Read and Retell.

Chapter one of Freeman begins by outlining some of the general ideas and theories behind first language acquisition. One specific theory referenced is the ever popular "behaviorist" theory based on B.F. Skinner's research, which states that children learn language like they do everything else-by observation and imitation. This theory is then contrasted with the research of Noam Chomsky, which states that human beings have an innate ability to replicate language and complex grammatical systems and that language is not learned in the way that Skinner suggested. Chomsky's theory differs from Skinner's in that while one does learn language, to some degree, like one learns everything else, the essential difference is that the human brain is hard wired to understand and replicate linguistic structures making language learning a more natural endeavor than most other learned human behaviors.

The chapter continues to describe these two theories in more depth, including a discussion of language's relationship to the brain, Chomsky's theory of generative grammar and its relevance to first language acquisition, and how this information can be used to assess first language learners.