scholarly journals Language acquisition and the minimalist program: a new way out

2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth E. Vasconcellos LOPES
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Computational System ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
The Asymmetry ◽  
Syntactic Relation ◽  
Conceptual Necessity

Our aim in this paper is to show that Chomsky's Minimalist Program brings in a new way to conceive the Language Faculty and, thus, the Universal Grammar as well. Therefore, it opens up a whole range of possibilities for the language acquisition field. Explanations have to be motivated by virtual conceptual necessity: either through bare output conditions imposed by the interfaces, or through economy conditions of the computational system. Our point is that it should work likewise for language acquisition. If economy conditions play a role in the Language Faculty, then they must be important for the language acquisition process. If interface levels are essential for the Language Faculty, then they must play a role in the acquisition process as well. In order to pinpoint such issues we will discuss some evidence from the asymmetry between the child's initial production of subject and object in different languages. Our guiding hypothesis is that the basic syntactic relation that is privileged by the child acquiring a language is c-command.

scholarly journals Chomsky's Contribution to Linguistics: A Review

2018 ◽  
Vol I (I) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Sonia Touqir ◽  
Amna Mushtaq ◽  
Touqir Nasir
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Principles And Parameters

This review seeks to highlight Chomsky's major contributions to the field of linguistics. He changed linguists' conception about the nature of language from an externalized to internalized approach. This shift also resulted in the language being thought of as a cognitive phenomenon rather than as a set of structures to be analyzed for their correctness or incorrectness to prove his stance introduced the concept of language faculty, its workings, Universal Grammar, Principles and Parameters, and Transformational and Generative Grammar. The TGG also significantly overhauled the existent phrase structure rules. These rules were brought to follow binarity principles that dictated that a node cannot have less than or more than two branches. Besides the concept of Universal Grammar, along with its principles and parameters, Chomsky simplified how the language acquisition process can be understood: instead of learning hundreds of rules, the human mind has to install a handful of principles and parameters.

Derivational Economy in Syntax and Semantics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Željko Bošković ◽  
Troy Messick
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Efficient Design ◽  
Computationally Efficient ◽  
Computational System ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Generative Theory ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Syntactic Dependencies

Economy considerations have always played an important role in the generative theory of grammar. They are particularly prominent in the most recent instantiation of this approach, the Minimalist Program, which explores the possibility that Universal Grammar is an optimal way of satisfying requirements that are imposed on the language faculty by the external systems that interface with the language faculty which is also characterized by optimal, computationally efficient design. In this respect, the operations of the computational system that produce linguistic expressions must be optimal in that they must satisfy general considerations of simplicity and efficient design. Simply put, the guiding principles here are (a) do something only if you need to and (b) if you do need to, do it in the most economical/efficient way. These considerations ban superfluous steps in derivations and superfluous symbols in representations. Under economy guidelines, movement takes place only when there is a need for it (with both syntactic and semantic considerations playing a role here), and when it does take place, it takes place in the most economical way: it is as short as possible and carries as little material as possible. Furthermore, economy is evaluated locally, on the basis of immediately available structure. The locality of syntactic dependencies is also enforced by minimal search and by limiting the number of syntactic objects and the amount of structure accessible in the derivation. This is achieved by transferring parts of syntactic structure to the interfaces during the derivation, the transferred parts not being accessible for further syntactic operations.

Universal Grammar Theory and Language Acquisition: Evidence from the Null Subject Parameter

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Naif Alsaedi
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Generative Linguistics ◽  
Empty Categories ◽  
Null Subject Parameter

This article introduces the Universal-Grammar-based (UG) theory of language acquisition. It focuses on parameters, both as a theoretical construct and in relation to first-language acquisition (L1A). The null subject parameter is used to illustrate how languages vary and explain how a child’s grammar develops into adult grammar over time. The article is structured as follows: the first section outlines crucial ideas that are relevant to language acquisition in generative linguistics, such as the notions of competence, performance, critical period, and language faculty. Section two introduces and discusses the content of language faculty from the perspectives of the Principles and Parameters Theory and the Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory. This section also briefly describes the contrast among languages in regard to whether or not they allow empty categories in subject position in finite clauses. The third section first discusses how children are hypothesised to acquire their native language (L1). Then, in light of findings from the early null subject phenomenon, this section empirically examines the content of grammars that are developed by children at various developmental stages until they acquire the appropriate value for the null subject parameter. The final section highlights the important role of UG theory to L1A.

