Universal Grammar
Universal Grammar claims that every speaker is aware of a set of principles which
can be applied to all languages and a set of parameters which can vary from one
language to another, but only with certain limit. For example, the “head parameter” is
one of those parameters. The “head” refers to the “importance” in a sentence, and
languages are either “head first (English)” or “head last (Japanese)”.
Language Competence vs. Language Performance
Language competence is one’s underlying and non-observable knowledge of the
system of a language, such as its rules of grammar, its vocabulary, all the pieces of a
language and how those pieces fit together. Language performance, on the other hand,
is the observable and actual production (speaking, writing) or the comprehension
(listing, reading) of linguistic events.
Critical Period Hypothesis
The hypothesis claims that there is a biologically determined period of life when
language can be acquired more easily and beyond which time language is increasingly
difficult to acquire. And according to the “classic argument”, this critical point for
SLA occurs around puberty, beyond which people seem to be relatively unable to
acquire a second language.
Nature vs. Nurture
Nativists (nature) contend that child is born with an innate knowledge of language and
that this innate property (the LAD or UG) is universal in all human beings. But the
environmental factors (nurture) cannot be ignored either. Linguists, psychologists, and
educators have been embroiled in the “nature-nurture” controversy for years. For
example, what are the behaviors that “nature” provides innately? On the other hand,
what are the behaviors learned and internalized by environmental exposure, by
nurture, and by teaching?
Pivot Grammar
It is the early grammars of child language. The child’s first two-word utterances seem
to manifest two separate word classes instead of any two random words. For example,
they will say “my cap” or “that kitty”, but they will not say “my that” or “cap kitty”.
Hence, it is believed that the left word and the right one belong to two different
classes, while the first class of the word is called “pivot” and the second one “open”.
Therefore, the first rule of pivot grammars can be described generally as follows:
Pivot word + Open word = Sentence
Hemispheric Lateralization
It claims that in human brains, intellectual, logical, and analytic functions appear to be
located in the left hemisphere, while the right hemisphere controls functions of
emotional and social needs. Language functions appear to be controlled by the left
hemisphere, although there is a good deal of conflicting evidence. For example, some
researchers found that children who had had injuries to their left hemisphere were still
able to re-localize linguistic functions to the right hemisphere.
Advantages over Children in Learning a Foreign Language and the List
Although some research found that there do have a critical period of accent for
foreign language learner, but it is accent only! The acquisition of communicative and
functional language is, in most circumstances, far more important than a perfect
native accent. For example, the higher-order language functions, such as semantic
relation. And Adults tend to use more systematic way to learn foreign language and to
formulate linguistic rules.
III
Behaviorism of language focuses on the observable responses and the relationships
between those responses and events in the world. If a particular response (to the
language) is reinforced, it then becomes habitual, or conditioned. And it is this
conditioning part that forms the language.
Rationalism of language (the nativist approach) claims that child is born with an
innate knowledge of language and that this innate property (the LAD or UG) is
universal in all human beings. Moreover, according to Chomsky, this innate
knowledge of language is the “little black box” in our brain, the language acquisition
device.
Constructivism of language (functional approaches) claims that under the framework
of the nativist, the generative rules are only dealing with the forms of language but not
with the deeper functional levels of meaning constructed from cognition and social
interaction.