Child Langua
·
, Innateness
QUESTION
E
Innateness (also known as Nativism): the idea that at least some
knowledge about language exists in humans at birth; a built-in capacity
for language development.
Innateness Challenge
○ The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is an abstract concept and lacks
adequate scientific support
○ The theory is heavily based on the learner’s linguistic competence,
which is again an abstract phenomenon
○ The theory places more emphasis on the linguistic competence of adult
native speakers, but not enough on the developmental aspects of language
acquisition
Children develop syntactic rules without explicit instruction.
ANSWER
, Innateness
• LAD
• Virtuous Errors
• Universal Grammar
• Cruttenden
QUESTION
Language Acquisition Device (Chomsky): instinctive mental capacity
enabling acquisition and production of speech
Virtuous errors : over application of grammatical/morphological rules that
demonstrate an understanding of the grammatical/morphological system
Universal Grammar (Chomsky): set of principles upon which all languages
build
Brown’s (1973) finding that children acquire the same morphemes at the
same stage of development
Children apply morphological rules creatively: -Overgeneralisation
(Cruttenden, 1979) of rules- parallel with virtuous errors
ANSWER
·
, Innateness
QUESTION
E
Innateness (also known as Nativism): the idea that at least some
knowledge about language exists in humans at birth; a built-in capacity
for language development.
Innateness Challenge
○ The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is an abstract concept and lacks
adequate scientific support
○ The theory is heavily based on the learner’s linguistic competence,
which is again an abstract phenomenon
○ The theory places more emphasis on the linguistic competence of adult
native speakers, but not enough on the developmental aspects of language
acquisition
Children develop syntactic rules without explicit instruction.
ANSWER
, Innateness
• LAD
• Virtuous Errors
• Universal Grammar
• Cruttenden
QUESTION
Language Acquisition Device (Chomsky): instinctive mental capacity
enabling acquisition and production of speech
Virtuous errors : over application of grammatical/morphological rules that
demonstrate an understanding of the grammatical/morphological system
Universal Grammar (Chomsky): set of principles upon which all languages
build
Brown’s (1973) finding that children acquire the same morphemes at the
same stage of development
Children apply morphological rules creatively: -Overgeneralisation
(Cruttenden, 1979) of rules- parallel with virtuous errors
ANSWER
