Sentence First, Arguments Afterward

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lila Gleitman
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Noam Chomsky ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Developmental Psycholinguistics

This book collects the most significant papers written by Lila R. Gleitman, spanning 50 years of research on language and its acquisition. The book traces the roots of developmental psycholinguistics while presenting empirically driven arguments in favor of a rationalist theory of language acquisition. Gleitman’s work simultaneously shows how learners acquire knowledge richer than what can be found in the environment and how they use their input to acquire a specific language. The book also includes a foreword by Noam Chomsky and an introductory chapter by Jeffrey Lidz contextualizing Gleitman’s work in the transition from structuralism to mentalist architectures in linguistics.

Language Acquisition Studies and a Feasible Theory of Grammar

1989 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Logical Problem ◽  
Relative Ease ◽  
Generative Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Complete Independence ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Developmental Psycholinguistics ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
General Success

There are various ways to construe the relationship between linguistic research and studies in language development. They can range in principle from strict dependence (one domain being parasitic on the other) to complete independence. Thus, it is now commonplace to find some developmental psycholinguists turning to generative linguistics for models through which to interpret child language (Chomsky 1969; Roeper 1973, 1982; Goodluck and Solan 1978,inter alia). This is not simply a matter of descriptive convenience. Research in grammatical theory and developmental psycholinguistics has grown increasingly interconnected since Chomsky first argued (1965:27) that hypothesized grammatical models within linguistics should be justified on the basis of their relation to a theory of language which specifies the innate abilities that make language acquisition possible. Hence the claim that linguistic theory is responsible for the “logical problem of language acquisition” (Baker 1979; Hornstein and Lightfoot 1981), i.e., gross properties of learning (relative rapidity, relative ease, overall lack of variability, general success, all on the basis of restricted input).

Learning and the Evolution of Language: The Role of Cultural Variation and Learning Costs in the Baldwin Effect

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Munroe ◽  
Angelo Cangelosi
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Structural Properties ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Baldwin Effect ◽  
Evolution Of Language ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Acquisition Device ◽  
The Baldwin Effect

The Baldwin effect has been explicitly used by Pinker and Bloom as an explanation of the origins of language and the evolution of a language acquisition device. This article presents new simulations of an artificial life model for the evolution of compositional languages. It specifically addresses the role of cultural variation and of learning costs in the Baldwin effect for the evolution of language. Results show that when a high cost is associated with language learning, agents gradually assimilate in their genome some explicit features (e.g., lexical properties) of the specific language they are exposed to. When the structure of the language is allowed to vary through cultural transmission, Baldwinian processes cause, instead, the assimilation of a predisposition to learn, rather than any structural properties associated with a specific language. The analysis of the mechanisms underlying such a predisposition in terms of categorical perception supports Deacon's hypothesis regarding the Baldwinian inheritance of general underlying cognitive capabilities that serve language acquisition. This is in opposition to the thesis that argues for assimilation of structural properties needed for the specification of a full-blown language acquisition device.

Explicit and Implicit Assumptions in Noam Chomsky's Theory of Language

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Derra
Keyword(s):  
Careful Examination ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
Noam Chomsky ◽  
Theory Of Language

The author identifies selected implicit or not fully explicit assumptions made by Noam Chomsky in his theory of language. Through a careful examination of Chomsky's work, she aims to present the solutions this linguist proposes with respect to two fundamental questions: the question of methodology and the question of the ontological status of language. After reviewing the central theses of Chomsky's theory in the first part of the paper, she turns to the question that is mentioned in the title of this paper, that is, the reservations regarding the assumptions underlying Chomsky's work.

scholarly journals Heritability of Specific Language Impairment and Nonspecific Language Impairment at Ages 4 and 6 Years Across Phenotypes of Speech, Language, and Nonverbal Cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 793-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mabel L. Rice ◽  
Catherine L. Taylor ◽  
Stephen R. Zubrick ◽  
Lesa Hoffman ◽  
Kathleen K. Earnest
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Weighted Least Squares ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Language Impairments ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Causal Pathway

Purpose Early language and speech acquisition can be delayed in twin children, a twinning effect that diminishes between 4 and 6 years of age in a population-based sample. The purposes of this study were to examine how twinning effects influence the identification of children with language impairments at 4 and 6 years of age, comparing children with specific language impairment (SLI) and nonspecific language impairment (NLI); the likelihood that affectedness will be shared within monozygotic versus dizygotic twin pairs; and estimated levels of heritability for SLI and NLI. Twinning effects are predicted to result in elevated rates of language impairments in twins. Method The population-based twin sample included 1,354 children from 677 twin pairs, 214 monozygotic and 463 dizygotic, enrolled in a longitudinal study. Nine phenotypes from the same comprehensive direct behavioral assessment protocol were investigated at 4 and 6 years of age. Twinning effects were estimated for each phenotype at each age using structural equation models estimated via diagonally weighted least squares. Heritabilities were calculated for SLI and NLI. Results As predicted, the twinning effect increased the percentage of affected children in both groups across multiple language phenotypes, an effect that diminished with age yet was still not aligned to singleton age peers. Substantial heritability estimates replicated across language phenotypes and increased with age, even with the most lenient definition of affectedness, at −1 SD . Patterns of outcomes differed between SLI and NLI groups. Conclusions Nonverbal IQ is not on the same causal pathway as language impairments. Twinning effects on language acquisition affect classification of 4- and 6-year-old children as SLI and NLI, and heritability is most consistent in the SLI group. Clinical practice requires monitoring language acquisition of twins to avoid misdiagnosis when young or a missed diagnosis of language impairments at school entry.

The child's lexical representation: the ‘puzzle-puddle-pickle’ evidence

1980 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlys A. Macken
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Lexical Representation ◽  
Surface Form ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Mapping System ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Formal Properties ◽  
Phonological Change ◽  
Do So

Smith (1973) presents a detailed analysis of his son's phonological development between the ages of two and four.1 The book is impressive, not only for the care with which the analysis was done but also, and more importantly, for the clarity with which central acquisition issues were stated. The analysis of the child's productions was done in two ways: first as a mapping from the adult system and second as a self-contained system. In his introduction, Smith raises seven issues that any theory of language acquisition must address; one of these concerns the nature of phonological change. Smith states that when changes occur in the child's output, they do so in an ‘across-the-board’ fashion. On the basis of this (and other) evidence, Smith concludes that the child must have the adult surface form as his underlying lexical representation. The implication is clear: the child must thus perceive in an adult-like fashion and the deviance of his/her output is due to the articulatory difficulty of certain sounds and sound sequences (and in some cases to certain formal properties of his mapping system).

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