In the Nature vs Nurture framework, which view emphasizes environment as the driver of language development?

• A. Nature
• B. Nurture
• C. Behaviorist theory
• D. Pragmatics

Answer: (B)

The main concept is that environment shapes language development. In this view, what a child is exposed to—rich linguistic input, interactions with caregivers, opportunities to practice, and responsive feedback—drives how and what they learn to say. The social world provides models, scaffolding, and real-time chances to imitate, generalize, and refine language, so development unfolds largely through experience and interaction. While there may be innate capacities that support learning, the engine of progress is the environment the child encounters.

By contrast, a focus on biology emphasizes genetic and maturational factors as the primary determinants, and a behaviorist approach would explain language learning as a process shaped by reinforcement and conditioning from the environment. Pragmatics deals with how language is used in social contexts, not as the overarching driver of language development itself.