As an elementary schoolteacher with mainstreamed ESL students, trying to understand how the ESL students acquire the language can become frustrating. By recognizing that having some basic background knowledge of linguist research and hypotheses will aid you in your lesson plan development, your teacher-student relationships as well as teacher-parent relationships.

In the field of linguistics or the study of language, there are many hypotheses that suggest how language acquisition occurs in humans. In Steven Pinker�s book, The Language Instinct, he supports the theory that language is innate. He discuses the innateness of language that all humans are prewired to acquire language whether it is English, Thai, Japanese, or Spanish. This "prewiring" is known as Universal Grammar that we acquire language through no formal instruction in the early years of life. This hypothesis supports that every language will comply with Universal Grammar.

Another hypothesis of language acquisition is the Critical Age Hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that language acquisition occur before puberty at an easier and faster rate. After puberty, the rate of language acquisition declines significantly; thus, making acquiring a language fully very difficult.

These are only two of many hypotheses concerning language acquisition in their most concise forms. For further information, please click on the keywords within the text.