Analysis:
While each side proposes an interesting idea about language development, there is no concrete decision yet. It is a topic that has been debated over time, but I am not sure it will ever be solved. Both sides seem to hold a certain amount of truth.
On Chomsky's side of the debate, it has been shown over time that there is a delicate window of time in which the human brain is able to learn certain languages. For example, there are specific sounds in the Japanese language that English speakers cannot make purely because that window of time has closed. There brains have pruned out the the neurons that gave them the ability to make those sounds because as English was being learned, those sounds were not being used and they were cut after time.
While Skinner has some understandable facts himself. The behaviorist theory does show that positive and negative reinforcements affect the human brain, but there has to be an item of desire. For example, if the teacher rewards good behavior or correct answers with a piece of chocolate, this theory will only work for students who like chocolate. If they do not, then this positive reinforcement no longer intrigues them. This goes the same with negative reinforcements,. If a student would rather be in detention after school to avoid their home life, then punishing them in this way is not going to result in the desired behavior. Unfortunately, this cannot be as easily observed in an infant as it can be with grade school students.
While each side proposes an interesting idea about language development, there is no concrete decision yet. It is a topic that has been debated over time, but I am not sure it will ever be solved. Both sides seem to hold a certain amount of truth.
On Chomsky's side of the debate, it has been shown over time that there is a delicate window of time in which the human brain is able to learn certain languages. For example, there are specific sounds in the Japanese language that English speakers cannot make purely because that window of time has closed. There brains have pruned out the the neurons that gave them the ability to make those sounds because as English was being learned, those sounds were not being used and they were cut after time.
While Skinner has some understandable facts himself. The behaviorist theory does show that positive and negative reinforcements affect the human brain, but there has to be an item of desire. For example, if the teacher rewards good behavior or correct answers with a piece of chocolate, this theory will only work for students who like chocolate. If they do not, then this positive reinforcement no longer intrigues them. This goes the same with negative reinforcements,. If a student would rather be in detention after school to avoid their home life, then punishing them in this way is not going to result in the desired behavior. Unfortunately, this cannot be as easily observed in an infant as it can be with grade school students.