theory of language development

8/20/2019 Theory of Language Development

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LIFE SKETCH

Full name : Avram Noam ChomskyParents: Dr.William(Zev) Chomskyand Elsie SimonofskyBorn on : December 7th, 1928 in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, United States [ aged 86 ]

Alma mater : University of Pennsylvania (B.A.) 1949,(M.A.) 1951, (Ph.D.) 1955

Era : 20th / 21st-century philosophySchool :Generative linguistics, Analytic philosophy

Institutions: MIT (1955–present) [Professor Emeritus]Main interests: Linguistics, Metalinguistic, Psychology,Philosophy of language, Philosophy of mind, Politics,Ethics


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Chomsky was introduced to Linguistics by his father

He elaborated his linguistic theories in his bookSyntactic Structures, which is one of the best-known

works in Linguistics

Chomsky introduced the theory of ‘Nativism’.


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• How do people learn a

language?

• Do we learn language

the way we learneverything?

• Or is there some specialway our brain learns a


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STRUCTURALISM

BEHAVIOURISM

1950s 1957

EARLIER THEORIES

Ferdinand de Saussure Burrhus Frederi S!inner


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Noam Chomsky is perhaps the best known andthe most infuential linguist o the second hal othe Twentieth Century He has established a

number o ob!ectives that have continued todirect the course o "nglish #inguistic research tothe present day $n particular% he suggeststha" #an$ua$e is an inna"e %au#"& ' that is tosay that we are born with a set o rules aboutlanguage in our heads which he reers to as the()niversal *rammar( The )niversal *rammar isthe basis upon which all human languages isbuilt

*enerative *rammar% which arises rom the ruleslaid down by )niversal *rammar% attempts togive a set o rules that will correctly predict

which combinations o words will ormgrammatical sentences +in any language,


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UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR:

It is a theory that suggests

that some rules of grammarare hard-wired into the

brain, and manifest without beingtaught.


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*"N"-.T$/"

*-.00.-1. generative grammar o% say% "nglish is anattempt at providing a ully e2plicit andmechanical statement o the rules governing

the construction o "nglish sentences3

•4"NT"NC"4•CO05"T"NC$"4


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64"NT"NC"4Number of sentences = infinite

Two principles are responsiblefor this non-finite character ofnatural language. Let’s look at


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1(1(CREATI

VIT)


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• $ children learn language

by conditioning and

imitation% why do they say

things they have never

heard beore?

• 7hy can adults makecompletely novel

sentences?

U*IVERSAL +RAMMA


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Children are exposed to very little correctly formedlanguage. When people speak, they constantlyinterrupt themselves, change their minds, make

slips of the tongue and so on. Yet children manageto learn their language all the same. Children donot simply copy the language that they heararound them.

They deduce rules from it, which they can then useto produce sentences that they have never heardbefore. They do not learn a repertoire of phrasesand sayings, as the behaviourists believe, but agrammar that generates an infinity of newsentences.


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1(,(RECURSIO*

Coordination

+4entence% Noun'5hrase,

.d!ectival $teration5repositional 5hrase

.ttachment

+-epetition in a sel'similar way ,


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E-AM.LES OF RECURSIO*

a, C//rdina"i/n /% Sen"enes and */unhrases 8 Here we havee2amples such as 94umi saw 4herin and 4herin saw :yothi and :yothi sawChinchu and ;

b2 Ad3e"i4a# I"era"i/n 8 Here you have e2amples such as

The wonderul% long% old% beautiul

c, .re/si"i/na# .hrase ..2 a""ah6en" 8

The ball +N5, The ball +N5, A in the bo2 +55, The ball +N5, A in the bo2 +55, A under the table +55, The ball +N5, A in the bo2 +55, A under the table +55, A with the lamp +55,


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Even though the number of

sentences is infinite, not allsentences that are used inhuman conversation find their

way into a grammatical theory.Syntax defines a specific level of

abstraction referred to asCompetence


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BCO05"T"NC" The chair smiled at her

:ohn put thecar

5ut :ohn in the garage the car


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.s a native speaker olanguage% we are able to

make intuitive !udgementsabout our language' we do

not have to consult grammarbooks or we don=t have tointerview large groups opeople or the same -ather%by virtue o knowing a

language% we know that some


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#inguists use two symbols toassess the status o asentence 8

6The asterisk + E , F to denote9ungrammatical=

BThe Guestion mark +?, F todenote 9non'meaningul=


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us analye the sentencestioned beore 8

chair smiled at herence is grammatically correct as it includes a sub!ect% verb and an ob!ect However it is sble Hence linguists% i they come across such a sentence% would put one or two Guestionsuch sentences>

:ohn put the car

:ohn in the garage the cartence is also ungrammatical as it does not comply with the word order that is e2pected tructure>


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CO*CLUSIO*.ccording to Noam Chomsky% by the time a child begins putting two wordstogether% he or she has already mastered the basic rules o synta2 andapplies them correctly even in their erroneous speech $t takes the child alittle longer to master the rules o morphology

The evidence then indicates that children do% in act% absorb a massivenumber o sentences and phrases but rather than parrot them back% theyabstract rules rom them and create their own grammar which they thenapply to create new utterances they have never heard beore Over the yearsrom B'I% when language is mastered% children constantly ad!ust theirgrammar until it matches that o the adult speaker population $t is as i thechild were oJered at birth a certain number o hypotheses% which he or shethen matches with what is happening around him He knows intuitively that

there are some words that behave like verbs% and others like nouns% and thatthere is a limited set o possibilities as to their ordering within the phrase This is not inormation that he is taught directly by the adults that surroundhim% but inormation that is given This set o language learning tools%provided at birth% is reerred to by Chomsky as the Lan$ua$e Auisi"i/n8e4ie(

theory of language development

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