After children are born, they typically learn their first language(s) seamlessly and without any instruction or correction needed. This has prompted some to think that children are born with the necessary structures in their brains to learn language, but not everyone agrees with this view.
We have no innate language learning faculty
The Blank Slate hypothesis suggests children's brains are a blank slate at birth--they have no innate language faculty.
Children's brains are a blank slate at birth
According to this view posited by early linguists, philosophers, and behavioral psychologists, children are not born with any ingrained language knowledge.
The Innateness Hypothesis suggests children are born with the necessary structures in their brain to learn language.
Children are born knowing a Universal Grammar
The grammatical knowledge that children need to learn language is already present at birth, which explains why children do not typically need formal instruction to acquire language.
