Language is an endless source of amazement. Language acquisition, namely the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce and use language, is a crucial matter to face for any theory of language. A strong approach about the acquisition of language should be able to provide an answer as to how children break into language and how language knowledge emerges and develops. The aim of this thesis is to introduce and discuss the most impacting approaches to language acquisition up to date and evaluate them against empirical data.
On the one hand, some scholars, among them the developmental psychologists Jean Piaget and Michael Tomasello have been arguing that the acquisition of language is implemented via domain-neutral cognitive mechanisms and unspecific, general learning processes: such approaches reject both the idea of a language-specific ability and the hypothesis of any innate component in language acquisition.
I will first discuss Jean Piaget’s ideas and afterwards Michael Tomasello’s recent elaboration of Piaget’s constructivism.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Setting the scene
2.1 Human language(s): a peculiar phenomenon
2.1.1 Language in animals
2.2 Language acquisition: a mystery
3. Jean Piaget’s epigenetic constructivism
3.1 Piaget’s developmental theory
3.1.1 The stages of development in children
3.1.2 The notion of schema, acquisition via adaptation
3.2 Piaget’s theory of language acquisition
3.3 Against Piaget’s approach
4. Noam Chomsky’s nativism
4.1 Chomsky’s innateness hypothesis
4.1.1 The logical problem of language acquisition
4.1.2 The LAD, UG, principles and parameters
4.2 Against Chomsky’s approach
5. The debate between Piaget and Chomsky
5.1 A common ground?
5.2 The topic of evolution
6. Neo-Piagetians’ and Michael Tomasello’s constructivism
6.1 Tomasello’s concept of shared intentionality
6.1.1 Group activity and collaboration
6.1.2 Social manipulation and cooperative communication
6.1.3 Gaze following and joint attention
6.1.4 Social learning and instructed learning
6.2 Tomasello on language acquisition
6.2.1 Tomasello on the theory of continuity assumption
6.2.2 Linguistic competence is item-based
6.2.3 Tomasello’s usage-based account
6.3 Three cognitive skills to attain mature linguistic competence
6.3.1 Intention reading and cultural learning
6.3.2 Analogy making and structure-mapping
6.3.3 Structure combining
7. Against Tomasello’s approach
7.1 Empirical evidence supporting nativism
7.1.1 Frequency is not as important
7.2 Logical arguments supporting nativism
7.2.1 The Case Filter
7.2.2 The emergence of determiners
7.2.3 Valian’s determiner tests
7.2.4 Parsimony and the role of social interaction
8. Conclusions
Research Objectives and Core Themes
The primary objective of this work is to introduce and evaluate the most impactful contemporary approaches to language acquisition against empirical data. The thesis centers on the tension between nativist theories, which posit innate linguistic modules, and constructivist theories, which emphasize general learning mechanisms and cognitive development.
- Comparison of Jean Piaget’s epigenetic constructivism and Noam Chomsky’s nativism.
- Critical analysis of Michael Tomasello’s usage-based, constructivist model.
- Evaluation of the "poverty of the stimulus" argument in language acquisition.
- Discussion of the role of social interaction, shared intentionality, and cognitive development in learning linguistic structures.
Excerpt from the Book
4.1.1 The logical problem of language acquisition: the poverty of the stimulus
The “nativist’s weapon” against empiricism comes from the argument of the poverty of the stimulus, also known as Plato's problem (this label was given by Chomsky, based on the fact that Plato notoriously investigated the relationship between knowledge and experience and claimed for the existence of innate ideas, see Chomsky 1984). In general, this notion points to “a ‘gap’ between the rich stock of knowledge about language that competent speakers possess and the meager supply of linguistic information that their experience during learning provides”. Basically, the premise is that all adult speakers of a language know several fairly abstract properties and that these properties cannot be induced from the positive evidence available to children (Guasti 2004:5, Cowie 1997:20; Hornstein & Lightfoot 1981; Goodluck 1991:3). As Chomsky himself formulated it, the problem “for the child learning the language […] is to determine from the data of performance the underlying system of rules that has been mastered by the speaker-hearer and that he puts to use in actual performance” (Chomsky1965:4).
