English Grammar II - Scientific Study of Language

• This unit is titled "The Scientific Study of Language"
• It is for English Grammar II, for the academic years 2024-2025, by Ma Tania Barberán Recalde

Studying Language

• Grammar and Language are the primary subjects of study

Beginning the Study

• The ability to speak and comprehend language must be located somewhere.
• Evidence from brain injuries suggests the brain houses this ability
• The brain is regarded as a 'black box' in this context

Language in the Brain

• Broca's area is located in the left inferior frontal lobe, and is where grammar is processed
• Wernicke's area is the left superior temporal lobe, and is where lexico-semantics are processed

Broca's Aphasia (Expressive Aphasia)

• Broca's Aphasia occurs when the afflicted loses the ability to produce language orally or in writing resulting in disjointed words
• Sentence construction is also poor, omitting functional words and inflections

Wernicke's Aphasia (Fluent Aphasia)

• Wernicke's Aphasia is a language disorder impacting both language comprehension and the production of meaningful language
• Language is produced with the same rhythm as typical speech, however does not convey information

Approaches to Grammar

• Prescriptive grammar dictates how people should speak according to a so-called 'standard'
• Descriptive grammar focuses on to how people actually speak

Three Levels of Adequacy

• Observationally adequate grammar is based on observed real-world data (corpora)
• Descriptively adequate grammar includes real-world data in addition to native speaker intuitions and judgments
• Explanatorily adequate grammar includes real-world data along with native speaker judgments, intuitions and child language data

Language as a Window to the Mind

• It can be difficult to step aside and accurately assess language. Once observed language is full of complexities and surprises, even in children.

Studying Language Scientifically

• Scientists use methods from the natural sciences to study language
• Constructions of theories must be explicit and clear
• Utilizing the scientific method includes also the term 'Usted también es científico' (You are also a scientist)

The Scientific Method

• Science comprises of what makes a branch of study be considered what it is
• Science requires knowledge, explanation, and search
• Science depends on the interaction of observed phenomena and data
• An example of a hypothesis science is when Ice melts into water, heat is the cause
• The scientific method includes observing empirical data, searching for regularity and patterns, producing a explanation, and making predictions

Object of Study: Language

• Language is more than an inventory of linguistic facts.
• 'black cab drives' is an example of where to find individuals that are relevant protesters

The Two ways of Science

• In induction, observing empirical data leads to a hypothesis or network of hypotheses
• Deductions require scientists to look and examine for any internal inconsistencies that may lead to contradictory predictions

The Principles of Science

• Systematicity in science is the search for order in nature.
• Scientists formulate the most elegant hypothesis possible, while taking into consideration data for a specific area under consideration
• Economy entails using as little resources as possible
• Ockham's Razor in science is the most simply theory might be truer than more complex ones
• The grand aim of all science covers the greatest possible number of experimental facts by logical deduction from the smallest number of hypotheses or axioms

Linguistics as a Science

• Any one studying such requires a specific theory
• Language influences linguistic theory
• Applying a theory proves or disprove the hypothesis that's held

Competence vs. Performance

• Syntactic theory is about making the knowledge about language explicit
• Studying behaviors for grammaticality judgments

Studying Knowledge

• Standard experimental tasks solicit judgements from native speakers

Grammaticality vs Acceptability

• It is imperative that data is reliable even when grammaticality judgements are observed.
• Politeness and culture might influenced Native Speakers' intuitions

The Parrot Theory

• A phrase is grammatical if it has been heard before, and ungrammatical if have not been

Grammaticality Independent from Meaning

• Grammatical construction is independent of meaning
• #Colorless green ideas sleep furiously as an example

Grammaticality Not Related to Ease/Difficulty of Use

• Tongue twisters and garden path sentences exist

Language Acquisition & Universal Grammar

• Children learn how to make grammaticality judgments
• How do children learn such grammaicality? Through input and instruction
• Learning can be influenced by a "corrected" learning environment

Input

• Children hear both correct and incorrect pronunciation

Analogy

• Intuitions about grammaticality result from the fact that the mind is capable of analyzing sentences
• We have internalized grammar

Logical Problem of Language Acquisition

• Jack met the students from England and I met one from France. *Jack met the students of Physics and I met one of Chemistry
• Universal Grammar proposes language occurs from language acquisition comes from no data, lack of negative evidence, and no instruction.

Universal Grammar

• UG is an inborn language acquisition device specific to the human species
• Principles of Universal Grammar are the same for all languages
• UG(Universal Grammar) is the name given to the set of constraints that all humans are endowed with at birth in order to promote language acquisition
• In addition UG defines a range of possible variation that characterizes possible human language
• UG is the the initial linguistic state of human beings as it provides the genetic equipment necessary for acquiring a language
• According to the nativist view from UG, acquisition results from interaction of inborn factors along with the environment
• Language isn't learned, but emerges when the child in exposed to either spoken or signed language,
• Children learn language by figuring out patterns and regularities in speech

Universal Grammar (UG) summary

• UG includes principles and parameters that encode invariant and variant properties of language
• Parameters define the range of variation in language with principles and parameters to determine a possible human language
• Language acquisition results in the child setting values of parameters based on their linguistic environment

Structure-Dependent Rules

• Children don't have impossible errors because they have clear rules from the start

Structure-Dependent Rules & Conclusion

• Christopher case uses Berber and a made up language with independent rules
• They couldn't understand Berber and also the fake language
• Individuals had no problem with Berber but struggled with a fake language
• There's interest in individual languages and that the initial state of language is with Universal Grammar in the mind/brain

Case of Structure-dependent Rules

• Apply these rules from a sentence
• 'move the third word to the front of the sentence'
• Apply these rules on the predicate with 'move the first auxiliary verb to the front of the sentence'
• There's no language structure independent rules
• Universal Grammar won't allow for structures independent rules and no child has ever made that mistake in learning structure

More Child language errors result from

• Substituting the terms body to describe the whole
• Substituting the terms lips to describe the whole
• Spoonerism's are a mistake in language

Summary of Topics

• Language is a window into the mind that contains universal grammar as a mental process
• It has a set of genetics that influence the individual to develop a language
• This process is studied via scientific methods and judgements
• It helps language acquisition by analyzing properties