FUNDAMENTAL AND GRADIENT DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Herschensohn
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Generative Theory ◽  
The Difference

This article reexamines Bley-Vroman’s original (1990) and evolved (this issue) fundamental difference hypothesis that argues that differences in path and endstate of first language acquisition and adult foreign language learning result from differences in the acquisition procedure (i.e., language faculty and cognitive strategies, respectively). The evolved assessment of the theoretical and empirical developments of the past 20 years is taken into account with respect to Universal Grammar and parameters in generative theory and with respect to cognition and acquisition in data processing. This article supports the spirit of Bley-Vroman’s proposals in light of the discussion of three topics: pathway of acquisition, endstate age of acquisition effects, and language processing by monolinguals and bilinguals. I argue that the difference between child and adult language acquisition is, above all, quantitative not qualitative, a gradient continuum rather than a precipitous break.

Second Language Acquisition and Syntactic Theory in the 21st Century

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 248-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juana M. Liceras
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Syntactic Theory ◽  
Syntactic Properties

Syntactic theory has played a role in second language acquisition (SLA) research since the early 1980s, when the principles and parameters model of generative grammar was implemented. However, it was the so-called functional parameterization hypothesis together with the debate on whether second language learners activated new features or switched their value that led to detailed and in-depth analyses of the syntactic properties of many different nonnative grammars. In the last 10 years, with the minimalist program as background, these analyses have diverted more and more from looking at those syntactic properties that argued for or against the various versions of the UG-access versus non-UG-access debate (UG for Universal Grammar) and have more recently delved into the status of nonnative grammars in the cognitive science field. Thus, using features (i.e., gender, case, verb, and determiner) as the basic units and paying special attention to the quality of input as well as to processing principles and constraints, nonnative grammars have been compared to the language contact paradigms that underlie subsequent bilingualism, child SLA, creole formation, and diachronic change. Taking Chomsky's I-language/E-language construct as the framework, this article provides a review of these recent developments in SLA research.

scholarly journals Is There a "Logical Problem" of Second Language Acquisition?

1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia White
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Input Data ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Logical Problem ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Generative Theory ◽  
Complex Knowledge

Arguments for universal grammar (DO) in generative theory are based on the so called "logical problem of language acquisition." The nature of the problem becomes apparent when we consider the end product of the acquisition process and compare this to the input data, which do not seem sufficiently rich or precise to allow the learner to work out all the complexities of the adult grammar, unless one assumes the availability of certain innate principles (DO). In this paper, I will suggest that this orientation is also useful when one comes to consider second language acquisition. If we focus on the successful second language (L2) learner, it would appear that he or she will also achieve complex knowledge of the L2 which goes well beyond the input. This suggests that DO might have a role to play in L2 acquisition as well, and raises the question of whether the way that DO has operated in the Ll has any effects in L2 acquisition. I will briefly look at current L2 research that presupposes a DO framework, as well as suggesting some directions for further research.

Chomsky's Minimalist Program : A Brief Linguistic Primer

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-77
Author(s):  
Mary Sweig Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Children around the world, no matter what their native language, follow a similar course in language acquisition from the emergence of first words to the mastery of syntax. The uniformity and rapidity of first language acquisition is possible because human infants are born with a biologically endowed innate language faculty within the brain that drives the course of language development. Although this premise was doubted 50 years ago, today biologists and linguists alike accept it. Our human language faculty orchestrates and shapes the acquisition of language. Neurotypically developing children need only the surrounding language input to acquire language. In contrast, children with receptive language delays, including many of those who are or will become augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users, need more than exposure to language if they are to develop adult competence in their native language.

Minimalist architectures

1999 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER W. CULICOVER
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
The Many ◽  
Conceptual Foundations ◽  
Historical Antecedents

Ray Jackendoff, The architecture of the language faculty. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. Pp. xiv+262.In The architecture of the language faculty Jackendoff responds to the Minimalist Program (MP) of Chomsky (1995). There are three major themes: the conceptual foundations of MP and its historical antecedents; the interfaces between syntactic structure, phonetic structure and conceptual structure, and the nature of the lexicon. The basic approach is that of Jackendoff (1983, 1990), with roots going back at least as far as Jackendoff 1975. In the first chapter Jackendoff sets out the more or less standard views about universal grammar and subjects them to a critical analysis. Chapters 2–4 focus on the various ‘interfaces’ between levels of representation, and on how the interface relations are reified in individual lexical entries. Chapters 5–7 explore the properties of various types of lexical entries and the relations between them. Chapter 8 concludes with a speculative essay on the relation between language and thought.This book is a rich compilation of observations, analyses, suggestions, perspectives, speculations and proposals. One could easily write a review at least as long as the book, developing and responding to the many ideas that it contains. Since space here is limited, I will concentrate on the main conceptual and foundational issues that are addressed by the book. In many ways, Jackendoff's work points to significant departures from classical perspectives on the organization of grammar. I will focus some attention on those areas where even more radical steps might be worth pursuing.

