Chomsky Flashcards
Chomsky, 1957 (Nativist Theory) (4)
- Introduced the idea of innateness.
- Suggested we are born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD), which controls the development of language.
- This allows the child to assemble a set of rules about the language as they hear it being used around them.
- Poverty of the Stimulus
Chomsky, 1957 (Nativist Theory) (4)
1. Introduced the idea of innateness.
a. The capacity and apparatus for learning language are already there when we are born.
b. Capacity for LEARNING language not language itself.
Chomsky, 1957 (Nativist Theory) (4)
2. Suggested we are born with a Language Acquisition Device (LAD), which controls the development of language.
a. He believes that the LAD must be activated quite early to work.
Chomsky, 1957 (Nativist Theory) (4)
3. This allows the child to assemble a set of rules about the language as they hear it being used around them.
a. Could explain how children can say grammatically complex phrases without having heard them before.
Chomsky, 1957 (Nativist Theory) (4)
4. Poverty of the Stimulus (2)
a. It’s not the stimulus of people around them that’s important because some children don’t get great ones but they can still talk.
b. Therefor it cannot be responsible for language learning.
Chomsky’s Linguistic Universals (universal grammar) (2)
- Linguistic universals are patterns of grammar found across all languages – for example nouns, tenses, plurals.
- Universal system of grammar rules that we inherently know without having them directly taught to us.
Chomsky’s Linguistic Universals (universal grammar) (2)
1. Linguistic universals are patterns of grammar found across all languages – for example nouns, tenses, plurals.
a. Most languages have a marker for tense. Different grammar systems but some small vague things that unite them.
Chomsky’s Linguistic Universals (universal grammar) (2)
2. Universal system of grammar rules that we inherently know without having them directly taught to us.
a. Babies hear their native language and are naturally able to understand and apply the linguistic universals – controlled by the LAD.They don’t necessarily understand the concepts but thier brains are prepared for certain grammatical features as to help construe and create meaning. (maybe? UG is a weird concept and there is a reason why he chose not to find evidence.)
Support for Chomsky (4/5)
- All children around the world go through very similar stages.
- Medical research also suggests there are specific areas in the brain to control language.
a. Chomsky himself didn’t really want to go over scientific and so didn’t look into this but others have. - Virtuous Errors, Overextension, Overgeneralisation show ability to apply rules and link objects to words.
- However, his ideas do not suggest that language will be learned whatever happens, children still need some input and interaction.
This is Elena just throwing it out there in the moment, but what argument is to be made about Halliday’s functional theory in relation to Universal Grammar (UG)?
The ability to be able to quickly and efficiently specify certain things like tense in incredibly useful. Thus it makes logical sense that because of this “need” many people would develop it. I can think of 2 sides to this argument. 1) It’s because it’s a fundamental human need that it’s everywhere. 2) Because it’s incredibly useful evolution may have made it so that human brains have it as one of their needs (as logical a process as many of the other needs Halliday proposes). Because of this it is now an innate human need and thus is reflected in pretty much all natural grammar systems.
it is very likely that this is already somewhere here, but if you wanted to be rude about him and be critical what is something specific to him that you could say?
all theoretical, he didn’t really do any research.