As pointed out above, the linguistic competence developed by human beings is enormously wide and complex: children acquiring a language have knowledge of a potentially infinite number of sentences; despite the finiteness of their input. Moreover, as discussed in §2.2, children draw upon data consisting of positive evidence, i.e. sentences that are acceptable in their language. Speakers of any natural language are capable of recognizing any string of words as being consistent with the grammar of their native language (grammatical) or deviant from such grammar (ungrammatical). Despite this lack of negative evidence, i.e. evidence as to which sentences are ill-formed, children attain knowledge about the ungrammaticality of utterances; all competent speakers can universally judge whether a sentence is acceptable or not (Cowie 1997:18, Guasti 2004:5-9).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the central challenge of language acquisition and outlines the competing nativist and constructivist perspectives that will be examined throughout the thesis.
2. Setting the scene: Defines first language acquisition and highlights the unique properties of human language, such as creativity, recursion, structure dependency, and discreteness, distinguishing them from animal communication systems.
3. Jean Piaget’s epigenetic constructivism: Outlines Piaget's theory of cognitive development through four universal stages and his "cognition-first" view, which treats language as a product of general cognitive growth rather than an innate module.
4. Noam Chomsky’s nativism: Explores the "innateness hypothesis," the Universal Grammar (UG) framework, and the "poverty of the stimulus" argument as the foundational pillars of generative grammar.
5. The debate between Piaget and Chomsky: Recaps the historic 1975 Royaumont Abbey meeting, analyzing the fundamental disagreements regarding the modularity of the mind and the role of evolution in language acquisition.
6. Neo-Piagetians’ and Michael Tomasello’s constructivism: Examines Tomasello’s usage-based approach, focusing on shared intentionality, cultural learning, and the idea that linguistic structures emerge from social interaction.
7. Against Tomasello’s approach: Critically evaluates Tomasello’s theory by presenting empirical counterevidence, specifically highlighting how syntactic phenomena like relative clauses and the Case Filter provide support for nativist assumptions.
8. Conclusions: Synthesizes the core arguments of the discussed theories and concludes that, despite the significant impact of constructivist models, the nativist claim regarding an innate, language-specific cognitive module remains the most robust explanation for the observed empirical data.
Keywords
Language acquisition, Nativism, Constructivism, Universal Grammar, Piaget, Chomsky, Tomasello, Poverty of the stimulus, Shared intentionality, Modularity of mind, First language acquisition, Generative grammar, Usage-based theory, Syntactic development, Cognitive development
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this thesis?
The thesis investigates the fundamental nature of language acquisition, contrasting the "nativist" perspective, which assumes innate biological foundations, with "constructivist" approaches that view language as an emergent property of general cognitive and social development.
What are the primary theoretical themes explored?
The main themes include the modularity of the human mind, the role of Universal Grammar, the "poverty of the stimulus" argument, and the developmental transition from simple item-based patterns to complex adult-like syntax.
What is the central research question?
The work seeks to answer whether the human capacity for language is based on a specialized, innate biological module (as argued by Chomsky) or whether it is learned through general cognitive processes and social interaction (as argued by Piaget and Tomasello).
Which scientific methods are analyzed in the work?
The thesis evaluates linguistic arguments alongside empirical evidence from naturalistic observation, experimental studies of children's production, and clinical case studies involving aphasia and developmental disorders.
What is discussed in the main body of the work?
The main body details the theoretical frameworks of Piaget, Chomsky, and Tomasello, followed by a critical review of their arguments, including counter-criticisms concerning empirical data and the philosophical problem of ontogenetic novelty.
Which keywords characterize this research?
Key terms include Universal Grammar, Language Acquisition Device (LAD), epigenetic constructivism, shared intentionality, verb island hypothesis, and the poverty of the stimulus.
How does Tomasello explain language development without an innate module?
Tomasello posits that children rely on general cognitive skills—specifically intention reading, analogy making, and structure combining—to learn language through exposure to usage-based patterns and social interactions.
What argument does the author raise against Tomasello regarding relative clauses?
The author argues, citing experimental corpora data, that children’s production of relative clauses is driven by syntactic constraints rather than just input frequency, which undermines Tomasello's assertion that frequency and intention are the primary drivers of acquisition.
- Citation du texte
- Kerstin Köck (Auteur), 2010, Language Acquisition. Nativism vs. Contructivism, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/305808
