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Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, political activist, and social critic.

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Chomsky observed similarities and differences among languages that were not quite as straight forward as linguistics had previously thought. There are a number of aspects common to all languages across the world, and called these commonalities, language universals. (Horwitz 2013)

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Chomsky proposed a revolutionary idea that we are all born with an innate knowledge of grammar that serves as the basis for all language acquisition.
- In other words: Language is a basic instinct.

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Maybe babies cannot completely understand what is being said to them but they have a natural ability to understand the sound of human voice and to discriminate between parts of language.
-Example: A baby can tell the difference between "mom" and "mop" for instance without actually knowing what they mean

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By Chomsky, in the 1980's and 90's, the Universal Grammar Theory emerged. The theory is a "Second language acquisition theory based on Chomsky's linguistic theory of language universals and marked features. In learning a new language, students must reset the parameters of their L1 to achieve the features of the new language." (Horwitz 2013)

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Features that are more consistent with language universals are referred to as unmarked, while those that differ from the universal are called marked. According to the Universal Grammar Theory, differences between the marked features in the learner's first and second languages as well as the degree of markedness (distance from the universal) could cause language learning difficulties. (Horwitz 2013)

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The perspective that the human brain contains language universals which direct the acquisition of language. This position contrasts with the behavioral view that all aspects of language are learned through practice and reinforcement. (Horwitz 2013)

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The human capacity for learning a first language. According to the view, all babies are born with the same language universals hardwired in their brains. Scholars differ as to whether and to what extent the LAD is available to second language learner. (Horwitz 2013)

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A child's brain selects the form of each universal feature (parameter) that corresponds to his or her L1 group. In the Universal Grammar Theory, second language learners reset their L1 parameters to those of the new language. (Horwitz 2013)

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The idea that babies are born with the ability to learn language but that their innate language learning ability either decreases or is lost at a certain point or points in human development. (Horwitz 2013)

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-Elaine Kolker Horwitz (2013). Becoming a Language Teacher: A Practical Guide to Second Language Learning and Teaching. (2nd Edition), New York City, New York: Pearson Education Inc.

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If you would like to get some more information on Chomsky's theory, watch this video

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Noam Chomsky's Language Theory: Best explanation you will ever hear (UGC NET English)