chomsky's_universal_grammar_and_second_language_learning

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1、Chomsky'sUniversalGrammarandSecondLanguageLearningv.J.COOKUniversityofEssexHavinggoneundergroundforafewyears,onceagainChomsky'sideasoflanguagelearningarebeingdiscussed.1Arecentbook,TheLanguageLottery(Lightfoot1982),readablyoutlinesthetheory;severalcollectionsreportresearchintoitsimplications(T

2、avakolian1981;GoodluckandSolan1978)anditstheoreticalDownloadedfromaspects(HornsteinandLightfoot1981b;BakerandMcCarthy1981);mostimportantlyastringofbooksbyChomskyhimselfhasshownthedevelopmentinhisviewsoflanguageacquisition(Chomsky1976;Chomsky1980;Chomsky1981a).ThispapertriestotakestockofrecentC

3、homskyanthinkingintermsofsecondlanguage(L2)learning.Thefirstsectionoutlinesthetheoryitself,mostlydrawingonChomsky'sownwork;thoughpartsmaybefamiliarfromearlierapplij.oxfordjournals.orgversions,suchanoverviewisnecessaryinordertoensurecoherence.ThesecondsectionconsiderstheimplicationsforL2learnin

4、g,particularlyimportantbecausetheyappeartocontradictsomeofthecherishedassumptionsinthefield;itshould,however,benotedthatChomskyhimselfhasnotextendedthetheorytoL2learning,apartfromoccasionalscatteredallusions.WhilethefirstpartattemptstopresentaconsensusviewoftheLItheory,thesecondismuchmoreanind

5、ividualinterpretationofthetheoryforL2learning.atTsinghuaUniversityonDecember8,20101.THETHEORYOFUNIVERSALGRAMMARANDLANGUAGEACQUISITIONAtypicalwayintotheChomskyanpositionisthroughasimpleconundrum(Baker1979):anadultnativespeakerofalanguageknowsthingshecouldnothavelearntfromthesamplesofspeechhehas

6、heard;sincethisknowledgeisnotbasedonhisexperienceoftheworld,itmustcomefromsomepropertyinsidehisownmind.Takethefollowingtwosentences,'Istheprogrammethatisontelevisionanygood?'and*'Istheprogrammethatontelevisionisgood?'AspeakerofEnglishimmediatelyknowsthatthefirstsentenceispossibleandthattheseco

7、ndisnot;heknowsinsomesensethatthe'is'thatisshiftedtothebeginningofasentenceinaquestioncomesoutofthemainclause,ratherthanthesubordinateclause.ButhowcouldhehaveacquiredthispieceofknowledgeaboutEnglish?Someofthesentenceshemighthaveencounte