Theories of first language acquisition

 We are not born speaking!  Language must be acquired. ◦ Learning vs. acquisition  If we think of all that is entailed in knowing a language, it seems quite a challenge.

 Children do not learn a new language but naturally acquire it through an innate language device. Learning vs. acquisition  Language is an innate faculty  We are born with a Language acquisition device (LAD) ◦ A set of language learning (acquisition) tools ◦ All humans have a universal grammar (UG)

 What evidence is there for innate knowledge of certain basic language features present in all human languages? ◦ LINGUISTIC UNIVERSALS > UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR ◦ All languages have :  A grammar  Basic word order  Nouns and verbs  Subjects and objects  Consonants and vowels

 Most languages have a similar word order structure.  SVO = The teacher gave a lecture  75% of the world languages use either SVO or SOV.  OSV very rare: Yoda (star Wars) Strong with the force you are

 Humans then learn to specialize this “universal grammar” (UG) for the particulars of their language.  Word order, syntactic rule preferences  Phonetic and phonological constraints  Lexicon  Semantic interpretations  Pragmatic ways to converse

 Evidence for innateness of language? Eric Lenneberg  The biologist Eric Lenneberg defined a list of characteristics that are typical of innate (pre- programmed) behaviors in animals.

1. Maturationally controlled, emerging before they are critically needed 2. Do not appear as the result of a conscious decision. 3. Do not appear due to a trigger from external events. 4. Are relatively unaffected by direct teaching and intensive practice. 5. Follow a regular sequence of “milestones” in their development. 6. Generally observe a critical period for their acquisition

 When is language necessary?  When do children usually begin speaking/using language coherently? Is this criterion met?

 Does a child decide to consciously pursue certain skills? (e.g., walking)  Do babies make a conscious decision to start learning a language?  Is this criterion met?

 What would prompt a child to take up football?  What would prompt a child to begin speaking?  Is this criterion met?

 We CAN teach prescriptive rules of language. But we’re not talking about that here.  We correct children’s errors sometimes. Does it help? ◦ ‘”Yesterday I goed to my friend’s house’  In fact, “coaching” seems to hurt rather than help language ability in children.  Is this criterion met?

 In spite of different backgrounds, different locations, and different upbringings, most children follow the very same milestones in acquiring language.  Is this criterion met?

What is a critical period?  For first language acquisition, there seems to be a critical period of the first five years, during which children must be exposed to rich input. There is also a period, from about years, when acquisition is possible, but not native-like.  For SLA, the issue is more complicated… More on that later.  Is this criterion met?

 CPH: Proposed by Lenneberg ◦ This hypothesis states that there is only a small window of time for a first language to be natively acquired. ◦ If a child is denied language input, she will not acquire language  Genie: a girl discovered at age 13 who had not acquired her first language

 If humans do have an LAD, it must be located somewhere physically… (Chomsky denies that it can be physically found in the body)