Simon showed grammatical mastery for the rules of American Sign Language, even though his teachers (his parents and their friends) did not. This lends support for the idea that
A) there is no sensitive period for learning language.
B) ASL cannot be taught to children after the age of 9.
C) the tendency to acquire language is inborn.
D) a child can learn grammatically incorrect ASL, even if the parents model correct usage.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Simon's ability to master the grammatical rules of American Sign Language (ASL) despite his teachers (his parents and their friends) not showing the same level of mastery suggests that the capacity to acquire language is innate. This indicates that children have an inborn ability to learn language, even in the absence of perfect models.

Simon Showed Grammatical Mastery for the Rules of American Sign