Searching for arguments to support linguistic nativism

Scholz, Barbara C.; Pullum, Geoffrey K.

doi:10.1515/tlir.19.1-2.185

Cited by 107 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…It should be noted that these prior constraints on the class of possible (or accessible) languages are of a general type and not 'language specific' per se (e.g., restrictions on the maximal number of rules employed by the languages in the class). As noted by Scholz and Pullum (2002), there exists classes of formal languages rich enough to encompass the 'string-sets' of human languages and at the same time being identifiable from a finite sequence of positive examples. Furthermore, the acquisition task becomes potentially more tractable if there are additional structure in the input or if only 'probable approximate' identification is required (cf.…”

Section: Learning Artificial Grammars the Question Of Knowledge Reprmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It should be noted that simulations of a simple recurrent neural network, using finite precision numbers, effectively becomes a simulation of a finite state architecture. In summary, as noted by Scholz and Pullum (2002), formal learning theory (Jain et al, 1999) holds open the possibility that language classes of interest, at least in principle, can be acquired from weak environmental input consisting of a finite sequence of un-interpreted positive example .…”

Section: Learning Artificial Grammars the Question Of Knowledge Reprmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Artificial syntactic violations activate Broca's region

2004

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In the present study, using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated a group of participants on a grammaticality classification task after they had been exposed to well-formed consonant strings generated from an artificial regular grammar. We used an implicit acquisition paradigm in which the participants were exposed to positive examples. The objective of this study was to investigate whether brain regions related to language processing overlap with the brain regions activated by the grammaticality classification task used in the present study. Recent meta-analyses of functional neuroimaging studies indicate that syntactic processing is related to the left inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann's areas 44 and 45) or Broca's region. In the present study, we observed that artificial grammaticality violations activated Broca's region in all participants. This observation lends some support to the suggestions that artificial grammar learning represents a model for investigating aspects of language learning in infants [TICS 4 (2000) 178] and adults

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Section: Learning Artificial Grammars the Question Of Knowledge Reprmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Learning Artificial Grammars the Question Of Knowledge Reprmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial syntactic violations activate Broca's region

2004

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“…Chomsky (1965Chomsky ( , 1972Chomsky ( , 1981; O'Grady (1997); Lightfoot (1999); Anderson and Lightfoot (2002) ;Fitch, Hauser and Chomsky (2005) and by the observation that all normal children (1) invariably acquire successfully a remarkably complex grammatical system, and do so (2) at roughly the same pace, (3) following roughly the same developmental process, (4) unconsciously without explicit instruction, (5) despite the fact that the speech input they receive is very often imperfect, in that the speech input they receive is often imperfect, containing false starts, unfinished sentences, and the like, and (6) "do not provide adequate information about complex structures in the language for the child to acquire these on the basis of the input alone'' (Lakshmanan, 1994, p. 3). This acquisition phenomenon, where there is a mismatch between the speech input which children are exposed to and their linguistic competence which goes far beyond the impoverished input they receive, is known as the logical problem of language acquisition or the poverty of the stimulus (for further discussion, see Thomas (2002);Sampson (2002); Lasnik and Uriagereka (2002); Scholz and Pullum (2002);Fodor and Crowther (2002) Schwartz and Sprouse 2013).…”

Section: Ug and Child Language Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Alsaedi¹

2017

IJL

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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.Keywords: Universal Grammar, first language acquisition, language faculty, critical period, null-subject, the Principles and Parameters Theory, The Minimalist Program International Journal of Linguistics ISSN 1948-5425 2017 www.macrothink.org/ijl 49 UG and Child Language AcquisitionThe field of linguistics has been developing very rapidly. During the last century, several theories have emerged. One which has opened new perspectives in our understanding of both language structure and language acquisition is the theory of Universal Grammar initially proposed by Chomsky in 1957. Chomsky (1975 defines this notion as ''a system of principles, conditions, and rules that are elements or properties of all human languages''. The idea is that these principles, conditions, and rules are found in all languages because they are a property of the human mind. With its ultimate aim of integrating ''grammar, mind and language at every moment' ' (Cook and Newson, 2007, p. 11), the primary goal is to ''understand the mechanisms which underlie the human ability to build mental grammars '' (Hawkins, 2001, p. 1). However, understanding the nature of these internally operating mechanisms ''is inseparable from the problem of how it [language] is acquired' ' (Cook and Newson, 2001, p. 2). (Note 1) Hence, linguists, in order to describe properly such an abstract mental grammatical system need to answer the question: how do children so masterfully acquire the complex knowledge of their native language?Following the idea which regards language ''as a natural phenomenon'' (Lenneberg, 1967, p. vii) which should be studied as an ''organ of the body'' (Chomsky, 2005, p. 133), Chomsky (1957, and much of his ...

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“…It should be noted that these prior constraints on the class of possible (or accessible) languages are of a general type and not “language‐specific” per se (e.g., restrictions on the maximal number of rules employed by the languages in the class). As noted by Scholz and Pullum (2002), there exists classes of formal languages rich enough to encompass the “string‐sets” of human languages and at the same time identifiable from a finite sequence of positive examples. Clearly, the acquisition task becomes potentially more tractable if there is additional structure in the input or if only “probable approximate” identification is required.…”

Section: Implications For Formal Learning Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial Language Learning in Adults and Children

et al. 2010

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This article briefly reviews some recent work on artificial language learning in children and adults. The final part of the article is devoted to a theoretical formulation of the language learning problem from a mechanistic neurobiological viewpoint and we show that it is logically possible to combine the notion of innate language constraints with, for example, the notion of domain general learning mechanisms. A growing body of empirical evidence suggests that the mechanisms involved in artificial language learning and in structured sequence processing are shared with those of natural language acquisition and natural language processing. Finally, by theoretically analyzing a formal learning model, we highlight Fodor's insight that it is logically possible to combine innate, domain‐specific constraints with domain‐general learning mechanisms.

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Searching for arguments to support linguistic nativism

Abstract: Few arguments are more dangerous than the ones that "feel" right but can't be justiÞed.

Cited by 107 publications

References 28 publications

Artificial syntactic violations activate Broca's region

Artificial syntactic violations activate Broca's region

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

Artificial Language Learning in Adults and Children

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