Universal-grammar

Universalgrammar&CriticalperiodhypothesisUG•AtermcreditedtoNoamChomskywhoproposesthattheabilitytolearnL1grammarishard-wiredintothebraingovernedbyasetofhighlyabstractprinciples•普遍语法是构成语言习得者的初始状态的一组特性、条件和其他东西。•具体地说,普遍语法是一切人类语言必须具有的原则、条件和规则系统,代表了人类语言的最基本东西。•人能学会语言,是因为人脑生来就存有人类一切语言的共同特点。这些共同特点就是普遍语法。普遍语法与传统语法•第一,普遍语法不是语法大全,不是像传统的普通语言学那样包罗万象;•第二,它不是通用语法或万能语法,不能用来代替个别语言的语法;•第三,它不是像一本实用语法那样包括各种句型、词形变化等内容的语法。普遍语法组成•两大系统:规则系统和原则系统•Principlesprovideparameterswhicharegivenparticularsettingsindifferentlanguages.•UGisitselfgroundedinconcernsaboutlanguageacquisition,especiallytheso-calledlogicalproblemoflanguageacquisition:Childreninvariablylearnthefullgrammaroftheirmothertonguewhentheinformationtheyneedisnotalwaysavailableintheinput.•ThesolutionofferedtothisproblemisthepostulationofasystemofinnateprinciplesandparametersthatformthecontentofUG.•Theprinciplesandparametersframeworkhasadualaim:1)tocharacterizethenativespeaker's(NS)knowledgeoflanguage,orlinguisticcompetence,2)andtoexplainhowtheacquisitionofsuchcompetenceispossible.•Chomskyarguesthatmuchofourlinguisticcompetencestemsfrominnateknowledge,whichtakestheformofaUG.•Theinputtowhichchildrenareexposedtoisinsufficienttoenablethemtodiscovertherulesofthelanguagetheyaretryingtolearn.•Thepovertyofthestimulus:Theinputaloneissimplyinsufficienttoallowthechildtoattainfulladultcompetence.•Ourlinguisticcompetenceextendsbeyondtheinputinvariousways:•forinstance,childrenandadultscanunderstandandproducesentencesthattheyhaveneverheardbefore;•theyknowthatcertainstructuresarenotpossibleandthatothersareambiguous,withoutbeingexplicitlytaughtsuchthings.(nonegativeevidence)•Apartfromdialectaldifferences,thecompetenceofadultNSsofthesamelanguageisessentiallyidentical;•thatis,adultsachievethesameendresult(acomplexcompetencegrammar),despitevaryingexposuretodatainthecourseofacquisition-theymayhavehearddifferentinput,orthesameinputindifferentorders,ortheymaynothavebeenexposedtocertainkindsofinputatall.AdultL2learners’accesstoUG•Completeaccess•Noaccess•Partialaccess•DualaccessCriticalperiodhypothesis•TheCPHforlanguagelearningwasproposedin1959byPenfieldandRoberts,andlaterbyLenneberg(1967).•Itstatesthatthereisaperiodduringwhichlanguageacquisitioniseasyandcompleteandbeyondwhichitisdifficultandtypicallyincomplete.•ThereexistscriticalperiodbothinL1andL2learning.•InL2learning,adultsareunabletoachievenative-speakercompetenceineithergrammarorpronunciation.•Thecapacitytoachievefullcompetenceseemstodeclinegradually,becomingcompletebyabouttheageof16.•Inthecaseofpronunciation,thecrucialageappearstobemuchearlier,possiblyasearlyas6.•Strongestform,theCPHpredictsthatlateL2learnerscannotachieveanativelikelevelofproficiencybecauselanguagelearningisfundamentallydifferentafteracertain.•WeakerversionsoftheCPHacknowledgethatL2learningisaffectedbyageeffects,makingnativelikeattainmentlesslikelyforlateronsetsoflearning,butnativelikenessissometimespossiblegiventherightcircumstances.•OtherversionsoftheCPHholdthatnativelikelevelsofattainmentmaybepossiblebutstatethatthelearningmechanismsunderlyingearlyandlateL2acquisitionarenotthesame.TheseversionsoftheCPHcontendthatnativelikelevelscanonlybeattainedthroughmoreexplicittypesoflearningbecausetheabilitytolearnimplicitlyisgraduallylost(Dekeyser,2000).H.H.Stern(1983:366-367)Untilwehavemoreconclusiveevidencefromresearch,thefollowingpropositionsmayserveasasummaryoftheagequestion:1)Languagelearningmayoccuratdifferentmaturitylevelsfromtheearlyyearsintoadultlife.NoageorstagestandsoutasoptimalorcriticalforallaspectsofL2learning.2)Languagelearning–likeproficiency–isnotmonolithic.Thereareagedifferencesintheacquisitionofdifferentaspectsoflanguage.3)Incertainrespectspre-schoolchildren,youngschoolchildren,olderchildlearners,adolescents,andadultsdifferpsychologicallyintheirapproachtoL2learning.Whatthesedifferencesindevelopmentalstagesareisatpresentnotfullyunderstood.Butitappearsthatyoungchildrenrespondmorereadilyandintuitivelytolanguage“acquisition”insocialandcommunicativesituations,whileolderlearnerscanlearnlanguagesmorereadilybymeansofcognitiveandacademicapproaches.4)EachstageofdevelopmentmayhavecertainadvantagesandcertaindisadvantagesforL2learning.5)Thedecisionatwhatstageintheeducationalprocesstointroduceaforeignlanguagecanbegovernedbythreecriteria:1.Theestimatedtimenecessarytoreachadesiredleveloflanguageproficiencybyaspecifiedstageintheschoolcareerofthemajorityoflearners;2.Theeducationalvalueattributedtolearningforeignlanguagesatagivenstageofthecurriculum;3.Thehumanandmaterialresourcesrequiredtodevelopandmaintainaneducationallysoundandsuccessfulforeignlanguageprogram.