an inherent mechanism in the human brain dedicated to language acquisition (Chomsky, 1965). It is proposed as universal, meaning any child can learn their language, no matter the linguistic sounds they are exposed to. He also introduced the idea of Universal Grammar (UG), suggesting that Z AMONAVIY TA'LIMDA FAN VA INNOVATSION TADQIQOTLAR http://zamtadqiqot.uz/index.php/ZTFITJ/index 3-son 17–to’plam 2025 y. 127 all languages share a common structural foundation. He states that children learn by observing, imitating, and practising within social contexts, developing their understanding of grammar and syntax from these interactions. Language Acquisition Device (LAD)has five main phases of language acquisition, highlighting how Chomsky’s theoretical framework facilitates language acquisition across the developmental stages. These five stages include the Pre-linguistic Stage, the One-Word (Holophrastic) Stage, the Two-Word Stage, the Telegraphic Stage and the Later Multiword Stage (Study.com, n.d.). This article used theoretical research to analyse Chomsky's existing theories and critiques of them. A thorough literature review was done on the referenced work to show the role of LAD during the language acquisition phase. The analysis compares language acquisition between monolingual and bilingual children using the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Bilingual studies, such as those by Genesee (2004), demonstrate the remarkable adaptability of language acquisition, even under challenging circumstances. Bilingual children raised from birth in two languages acquire both effortlessly, demonstrating that language development processes can thrive in diverse situations. This perspective challenges the notion of innate languageacquisition mechanisms, instead emphasising the importance of learning and interaction in language acquisition. The pre-linguistic stage occurs from birth until about 12 months. In this phase, monolingual and bilingual infants communicate through cooing, babbling, and reacting to sounds around them. Although they are not forming meaningful words, they are attuned to the phonological characteristics of all human languages. Over time, their perception narrows to the sound they hear the most (Kuhl et al., 2006). Monolingual infants will narrow their auditory system to a single language. In contrast, bilingual infants’ LAD supports dual phonological systems, allowing the child to maintain sensitivity to a broader range of sounds (Byers-Heinlein & Werker, 2009). This shows Lad's flexibility when processing multiple languages. Z AMONAVIY TA'LIMDA FAN VA INNOVATSION TADQIQOTLAR http://zamtadqiqot.uz/index.php/ZTFITJ/index 3-son 17–to’plam 2025 y. 128 Between 12 and 18 months, children enter the one-word or holophrastic stage. At this point, single words convey their thoughts or desires; for instance, saying "juice" may mean “I want juice." LAD connects sounds to meanings, a process known as lexical mapping. This stage highlights the child’s growing vocabulary control and developing cognitive skills that aid in representing objects and symbolic actions (Lightbown & Spada, 2013). Monolingual children show faster vocabulary development in their single language. According to Pearson et al. (1993), Bilingual children typically divide their vocabulary between their two languages, resulting in a smaller vocabulary in each language. However, their total vocabulary size is comparable to that of the monolingual children. Bilingual children demonstrate the ability to associate words in different languages, such as “dog” and “perro”, within the same context, without confusion, and can thus handle multiple lexical mappings (Clark, 2009). Conclusion: This progression of learning language, from babbling to stringing together complex sentences, is consistent in all cultures. The LAD is an aid in both monolingual and bilingual acquisition, in different ways. Monolinguals experience one set of influences, while bilinguals manage two intersecting systems. The LAD’s flexibility facilitates first language learning in diverse environments. This variation serves as an informative tool that helps to better understand the cognitive and neural flexibility of early language development. It demonstrates the roles that natural factors play in communication. As soon as one language is spoken more than the other, the child will move toward the language spoken more often. References: Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition. Cambridge University Press. Z AMONAVIY TA'LIMDA FAN VA INNOVATSION TADQIQOTLAR http://zamtadqiqot.uz/index.php/ZTFITJ/index 3-son 17–to’plam 2025 y. 129 Clark, E. V. (2009). First language acquisition (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Fodor, J. A. (1983). The modularity of mind: An essay on faculty psychology. MIT Press. Genesee, F. (2004). What do we know about bilingual education for majoritylanguage students? In T. K. Bhatia & W. C. Ritchie (Eds.), The handbook of bilingualism (pp. 547–576). Blackwell. Kuhl, P. K., Tsao, F.-M., & Liu, H.-M. (2006). Language perception in infancy: A foundation for language learning. In R. V. Kail (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 31, pp. 1–44). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2407(06)80001-5 Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2013). How languages are learned (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.