Phonology in Universal Grammar

2016 ◽  
pp. 152-182
Author(s):  
Brett Miller ◽  
Neil Myler ◽  
Bert Vaux
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Computational System ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
Acquisition Device ◽  
The Mind

This chapter draws a distinction between Universal Grammar (the initial state of the computational system that underwrites the human capacity for language) and the Language Acquisition Device (the complex of components of the mind/brain involved in constructing grammar+lexicon pairs upon exposure to primary linguistic data). It then considers whether there are any substantive phonological components of Universal Grammar strictu sensu. Two of the strongest empirical arguments for the existence of such phonological content in UG have been (i) apparent constraints on the space of variation induced from the typological record, and (ii) apparently universal dispreferences against certain phonological configurations (known as markedness). The chapter examines these arguments in the light of recent literature, concluding that the phenomena submit at least as well to historical, phonetic, or other non-UG explanations. We suggest that language acquisition experiments, involving natural and artificial languages, may be a more fruitful domain for future research into these questions.

scholarly journals Português Brasileiro como segunda língua: um estudo sobre o sujeito nulo (Brazilian Portuguese as a second language: a study about the null subject)

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 237
Author(s):  
Gildete Rocha Xavier
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Single Type ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Verbal Form ◽  
Principles And Parameters

Este estudo objetiva investigar como se dá a aquisição do sujeito nulo do português brasileiro (PB) como segunda língua (L2) por adultos estrangeiros, falantes nativos de inglês e italiano em situação de imersão total. A pesquisa desenvolve-se no âmbito da gramática gerativa, dentro do quadro da Teoria de Princípios e Parâmetros (CHOMSKY, 1981, 1986) e do Programa Minimalista (CHOMsKY, 1993, 1995, 2000). As questões da pesquisa estão relacionadas ao acesso à Gramàtica Universal (GU) por aprendizes de L2. Mais especificamente, procurou-se investigar se os sujeitos analisados têm acesso à GU e, em caso afirmativo, qual seria a forma desse acesso. Os resultados da análise dos dados confirmaram a) a hipótese de acesso direto à Gu, através do uso do valor default do parâmetro pro-drop = sujeitos nulos ou preenchidos + a forma verbal unipessoal, nas produções dos falantes de inglês e italiano em fase inicial de aquisição; e b)a hipótese do acesso indireto à Gu, via L1, nas produções dos sujeitos falantes de inglês e italiano em fase inicial de aquisição. Além disso, considerando que as línguas pro-drop não constituem um único tipo, levantou-se a hipótese de que, com base nos dados do input, os aprendizes vão apresentar o pro-drop do PB, a partir da (1999) aquisição da concordância dessa língua, o que se confirmou. A tese confirma a hipótese do "bilinguismo universal" de Roeper (1999) não apenas para o estágio inicial, mas para os estágios intermediário e final.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Aquisição de linguagem. Gramática gerativa. Aquisição da segunda língua. Sujeito nulo. Princípios e parâmetros.ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to investigate the acquisition of the null subject in Brasilian Portuguese (BP) as a second language (L2) by native adult speakers of English and Italian, in a situation of total immersion. The research was developed within the framework of the Principles and Parameters Theory (CHOMSKY, 1981, 1986) and the Minimalist Program (CHOMSKY, 1993, 1995, 2000). The research attempted to investigate whether the L2 leaners have access to Universal Grammar (UG) and what the form of that access would be. The results of the analysis confirmed a) the hypothesis of direct access to UG , throught the use of the pro-drop parameter's default value = null or over subjects + the one-person agreement verbal form, in the production of English and Italian Speakers in the initial phase of acquisition. Considering that pro-drop languages do not constitute a single type, it was hypothesized that, based upon data from the input the learners would present the pro-drop of BP, starting by the acquisitionof the agreement in that language, which was confirmed. The analysis confirms the "universal bilinguism" hypotesis (ROEPER, 1999), not only for inatial stage of aquisition, but also for the intermediate and final stages.KEYWORDS: Language acquisition. Second language acquisition. Generative grammar. Null subject. Principles and parameters.

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