Chinese pronominals in universal grammar: A study of linear precedence and command in Chinese and English children's first language acquisition

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Lust ◽  
Yu-Chin Chien ◽  
Chi-Pang Chiang ◽  
Julie Eisele
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Chinese And English

scholarly journals First language acquisition of French grammar (from 10 months to 4 years old) Introduction

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
MARTINE SEKALI
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Psychological Development ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Grammatical Development ◽  
Parental Input ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
French Grammar ◽  
Innate Ability

How do French children acquire the grammatical system of their native language so easily? Many hypotheses have been put forward and experimentally tested to solve this mystery. Generative theories argue that grammar is a universal and innate ability ready to be instantiated after birth. Within this framework, grammatical development is seen as a process whereby universal grammar gradually settles into the language-specific structures of the linguistic input that children receive in the first years of life. In the last decades however, many researchers of child language development have suggested other explanations. Current functional-cognitive research (cf. Langacker, 1988, 2000; Bybee, 1995, 2002; Elman et al., 1996; Tomasello, 2003; Diessel, 2004), proposes a usage-based approach to first language acquisition, where grammar is shaped by usage, and linguistic constructions are taken from parental input and gradually generalised by the child. Usage-based theories thus consider grammatical development as a dynamic process which emerges and evolves, in parallel with cognitive and psychological development, through the use of symbolic patterns which consolidate into grammatical constructions.

Grammatical theory and L2 acquisition: a brief overview

1986 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Rutherford
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Parameter Setting ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Language Research ◽  
The Relationship

This paper reviews studies reported in the literature over the last few years having to do with grammatical acquisition and particular theoretical approaches aimed at explaining this aspect of second language research. Various attempts to involve the parameter-setting model of Universal Grammar are contrasted with other approaches invoking the Greenbergian tradition of research on universals. The issues discussed include, amongst other things, the need to explain fossilization and the nature of the relationship between second and first language acquisition.

scholarly journals Universal Grammar: Arguments for its Existence

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Jameela Hanoon Umarlebbe ◽  
Seriaznita Binti Mat Said
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Reasonable Explanation

The first part of this paper discusses the rationale for universal grammar (UG) theory to explain first language acquisition. It also illustrates the issues of language acquisition Chomsky argued which could not be supported by behaviourist theories and shows how Chomsky proposed a solution to this problem through his theoretical model of universal grammar. The next part outlines this theory’s key tenets, arguing that these principles must be an innate endowment of the human mind. Moreover, the study illustrates specific examples of grammatical phenomena that universal grammar seeks to explain. Lastly, it shows that certain distinct grammatical features are linked and that these connections can be explained within the Universal Grammar theoretical framework. The only reasonable explanation for the first language learning needs only limited linguistic exposure to activate them and set criteria for the language being learned for children whose minds have already been wired with essential language concepts.

scholarly journals The Unifying Theory of Bootstrapping: The Collaboration of Multiple Language Acquisition Mechanisms

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. p16
Author(s):  
Zequn Harry Song
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Definitive Evidence ◽  
Syntactic Bootstrapping

Scientists have long been exploring the possibility of Universal Grammar (UG), a linguistic gene that engenders our language acquisition process. What UG may comprise is debated: if semantics is innate, or syntax, or some other linguistic aspects. Moreover, no definitive evidence has surfaced to attest to its existence. Therefore, a first-language acquisition process without the prerequisite of UG is called for. In this paper, we tear apart the incompatibilities among different language acquisition hypotheses and combine them into a theory in which language learning does not require UG. We contend that a unification of the current hypotheses (i.e., pragmatic, prosodic, semantic, and syntactic bootstrapping) is substantial for first-language acquisition, and that scientists should be wary of oversimplifying matters with UG.

Directions of influence in first and second language acquisition research

1993 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan H. Foster-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Learner Strategies

This article explores ways in which studies in second language acquisition (SLA) research can illuminate first language acquisition research. The discussion revolves around the issues of learner strategies, individual variation, the acquisition of late learned structures, bilingualism, the role of Universal Grammar (UG) and the fate of obsolete knowledge in acquisition. It is argued that second language research in these (and other) areas can provide fresh insights into familiar problems and raise issues not commonly given consideration in first language acquisition studies.

Infant-Directed Speech Effects in Adult Artificial Grammar Learning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krisztina Sára Lukics ◽  
Ágnes Lukács
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Artificial Grammar ◽  
Combined Effect ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Grammar Learning ◽  
Learning Rates

First language acquisition is facilitated by several characteristics of infant-directed speech, but we know little about their relative contribution to learning different aspects of language. We investigated infant-directed speech effects on the acquisition of a linear artificial grammar in two experiments. We examined the effect of incremental presentation of strings (starting small) and prosody (comparing monotonous, arbitrary and phrase prosody). Presenting shorter strings before longer ones led to higher learning rates compared to random presentation. Prosody marking phrases had a similar effect, yet, prosody without marking syntactic units did not facilitate learning. These studies were the first to test the starting small effect with a linear artificial grammar, and also the first to investigate the combined effect of starting small and prosody. Our results suggest that starting small and prosody facilitate the extraction of regularities from artificial linguistic stimuli, indicating they may play an important role in natural language acquisition.

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