Language Acquisition Debate

Questions and Answers

Children can't repeat an utterance without analysing/processing it using their own grammar

It can be boring for children and potentially induce performance issues

To create a natural context for the target sentence

It allows for direct exposure of the child's grammar Signup and view all the answers

They provide a natural context for the target sentence Signup and view all the answers

To allow children to form the target sentence on their own Signup and view all the answers

Nature vs. nurture Signup and view all the answers

That children are not parroting adult language Signup and view all the answers

Knowledge of certain rules Signup and view all the answers

Having intuitions about unacceptable sentences Signup and view all the answers

The ordering of adjectives in a noun phrase Signup and view all the answers

Plato's Problem Signup and view all the answers

To investigate the linguistic abilities of children Signup and view all the answers

To examine children's ability to repeat sentences accurately Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

The nature/nurture debate in linguistics revolves around how much of language acquisition is learned and how much is biologically equipped.

To know a language means understanding certain rules, including grammar and syntax.
Negative knowledge, or intuitions about what is unacceptable in a language, is also an important aspect of language acquisition.

Adjective ordering is a universal aspect of language, with certain patterns being more acceptable than others (e.g., "the big brown dog" is acceptable, but "brown big dog" is not).

Plato's Problem refers to the gap between the input or experience a child receives and the adult grammar they eventually develop.
It questions how children can learn so much about language with relatively little input.

Elicited speech involves tasks designed to test children's language abilities, including pronunciation, word order, and sentence structure.

Elicited imitation involves asking children to repeat a sentence or phrase, with the goal of assessing their current language abilities.
Limitations of this method include the potential for boredom and performance issues, as well as the requirement for children to hold sentences in their verbal working memory.

Elicited production involves using games or activities to elicit specific sentence structures or grammar from children.
Advantages of this method include direct exposure to the child's language abilities, experimental control, and the ability to test complex or infrequent sentence structures.

Felicity conditions refer to the context in which a sentence is naturally used, and are essential for eliciting specific language responses from children.
Children are more sensitive to felicity conditions than adults, and experimenters must set up the context carefully to elicit the desired response.