By Owolabi, Ayodele Oluwarotimi
“The Lad’s LAD”? Well, an attribute and phase of the language learning and development.
Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, desires and emotions through a system of voluntarily produced symbols (Edward Sapir, 1921).
The acquisition of language which is a part of the first stage of the human development or growth occurs during childhood with the aid of a “LAD”.
A “LAD” ? Yes! LAD – Language Acquisition Device, which is a hypothetical construct representing an innate mental mechanism that allows children to acquire language rapidly and effortlessly (Chomsky, 1965).
An attribute of a functional society is language as no society would function effectively without a means of communication, which could be either a spoken or sign language. The existence of the society and language plays a great role in the functionality of the human life. The society plays a great role in language transmission as the acquisition of a language for a child happens without any formal training on its usage . A child acquires a language by mimicking and using the vocabulary of the language spoken in his or her immediate environment and gradually develops into using the world effectively and therefore, being able to use the language to communicate effectively. This is possible because of the existence of the innate language acquisition device( LAD).
The first language acquired by a child at times is not necessarily the native language of the child’s parents which is a possible occurrence if the language spoken around the child differ from the parents’ native language. For instance, a Yoruba child born into the Igbo society might not necessarily acquire a Yoruba as a first language if the Yoruba language isn’t the language used in the home of the parents. Such a child might acquire the Igbo language, English language or creole, depending on the dominant language used in the home and immediate society. The child’s language acquisition begins with the speech development which starts with unclear or stuttered pronunciations of the morphemes of the language.
This develops gradually till the child is able to pronounce and use the words to form sentences and communicate effectively.
The “Lad’s LAD” therefore, is the innate device of a child that allows him acquire a language without any training. It is the ability of a child to learn language through an inborn mechanism, enabling them to acquire the language used in the immediate environment, as a child is born tabula rasa and not with a specific language knowledge. Language,therefore, is an important part of the human existence, but it is societally transmitted , not something we are born with!
-Owolabi, Ayodele Oluwarotimi.
