ESL Term:

Innatism

Back to ESL Resources | Back to Glossary

innatism: This is the theoretical view that children have an innate knowledge of the structures of language. Children are born with a knowledge of Universal Grammar (or as called by Krashen a  language acquisition device) that gives them access to the universal principles of human language.  It is because of this innate knowledge that children can learn a complex language with relatively little input. Innatism can be contrasted with interactionism, a theory where meaningful interaction along with innate knowledge combine to make language acquisition possible.