Universal Grammar

Universal Grammar

• Noam Chomsky is credited with the theory of universal grammar.
• The basic postulate of universal grammar is that there is an innate, genetically determined capacity for language acquisition in the human brain.

Language Acquisition

• Children, when receiving linguistic stimuli, use universal grammar to create their own grammar rules and understand the language.

The Poverty of the Stimulus Argument

• The poverty of the stimulus (POS) argument suggests that children are not exposed to enough linguistic data to learn a language through exposure alone, implying that there must be an innate component to language acquisition.

Current Status of Universal Grammar

• The theory of universal grammar remains a topic of debate among linguists, with some supporting it and others criticizing it.

Second Language Acquisition

• The term "second language acquisition" is used to describe the process of learning a second language.
• Second-language acquisition is the scientific discipline that studies the process of learning a new language.

Interlanguage

• Interlanguage refers to the intermediate language system that learners develop while acquiring a second language.

Related Disciplines

• Disciplines other than applied linguistics involved in second-language acquisition research include psychology, education, sociology, and cognitive science.

Order of Acquisition

• The order of acquisition of features in a new language suggests that there may be a universal, innate order of language acquisition, supporting the theory of universal grammar.