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Language Universals

Language Universals. Theories of first language acquisition. How do children learn their first language?. We are not born speaking! Language must be acquired. Learning vs. acquisition If we think of all that is entailed in knowing a language, it seems quite a challenge.

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Language Universals

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  1. Language Universals Theories of first language acquisition

  2. How do children learn their first language? • We are not born speaking! • Language must be acquired. • Learning vs. acquisition • If we think of all that is entailed in knowing a language, it seems quite a challenge.

  3. Chomsky and language learning • Children do not learn a new language but naturally acquire it through an innate language device. Learning vs. acquisition • Language is an innate faculty • We are born with a Language acquisition device (LAD) • A set of language learning (acquisition) tools • All humans have a universal grammar (UG)

  4. Language Universals • What evidence is there for innate knowledge of certain basic language features present in all human languages? • LINGUISTIC UNIVERSALS > UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR • All languages have: • A grammar • Basic word order • Nouns and verbs • Subjects and objects • Consonants and vowels

  5. Origins of UG theory • Most languages have a similar word order structure. • SVO = The teacher gave a lecture • 75% of the world languages use either SVO or SOV. • OSV very rare: Yoda (star Wars) Strong with the force you are

  6. “Universal Grammar” • Humans then learn to specialize this “universal grammar” (UG) for the particulars of their language. • Word order, syntactic rule preferences • Phonetic and phonological constraints • Lexicon • Semantic interpretations • Pragmatic ways to converse

  7. The “Wug” test

  8. Innateness of language? • Evidence for innateness of language? • The biologist Eric Lenneberg defined a list of characteristics that are typical of innate (pre-programmed) behaviors in animals.

  9. Innate behaviors . . . • Maturationally controlled, emerging before they are critically needed • Do not appear as the result of a conscious decision. • Do not appear due to a trigger from external events. • Are relatively unaffected by direct teaching and intensive practice. • Follow a regular sequence of “milestones” in their development. • Generally observe a critical period for their acquisition

  10. 1. Emerge before necessary, cannot be forced before scheduled • When is language necessary? • When do children usually begin speaking/using language coherently? Is this criterion met?

  11. 2. Are not conscious • Does a child decide to consciously pursue certain skills? (e.g., walking) • Do babies make a conscious decision to start learning a language? • Is this criterion met?

  12. 3. Are not triggered • What would prompt a child to take up football? • What would prompt a child to begin speaking? • Is this criterion met?

  13. 4. Cannot be taught • We CAN teach prescriptive rules of language. But we’re not talking about that here. • We correct children’s errors sometimes. Does it help? • ‘”Yesterday I goed to my friend’s house’ • In fact, “coaching” seems to hurt rather than help language ability in children. • Is this criterion met?

  14. 5. Follow milestones • In spite of different backgrounds, different locations, and different upbringings, most children follow the very same milestones in acquiring language. • Is this criterion met?

  15. 6. Observe a critical period What is a critical period? • For first language acquisition, there seems to be a critical period of the first five years, during which children must be exposed to rich input. There is also a period, from about 10-16 years, when acquisition is possible, but not native-like. • For SLA, the issue is more complicated… More on that later. • Is this criterion met?

  16. The Critical Period Hypothesis • CPH: Proposed by Lenneberg • This hypothesis states that there is only a small window of time for a first language to be natively acquired. • If a child is denied language input, she will not acquire language • Genie: a girl discovered at age 13 who had not acquired her first language

  17. Location of LAD • If humans do have an LAD, it must be located somewhere physically… (Chomsky denies that it can be physically found in the body)

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