Behaviorist approaches to language learning, grounded in the work of B. F.Skinner, have dominated the field of second language learning since the 1960s.Behaviorism defines language learning as learning rules for combining words, phrases,and sentences through formation of new verbal habits. From this perspective, accuracyis the goal of language instruction and the criteria for measuring learning outcomes.The method for achieving this goal is drilling and practicing vocabulary words,sentence patterns, and rhetorical structures. Teachers are expected to correct learners’errors and use reward systems such as praise, grades, and other tokens to reinforce theuse of accurate forms.
     Noam Chomsky rejected Skinner’s behaviorist conception of language andlanguage learning, arguing that acquiring a language cannot be reduced to learningnew verbal habits based on rote memorization. As evidence, he highlighted examplesof young children producing utterances that are not mere imitations of adult speech(e.g., “I eated an apple”). Based on such observations, Chomsky argued that children’sminds are not blank slates to be filled by imitating language as the behaviorist viewheld. Rather, children are born with an innate capacity to acquire language. Using themetaphor of a language acquisition device, he proposed that humans haveevolutionarily developed a distinct form of cognition to process language in ways thatare akin to the way computers process data. This form of cognition enables humans toprocess linguistic input, formulate linguistic output, and tacitly generate the rules for aspecific language on their own.
     Chomsky’s perspective of language gave rise to second language instruction thatencouraged teachers to design lessons to support students in acquiring languagenaturally through playing games, singing songs, reading for pleasure, and free writing.Instruction on grammatical rules is minimized, with the assumption that learners willpick up the rules themselves as they participate in a range of classroom activities.
36. Where would this passage most likely be found?
(A) In a newspaper
(B) In a graduate textbook
(C) In a speech
(D) In a magazine