Ling3-225

Second Language Acquisition

Lecture 2
Innatism (Chomsky 1959 etc.)

 Children are born with a special ability to

discover for themselves the underlying rules
of a language system. This special ability is
the language acquisition device (LAD).
 The LAD contains principles that hold for all
languages: the Universal Grammar principles.
 Environmental differences may be associated
with some variation in the rate of L1A.
The ‘poverty of the
stimulus’ argument
Children learn language from data
(the stimulus)

This data is deficient in various ways

(the poverty of the stimulus)

This is ‘the logical problem of

language acquisition’
The logical problem of
language acquisition
 The language the child is exposed to is
full of confusing information and does not
provide all the information which the child
needs.
 Children are not systematically corrected
or instructed on language by parents.
 When parents correct, they tend to focus
on meaning rather than form, and
children often ignore the correction.
Universal Grammar
Principles
 They prevent the child from making
wrong hypotheses about how
language systems might work.
An example

 How can one tell how questions are

formed in English? (e.g. an alien).

???
Let’s imagine the alien
hears, e.g.
 He is here and then Is he here?
 John can swim and then Can John swim?
 They will go and then Will they go?

1-2-3  2-1-3 ???

But it doesn’t work like this!

1 The (tall, handsome) man is Italian.

2 Is the (tall, handsome) man Italian?
3 The man who is tall is in the room.
4 *Is the man who tall is in the room?
5 Is the man who is tall in the room?

English children generally do not

produce sentences like 4. Why?
 The Structure-
Dependence Principle
 The element to be moved must have a
particular structural role in the
sentence, not simply be in a particular
place in its linear order.

The man [who is tall] is in the room.

 Innatism (Chomsky)
An autonomous module for language
acquisition

Language Language
Linguistic
Acquisition Acquisition
input
Device
 All other language
Acquisition theories
No autonomous module for language
acquisition

Linguistic General Language

input
Cognitive Acquisition
abilities
Some of the evidence for
Chomsky’s innatist position:
1. Virtually all children successfully learn language
at a time in life when they would not be
expected to learn anything else so complicated.
2. The language children are exposed to does not
contain examples of all linguistic rules and
patterns.
3. Animals cannot learn a symbol system as
complicated as the natural language of a 3- or
4-year-old child.
4. Children acquire grammar without explicit
instruction.
Innatism: It’s all in your mind

 The biological basis for the innatist

position:
– The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) –
Lenneberg: There is a specific and
limited time period (i.e., “critical period”)
for the LAD to work successfully.
Innatism: It’s all in your mind
– Three case studies of abnormal language
development - evidence of the CPH
1. Victor – a boy of about 12 years old (1799)
2. Genie – a girl of 13 years old (1970)
3. Deaf signers (native signers, early learners,
vs. late learners)
 Innatism: It’s all in your mind

 Summary of Innatism:

– Review all the important terms related to the

innatist position – LAD, UG, and CPH.
 The Interactionist Position
(Piaget)
 Language develops as a result of the complex
interplay between the human innate capacities
and the linguistic environment.
 Language acquisition is similar to and
influenced by the acquisition of other kinds of
skill and knowledge. It does not require a
separate module of the mind.
 Importance of child-directed speech
(modified language interaction)
The Interactionist Position:
Importance of child-directed Speech
– One-to-one interaction gives children access
to language adjusted to their level of
comprehension.
– slower rate, higher pitch, more varied
intonation, shorter, simpler sentences,
frequent repetition and paraphrase.
– Limited conversation topics: e.g., the ‘hear
and now’, topics related to the child’s
experiences.
Reading

 Coursebook, Chapter 1