More recently, developmentalists have determined that both Skinner's and Chomsky's theories have some merit but are not entirely true; rather, the ease with which toddlers acquire language is due to the combination of nature and nurture within a certain social environment.

In this exercise, evaluate the following instances of language use to determine if they demonstrate the effect of nature, nurture, or the combination of nature and nurture in language development. Explain your reasons.

1. Whenever 8-month-old Juwan wants his mother, he calls out, "Mama," and she comes running. Consequently, Juwan utters "Mama" much more frequently now than he did at 7 months of age.

Position supported:

2. Even in her very first sentences, 21-month-old Melissa has obviously figured out the basics of subject-predicate word order. Seeing her mother returning from work, for example, she says, "Mommy home," rather than "home Mommy."

Position supported:

3. Seven-month-old Tara, who is deaf, has begun to babble manually at about the same time hearing infants begin babbling orally.

Position supported:

4. When Michelle was an infant, she was able to perceive differences among the spoken sounds of many languages. As she grew, her preference for hearing her native language actually influenced the development of her brain. Now a teenager, Michelle can no longer perceive certain speech sounds from languages other than her own.

Position supported: